Today is Vietnam Veterans Day, a day to honor a generation of warriors who fought a just and noble war against a vicious and determined foe. They triumphed on the battlefield, only to be betrayed by a fifth column at home.
The were majority volunteers, especially in the combat arms, and they never once lost a battle. Their war was fought on the evening news under the glaring eyes of an uninformed, fooled, or outright hostile civilian population. They returned home to the scorn of their spoiled, soft and brainwashed peers who were told in college that the cause was immoral, the warrior evil. But even then, even after being maligned by the press that had actively worked against them and portrayed them as mentally unstable ticking time bombs, they continued to be winners; leading mostly successful and prosperous lives.
They are the men my generations of Marines, and of all war-fighters, respected, revered and wanted to emulate. They set the bar for us, and they set it high.
So honor them. Today, and all days.
