By the time you figure in the number of veterans who died from Agent Orange and from the "side affects" of PTSD, you could build another fucking wall.
Just one example. In the mid-1970s it was pretty well established that the rate of lukemia for 'Nam vets with Agent Orange exposure was absolutely through the roof. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the Navy Commander in 'Nam who ordered a massive defoliation campaign along the rivers in 'Nam, wrote a book with his son who had been a riverboat commander - and was dying of several different types of lukemia at the same time.
In 2002 the V.A. that there was enough evidence to verify that the rate of lukemia for 'Nam vets with Agent Orange exposure to warrant giving disability benefits to Nam vets with the disease. The ones that lived long enough.
The Bush budget is being criticized by such well known liberal groups
as the VFW and the American Legion because of cuts in Department of Vetrans Affairs budget. Many Gulf I vets feel that they are getting the run-around at the VA.
So I hope the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines enjoy this flag-waving fever while it lasts. But if they can count on one thing, it's that they will be just as quickly forgotten as their fathers and grandfathers were.