Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for June 21, 2014

BD now gets to relive it with Iraq.

BD’s thinking, “What a waste of lives, never again.”He was an optimist.

Honorable, brave, talented men and women are used by dishonorable officials to fulfill their own manipulative ends. Why are we always surprised when events end badly.

as a Canadian i want to say, that Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican, we can all agree that our soldiers deserve our respect and gratitude for what they go through.Wars are never started by the grunts in the field.

How (and I know…why?) does someone even respond to such hatred and ignorance? This total lack of empathy is why we keep getting roped into putting our precious children on the front lines of useless wars. Today I’m just grateful that I don’t know you personally, bawana.

aah the American Empire!! sacrificing American and the world for Profit. we can thank the Rich for starting wars they get grunts to die for.and screw them over like they have done by not funding the VA, Privatize teh Profits and Socialize the Cost.

wonderful Elites. they know how to do it. everytime, over and over again, from Vietnam to Irag and back again

So, Please tell me the proper use of “flag”

For a more political take on this, see today’s Ted Rall strip.

Hate speech is not protected speech.

I am going to guess that you are old enough to have been one of the slime balls yelling insults at the troops right after they finally made it home. The reason they “whine” is because they were the first troops that were greeted with "baby killer’ signs instead of yellow ribbons. My father was an evil man, but I still respect the fact that he served. As an only child he couldn’t be drafted. He still did his 2 tours in "Nam. My mom was 7 months pregnant with me when he deployed. So yeah, unless you yourself have served AND gone to war the only one who needs to grow anything is you, like a brain and a heart.

@bawanaMaybe we Viet Vets are the whiniest. But I believe we were the first to be accused of losing a war. The Amer. Legion and VFW both refused, at some point, to admit Viet Vets into their orgs. for that reason, even though the leadership such as generals Westmoreland and Abrams were vets of WW II and Korea. Viet Vets started up their own org. with the motto which reads, in effect, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” So, stick that in your smoke and pipe it.

Far too much blood was spilled in Vietnam. Too many lives were lost. Go visit the wall in DC if you think Vietnam vets are whiny. 50,000 Americans lost their lives. It would be obscene to not remember what happened in Vietnam all those years ago.

This time, BD’s not alone. I can imagine how Ray and Toggle would feel.

It never ceases to amaze me how anyone could compare the military record of GWB to John Kerry and say that GWB’s was superior. John Kerry went to Vietnam and received several medals. GWB did not. When John Kerry came home, he was a vocal critic of the war, as were many who served in Vietnam.

Let’s see, run to Canada and be called a draft dodger, or refuse orders and be court marshaled, or run away and be called a deserter, or do your duty with orders that seem okay because you don’t know what’s behind them and be called a baby killer. Decisions, decisions…

Yes, it was a complicated time. I have two brothers who were eligible at the time of Vietnam to go to war. The one who went to Vietnam is now very liberal and a very outspoken critic of war in general. The one who had long hair and against the war at the time, is now very conservative and a big proponent of the military and sending others to war. C’est la vie, eh?

Boy, this strip would bring a wave of nostalgia to Willard the ChickenHawk, who spent that war in France. -One of our real courageous patriots. Yes sir.

@fbjsrIf Bush really wanted to serve in Vietnam , all he had to do was join the Air Force instead of the Air National Guard.

@bawanaI guess, you didn’t hear about the “Bonus Army.”

SOME soldiers were evil. As I said my father raped me from ages 11-14. Just as I don’t think all men are evil I know that the amount of soldiers doing the evil was low. Also the evil happened on BOTH sides! I do not believe we should have gone into Vietnam. As I said earlier my mother was pregnant with me, so obviously my opinions have been formed through education. The “Rim Theory” that led us into it was so asinine that it’s hard to believe anyone with an iota of sense would have followed it.

I’m a Vietnam veteran and I remember my feelings as I watched Saigon fall: only joy. The war was finally ending, and it was ending the only way it could end. It was all for nothing, but I realized it was all for nothing about three months into my tour.

“The only thing we learn from history is, we learn nothing from history.”I know it. The next time some chickenhawk like Bush wraps the flag around himself and chants “Support the troops! Support the troops!” Americans will once again line up and march to war. Sad.

Look who’s being whiney!!!!! You are a disgrace &, probably, just like those who treated them so shabbily when they came home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was as touched today by this strip as I was when I first saw it in 1975. Thank you Garry.

You will note that fbj doesn’t even bother to defend HIM, just attack Kerry, and accuse me of things I never said.

One of the most dishonorable days in the History of the United States.