Vets give respect they never got

   By Victor Whitman
   Times Herald-Record
   vwhitman@th-record.com

Loch Sheldrake – Thirty-four years ago, Bob Lewis came home from Vietnam to a divided country tired of war.
   There wasn't applause in 1969, no streets lined with cheering people waving American flags. Nobody thanked Lewis for 500 combat hours – the bullets and shells whizzing near his helicopter that dropped troops into battle.
   "I had a girl come up to me and call me a child killer," the silver-haired former U.S. Army helicopter gunner said.
   "It was really demoralizing then," he said. "I want our people to know that they are going to have our respect."
   Yesterday Lewis tied an American flag and yellow ribbon to the back of his red Kawasaki and rode near the front of a parade through several Sullivan County towns – to give to the troops in Iraq the support he never got.
   A half-dozen motorcycles led 50 cars that flew American flags in support of the troops. It was not a pro-war rally. Organized by Sullivan veterans groups, the event banned pro- or anti-war statements.
   Leading the parade was Marines veteran Frank Bair of Jeffersonville, who flew Marines, POW and American flags from his motorcycle.
   In 1966, Bair read accounts of demonstrations while his unit dodged bullets. Coming home from Vietnam was a bitter experience. "Let's just say, you weren't respected at all."
   As a soldier, Bair thought he did his job. He couldn't understand why some hated him. Bad memories return when he passes demonstrators holding up "No blood for oil" signs in Liberty during weekly demonstrations.
   The soldiers took no part in the political decisions during Vietnam, Lewis said. And neither are the soldiers in Iraq.
   And soldiers, Lewis said, deserve admiration, especially during wartime.
   "We are soldiers and it was our duty to do what our government wanted us to do."