This Highly Decorated Vietnam Veteran Remembers '60s America

1984 . . . A friend of mine was a Vietnam veteran . . . And he drank vodka and stayed plastered every day and night . . . And I asked him one day why . . . He started crying and told me he came home and learned that his older brother had died in Vietnam . . . And he didn't even know it until 9 months later when he came home from Vietnam . . . In1985 a year or so after I had asked him about his drinking . . . He committed suicide and left a note to his family and he said he couldn't get the war and his brother out of his mind and just couldn't live with it anymore . . . His mother passed away three weeks later . . . And people said she grieved herself to death . . Losing another son because of a damn war . . . I still associate with his remaining family . . . And I go pay respect to my friend and his brother and mother . . . And I have hard feelings toward America and the way these veterans were treated . . . Forgiveness one thing . . . But forgetting is something else .

'They confused the war and the warrior and that hurt.' - I felt that.

For those who don't know, 3 purple hearts and you can go home. This guy had 7. So, the last 4 were on him since he could have went home and chose not to. He should have run for president except I don't believe honesty and courage like he has would have been welcome in the corrupt system we have now.

What a brilliant and accurate characterization of my own experience. RVN 1968 to 1972. After 2.5 years in RVN I came home and was spit on at Oakland. My family turned me away, as did my home town friends. I went to school because I had the GI Bill but had no guidance or encouragement in finding a direction. My life has been a testament to survival and perseverence, not with the help of my culture but most often in spite of it. I am 68 and only in the last two decades have I been able begin to make sense of those years, though I cannot ever get my head around how I was abandoned then marginalized. I have sought out folks from that time and even They cannot explain why they behaved the way they did.I strive to Forgive, but cannot Forget. FWIW.

"No one wants peace moreso than someone who's seen war." - David Christian That comment made an impact on me.

We lost 55,000 of these gorgeous bright baby boomer men. I'm 75 & never found guys my age through the years. They were either younger or older due to this horrific loss of great guys. We miss you & love you all R.I.P. 💔

I figure this guy is about 70 now. Would love to hear his thoughts today.

At the VA they have a saying,"Vietnam the war that keeps on killing". My brother died at 68 because of agent Orange. RIP jimmy.

"That's one of the great things that came out of the 60s generation, is that we can agree to disagree." My, how times have changed in America.

David Christian Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star (2) Bronze Star (2) with "V" Device Purple Heart (7) Air Medal (2) Army Commendation Medal Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross (2) with Star and Palm

The 60s were intense.Wasnt all peace and love.

This vet gave the most eloquent summary of the 60’s vietnam war era.

I am a Canadian Afghan Veteran and his words are just as relevant today as they were back then.... thank you for speaking truth

There were a lot of men that didn’t make it home from that unjust war, and a lot that came home broken and thrown to the curb, this guy is one of the lucky ones..

i make sure every Vietnam vet i come across i tell them welcome home and im sorry it took so long

“I don’t ever ever see another protracted war that America is going to get into...” Oh............ 😢

Wow a former Green Beret, a highly decorated one, some of the terrible things he saw can only be imagined. Yet he still comes across calm, collected and intelligently speaks right to the point taking to mind both sides of the story.

"Somehow they confused the war and the warrior" ^^^ If this isn't the epitome of how the culture treats us Vets idk what it...

When I came home, I spent over ten years of working during the day and shutting down the bars at night. Outside of my small rural community I was treated at first like I had done something wrong or had some terrible disease. Eventually I just hid the fact I was a Vietnam veteran. Fortunately after about ten years of my social isolation a wonderful woman walked into my life and we have been happily married for over 40 years. I still will not wear any shirt or cap that identifies me as a Vietnam veteran.

My husband joined in 1974, and he said when he came home after his basic and schooling, the people at the airport spit all over him as he walk through the airport, unbelievable. He was only seventeen at the time. He still Blown Away over 40 years later, by the fact, that they did that to him. He calls it the gauntlet. I've seen tears coming down his face, when he recalls it. I Can Only Imagine.