Why Were Vietnam War Vets Treated Poorly When They Returned?

Twenty-one-year-old Steven A. Wowwk arrived as an infantryman in the Army’s First Cavalry Division in Cam Ranh BayVietnam in early January 1969 to fight in an escalating and increasingly unwinnable war. By JuneWowwk had been wounded twice—the second time seriously—and was sent back to the United States for treatment at Boston’s Chelsea Naval Hospital.

It was after returning to the U.S. and while en route to the hospital that Wowwk first encountered hostility as a veteran.

Strapped to a gurney in a retrofitted busWowwk and other wounded servicemen felt excitement at being back on American soil. But looking out the window and seeing civilians stop to watch the small convoy of hospital-bound vehicleshis excitement turned to confusion. “I remember feeling likewhat could I do to acknowledge themand I just gave the peace signal,” Wowwk says. “And instead of getting return peace fingersI got the middle finger.”

The Vietnam War claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American service members and wounded more than 150,000. And for the men who served in Vietnam and survived unspeakable horrorscoming home offered its own kind of trauma. Somelike Wowwksay they had invectives hurled their way. As a cohortVietnam veterans were met with none of the fanfare and received none of the benefits bestowed upon World War II’s “greatest generation.”

This was partly due to the logistics of the never-ending conflict. The Vietnam War lasted from 1964-1973—the longest war in American history until it was overtaken by the one in Afghanistan—and servicemen typically did one-year tours of duty. Unlike conflicts with massive demobilizationsmen came back from Vietnam by themselves rather than with their units or companies. For a decadeas one person was shipped off to fightanother was returning.

“The collective emotion of the country was divided,” says Jerry Lembkea Vietnam veteransociologist and author of The Spitting Image: MythMemoryand the Legacy of Vietnam. “For the family whose son is just coming backyou aren’t going to have a public welcoming home ceremony when someone’s son just down the road was just sent off to Vietnam.”

As the war ground on and became increasingly hopelessthe military personnel put through this kind of revolving door of service came to represent something many Americans would rather not accept: defeat. “Vietnam was a lost warand it was the first major lost war abroad in American history,” Lembcke says. “You don’t have parades for soldiers coming home from a war they lost.”

Celebrations asidethe government also failed to make good on its promises to those who served. Veterans returning from Vietnam were met with an institutional response marked by indifference. Peter Langenustoday the Commander of VFW Post 653 in New CanaanConnecticutcommanded Delta Company3rd Battalion/7th Infantry199th Light Infantry Brigade from 1969-70. He led his men on operations that lasted 30 days or more in some of Vietnam’s most inhospitable conditions“without shavingbathing or changing clothing. None of that,” he says“prepared me for the reception at home upon our return.”

Back in the StatesLangenus quickly discovered the GI benefits available for Vietnam veterans “were almost nonexistent.” While living in New Yorkhe developed symptoms of malaria—a tropical disease fairly uncommon in the concrete jungle—yet he was denied VA health care because he didn’t display those symptoms in Vietnam. He graduated from Notre Dame prior to being commissionedand after his service returned to law school to cash in his educational benefits. “At a time when I was paying $300 a creditmy entire educational benefit was $126.” And when it came to finding a jobhe was met with thinly veiled disgust and discrimination from law firms upon learning he was a Vietnam infantry veteran.

“The society really was ill-prepared to give these guys what they deserved,” says Christian Appyprofessor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of three books on Vietnam. “They were not necessarily looking for a paradebut they were certainly looking for basic human support and help in readjusting to civilian life after this really brutal war.”

Part of the reason was economic. While the economy after World War II was one of the most robust in American historyduring and after Vietnam the nation was in a death spiral of stagflation and economic malaise. And as more and more wartime atrocities came to lightthere was a national implication of guilt and shame placed on Vietnam veterans as participants in and avatars of a brutalunsuccessful war. In popular culturethe stereotype of the brokenhomeless Vietnam vet began to take hold thanks to films like The Deer Hunter (1978)Coming Home (1978) and First Blood (1982).

It would take nearly 20 years after the end of the war for America to get right with its Vietnam veterans. The dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982 began the processbut many identify the Gulf War of 1990-91—with its national flag-wavingyellow-ribbon cultural mobilization and the grand celebrations of a successful campaign—as ending Vietnam Syndrome. “The Vietnam veteranswe couldn’t believe it. We could not understand getting letters from school kids,” says Langenusalso a veteran of Desert Storm. “You couldn’t believe that people were cheering you.”

Since 9/11patriotic gestureslike wearing flag pins and saying“Thank you for your service,” have become commonas more troops are sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. But the specter of Vietnam still lingersand some of that war’s veterans view such acts with a wary glance.

“Deeds need to be done in addition to words,” says Wowwkwho is 100 percent disabled from his Vietnam wounds. “I appreciate the respect of ‘thank you’ because that was something I never received when I came home. It’s better than nothing. It’s better than them walking away and not even recognizing you. But what are you doing in addition to saying ‘thank you’?”