Yes, a argument could be made that some who resisted the Vietnam War were heroes. however there were true heroes who were in combat in Vietnam.
Remember many of the combat soldiers in Vietnam were not volunteers but were drafted. They served their country with honor and in some cases came home decorated heroes to a country who offered no thanks.
Politicians sent them to a war in a far off place for little or no good reason. 58000 lives and 350000 casualties were suffered by U.S. forces in this war.
The story of just one hero:
Peter Lemon was 19 years old, exhausted, scared, and fighting for his life. His body was bleeding from numerous shrapnel wounds in his head, back, and neck. These had been inflicted by an enemy mortar that had exploded near him earlier. Specialist Four Lemon was fortunate. That same mortar round had literally vaporized one of his close friends and fellow soldiers.
For more than three hours the battle had raged at Fire Support Base Illingsworth, one of two small American outposts in Tay Ninh Province. Pete and his 18-man platoon had just returned from another recon patrol hoping to get a good night's rest. But on this night there was no sleep to be found. Close to 400 enemy soldiers swarmed the small American outpost, and they had chosen the area of the perimeter defended by Pete's Platoon as their point of attack. Already the young soldier had successfully fought back two waves of enemy soldiers, survived the mortar attack, watched three friends die, and carried another wounded comrade to safety. Each time the enemy had come Pete Lemon had fought with fury, determined that if he could survive THIS assault, the worst would be over. Wounded a second time, when a third wave appeared poised to over run the perimeter it seemed that all hope for survival was lost. "I said to myself, 'You're not going to make it through this one'," Pete later recalled. Determined to go down fighting the intrepid soldier found a working machine gun and jumped to the top of the berm (dirt pile surrounding the base camp) and, in a fully exposed position, continued to fire at the enemy.
Wounded yet a third time in that final assault, and reduced to having to fend off the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, somehow the fearless Army Ranger survived the night. In the days that followed he surveyed the impact of that night from his hospital bed. Every man in the platoon had been wounded. Dead were three of his closest friends, Casey Waller, Nathan Mann and Brent Street. His own wounds would require more than a month of hospitalization, yet he had refused to be evacuated until the other wounded had been flown to a field hospital. Peter Lemon's war was over and within six months he had returned to his hometown in the state of Michigan as a civilian to try and forget an event that would forever haunt his dreams. When word arrived the following spring that President Nixon would present the Medal of Honor to him at the White House, Pete Lemon seriously considered turning down the award. There had been EIGHTEEN heroes on his section of the perimeter that night, three of whom had died. The Medal, if there was to be one, belonged to them...not to Pete Lemon.http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_lemon.htmlWhile it is fair to criticize the wars this country has been involved in through it's history, it's unfair to say that no soldier who risked his life in combat deserves to be labeled a hero.
We need to elect politicians who will carefully consider and make wise decisions before sending our young men into harms way.
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