Living Casualties: Welcomed home?

The Vietnam War started in the 50s and lasted into the 70s. It was this country's longest and most divisive war. Anti-war protests swept the country, and caught up in it all ‒ the soldier, coming home and made a villain by some in his own country. It is a painful legacy that is not forgotten today. Jim McLoughan served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. “I got off the plane in Seattle, Washington and no one was there,” he said. “Not that it surprises me now that I look back on it, but being a WWII veteran's son and seeing a lot of the ticker tape, you would think someone was there. A group of men would be there to welcome us.” Perry Bundy served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. “They were running us thru a line to get us issued new dress greens. Some of the guys there said, ‘If any of you guys got civilians clothes, get out of that uniform before you get to any civilian airports,’” Bundy said. “I left the plane and about five minutes I was inside the terminal and walking around, and there's a lot of strange looking people walking around, and was I hit in the shoulder with an egg. And 30 years later, when I moved one time, I found my dress green jacket and it still had the egg yolk and egg shell on the lapel. So I was like, ‘Now I know what the guy meant when he said wear civies.’” Dr. Gary Lulenski served in Vietnam from 1970 to1971 “My coming home was this coldness and silence. It wasn't people throwing things at me,” he said. “…By 1971 a lot of soldiers were back there for their second tour, and actually they volunteered for a second tour, so that's some kind of statement about coming home, that they went back to that place instead of staying in the world. So I'd been told the best thing to do is get out of your uniform, and then you'll feel more comfortable. “So after I got to the civilian airport in Seattle, that's what I did, changed into civilian clothes Brendan Wilczynski served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, and in Afghanistan in 2009. “I can't even imagine what it must have been like to deal with the stress of coming home from a combat zone and not being accepted by your community or the people surrounding you,” he said. “The reaction was huge, you know, we had great fanfare. Police escorts everywhere we went by bus, and that kind of stuff, so it was great fanfare at the time. It was pretty spectacular. We felt open and welcomed by the community, which was really important. Don Alsbro served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967, and then from 1970 to 1971. “Us Vietnam vets realized how we were treated, and I think the country has tried to put a different face on the soldier,” he said. “The soldier is to be respected for what they've done.” Glenn Youngstedt served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971. “It really kind of irritated me with some of the movies,” he said. “Particularly how they portrayed Vietnam veterans or Vietnam soldiers as being a little crazy, immature and drug addicts, alcoholics. Most of the people I knew who had come back, that was not the case at all. We were pretty normal, or at least we thought we were.” Clifton French served in Iraq in 2006. "It was a great homecoming,” he said. “We came home on Christmas Eve and Santa Claus marched us into the hangar to where our families were waiting for us. If I'm in uniform, walking anywhere, I expect at least somebody to come up and say ‘Thank you.’" Perry Bundy: “It's really a lot to do with the Vietnam vet,” said Bundy. “We basically swore that we would never let that happen again.” Gary Lulenski: “The generation that was most unhappy, hostile, mad ‒ The people who had to see and listen to what happened at Kent State, the Democratic Convention, and all those bad things, and about Me Lai. Those people, most of them, I guess, have maybe mellowed. Some of them are no longer here, and I see the younger people today, and they view veterans as someone who served their country, and all veterans should be welcomed home.”