136 - The Vietnam War - Part 2

As we mentioned last episode, public opinion was turning strongly against the Vietnam war by the late 1960’s.  President Johnson’s administration was coming under more and more criticism for how it had handled the war, and for the first time in US history, people are going to turn against the soldiers themselves.  For most of US history, soldiers returning from war were treated as heroes.  Soldiers returning from Vietnam were often treated like criminals.  This was a new, horrible thing for the soldiers, coming back to a country that regarded them with suspicion and even hatred. And on top of that, the experience of the soldiers while in battle was horrific.Much of the fighting was at night, at close range, in dense jungle, in horrible weather.