Heroic Treatment
Veterans from the Vietnam War were met with very little heroic acclaim upon their return home. Instead of being hailed as war heroes who had risked their lives for their country, Vietnam veterans were regarded as bad and animalistic people. Veterans were met by protestors who spit on them and jeered their arrival when they came back to the States. Virtually nothing was done to aid veterans and their loved ones who needed assistance in adapting back to American life after the war. Instead, veterans were portrayed in popular culture as drug-crazed psychotic killers, with no moral compass and a thirst for killing. Films like Taxi Driver and Rambo portrayed Vietnam veterans who were unable to successfully integrate themselves back into daily American life, manifesting their post-traumatic stress through crazed killing sprees. On the whole, Vietnam veterans were not usually embraced for their service. Rather, they were shunned and avoided for they symbolized an unpopular war and the political missteps of the American government. It was not until 1982 after the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., that veterans were recognized for their sacrifices. Despite the memorial, the negative affects of the Vietnam War on veterans has remained bleak and lacks the heroic treatment given to previous war veterans. More Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than had died in it, with even more becoming homeless. Amongst themselves, even Vietnam veterans didn’t like talking about their experiences in the war, for the war was looked upon with shame and regret. To this day, many Vietnam veterans are poor, badly educated, jobless, and incarcerated. The American Defense Department, which is tasked with supporting and facilitating programs for war veterans, has budgeted out a mere $100 million for Vietnam veterans. This total is less than the amounts spent for both World War II and the Korean War and reflects the general lack of heroic treatment for Vietnam veterans. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, approximately 300 Vietnam vets are dying every day. The Vietnam War was a very unpopular war and its soldiers receive the same kind of negative response. It is sad how terrible Vietnam veterans have been treated, especially since many of them were drafted into the service and didn’t have a choice of whether they would enlist or not. The Vietnam War will forever live in infamy, while its soldiers will never receive the praise and respect and deserve.