I wonder what was he thinking?

[graygun]

I was at COSTCO a while ago at the food counter. In front of me was a guy wearing a cap that said "combat vet" on the back,an old guy like me. All of a sudden I heard loud talking in Vietnamese right behind me....a guy talking to his wife about the food offerings.

The vet's cap indicated he had been with the 1st Cav. I wondered what thoughts etc. were passing through his mind as he heard the guy behind me. The vet was a short,maybe 5',Latino. I was wondering if he may have even been a tunnel rat over there.

 

[daveg.inkc]

Perhaps this soldier was part of the American force at Ia Drang, Nov. 1965

 

[Merle1948]

In my case I'd have been wondering which side he was on...... :shock:

 

[pete44ru]

.

I wondered what thoughts etc. were passing through his mind as he heard the guy behind me.

"Lemme see....... should I get pork chops, or the veal...... ? " . :mrgreen:


.

 

[Ray Newman]

This thread presupposes that the gent wearing the hat is a vet. I have known a few such hat wearers who are not vets....

 

[eveled]

Half the Vietnamese people were on our side in the war.

I worked with two veterans, one was American, one was South Vietnamese. They were close friends.

 

[Mobuck]

"Half the Vietnamese people were on our side in the war."

In my experience--ONLY MARGINALLY SO

Here's what I think when I hear a foreign language being spoken: I used to loudly ask if the speaker knew WHERE he/she was and remind him(or her) that this is America and we speak English. I also suggested if they wished to talk their jibberish, to go back from whence they came and stay there. I refrain from this now since it could be considered a "hate crime".
Not long after 911, I accosted a table of towel heads who were chattering in some form of middle eastern jibberish. I suggested if they were unable to speak English to at least keep their jabbering at a discreet level. The rest of the room applauded and the towel heads got up in a huff and left.
Not politically correct but I'm entitled to my opinion.

 

[graygun]

Yes,he may have been just a "hat wearer". I was just struck by my perceptions of the moment.

Back in the mid '70s I knew a few guys who had been ARVN. I asked one what his estimation of the VN population was VC or sympathizers. He thought for a moment and said "about 40%". Who knows for sure?

 

[BlkHawk73]

I used to loudly ask if the speaker knew WHERE he/she was and remind him(or her) that this is America and we speak English. I also suggested if they wished to talk their jibberish, to go back from whence they came and stay there.

Funny how ppl say this and have issues with foreign folks yet evidently forget that those Euro ancestors were the foreign, gibberish speaking people years back. Guess all those types are pure blood Native.

As for the whole us vs them in regards to the Vietnamese folks... Well, maybe I'm a bit biased in that my wife is 1/2 Vietnamese seeing her Japanese/Italian father enlisted willingly to go over there to fight and in turn, met the woman who would become his wife and very successful business owners.

 

[eveled]

Mobuck makes a good point, so does Blkhwk73.

Lots of people in my family came from another country. There were no handouts. They worked or starved, they learned English or they starved. They came here to become Americans. I guarantee they did not sit in a restaurant yelling in gibberish.

My great-grandfather earned his citizenship by enlisting in the army, & taking a trip to the French countryside during the Great War to end all wars.

Seems times have changed. I don't think it is fair to compare the older generations of imigrants to the recent immigrants.

As far as native Americans, they weren't the first ones here either.

 

[Mobuck]

"Funny how ppl say this and have issues with foreign folks yet evidently forget that those Euro ancestors were the foreign, gibberish speaking people years back. Guess all those types are pure blood Native."

My ancestors came from Ireland and Scotland and spoke English(ish) from the get go. English used to be considered "the official" language of the USA. Prior to that each of the various "native tribes" had their own language.