I travelled to Bangore Maine with my parents to meet my brother and sister-in-law's plane coming back from Iraq. Counting my Dad there were about 8 other Viet Naum era vets there to meet the plane and clap as the soldiers camp down the exit ramp. Two women had a box of pre paid cell phones for anyone to call family and tell them they were back. It was very moving. I was told that any time returning soldiers are landing in Bangore that there will be a similar number of gray haired vets and one soldier came down the ramp with the biggest smile and exclaimed, "I LOVE landing Bangore!" <br /><br />Recently there was in the news the story of thirteen Marines getting a similar welcome and upgrade to first class: http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/11/07/soldiers-get-her… /><br />My point is that there is a strong trend in supporting returning troops regardless of political leaning. People can hate the Iraq/Afganistan conflicts but they dont hesitate to cheer the troops and I would guess that this is a direct result of Viet Naum and the stories of protesters spitting and and reviling returning troops.<br /><br />So I'm currious, does the Frontier have its Viet Naum? <br /><br />As i thought about it I guessing that yes it does- Laco's War and that the "troops" that were/are unpopular are the corporate mercenaries. With the huge casualty counts from Laco's War in particular and other corporate wars in general that the public image of the corporate mercenary is not the best.<br /><br />Perhaps not to the same extent as the American experience but I can see the mercenaries of the Frontier looked at with some ill favor.
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