Viet Nam Era Veteran

by Linda
(Mesa, Arizona)

Linda writes:

I am a Viet Nam Era veteran. I enlisted in the Navy in 1970 and served until medically discharged in 1978. I was a high school graduate and now have both a bachelor's and masters degree.

I was married to a Viet Nam veteran who saw combat with the 1st Marine Division. My uncle who retired as a "full bird" colonel did two tours in Nam, and my cousin was a "river rat" in Nam. He was a high school graduate at the time and did play on his high school football team.

None of the men and women I served with nor the ones I associate with now in my veterans organizations fit Mr. Kilmer's perception of Viet Nam Veterans.

To a person, if asked and allowed, we would gladly put our uniforms back on and serve with pride. I tried to re-enlist and even offered to refuse my service-connected disability but they would not let me do so.

Until he has walked a mile in our shoes, Val Kilmer does not have the right to claim to know us.

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Editor:

Linda, on this eve of Veterans Day, thank you for your service to our nation, and for that of your other family members. As a fellow Navy vet, like you I am proud to have served, and would do so again.

I am married to a Vietnam vet and we count many others among our friends. They would all gladly don the uniform and go again. In fact, they are incredibly frustrated to see this Democrat administration repeating many of the mistakes of the Johnson administration during Vietnam.

People like Val Kilmer and others in Hollywood and the Left Coast will never understand the pride and patriotism that accompanies the service of those who, like our Arizona Senator John McCain advocates, serve a cause greater than themselves.

Thank you for your comments, and Happy Veterans Day!

Janet

P.S. Be sure to check out our Veterans Day Specials.

And please visit our page about Vietnam veterans. Feel free to share your stories of service, leave tributes to friends who didn't make it home, or just say thanks to your fellow Vietnam-era vets.