Vietnam veteran

Phrase used to describe someone who fought in the Vietnam War. Many nations fought in the war including North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Canada, Australia, the USA, the USSR, China, Laos, Cambodia and others.

Canadian Vietnam veterans

More than 30,000 Canadians were serving in the U.S. armed forces during the Vietnam era. Fred Graffen, military historian with the Canadian War Museum, estimates in Vietnam Magazine ("Perspectives") that approximately 12,000 of these men actually served in Vietnam itself.

The numbers of draft U.S. draft dodgers and deserters that fled to Canada is estimated to be between 30,000 and 60,000 by most authorities.

U.S. Vietnam veterans

There are persistent stereotypes about Vietnam veterans as psychologically devastated, bitter, homeless, drug-addicted people who had a hard time readjusting to society, primarily due to the uniquely divisive nature of the Vietnam War in the context of U.S. History.

However this image has been battled in recent years, primarily by people such as B. G. Burkett[?]. Burkett wrote a book called Stolen Valor in which he gathered statistics attempting to prove that Vietnam Veterans were actually quite prevalent among the government and business leaders of America 30 years after the Vietnam War. Furthermore he discovered a large number of people claiming to be veterans who were not. Using the Freedom of Information Act and military personnel records, he found these 'fake vets' in every walk of life. From the VA hospital, to University professors, to book authors, to interviewees in serious studies of the Vietnam War, to homeless people, to veterans magazines, etc.