Reply #20: Vets see protests as attack on policy [View All]

[RobertSeattle]

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050821/NEWS01/508210332/1006

Vets see protests as attack on policy
Rallies not taken as personal slight

Troy Moon
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
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If there's growing sentiment against the war in Iraq, many area veterans of the fight aren't taking it personally.

Vets see the opposition as a protest against policy, not them or their service.

During the Vietnam War, many returning U.S. troops felt taunted, humiliated and treated with little or no respect. In contrast, today's veterans say they don't encounter animosity from people who don't agree with the U.S. military presence in Iraq.

"I have run into people who don't support the president's views on Iraq or our objectives, but I haven't run into a single person who said (he or she) doesn't support the troops," said Jason Crawford, a Purple Heart recipient who was shot in the face by opposition forces in December 2003 while in Iraq. "I think our society learned from Vietnam that it's not the men and women who sacrifice their lives and signed on the dotted lines who make up the plans and objectives. I think pretty much everyone supports the troops."

(More at link)