Johansen and other Vietnam War veterans met at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel yesterday to talk about recent news reports concerning Kerrey. The headlines have reminded the veterans of how they were treated when they returned after serving in what had become an unpopular war. In fact, we took care of orphans, and we did that on our own. We never went out to make war on children. He said he has been following the news concerning Kerrey.
Veterans know all the things that really go on in combat and all the things that can happen.
You had to always be on watch. After Vietnam, the veterans said, they had to endure the stigma of having served in that war. Television depicted them as dangerous and unstable. Even people they worked with would act differently after learning they had served in Vietnam, he said. He said incidents like the one involving Kerrey point to the need for the educational center to let young people know what really happened during the war.