I only served one tour in Vietnam, late in the war. However, I came home twice on short leaves before my final homecoming. In the course of those 3 homecomings, I was spit on, called a baby killer and called a mercenary. By the final homecoming it was becoming expected. When I came in and finished processing at Ft. Lewis, I took a plane to Spokane WA where I had lived once to pick up some things I had left there in storage. While there, I went do dinner at a restaurant where I had worked. I was in uniform. While I was eating, the other patrons ignored me, obviously avoiding looking my way, with the exception of one elderly lady. She looked like a retired librarian of something, very stern look on her face. She stared (at the time I would have said 'glared') at me the entire time she was eating. When she finished eating, she paid her bill and then approached me very deliberately. I thought to myself "Oh no, I REALLY don't need this, not here, not now!" When she reached my table, she said, in a loud, gruff voice "Young man, did you just return from Vietnam?" I resignedly said "Yes ma'am." Then she stuck out her hand and said "Well I just want to shake your hand and tell you thank you." I was gobsmacked, After shaking my hand, she turned and left the restaurant. That was my mixed welcome, but that last act meant the world to me.

Clifton B. Sommer
Spencer, WV