Homeless Vietnam Vets Support Gulf Troops

BOSTON--With the war in the Persian Gulf coming to a close, more than half a million returning U.S. troops will be greeted in the coming months with a hero's welcome from friends, family and the American public. Fifteen years ago, Vietnam veterans didn't receive such a warm reception.

At the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, a banner bearing the now-familiar yellow ribbon reads "We Support Our Troops." It greets residents as they pass through a metal detector and check in at the front desk for their bed assignments.

The banner represents rather accurately the sentiments of most of these down-on-their-luck veterans of U.S. wars and military actions.

Though these veterans dispute the war's justifications, they, like much of the general public, are quick to stress the distinction between government policy and a soldier's duty.

"They did what they had to do and, as the president said, 'God bless them'," says George Emerson, a chain-smoking navy veteran of the Korean War.

"You have to do what you're told. It's something you have to do," adds Vietnam veteran Frank Moynihan, who says he believes the real motive behind Operation Desert Storm is to "free the oil."

"I don't think we went for any humanitarian reasons," says R.C., who served in the military between wars. "We went in to get the oil fields for the oil companies. It seemed like an expensive war...but the oil companies got what they wanted."

"I was behind the men and women who had to go, but I don't know the reasons why they had to go and I don't think I care," says Vietnam veteran Warren Quinlan, who is wearing an "Operation Desert Storm" T-shirt given to him at the Bedford Veterans' Administration Hospital from which he was discharged that day.

Heroes Before They Went

The veterans at the shelter, almost 40 percent of whom participated in the Vietnam War, remark at the significant differences between their experiences 20 years ago and the experiences of today's troops, noting the difference in the government's and the public's attitude toward the troops then and now.

"I can't believe the support. I just wish someone was wearing a yellow ribbon when I was coming home," says Quinlan. "[The troops] were heroes before they went."

Quinlan, who still suffers from nightmares induced by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), says of his own return, "I felt like a bag of shit."

Most veterans at the shelter are optimistic as to how the government will treat the new veterans. "It seems like all the right people are going to take care of them. I don't think the country will allow for these veterans not to be taken care of," says Quinlan.

"I hope there's a place for them in the work field," adds Emerson, who is currently an unemployed plumber, having been laid off at the super collider construction site in Texas.

Bob Steinberg, who suffers from PTSD as a result of his service in the Navy during the Vietnam War, is more pessimistic about the new veterans' future. "They'll be well received, but they're still going to have to go through the same bullshit years down the road.

Steinberg, who says he was discharged early from the Veterans' Administration hospital in Bedford in order to make room for the wounded from Operation Desert Storm, says the government is always more responsive to veterans who are physically handicapped than to those mentally disabled by war.

The veterans also say they are impressed by the efficiency of Operation Desert Storm, attributing its success to less political involvement and a more organized military.

"The politicians ruined the war for us in Korea and Vietnam. They had the generals in charge this time," says Emerson.

"It was a really neat military procedure, unlike Vietnam...the objectives were so precise and clear. They were so precise and clear. They were so competent," says Quinlan.

"In Vietnam, no one knew each other. Today, everyone went over as a unit. The whole unit trained together, flew together, fought together, and will come back together," Moynihan says.

But despite Desert Storm's quick success, many of the veterans say they are still revolted by the country's willingness to go back to war so soon after Vietnam.

"When it comes down to murdering, it's really sick. And to think that we did it again in such a swift, surgical way," Quinlan muses.

The New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and private donations.

Approximately one-third of the nation's homeless population consists of veterans, many of whom have drug and alcohol abuse problems that began during their service in the military, says shelter director Dennis Falwell.