THE CRAZED VET

I remember as a kid in the late 60s and early 70s a recurring character appeared in the American consciousness. His presence was reflected in numerous TV shows and even a few major motion pictures. He was the crazed Vietnam Vet. He usually came back from Vietnam disillusioned with America, often on hard drugs, and willing to do all sorts of violent things in his nihilistic, self-destructive rage. If you grew up or lived in that era, you probably remember the type. In retrospect, I wonder how much the character was based on truth and how much of him came from the minds of screenwriters who opposed the war. In my years of doing talk radio, most Vietnam Vets have told me that they came home and returned to their normal lives, just as their Korean War and WWII fathers had done.

It seems to me that it won't be long before a few real-life incidents like this one will begin to create the new crazed vet character...the crazed Iraq War vet.

UPDATE

Michelle Malkin says this story is not how it appears, that, in fact, the cop-killing Marine had never seen combat in Iraq.