Do you think America will overcome the divisive hate rhetoric? Whose responsibility is it to change?

I am giving both views a thumbs up for objective, polite and respectfully stating views and thoughts on the highly volatile issue. Maj (Join to see) & GySgt Melissa Gravila

I like the views also. I have been reading what went on in Washington over the weekend and the main speakers , Madonna and Judd were pure disgusting. I never did understand the purpose of the march..

Capt Tom Brown - Thank you for the thumbs up Sir- if we want to change the world it has to start somewhere- it might as well start here, with me.

GySgt Melissa Gravila - Thank you sister. It is the many folks with your thoughts and beliefs which can and do make America great.

COL Jon Thompson I served from 1968 to 1972. After leaving Vietnam, I went to Okinawa for four days to pick up my uniforms, get shots, etc. While I was there, a Marine arriving from my unit told me that one of my closest friends had been killed right after I left country. That was a bad shock. I wore my uniform when I flew so that I could fly military standby. When I arrived at LAX, I was again shocked by the hate that I encountered at the airport. For a very long time, I did not trust some civilians. I could not stand the protestors then, and I can not stand the protestors now. Instead of protesting, volunteer at a homeless shelters or some other positive activity to make your community a better place.

Exactly what we need to do.

Well, I qualify as that Vietnam era veteran but don't see the same situation. Back then hatred was directed primarily only at the military. If you were military you pretty much traveled in civilian clothes and kept a low profile or found yourself targeted for repercussions. However during this time the average citizen regardless of political affiliation was pretty much proud to be American and believed that politicians were working for them. That is not the case in todays environment as I see it. The hatred I see today is focused on the inability of congress to govern and the perception that all they want to do is push agendas and is strongly divided along party lines. How to get politicians to unify for the good of the people who elected them is above my pay grade, but is what must happen if we will ever become unified again.

I'm a Vietnam era Vet ('70-'74). I didn't experience a single instance of Vet Abuse during my entire enlistment. Even when in uniform.

I went to Tech School at Chanute AFB, Rantoul, IL. It was an easy hitchhike to the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana, a trip I made almost weekly for six months. By my appearance, dress, and demeanor, I obviously didn't 'fit in', and sometimes, in conversations with students and locals, it would be mentioned I was AD Air Force. It would occasionally start some interesting conversations, but no one abused me physically or verbally.

More than once during that time I traveled to and from SFX, in uniform so I could fly Military Standby. The only "threatening crowds" I encountered were the Hare Krishnas who thought that because I was AD I had plenty of money to donate to them.

I also out-processed through Travis AFB, outside of San Francisco, and, still in uniform, flew out of SFX, (of course, that was Feb, '74, and we were pretty much disengaged from VN by then and, therefore, not so much anti-war activity).

From a pseudo-philosophical standpoint, I tend to reject the notion that the President can create and/or heal the divisions we're seeing now. The President (whoever he/she is) is more an indicator, not an instigator.

When you get sick and have a fever, the fever is not the disease, it's the symptom that indicates you have a disease, and probably have had it for one to several days already. In that analogy, the President is the symptom that tells us we're sick, while the disease resides in us, the electorate.

Yes, he will have four years to help to diagnose and treat the disease, but his election and the reasons for it are just the indicator of our National health.