Sen. Kerry says he'll be ready for the Swiftboaters next time

philipkw said

Are people that are 50-51 years old considered Vietnam-era? I realize that no one has claimed that outright but there *seems* to be some sense of ownership of that era. I mean c'mon, that would put one at about 14 when Kerry was testifying before Congress. Does an adolescent understand exactly what's going on and develop a hatred or is the hatred inherited or otherwise programmed in? NTTAWWT. I inherited a passionate, albeit irrational, hatred for the Crimson Tide so I ain't casting stones. :hihi: I guess what I'm saying is that I can sort of understand servicemen from any era feeling somewhat betrayed, but I'm not sure I buy that a majority from that era shares that POV.

Click to expand...

Philip, I was 14 in April 1971. I had a classmate whose father died in Vietnam. I had classmates whose brothers and uncles were in Vietnam. My brother-in-law was in Vietnam.

I was set to register for the draft in 1973. Believe me, I was paying attention and we were all talking about it, at home, at school, everywhere..

When John Kerry sat in the Senate and ratted out his fellow servicemen, EVERYBODY saw it and formed an opinion about it, unless they were totally stoned out of their gourds, which some were.

Keep in mind, there were only two or three TV channels and Kerry's testimony was played over and over and over again by CBS, NBC and ABC...the only TV there was.

It's difficult to impart, but think of a time and place when everybody watched the same TV shows every night because there were no other TV shows. Same thing with news.