Synopsis
A powerful memoir of a Vietnam veteran's painful return home, exploring national betrayal, memory, and healing.
Vietnam’s War of Hate recounts what returning from Vietnam was like for the author in 1969, proud of his combat service and proud of his Delta Company brothers. As a draftee who was discharged from the Army five months early with shrapnel a couple inches from his heart, Trewyn knew he was lucky to be alive. Inconceivably, five months later he was ready to go back to Vietnam. Dying with brothers in war looked better to him than living with haters in America while going to college in the anticipated refuge of his childhood hometown.
This book is about his struggles trying to understand the animosity toward Vietnam veterans in the United States back then. The magnitude was overwhelming. It also documents the evolution of his knowledge about the war overall and his battles against the common, inaccurate representations of the largely honorable and valorous soldiers who deployed to Southeast Asia.
It took Trewyn over thirty years to feel welcome in America, to experience a homecoming commensurate with the sacrifices made. Unfortunately, the erroneous portrayal of U.S. forces in Vietnam persists in popular culture and in the conventional wisdom of far too many Americans. The image of those who served remains tainted to this day including, most tragically, perception of the 58 thousand men and 8 women who died in Vietnam. Pride in their service to America was stolen from them by America. It was ripped from the hearts of their loved ones. Vietnam’s War of Hate describes the authors arduous journey entangled in this awful saga. Its causes are exposed along the way.
Alarmingly, America is once again experiencing the type of strife and convulsions that he came home to in 1969. The bitterness and polarization of that period have resurfaced. Thus, the long trek charted in this book offers both timely and enduring lessons for our current era.
About the Author
Raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, Ron Trewyn was trained as an accountant, then as a cell biologist. Partway through the latter he was drafted into the Army where he attended the Vietnam-era NCO school, graduating as a Staff Sergeant, prior to serving in the infantry in Vietnam. Discharged early with shrapnel 2 inches from his heart, he returned home proud of his combat service and that of his selfless brothers. Encountering widespread anti-veteran hatred was a shock. He was about to reenlist for Vietnam duty when antiwar protestors torched the landmark college building where he was finishing his undergraduate degree. It was the same complex where he had completed K-10 of his education. Watching Old Main burn lit a fire in him to stay and battle the anarchists at home. After completing his doctoral degree, he conducted cancer research for 20 years, and was appalled to find ongoing discrimination against Vietnam veterans at his and other universities. He completed his academic career in administration on a veteran-friendly campus, retiring as vice president for research emeritus. Vietnam’s War of Hate describes his multi-decade quest to expose those guilty of stealing pride in service to America from Vietnam vets.
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