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It ll last 13 years the length of time the United States spent building up its major combat presence there to more thanhalf a million troops under three presidents, losing 58,282American service personnel, battling politically over a war thatmost Americans eventually rejected, and then disengaging in defeat hurriedly leaving as North Vietnamese forces swept into what wasthen Saigon as US helicopters lifted off building tops carryingwhat few South Vietnamese families they could. Aside from family and friends (and not all of those), it was yearsbefore most Vietnam vets heard a welcome home officially notuntil the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982. Andeven that was controversial critics called the stark, blackgranite wall inscribed with the names of those lost a black gashof shame. Two stories of how Vietnam came home to the family As some veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did last week, some Vietnam veterans largely a young andscruffy lot still wearing their jungle fatigues, some bearing thewounds of combat had tossed their medals over a fence on Capitol Hill in protest. One of the antiwar leaders at the time was a young US Navy lieutenant named John Kerrey, now a veteran US senator. Members of the Vietnam generation faced their war in differentways. More than 3 million served in Southeast Asia , most of them not draftees but volunteers. Some left the countryfor Canada and other countries to avoid the draft. Others found legal ways toavoid service. Some (like former vice president Dick Cheney , who said he had different priorities at the time) accumulatedmultiple deferments. More than 300 professional athletes gotReserve or Guard appointments, including Bill Bradley , Nolan Ryan , and seven members of the Dallas Cowboys . So did former president George W. Bush . In recent years, there have recurring stories of men who embellish(or flat out lie about) their military experience. The list isuncomfortably long. Actor Brian Dennehy , Toronto Blue Jays manager Tim Johnson , former U.S. Rep. Wes Cooley, Pulitzer-winning historian Joseph Ellis. Vietnam vet B.G. Burkett, author of Stolen Valor: How the VietnamGeneration Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History, claims tohave revealed more than 2,000 men who falsely claimed to haveserved in Vietnam. In his proclamation for the commemoration, the President hinted atthe domestic strife that marked the war, referring to its veteransas those who saw our country through one of the most challengingmissions we have ever faced. It is never too late to pay tribute to the men and women whoanswered the call of duty with courage and valor, he said,evoking the call to separate the warrior from the war, howeverlong after the fact that would come. And at the wall, he took further note of how many returningvets were treated. Often you were blamed for a war you didn t start, he said. "You came home and were sometimes denigrated when you shouldhave been celebrated. It was a national shame, a disgrace thatshould have never happened." In many parts of the country today, older Vietnam vets arementoring young veterans of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, helpingthem get through tough economic times and tougher memories ofcombat. It s here we feel the depth of your sacrifice, Obama said tothe assembled Vietnam vets and their families on Memorial Day . You did your job. You served with honor. You made us proud, andyou have earned your place among the greatest generations. Then, at their memorial site Washington s most-visited place of national historical significance Obamasaid the words Vietnam vets typically say to each other: Welcomehome. Two stories of how Vietnam came home to the family. I am an expert from medical-hospitalbeds.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Ambulance Stretcher Trolley Manufacturer , Hospital Baby Beds Manufacturer, Hospital Baby Beds,and more.
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