History Main / TheVietnamVet

** The supervillain Nuke, a.k.a. Frank Simpson, ended up fully [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope losing his mind]] as a result of his time in the Vietnam War. Having suffered from a disturbed childhood to begin with, he was abducted by Wolverine (not the most moral person at the time) and tortured into becoming a ManchurianAgent. His subsequent PTSD leaves him to think that he is still fighting the war, not helped by his mental state worsening to the point that he can only follow orders. He has since antagonized ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} (in ''ComicBook/DaredevilBornAgain'') and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. His depiction in ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' notably averts this and changes him to an unspecified spec-ops veteran from UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror.

UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar was one of the most controversial wars fought in American history. The conflict resulted in many veterans coming back shell-shocked and to a country that didn't always support them. Since this is such a large aspect in American society, many creators have factored it into their works.

* ''{{Series/Emergency}}'': Roy Desoto is one, but never had any problems from it. And there was an episode with a vet who seemed to be having a PTSD episode, thinking he was back in the war. But the doctors aren't immediately sure it's psychiatric, and the tests and exams show he actually had a brain tumor causing it. He was doing better after surgery.

* The ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga and OAV has Mickey Simon and Nguyen Van Com, veterans in the U.S. Navy and in the VNAF, respectively. Both pilots were recruited to work alongside Asranian military forces as mercenaries, and both men had a hard time adjusting to civilian life. While Mickey is friendly and approachable despite having signs of [=PTSD=], Nguyen shows off his sadistic side when he takes out enemy fighter planes and even kills the pilots after they bailed out.

* The first incarnation of Marvel character Libra was a German soldier (who signed up with the French) named Gustav Brandt. His backstory has him fight in the war, fall in love with a woman in Saigon, and eventually have a child with her... only for his violently racist brother to kill his lover and blind him, since the idea of an interracial couple disgusts him.
* The first incarnation of the Marvel henchman "Hitman" was a soldier named Burt Kenyon, who saved Frank Castle's life in the Vietnam War. After returning home, he adopted the alias and worked for a group called the People's Liberation Front. Tragically, he would end up dying in a fight with Spider-Man and the Punisher, despite the latter's attempts to save him.
* The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel version of ComicBook/NickFury is listed as having fought in the Vietnam War.
* One-time Batman villain the Ten-Eyed Man was honourably discharged after a fragment from a Viet Cong grenade went off and hit him between the eyes. He tried to find legitimate employment after returning home, but complications plus further injuries led to his StartOfDarkness.
* Played with in the case of the first Bloodsport, a DC Comics villain best known for fighting ComicBook/{{Superman}}. Robert [=DuBois=] was ''supposed'' to fight in the war, but his brother Micky took his place and became a quadruple amputee as a result; this news did not go down well, to say the least. Lex Luthor took this as a chance to manipulate Robert indirectly (exacerbated by his mental health) and convince him that Superman was an enemy of America. His subsequent rampage was brought to a stop when Micky showed up to talk him down.
* Marvel supervillain Nuke, AKA Frank Simpson, ended up fully [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope losing his mind]] as a result of his time in the Vietnam War. Having suffered from a disturbed childhood to begin with, he was abducted by Wolverine (not the most moral person at the time) and tortured into becoming a ManchurianAgent. His subsequent PTSD leaves him to think that he is still fighting the war, not helped by his mental state worsening to the point that he can only follow orders. He has since antagonised Wolverine, Daredevil and Captain America. His depiction in ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' notably averts this and changes him to an unspecified spec-ops veteran from UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror.
* As mentioned above, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} was a veteran of the Vietnam War.

* Frank Castle, aka ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'', has his history as a Vietnam vet and what they went through once they came back as a key part of his backstory and why the murder of his entire family rattled him particularly badly as he was just getting back to normalcy. As a result the character was FrozenInTime for many years and was depicted (especially in the MAX continuity) as realistically aging.
** The MAX version revisits Vietnam quite often: Frank (and ComicBook/NickFury) actively ended attempts to blackmail a CIA drug-trafficking operation during Vietnam because it had the potential to [[BloodKnight end the war due to public backlash]], ComicBook/ThePunisherPlatoon shows his first tour of service, and ComicBook/ThePunisherBorn shows the tour that turned him into The Punisher.
** The 2011 main-continuity series, however, without explicitly naming the war he fought in textually, showed his military service in a single-panel flashback that appeared to depict 21st-century combat gear and an arid environment, suggesting that his military service may finally have been updated to the first or second Gulf War. In 2019, it was definitely changed as ''History of the Marvel Universe'' retconned a war with (the FictionalCountry of) Siancong and moved Frank's military record (as well as [[ComicBook/IronMan War Machine]]'s, originally the Korean War and later unnamed conflict, and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastic and The Thing]]'s after years of ignoring the two of them were earlier presented as vets of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII) to it.
* Slade Wilson, better known as ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, is a Vietnam veteran in the DC Universe; unlike many examples of this trope he averts ComicBookTime and is typically portrayed as an OldSoldier. His BattleButler William Wintergreen also qualifies, having saved Slade's life there a couple of times. This also applies to his counterpart in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'', with ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' bringing this up a few times, most notably when he compares Batman to a particularly troublesome Vietcong member.
* Arclight, a member of the Marauders and antagonist of the ComicBook/XMen, served on the ground in Vietnam and is supposedly haunted by her memories of the conflict. Team member Forge was also a veteran, as was Abraham Kieros, the first Horseman of War under Apocalypse.
* The Black Racer (a sort-of villain for ComicBook/TheFlash that is the GrimReaper with SuperSpeed) has the corporeal form of Sergeant Willie Walker, who was paralysed while in the Army and bedridden until taking up the position.
* Supporting ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' character Flash Thompson was sent to Vietnam at one point in the comics, notably volunteering instead of being conscripted. This was later retconned as a different overseas deployment due to ComicBookTime.

* ''Film/{{SWAT}}'' brings up Hondo's backstory as a [[SemperFi Marine vet]] with two tours in Vietnam (in addition to four teaching combat survival) as a way of establishing his badass cred.

* Walter in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' is a Vietnam vet and the experience obviously [[ShellShockedVeteran knocked a few screws loose]], since he brings it up even in situations that have nothing to do with the war. The original screenplay revealed him as a PhonyVeteran -- which only [[AmbiguousDisorder raises even more questions about the guy's sanity]].

* John Kreese from the ''[[Franchise/TheKarateKid Karate Kid]]'' franchise is a proud veteran and villainous, [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] example, with ''Series/CobraKai'' actually having extended flashbacks to TheSixties in Season 3 to show exactly [[StartOfDarkness how his time there affected him]].

[[caption-width-right:350:His service, like that of many others was full of tragedy and [[{{Conscription}} sometimes not even a choice!]]]]

* Mike from ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' and ''Series/BreakingBad'' is implied to be one. In the former show, a conversation between him and a gun dealer about the M40 changing from a wooden stock to a plastic stock and his familiarity with the weapon implies that he served.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', [[TokenBlackFriend Gerald's]] dad was a Vietnam War veteran, but never saw combat due to being sick during basic training and never learning to use a rifle properly. They stuck him in a [[DeskJockey desk job]] for him to serve his tour. He did however save the life of a soldier that he came across after a battle, whom he reunited with in "Veteran's Day" and the soldier thanked him for it.
* Principal Skinner in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. He was in a POW camp, and it is shown throughout the series he suffers from [=PTSD=]. "The Principal and the Pauper" episode reveals that he [[spoiler: was actually born Armin Tamzarian, and met the real Skinner during the war. The real Skinner was believed dead, and he came to assume his name.]] [[spoiler: However, WordOfGod has disowned the Armin backstory for Skinner, but the Vietnam part still applies.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has Uncle Jimbo and Ned, a pair of the titular town's residents who are seemingly HeterosexualLifePartners. The two met in the war, and Ned lost one of his arms when a grenade went off in his hand. One episode has them tell Stan stories about the war, claiming that their base had a water park and that they took on the entire Vietcong army all by themselves ''on horseback''. [[spoiler:It's implied that part about the water park was true.]]
* General Gum on ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' was a Royal Lao Army general during the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laotian_Civil_War secret war]] in Laos.
* Coach Buzzcut on ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' was a [[SemperFi Marine]] in 'Nam.

[[caption-width-right:350:His service like many others was full of tragedy and [[{{Conscription}} sometimes not even a choice!]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:His service like many others was full of tragedy and sometimes not even a choice {{Conscription}}]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:His service like many others was full of tragedy and sometimes not even a choice Conscription]]]]

-->'''Mike:''' Guess somebody should have thought of that before they sent men into a jungle with it.

* Most of the American cast from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsColdWar''qualify, although Vietnam does not take up the whole campaign and the war is only seen through flashbacks in the latter two games. Woods in particular is badly affected after being trapped in a container with the butchered remains of his squad and the entire experience turns Adler from easygoing and playful soldier to grizzled and ruthless CIA operative.

* Most of the American cast from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' qualify, although Vietnam does not take up the whole campaign and the war is only seen through flashbacks in the latter game. Woods in particular is badly affected after being trapped in a container with the butchered remains of his squad.

** The 2011 main-continuity series, however, without explicitly naming the war he fought in textually, showed his military service in a single-panel flashback that appeared to depict 21st-century combat gear and an arid environment, suggesting that his military service may finally have been updated to the first or second Gulf War. In 2019, it was definitely changed as ''History of the Marvel Universe'' retconned a war with (the FictionalCountry of) Siancong and moved Frank's military record (as well as [[ComicBook/IronMan War Machine]]'s, originally the Korean War and later unnamed conflict, and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastiand The Thing]]'s after years of ignoring the two of them were earlier presented as vets of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII) to it.

* Frank Castle, aka ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'', has his history as a Vietnam vet and what they went through once they came back as a key part of his backstory and why the murder of his entire family rattled him particularly badly as he was just getting back to normalcy. As a result the character was FrozenInTime for many years and was depicted, especially in the MAX continuity, as realistically aging. The 2011 main-continuity series, however, without explicitly naming the war he fought in textually, showed his military service in a single-panel flashback that appeared to depict 21st-century combat gear and an arid environment, suggesting that his military service may finally have been updated to the first or second Gulf War. In 2019, it was definitely changed as ''History of the Marvel Universe'' retconned a war with (the FictionalCountry of) Siancong and moved Frank's military record (as well as [[ComicBook/IronMan War Machine]]'s, originally the Korean War and later unnamed conflict, and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastiand The Thing]]'s after years of ignoring the two of them were earlier presented as vets of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII) to it.

->'''Handicapped Vietnam Vet:''' I've seen some ''things'', man! And some ''stuff''! I wouldn't recommend it!

SubTrope of ShellShockedVeteran. See also PhonyVeteran, who's often associated with this war ([[SocietyMarchesOn for now]]).

* Deborah Solomon in ''Purple Hearts'' served in 'Nam.

* Frank Castle, aka ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'', has his history as a Vietnam vet and what they went through once they came back as a key part of his backstory and why the murder of his entire family rattled him particularly badly as he was just getting back to normalcy. As a result the character was FrozenInTime for many years and was depicted, especially in the MAX continuity, as realistically aging. The 2011 main-continuity series, however, without explicitly naming the war he fought in textually, showed his military service in a single-panel flashback that appeared to depict 21st-century combat gear and an arid environment, suggesting that his military service may finally have been updated to the first or second Gulf War. In 2019, it was definitely changed as ''History of the Marvel Universe'' retconned a war with (the FictionalCountry of) Siancong and moved Frank's military record (as well as ComicBook/WarMachine's--and ComicBook/MisterFantastic's and ComicBook/TheThing's after years of ignoring the two of them were earlier presented as vets of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII) to it.