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

"Here's my ideal of a return. First of all, they don't need cheering. It ain't football."
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

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.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot