Here are some comments recently penned by Blue Ghost Robert Wiggins. (Note: These comments were received via email last year and due to business matters I simply did not get them posted. I do so now, Memorial Day 2012.
Here, Bob Wiggins has been able to effectively articulate what many of us have experienced over the years.)
I'm sure some will take solace in the words penned by this Marine but I think the scar runs far deeper than most know. The hate and disdain that too many young Americans of that period expressed toward the US military forces who served in Vietnam was/is appalling. I for one will never be able to look one of them in the eye and forgive them, not for one second.
Vietnam veterans refer to it as "Our War", it was because it was/is the only time in the history of this nation that the American people collectively turned their backs on returning veterans. Once they returned from Vietnam, soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were just dumped out into the street with a hearty dose of 'piss off'. Over there the bond between us was unbreakable. We saw, heard and listened via Armed Forces radio to what was going in America. Those still "in country" heard the news of what to expect we they got home. Many were crushed and unable to cope, PTSD had not been accepted as a casualty of battle.
The veterans continued to bond together. Self-help groups, unit organizations, associations and societies were formed that provided relief in the way of "reunions" set-up by, organized by and managed by Vietnam veterans (after all, it was the only place they could go and laugh and talk openly about everything). Why are/were the veterans forced to do this, because 30-35 years after the end of the war Vietnam veterans were still fending for themselves… most still ostracized and "misunderstood" by most Americans .
Finally VA Vet Centers (developed in the early 1990s) were established to help returning "combat veterans" readjust to civilian life. The verdict is still out of them because too many Vietnam veterans still not know they exist.
But that's okay, "it don't mean shit" ~
Twig
Robert Wiggins
""Blueghost 26"
F Troop 8th Cavalry
Vietnam Mar '69 - Mar '70
I got this letter below from my dear friend Danny Fisher and felt an obligation to write something… anything. If anyone you forward to is upset by what I wrote in the above comment, "tell them I said to piss-off'
Subject: Vietnam Veterans
I don�t think in all my years I have ever heard it put so eloquently, this says it all.
A Thank You to all Vietnam Vets from a Marine in Iraq
A guy gets time to think over here and I was thinking about all the support we get from home. Sometimes it's overwhelming. We get care packages at times faster than we can use them. There are boxes and boxes of toiletries and snacks lining the center of every tent; the generosity has been amazing. So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?"In my opinion, it all came down to one thing: Vietnam Veterans. I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything. We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us.After Vietnam , it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us. However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and on into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So ... Starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did. We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the Vietnam era. We treat our troops of today like the heroes they were, and are, acknowledge and celebrate their sacrifice, and rejoice at their homecoming ... Instead of spitting on them.And that support continues today for those of us in Iraq . Our country knows that it must support us and it does. The lesson was learned in Vietnam and we are all better because of it.Everyone who has gone before is a hero. They are celebrated in my heart. I think admirably of all those who have gone before me. From those who fought to establish this country in the late 1770's to those I serve with here in Iraq . They have all sacrificed to ensure our freedom. But when I get back home, I'm going to make it a personal mission to specifically thank every Vietnam Vet I encounter for THEIR sacrifice. Because if nothing else good came from that terrible war, one thing did. It was the lesson learned on how we treat our warriors. We as a country learned from our mistake and now we treat our warriors as heroes, as we should have all along. I am the beneficiary of their sacrifice. Not only for the freedom they, like veterans from other wars, ensured, but for how well our country now treats my fellow Marines and I. We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice.Semper Fidelis, Major Brian P. Bresnahan United States Marine Corps
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