re: #83 Cato the Elder

Cato, I’ll probably catch hell for this, but I’m going to go along with you for the most part on this, i.e., this wasn’t a big epidemic. Anecdotal to be sure, but I’ll throw it in. I came home in ‘68, right after Tet. Nobody told us not to wear a uniform, to the contrary it was required to get travel discounts. I wandered all around San Francisco and Oakland for a couple days waiting for travel connections and outside of a couple dirty looks nobody bothered me, some older people offered to buy “the vet” drinks. A few wanted to discuss politics, which I made clear I had zero interest in doing . Connected to Seattle, on the way home, ditto. Nobody bothered me. Maybe because I was carrying a captured rifle, which I still have (30’06 US made Enfield). But most importantly, no GI I knew, or myself, would have meekly tolerated somebody spitting on us without repercussions, even if it had meant being severely whipped.

I asked my brother about it, a year later when he came home severely wounded from our old outfit (DustyVet’s old outfit, too) and his story was identical, no harassment, no tolerance for it. Every vet friend I’ve asked, many, many of them, has agreed. They wouldn’t have stood for it, it didn’t happen and they just wanted to get home and put it behind them and get on with the future .

Not saying it never happened, but it didn’t happen to anyone I know and they all (vets) are adamant they wouldn’t have tolerated it, any more than the average person here would. War stories happen after every war, and I’ve never been one for self pity myself , I’d be ashamed to admit I meekly took such abuse. The war is in the past , dead as Caesar, AFAIC.