SAD

I am a junior history major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Only this year was a professor bold enough to request a course outlining America's involvement in the Vietnam War. As a student enrolled in the course, I must say that I am shocked and distrurbed by the opinions that many people hold of the Vietnam War and of its veterans. Our class has had the opportunity to speak face to face with several Vietnam veterans, and I am proud to say that I have been given this wonderful opportunity. They are wonderful men and women who fought courageously for a country that they loved dearly. I do not understand how anyone can say that those men and women who died in Vietnam died in vain, and I certainly cannot understand how anyone can compare Vietnam veterans to Hitler and his Nazi regime. One of the greatest tragedies that came out of the war was the fact that when America's BRAVE troops returned, they were treated with such disrespect and outright hatred. I am not a Vietnam War expert by any stretch of the imagination, however, I do know that the way Vietnam veterans were treated was WRONG! The American military does not make US foreign policy, they simply carry it out. The US government gave the orders, and the troops did as they were told. Not until Americans understand this will we ever be able to come to terms with the bloody conflict in Vietnam. I for one, am PROUD to say that, although I was not alive when the Vietnam conflict began, or even when it ended, I STAND BEHIND THE VETERANS!! They faced hardships that many of us will never know, yet they continued fighting. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to say thank you...thank you for fighting....thank you for dying.....thank you for overcoming...

Erin L.