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दस्तावेज़
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OCR Page 1 of 47THE EVENING STAR
Washington, D. C., Monday, April 26, 1971
RICHARD WILSON
The 2.5 Million Veterans Who Didn't Come
a solid base of support for con-
as possible for Nixon on the
At the end of 1970. according
ance on this far-off and diffi-
to official Defense Department
cult battlefield.
tinuing on the road toward
pretext that his commitments
can't be relied upon.
figures, approximately 3 mil-
The ranking officers, from
American objectives has not
What the vast majority of
lion Americans had served in
Gen. Westmoreland on down,
materialized in any concrete
2.5 million men who have
Southeast Asia, 2.5 million in
way. Perhaps it exists and un-
served in Vietnam may think
Vietnam alone. The thousand
all felt it. Many of them, in-
derlies the patience of the
of all this is unknown but they
or SO of them who demonstrat-
cluding Westmoreland, be-
lieved that the rotation of
American people with the slow
have endured it in silence and
ed in Washington were a mi-
and painful process of disen-
without the affront many of
nute fraction of the total who
manpower on the basis of
gagement.
them evidently felt over the
have served in Vietnam. This
one-year service would contin-
But those who contend that
conviction of Lieut. Galley.
certainly could not be consid-
ually send back to the United
this has been an ignoble war
The ugly possibility presents
ered an abnormal proportion
States men who in due course
and unworthy of American
itself that one of the legacies
of disillusioned and embittered
would create an important re-
standards and ideals have got-
of the Vietnam war will not be
veterans emerging from any
servoir of support for Ameri-
ten the upper hand SO far as
men who returned strength-
war in any country.
can operations in Vietnam.
public attention is concerned.
ened or ennobled by service to
In fact, the discontented and
In the beginning this did
They are making the most of
their country but the fewer
alienated veterans of war have
seem to be the case. The Viet-
the presence in Washington of
who are permanently es-
in some countries and for dif-
nam veterans in large number
crippled and wounded medal
tranged and distrustful of all
ferent reasons represented a
felt that they had been partici-
winners and scoffing at Presi-
higher authority.
far more serious challenge to
dent Nixon for his forbearance
If there was any point at all
governments in power, Ger-
pating in an action which was
both necessary and worth-
in avoiding evicting them from
in the Vietnam veterans visita-
many being the most dramatic
while. And it was on this basis
the public grounds of a nation
tion it was to persuade Nixon
illustration.
that one observer, at least, de-
they have served.
of the expediency of declaring
Yet there is an element of
parted from his usual detach-
Nothing that the veterans
a fixed date for the completion
disappointed expectations in
ment in writing for the news
did here brought the end of the
of a total withdrawal from
the attitudes being adopted by
columns to assert that the
war one hour closer but their
Vietnam.
the veterans of Vietnam. Any-
Vietnam operation was worth-
encampment did serve as a
This is not in the cards and
one who visited Vietnam in the
early part of our heaviest in-
while.
political backdrop for various
it is hard to believe that it
The expectation that the
Democratic presidential candi-
would actually become the
volvement had difficulty sti-
fling a sense of pride in Amer-
hundreds of thousands of re-
dates who are trying to make
program of any president
ican behavior and perform-
turning veterans would create
the way out of the war as hard
elected as Nixon's successor
whatever he might say or
pledge during a presidential
campaign.
Total and hurried withdraw-
al from Vietnam carries with
it the imminent and real dan-
ger of terrible consequences
for the people of South Viet-
nam to say nothing of Ameri-
can integrity.
Presidential candidates and
aspirants who create the im-
pression they would totally
withdraw now, and exploit a
veterans protest to reinforce
that impression, are living and
talking in a make-believe
world. They do not know they
could lead the American peo-
ple that way if they got the
chance.
The 2.5 million veterans of
Vietnam who did not come to
Washington may have some-
thing to say about that.
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