Supporting the troops

People are falling over themselves and each other in an effort to be the most supportive of the troops.  For those of you too young to remember Vietnam, this may or may not seem remarkable.  Here's a little history of how the modern attitude came about.

You may have learned in History class that the Vietnam war was an unpopular one, and indeed it was.  It didn't start out that way, at least for most people.  There was a sharp, very acrimonious division between the pro- and anti-war camps.  As the war dragged on, more and more Americans moved to the anti-war side.

There was a widespread attitude at the time that the key to ending any war was for enough people to refuse to participate as soldiers.  I had a button that read, "Wars will cease when men refuse to fight."  Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote a song called The Universal Soldier, that put the blame on each individual who willingly went to war.

By the time it was over, the Vietnam war was at its most unpopular, and when the soldiers came home, the customary public thank-yous and patriotic parades did not happen.  As time went on, many people became ashamed of their treatment of the Vietnam veterans, and today's soldiers are the beneficiaries of a more extravagant appreciation.