The New Praetorians: American Veterans, Society, and Service from Vietnam to the Forever War

230 Pages·2021·11.115 MB·English

by  Michael D. Gambone

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THE NEW PRAETORIANS
A VOLUME IN THE SERIES
VETERANS
EDITED BY
BRIAN MATTHEW JORDAN AND
J. ROSS DANCY
T H E
NEW
PRAETORIANS
AMERICAN VETERANS, SOCIETY, AND SERVICE
FROM VIETNAM TO THE FOREVER WAR
MICHAEL D. GAMBONE
university of massachusetts press
Amherst and Boston
Copyright © 2021 by University of Massachusetts Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-1 -6 2534- 611- 7 (paper); 610- 0 (hardcover)
Designed by Deste Roosa
Set in Adobe Caslon Pro and Bebas Neue Pro
Printed and bound by Books International, Inc.
Cover design by John Barnett, 4Eyes Design
Cover photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Muncy, Volunteers with the New York
City Veteran’s Alliance Hold the Ground Zero Flag during a March through Midtown
Manhattan during the NYC Veteran’s Day Parade November 11, 2017. AB Forces
news Collection / Alamy Stock Photo.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Gambone, Michael D., 1963– author.
Title: The new praetorians : American veterans, society, and service from
Vietnam to the forever war / Michael D. Gambone.
Other titles: American veterans, society, and service from Vietnam to the
forever war
Description: Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2021] | Series:
Veterans | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021017191 (print) | LCCN 2021017192 (ebook) | ISBN
9781625346100 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781625346117 (paperback) | ISBN
9781613768860 (ebook) | ISBN 9781613768877 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Veterans— United States— Social conditions. |
Veterans— United States— History. | Veteran reintegration— United
States. | Sociology, Military— United States.
Classification: LCC UB357 .G363 2021 (print) | LCC UB357 (ebook) | DDC
362.860973— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017191
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017192
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO:
DAVE BEOUGHER
TOM BUCCI
STEPHANIE CASADO
DAN CIRMINIELLO
DAN CURRY
JEFF DAVIS
KEKOA JUSTIN
RICH GARREN
BOBBY HOMAN
WILL JEFFERSON
ANDREW MORRIS
JOHN MUSCATEL
DEREK ORTIZ
CARISSA POKORNY GOLDEN
NORM SIGMOND
MATT STEFANCIN
LEANNE STRAUSS
NORM STRAUSS
JORDAN STOM
STEVE SULTZBACH
AND ALL THE REST.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
ix
INTRODUCTION
1
CHAPTER ONE
A Brief History of the American Veteran to the Vietnam War
8
CHAPTER TWO
Joining Up
16
CHAPTER THREE
The Nature of the Beast
33
CHAPTER FOUR
Coming Home
47
CHAPTER FIVE
Healing New Wounds
61
CHAPTER SIX
The Economics of the Veteran
78
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lost on Campus: Veterans and a College Education
101
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Veteran in Politics
117
vii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER NINE
The Women Praetorians
133
CHAPTER TEN
The Veteran in Popular Culture
146
CONCLUSIONS
160
Notes
165
Index
209
viii