DougR, I was one of those returning soldiers from Vietnam, and I was treated that way. The fact that neither I nor anyone I served with knew about or was involved in any of the alleged atrocities had nothing at all to do with the fact that there was not, and never had been, any reason for us to be fighting a war in Vietnam.

It is equally true that the fact that American soldiers are now doing a difficult job in Iraq, as well and as honorably (except for an extremely small number of people) as they can, does not mean that we have any more business there than we had in Vietnam. It took over ten years and over 50,000 dead soldiers (without counting the number of dead Vietnamese, mostly killed by their own people) to realize we had made a mistake in the first place and to get out. By the time we did so, the US military had lost much of its sense of honor. I know...I was part of the US military at the time.

You say that we shouldn't question the mission they are assigned? We certainly should, and as often and as sincerely as we can, while assuring to the best of our ability that our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters know that they are not the ones being questioned.