If on this Veterans Day you happen to see a Vietnam Veteran, please be aware of something important. Vietnam Veterans were not exactly welcomed home during the anti-war protests. Instead, they were more likely to be attacked.  I was personally spit at by war protestors who called me a war criminal and a baby killer.  Around 1995 I won a nice jacket at a trade show, but didn’t like the logo. So my wife bought me a Vietnam Veteran patch and sewed it on the jack to hide the other logo. I actually debated whether I would even wear it.  Then one day while we were out shopping I felt a tug on my shoulder.  I looked down and there was an older woman. She looked me in the eye and said: “thank you for your service.”  I was absolutely stunned.  That was more than 25 years after I had returned from Vietnam and to the best of my knowledge it was the first time anyone ever thanked me for my service. Granted for much of that time period I wasn’t about to wear anything that would identify me as a Vietnam Veteran.

Thinks have changed a lot since then and it is no longer unusual to have someone do that. But keep this in mind.  At least now some of those naive anti-war protestors admit they were awful in the way Vietnam Veterans were treated. But just saying thanks for your service ignores the issue. Many Vietnam Veterans never experienced closure because they were never felt welcomed home. Almost any person who regularly works with Vietnam Veterans knows this.  That is why they don’t say thanks for your service, they say “welcome home.” It is still a work in progress. I remember the first time someone from the Vietnam Veterans of American said that to me. I was shocked. I suddenly realized that here was someone who really understood how I felt.  So, I have a simple request.  If you see a Vietnam Veteran on this Veterans Day go ahead and thank them for their service.  Then.do one more little thing.  Tell them “Welcome Home.”  It will mean more than you think.

TDM,