WATCH: Why Veterans Should Be "Thanked, Not Cheered"

In an extended preview of this weekend's Moyers & Company, Karl Marlantes -- a highly-decorated Vietnam veteran, Rhodes Scholar, author, and PTSD survivor -- talks about the confusion of conscience that comes with going to war, and why veterans should be thanked, but not cheered.

Here's my ideal of a return. First of all, they don't need cheering. It ain't football. I think that a lot of non-veterans think that they're supporting the troops by doing, you know, hullabaloo and "let's cheer and let's salute the flag and fire off a few cannons and some fireworks." What they need is recognition that what they've just done is something that should be thanked, not cheered."

Watch the full show this weekend. Moyers & Company airs weekly on public television.

 

 

 

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Comments

[Enock Zamora]

05:54 PM on 08/04/2012

It is true that we should not be cheered on when we return. We just need to make sure that the bastard's that start these wars for profit give the Veterans that which is due or promised.