March 1960 — Billy D. Marden arrived as an infantryman in the Army’s First Cavalry Division in Da Nang, Vietnam to fight in an endless, bloody stalemate of a war. During a 5-month span, Marden had been wounded three times — bad enough to go back home — and was eventually sent back to the United States for treatment at Bethesda’s Walter Reed Naval Hospital.
Wounded but proud, Marden and other wounded service members felt the joy of being back on American soil. It didn’t last long. It was at that time that, en route to the hospital, Marden first encountered hostility as a veteran. The vitriol was real, and something he never expected.
His excitement would turn to confusion as he looked at his window to see civilians gathered outside the naval hospital. “It was awful, I kindly waved and saluted to show my support,” Marden remembers. “And instead of getting saluted in return like I expected, I got the middle finger.”
The problem of castigating American troops in Vietnam started far before Billy Marden. By 1966, more than 90% of American homes had at least one television, and it became the main source of news for the public.
By 1967, the narrative had changed drastically and for good. Fifty million people were witnessing death and destruction on their television screens every night, reported by journalists who were not censored by the military or any government agency.
By the Tet Offensive in 1968, the war was completely lost in the eyes of the media. Many in the press complained of a growing credibility gap between the brutal reality embedded journalists were seeing every day and what the American government was saying.
Support for the Vietnam War steadily declined into 1960, and as journalists increasingly reported bloody, brutal fighting and naturally public support for the soldier declined as well.
“Rather than victims of a cruel war, they were perpetrators of a cruel war,” author and historian James E. Wright said.
“Baby killer” and “get back on the plane” were commonly hurled at troops returning home. They were regularly spit on and objects thrown at them.
Many were refused service at public restaurants, and it got so bad that returning soldiers would often change out of their uniforms as quickly as possible as soon as they reached U.S. soil. Over 100,000 committed suicide.
Sound familiar?
2020 — Our nation’s public safety servants get the Vietnam treatment
In a year marred by a global pandemic, a historic election, and a changing societal landscape, cops found themselves in the crosshairs of the media and a wide swath of the population demanding a defunding and overhaul of our nation’s law enforcement.
“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
In this case, the lie is that police are vicious racists that lack patience, are widely corrupt and routinely violate the rights of citizens. The endless cycle of footage of negativity convinced the average citizen that the police can’t be trusted.
Between George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake — cops were killers and like the Vietnam veterans before them. Many thought they should “get back on the plane” out of the country because they aren’t wanted here.
Into the late 70’s and early 80’s it seemed people were finally realizing that service members who fought in Vietnam were just doing their jobs.
It got even better during the Gulf War, veterans were widely revered for their service. Yellow ribbons and flags could be seen everywhere, and schools were known to send care packages to “any soldier” as an expression of support and gratitude. Care packages flooded downrange units.
By1991, many came home to parades and the voice of Lee Greenwood singing “Proud to be an American” wafting over the airwaves. In 2020, we often cry when we see a video of a returning service member surprising his family as he returns home early from an overseas deployment.
So how do we recapture the admiration for our police and public safety servants?
Well, let’s take a look at the numbers, proposed originally in this article by Ken Crane in 2016
To keep yourself grounded in reality, consider this: if, on a national level, 120 negative police videos hit the airwaves in a year and we balance it against 900 million police contacts per year (estimated), the percentage of negativity is .000013 percent. This is not to say we shouldn’t worry about negative press, and endeavor to always do better but doing the math helps keep things in perspective.
To answer the question; it‘s all about perspective. We as a society are just allowing a small segment of society to use a very effective media machine to make law enforcement look like barbaric authoritarians.
Here’s the rub: Cops are human. They can and do make mistakes, some more serious than others. Just like the rest of us.
Cops work in a profession with some of the highest standards that results in constant scrutiny; it’s a matter of life and death every time the uniform is put on.
Because evil exists, and cops stand between it and us. Complaints alleging misconduct are investigated and dealt with through administrative discipline, termination or criminal charges.
Don’t give in to the anti-cop propaganda and, more importantly, when you see the next negative video surface on YouTube or CBS News, don’t forget the 900 MILLION TIMES PER YEAR police officers across America go above and beyond.
Tim Paul is the Co-Founder and CEO of Critical, a platform that is changing the game for Law Enforcement Agencies. He is a former Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and loves his country.
He can be contacted at tim.paul@thecriticalapp.com
