. . . to boys who say NO".

A popular anti-draft poster in the late '60s.

Many hometown papers printed the names and mailing addresses of local young men and women who were serving in Vietnam. We seemed to turn a negative corner in late '67 as anti-war sentiment increased. As the war ground on, more and more soldiers received unfriendly mail and an unfriendly reception when they got home. A fellow soldier in Recon got a "care package" from his hometown in California during Tet. It was full of dry dog food and contained a note that said "Since you live like animals and die like animals, you might as well eat like animals, too.". Later in the war, soldiers flew all the way home in jungle fatigues, which caused many confrontations.

When I flew home from Vietnam in late March '68 we landed at Travis AFB, less than 20 miles from my home in Napa, CA. We were put on buses and taken out the back gate because anti-war protesters were blocking the main gate. At Oakland Army Base we were processed and told that it was not recommended that we wear our uniforms off-base in the Bay Area. I thought that was pretty strange, considering that I had just worn a US Army uniform for the last year in someone else's country. I wore my uniform home anyway. Napa was a pretty apolitical place and generally supported the local boys who served. My friends were very supportive of me, if not the war, and I had a pretty sheltered homecoming, unlike many, including some of my friends, who came home to taunts and verbal abuse.