By Barbara J. Stock
>
> Over 30 years ago they put away their medals and their uniforms. They
> buried their anger and bitterness and moved on with their lives--and
> they waited.
>
> Revisionists are trying to change history, claiming the returning Viet
> Nam veterans didn't suffer all that much when they returned home. All
> that talk of being labeled animals has been exaggerated over the
> years. But the veterans know better. They were there.
>
> On the radio last week, one man related that he had unpacked the
> uniform that he wore home from Viet Nam all those years ago. It had
> not seen the light of day for over 30 years. He showed it to his
> children and grandchildren and, for the first time, spoke of the day
> that he returned home from war and was spat on, cursed at, and
> literally had to run a gauntlet of protesters who threw human waste
> and rotten fruit on him and his fellow vets. With the words "baby
> killers" ringing in his ears he was warned by laughing policemen not
> to retaliate or he would be arrested. So he ran. The able-bodied
> helped the wounded as they do on any battlefield because those on
> crutches or in wheelchairs were not spared the profanity and bags full
> of feces that were thrown at them by the raging anti-war protesters.
>
> This now middle-aged vet went on to tell his family that he had hid in
> the bathroom at the airport for over two hours, bewildered and afraid.
> He wondered if he had landed in some foreign land where Americans were
> hated. Finally, he cleaned up the uniform he was still proud to wear
> as best he could and made his way to his plane, where he suffered more
> insults from the passengers. When he got home, he packed up his medals
> and his dirty uniform, just as it was, and he knew that one day, he
> would take it out again and he would have his say. That day has come.
>
> One POW stated that he had never put a face to the name until he heard
> the words "Genghis Khan" pronounced only as John Kerry does and
> suffered his first flashback to the time he was being tormented by
> Kerry's words in a North Vietnamese prison camp.
>
> They buried their anger and the bitterness --and they waited. Most of
> them didn't know who or what would be the signal to make their move,
> but they knew they would recognize it when it happened.
>
> On July 29, 2004, it happened. John Forbes Kerry came to the podium at
> the Democratic Convention and uttered three words that made many Viet
> Nam vets skin crawl: "Reporting for Duty!" At last the time had come
> for these long-suffering veterans.
>
> The past was staring back at these wrongly disgraced vets from their
> television sets. The face it bore was that of John Kerry, the man who
> had shredded their honor without a thought and climbed over the bodies
> of their fallen friends to launch a political career. Kerry had
> stripped them of their dignity the day he sat before Congress in his
> fatigues and portrayed them as "baby killers" and "murderers." Kerry
> did the unspeakable. He had publicly turned on his fellow vets while
> they were still in harm's way and American prisoners were still in the
> hands of the enemy. Kerry accused them all of being out-of-control
> animals, killing, raping, and pillaging Viet Nam at will. The anti-war
> movement--the protesters--had their hero and he was a Viet Nam War
> veteran, an officer, a medal winner, a wounded warrior: John Forbes
> Kerry.
>
> Many Viet Nam vets buried the memories of their less-than-welcome
> homecoming, and John Kerry moved off the national scene. The feelings
> of betrayal had faded, but they were never resolved. The unprecedented
> injustice inflicted on the Viet Nam vets has always lain just under
> the surface, waiting for a chance to be uncovered. The war had stolen
> their youth and innocence and John Kerry stole their dignity and
> rightful place of honor in history.
>
> Like an unlanced boil, the anger festered but there was nothing that
> could ease the pain. These vets didn't ask for "forgiveness" because
> they had done nothing wrong in serving their country. They never asked
> to be treated as heroes, just good soldiers. All they have ever wanted
> was the respect due all the men and women who have worn the uniform of
> this country. Being allowed to march in a few parades wasn't enough. A
> long over-due memorial was not enough. The Viet Nam Veterans moveable
> wall only brought back the suffering as they searched for the names of
> their fallen friends whose memory had been defiled and disgraced by
> people who considered them rampaging killers instead of men who died
> with honor for their country.
>
> Now before them stands this man who would be president--this man who
> holds his service in Viet Nam up as a badge of honor now that it suits
> his purposes. This man Kerry brags about his medals and his tiny
> wounds and demands the respect they were denied, yet he offers no
> apologies for what he did to them. "I will be a great leader!" Kerry
> proclaims, because of his brief and self-proclaimed valiant service
> while wearing a uniform--the very same uniform that they wore and were
> spat upon because of it.
>
> All across America, soiled uniforms and memories of being shamed and
> humiliated have resurfaced and Vietnam vets demand their rightful
> place in history. John Kerry seems bewildered by the reaction of his
> "fellow vets." He has become defensive and angry because now his
> service and honor are being questioned. Kerry seems oblivious to the
> pain he caused three decades ago when he stole all honor and dignity
> from those same "fellow vets" for personal gain. Now he wants to use
> them again, for the same reason.
>
> All across America, Viet Nam vets are smiling. At last, perhaps they
> can bury their demons. These angry vets are demanding that this man
> who sentenced them to being shunned as criminals, tell the world that
> he was wrong and that he is sorry for what he did to them. Kerry must
> admit that he lied about them.
>
> For many, it would still not be enough. Satisfaction and hopefully
> peace will come when Viet Nam vets see and hear John F. Kerry give his
> concession speech the night of November 2, 2004 with the knowledge
> that it was their votes that helped defeat him. There are
> approximately 2.5 million Viet Nam veterans in America and they have
> not forgotten.
>
> Kerry denied them their rightful place as heroes and they will deny
> him his dream of the presidency. Angry Viet Nam veterans, silent for
> so long, will finally have their say. Payment in full will be
> delivered to John Kerry on November 2, 2004...
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