Complex sentence: Its genesis was a controversial newspaper column of 20 July 1987 in which "Chicago Tribune" journalist Bob Greene asked whether there was any truth to the folklore that Vietnam veterans had been spat upon when they returned from the war zone.
Split into simpler sentences: Its genesis was a controversial newspaper column of 20 July 1987. In it, "Chicago Tribune" journalist Bob Greene asked whether there was any truth to the folklore that Vietnam veterans had been spat upon when they returned from the war zone.