V For Valor

Fulton 1
V for Valor 2.6 million troops served for the United States during the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1973, and not one of them got the homecoming they deserved. Many returning from Vietnam were stereotyped during the war concerning alcoholism and drug use, and countless numbers of veterans carry unseen physical and emotional scars from their time in Vietnam (Thompson, After Vietnam, veterans fought battles at home). Due to the realization of importance and the incredible support and gratitude from Americans, todays veterans and current US troops do not suffer the hardships of past Vietnam veterans. Many people didn’t understand what how America was changing during the War. Pat Schneider recalls, “how rapidly society was changing,
Tom Burns, who was drafted into the Army in 1967 and served in Vietnam from November 1968 through August 1969, returned to work at an accounting firm and he states “And most of the senior partners were World War II veterans, and they were kind of like, ‘Oh you were in Vietnam. Were you on drugs?”(Thompson) Mike Hoag enrolled at Adirondack Community College in the fall of 1968, directly after returning from Vietnam. He was disappointed that Vietnam became a topic of discussion in just about every class. He stated, “If I got up and said something, it wasn’t very popular, so I never finished the semester. I just couldn’t deal with all of the comments” (Thompson). It is a shame that Vietnam veterans couldn’t even go to work or school without being criticized or
“Today’s generation of veterans return home to the most pro-veteran environment in decades” (Hsia, Did Vietnam change the way we welcome veterans home?). Current US troops come home to celebrations from enormous crowds showing their support and gratitude. There are many programs such as the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Operation Gratitude to support current troops and their families and the families of soldiers who were not able to return home. The WWP is a nonprofit organization whose goals are to “honor and empower wounded warriors” of the United States Armed Forces with an objective to “foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history” (Wounded Warrior Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). The WWP works to raise awareness and provide help for the brutally injured men and women, and to provide unique programs and services to meet their wants and needs. Along with the WWP, Operation Gratitude is a non-profit, volunteered-based organization that annually sends 100,000 care packages filled with personal letters from home, entertainment items, and snacks. Since the beginning of the program in 2003, Operation Gratitude has shipped more than 800,000 packages to soldiers and their families (Operation Gratitude - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Vietnam veterans never received care packages from either of those