The difference between the way soldiers were treated during Vietnam and Gulf War I was definitely the result of a sense of collective guilt, one might say the Boomer Generation growing up and wanting a do-over. That was very much the sense and source of discussion in 1991.
The 16 year gap between the two conflicts was punctuated by the landmark "Platoon" film of roughly 1980, somewhat controversial - some said it was too painful and too early - but deeply impactful to the American psyche at the time. There was lots of discussion and editorializing leading into Gulf War I about the topic . . . . . generally, in Gulf War I, the average American had decided, whether he or she agreed or disagreed with policy, the soldier on the ground would not be drawn into the political discussion and would instead be respected for their sacrifice.
Contrast that with the brilliantly politically neutral "Taking Chance" or the documentary "Restrepo" which also declined to take sides.
Vietnam, economically, also touched most Americans, unlike Iraq and Afghanistan. World War II spending was 25% of American GDP and included widespread rationing, Eisenhower's famous warning of a "military industrial complex" came at a time when defence spending was 15% of GDP, Vietnam accounted for nine percent of American GDP while Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were in the six per cent area. American defence spending bottomed at about 3.2% of GDP in GW Bush II's first year, the year of 9/11, the lowest percentage in the history of the Republic, and is now in the roughly 4.5% of GDP range. The cost of Iraq and Afghanistan has been about 1% of GDP through the last eight and ten years. Unlike most significant conflicts, American's were never asked to sacrifice as individuals economically - rationing for example - for Iraq and Afghanistan. Life went on at the homefront as though nothing much was happening unless you were watching the news.
As others have noted, Vietnam came with its own distortions . . . .
In truth, two-thirds of USA enlisted men who fought in Vietnam were volunteers and about 70% of American deaths in Vietnam were volunteers . . . . . belying the reputation that the USA military was conscripted.
In contrast, two-thirds of USA military in WWII were conscripts.
Virtually 100% of those enlisted in Iraq and Afghanistan were volunteers.
Eighty-eight percent of American servicemen who served in Vietnam were caucasian and 86% killed were caucasian. Blacks suffered 12.5% of deaths in Vietnam at a time when blacks were 13.6% of the American population.
Seventy-nine percent of Americans who served in Vietnam had a high school diploma compared to 63% of Korean War veterans and 45% of WWII veterans. Virtually all American veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq would have had a high school diploma or equivalency.
Other Vietnam factoids:
http://history-world.org/vietnam_war_statistics.htm
In Vietnam, there were about 30 American deaths every day in an American population of less than 200 million versus about two or three per day in Iraq at the height of the conflict in 2006-07 in an overall population of more than 300 million.
About 47,000 Americans died in combat in Vietnam and another 10,000 perished by other causes versus, I think, about 6,230 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every loss is 100% tragic for the deceased and their family, but the weight on the national psyche between Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan is significantly different not for lack of compassion but simply by sheer numbers.
One key pyschological tipping point for the American public pertaining to Vietnam came in mid-1969 when LIFE Magazine picked one week at random, "no different than any other" and printed mug service shots and brief profiles of 242 American servicemen who had been killed in that seven day stretch. "The Faces Of American Dead."
http://www.ichiban1.org/html/news_pages/news_41.htm
Without the pictures, here is that article:
http://web.viu.ca/davies/H323Vietnam..._dead.1969.htm
During the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, both the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN have, among others, also ran a running mug shot list and brief profile of each of the fallen in those conflicts.
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/national/fallen/
Same thing, less impactful perhaps.
Time comes and goes but I doubt American's, as a group, will ever treat their soldiers as badly as they did through Vietnam and, if nothing else, that was the one lesson the American public will pass from generation to generation.
My two cents.
Cowperson