Someone decided to do this to their memorial right before Memorial Day. These veterans came home to worse than nothing. They came home to anger, blame, hostility and abandonment. Any other generation of veterans wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of treatment, especially from other older veteran groups not wanting them in "their club."
These veterans, even after the way they were treated, never lost hope in the rest of us. They knew if they let us know how much they were suffering after doing what this nation asked of them, we would care, and we did. It was a long time coming but Vietnam veterans were finally honored for their service and their acts of heroism along with their true devotion to their "brothers" but they managed to stun everyone when they decided to fight for all generations of veterans.
Their actions are pointed to whenever wars are debated and the lesson learned by the American public is not never again blame those we send for who sends them. The Gulf War veterans were treated with respect because of them and yellow ribbons were on doorways across the country. Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are treated with respect because of Vietnam veterans.
There is much still to be done in order to take care of our veterans, all generations of them, but for the Vietnam veterans, an act like this cannot be tolerated. Help them heal by helping them rebuild what cowards tried to destroy.
Vandals dishonor veteran memorial
Kayla Anderson, Eyewitness News 4; Taryn Bianchin, KOB.com
A recently unveiled memorial honoring New Mexico’s Vietnam veterans becomes the latest target of vandals.
The bronze, life sized statue at Veteran's Memorial Park in Albuquerque was unveiled on March 29th, coinciding with the day Governor Richardson declared Vietnam Veteran's Day for New Mexico.
The sculpture is a field cross marking a burial place on the battlefield, where one soldier is grieving for a fallen friend.
Last week, police found the sculpture partly broken and the bronze helmet and gun missing. The vandals also spray painted a large patch of graffiti along the back wall of the Memorial Park.
Police still don't know who may be behind the vandalism.
The statue was paid for by the local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America. They say they are currently making plans to raise money to fix it.
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