REMEMBERING VIETNAM

Online NewsHour Special Report: Remembering Vietnam NewsHour Archives Reflections on the War Recent Headlines Share Your Stories   PBS/The American Experience: Vietnam PBS/POV: RE:Vietnam U.S. State Department	The MacNeil/Lehrer Report -- May 29, 1978 THE FORGOTTEN WOUNDED A discussion with Max Cleland of the Veterans Administration and author Ron Kovic Part 1: Max Cleland and Ron Kovic on treatment of returning veterans Part 2: Cleland and Kovic on the state of veterans' medical care Though the Vietnam war had ended three years before, the problems facing those who served in it were far from over by Memorial Day 1978. Particularly at issue, according to veteran and author Ron Kovic, were the medical care and public misconceptions that greeted soldiers on the homefront. Kovic, whose book "Born on the Fourth of July" chronicled his own struggle back to health after he was wounded in combat, said public attitudes toward Vietnam veterans had led to a sense of shame for returning soldiers. "I think for a long time, the Vietnam veteran was stereotyped as violent and angry and crazy," Kovic said, "and I think that, to a great extent, the American public and the administration were projecting a lot of their fears on us when we returned from that war." Veterans Administration head and Vietnam vet, Max Cleland agreed. Wounded himself during the war, Cleland said he had seen "dramatic improvements" in care for veterans, but that perception problems continued to drive up veteran unemployment. "I think there are some problems about Vietnam veterans that are insolvable," Cleland said. "I think it's impossible to reverse the course of the war. It's impossible to restore completely the wounds that were created there -- particularly the psychological wounds. The men, like myself, who came back to this country will not forget that return."