In article , "Jeff Crowell"
wrote:

Mike Marron wrote:
Yeah yeah yeah. Spare us your whining, sniveling, poor,
poor, downtrodden Vietnam vet don't-get-no-respect crapola.

Well Mike, I'm glad your Dad didn't catch any grief. But
it did happen, even post-VN. I joined in '77 and caught
far more grief than this green 18-yo country boy expected
or was prepared to receive, this in DC and Maryland.
Especially in airports, when traveling in uniform. Particularly
the first couple of years.

Never had a hint of trouble west of there.


Funny how USENET leads to flashbacks. I remember being in Washington
National Airport when some uniformed troops, disembarking into our gate
area, and a few protesters indeed started to scream and spit.

There wasn't a word said, but I'd guess 20 people, including me, got up
and formed a human wall between the returnees and the demonstrators.
Again without a word, most of us made eye contact with the
demonstrators, and then turned our backs on them.

Not everything was so dramatic at National, though. I cherish the memory
of one nubile young solicitor -- could have been a Moonie, could have
been LaRouche -- who tried to pin a flower on me and get a donation. I
smiled cheerfully at her as I munched on the flower, offering her a
bite, commenting it was delicious, and encouraging her to tell me more
about her cause.

For some reason, she ran away, dropping leaflets and making strange
noises. Her loss...white carnations don't taste half bad...