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      THE ROLE OF THE VIETNAM VETERAN THIS ELECTION YEAR
                        Copyright (c) 1996
                       by Chester Yosarian
               Special to The American War Library

Permission to publish in entirety granted

                                          Seattle -- 24 April 1996

The Vietnam War generation came of age in November, 1992 when a
veteran of the second-most hated war in American history was
elected to the second-highest office in the land. The man elected
to the highest office opposed the war his Vice President-elect
volunteered for. It may well have been Bill Clinton's strategic
choice of selecting a Vietnam War veteran for Vice President that
ensured his victory amidst a sea of protests from angry Vietnam
vets pledging to vote on a one-issue agenda: their hatred for
any American who opposed the Vietnam War.

Within weeks of Albert Gore's selection in 1991, Vietnam vets
navigating their 'sea of hatred' soon found themselves quickly
beached by dehydrating support. With the help of prominent
Vietnam veterans around the country, the Vice President-elect
pooled intellectuals, professionals and former combat strategists
to counter George Bush's expected use of angry Vietnam vets to
flood Clinton speaking engagements with boisterous yells reminding
audiences of Mr. Clinton's wartime stand.

          This strategy was used (unofficially) by Jimmy Carter's
          people in 1976. Both Mr. Carter and Vietnam vets won.
          Carter got elected. Vietnam vets got President Ford to
          lobby Congress for a Vietnam Veteran's of America
          charter and funds for establishing nationwide vet
          centers.

But the Clinton-Gore election leadership quickly learned that you
don't hand American veterans a half-baked assignment. You either
ask American war vets to do the entire job or you get someone less
qualified.

          Douglas MacArthur set the precedent during the Korean
          War when he was ordered by Truman to restrict demolition
          operations of the Yalu bridges to the Korean side of the
          border. MacArthur responded: "Never in my entire service
          as a soldier have I ever been asked to blow up half a
          bridge!" Truman's shortsightedness, history records,
          permitted Chinese forces to utilize the bridges for
          their Thanksgiving Day invasion. Dozens of Americans
          were killed. America almost lost the war. It ended in
          the most lop-sided stalemate in the history of human
          warfare.

Taking on their Clinton-Gore mission, Vietnam veterans who
supported Al Gore quickly quieted veteran opposition with an
intensive grass-roots micro-managed campaign of phone calls, vet
meetings, community canvassing and speeches related in trench-level
language. They went forward to ally converted vets with the
Clinton-Gore candidacy. The results are history: George Bush,
World War II combat pilot, winner of the Gulf War, and heir-
apparent to the most popular president since John Kennedy lost
embarrassingly.

This election year Vietnam veteran opposition to Bill Clinton
is all but dead. Even the most publicly accessible veterans
'organization' in the country, a Vietnam War newsgroup on the
internet, has devoted minuscule attention to the thousands of
issues and candidates in hundreds of local, state and federal
elections rapidly approaching this November.

The almost complete abandonment of political and social attention
in so critically important a year by Vietnam veterans on the
internet, needless to say, is disappointing to veteran watchers
and military-eligibles who appear to be douching their hero-
worship of the fabled men of 'APOCALYPSE NOW', 'PLATOON' and 'GO
TELL THE SPARTANS'. Non-veterans in the same forty-five to
fiftyish age group of Vietnam War veterans who visit the most
popular of the two internet Vietnam War newsgroups are quickly
reminded of the 'crazy-vet' movies of the early Seventies that
depicted all Vietnam vets to be like Al Pacino's 'Nam vet
character in 'DOG DAY AFTERNOON'.

Will the alt.war.vietnam newsgroup eventually evolve toward the
political action weapon it certainly had, and maybe still has, the
potential to achieve? Will it attract the cerebral Vietnam vets
who can guide it away from its current status as pariah among
internet veteran newsgroups? Despite the efforts by a few on-track
diehards hoping to guide alt.war.vietnam toward greater heights,
this reporter is inclined to believe positive change in
alt.war.vietnam is all but impossible.

One such patriotic diehard is NEIL MISHALOV. For the past six
months Mr. Mishalov has dutifully posted the completed texts of
Medal of Honor winners. To date, only two veterans have replied.
One veteran claimed, somewhat ambiguously, that he arrived in
Vietnam to fill the job position of a man who won a Medal of
Honor. Another veteran posted her gratitude for Mr. Mishalov's
newsgroup contributions. No other thanks to Mr. Mishalov have been
publicly posted.

Veteran organizations, with the exception of one diehard group
called THE AMERICAN WAR LIBRARY, have all but refused to post any
information about their organization or its activities. Raymond
Bell, a member of DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS says the answer,
".... is obvious. It would be corporate suicide for a veterans
organization to post their name in alt.war.vietnam. They would be
attacked by so many crazies it would be a massacre."

Bob Jenkins, a veteran who served in Korea and a member of
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS felt similarly. "Alt.war.vietnam is
completely wacko. How a bunch of guys who say they served in a war
can now devote so much time and bandwith in their grandfatherly
years to attacking other vets and groups is absolutely amazing.
I've recommended that we don't go near them."

Larry Edelman, a former member of VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA
added, "You've never seen a posting in alt.war.vietnam by VVA for
the obvious reason. Some of the people who hang out there have
neither principles, integrity or respect for other vets. Just the
other day a Vietnam veteran slandered a posting about Martha
Raye... Colonel Maggie. I mean, like, what could a Vietnam vet
find wrong in a Green Beret who gave every waking moment to
comforting her fellow soldiers?"

Commentaries like the above may or may not be indicative of the
overall typical Vietnam vet political mindset this election year.
Of course, thousands of other Vietnam veterans, such as Al Gore,
Jan Scruggs, Jesse Brown and others are working daily to solve our
Nation's eternal problems.

Alt.war.vietnam's Vietnam vets appear quagmired in the pursuit of
resolving both reality and direction. Most will be too busy
attacking one another to participate in November's election.

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From the on-line archives of THE AMERICAN WAR LIBRARY
In Service To American Vets & Military Personnel Since 1988

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