I am not so much bothered by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's belief that he actually served in Vietnam as I am by his past assertions that veterans of that war were spat upon as they returned.
As I have maintained for nearly 40 years now, it never happened. How do I know this?
1) I was in a position in that era to watch the news wires every day and I do not remember any such news story -- and as a draft dodger and anti-war zealot, I would have paid attention.
2) Had someone been spat upon in an airport or other public place, three things could have happened: a) it would have been reported as an assault b) the serviceman would have decked the spitter or c) nothing would have happened, meaning bystanders would have looked on silently in approval. If a) or b) occurred, there would have been a police report. Even absent a report, it would have made the newspapers, and back then, newspapers verified what they printed.
3) Every time someone made this outlandish claim, when pressed, would say well I heard it from my brother-in-law's cousin's friend.
If anyone can document a specific incident of an antiwar protester, or anyone else, spitting on a returning serviceman, I will give $1,000 to that person's favorite charity.
It doesn't count to say, "It happened to me" or "I saw it." Because that would make the claimant look like a coward since there was no report made of it.
So let's stop this spit, once and for all.
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