"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" wrote in message
...
[...] the view was during the RVN [Republic of Vietnam] years that of the
returning soldier as a veritable leper and no collective 'welcome home'
where those who served [and no matter branch nor duty station BTW] became
the brunt of the nation's frustration with Vietnam as if the individual
soldier was 'personally' to blame!

I hope that, even if our President (and others) did not learn their lesson
from previous history, the country as a whole will have learned some
manners, and that our Iraq veterans will be honored as those in the service
should. Perhaps even more, for doing their jobs -- jobs they promised to
do -- even as no one should blame them for objecting to the job (as many of
us do).

It's relatively easy to do a job everyone feels is a necessary and important
one. It's much harder to do the same job if half the people think you
shouldn't be there in the first place.

[...] On the other hand, Peter, I sometimes muse that any sort of
universal peace or collective sharing on a 'sustained' basis is a pipe
dream

I'm sure it is. But a worthwhile one, nonetheless.

[...] Ahhh, enough about that. Thanks again.

You're very welcome. Glad to be of help.

Pete