At some weird point in time it became fashionable for 7-million people, who never stepped foot in Viet Nam, to say that they had.
It is strange how that transformation occurred.
It has been my experience that the people that actually saw combat, in any war, seldom bring up their service unless asked. Particularly when speaking to people that were not there. Even then, they don’t talk much about it and you must pry the information out of them.
It’s not that they are ashamed of what they did or are suffering from some stressful memory. I think they hold their cards close to the vest because they don’t want to be defined by those events.
I’m always suspicious of people that claim combat experience and volunteer the information freely.
The ones that brag about their service (in any war) either were not there at all, or they were, “in the rear with the gear”.
Vietnam was unusual in American history for many reasons. America’s involvement was lengthy, there was intense turmoil within America concerning the war, the backlash against America’s involvement was deeply complicated and there was general societal unrest at home that went beyond the issue of war, just to name a few reasons. There was a time in the late 1960’s and throughout most of the 1970’s when it was unpopular to be a Vietnam veteran. If any good could come from that experience- one thing did for certain. We, as a nation, learned to never blame the soldiers for the sins of the politicians. I think we treated the veterans of the Gulf wars and Afghanistan far better than we (as a whole) treated Vietnam vets.