Why were Vietnam veterans often treated badly when they returned home?
by 
goober girl
ANSWERS: 9
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some one help me here
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The Vietnam War Veterans were often treated badly because the American public did not approve of the war. The media showed all of the anti-war demonstrations and the negative aspects of the war as propoganda. People thought that the United States shouldnt have been in Vietnam so they disagreed with everyone who made it possible.
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People confused the politics with the soldiers. While people have reason to be against military action, especially when it goes agaist what the majority want, thier anger over it shouldn't be directed at the individual soldier who accepts risking his life and future in service to his people and country. A soldier doesn't join the military to kill but to serve. Once he has been sworn in he has no rights in terms of where he goes or the mission he has been assigned. Few soldiers will follow an order which is clearly illegal in nature. During the Vietnam war the frustrations over the war were wrongly taken out on our men an women who were expected to die if need be for the very people who mistreated them. I personally feel disgusted by the cruel treatment they received when they returned home.
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Probably: 1) The Americans at home did not approve of the war. They did not know why America was there, excpet to stop the spread of communism, and the publication of the Pentagon papers showed that even the high up military officers were almost certain that the US could not win the war. 2) Look up William Calley on Google. He was a Lt. in the army who demolished a whole village full of women, children, and old men. Vietnamese women were being abused and rped. The soldiers killed anyone they could because they did not know who was the bad Vietnamese and who was the good Vietnamese. So that must have created a lot of resentment for the soldiers' behavior back home.
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Vietnam was the "Television War" meaning that the horrors of the war were being broadcast into civilians' lives, every night. The atrocities being committed by both sides were widely publicised, and this led to a lot of anger at home, hence the "baby killing" term and the anger at the vets. Also there was a huge lack of understanding - post-traumatic stress wasn't understood, and the veterans' nightmares and psychological scars were not dealt with properly. then they turned to drugs/alcohol and were shunned even more by mainstream society. Hope that helped :)
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For the Australian soldiers in Vietnam (yes, they were there, and we lost hundreds of them), it was a case of fighting a war that had become very unpopular. OUr government was pushing for us to continue supporting the USA, but the public did not want it, especially when it involved "drafting " 18 yo boys to fight it. Sadly, the hatred of the war got transferred onto the soldiers, many of whom, being conscripts, hadn't wanted to go, and had seen terrible atrocities committed by both sides. Some were also victims of AGent Orange. When they returned home, unlike the heroic welcomes given to soldiers after WW2, the Vietnam Vets were greeted with hostility and protests. This led to severe depression, alcoholism and drug use (just to numb the pain). They were not even permitted to march in our version of Veterans' Day (ANZAC Day) initially, which further traumatised them. It is good to see that we have learnt from that, however. Though the war in Iraq is not popular here, and protests against it take place, it is not the soldiers who are targetted now.
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The media
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American took on a war the French retreated from as one they could not win. We went into the war to fight against Communism and to protect South Vietnam from being taken over by the communist North. It was a war America could not win either, especially with the president's interference (Johnson) in the battle plans and bombing. The enemy was not easily seperated from the civilian population because the N. Vietnamese would conscript whole villeges and the American toops couldn't tell who would fight for the North. Even women and children did because they either brainwashed or their family held hostage. Often entire villages were eliminated because people from them would kill Americans but no one could figure out who had done it. My brother was there. He wouldn't talk about it. People at home called the soldiers "baby killers" and shuned them when they arrived home.
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the truth is no one can give you that answer except for those who treated us badly and now after all the years they don't remember or won't admit it. vietnam vet 1970
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