A Daily Agitation
I read this article in the AP and just had to get some opinions on this.
We have Revolutionary War re-enactments….we have French and Indian War re-enactment….we have Civil War re-enactments……all which are nothing but macho BS to help people feel more important than they really are……but is this a wise choice?
The dirt paths that lead to Alpha Company’s field headquarters are lined with overgrown grass and weeds. A canvas tent is protected by machine guns, sandbags and Army-green storage boxes. And lurking somewhere outside is the enemy: the Viet Cong.But these aren’t the jungles of southeast Asia, just the woods of small-town Pennsylvania, where more than 30 years after the fall of Saigon, military enthusiasts are beginning to re-enact the Vietnam War.
Vietnam re-enactors have no national organization, but participants say Vietnam War groups are popping up around the country. Events were staged earlier this year in Houston and Jackson, Miss. Fort Harrison State Park in Indiana held a Vietnam-era “tactical demonstration” last month.
The mission: a long-range patrol into the “jungle” path to gather intelligence on the enemy. About 80 onlookers watched from the clearing as the patrol entered the woods. The crowd listened as dispatches from a civilian narrator and Gray were transmitted over speakers.
“Vietnam was a different war, a guerrilla war,” Horvath told them. “Once you entered, everywhere around you was a killing zone.”
The re-enactors ranged in age from their mid-20s to early 60s, including one man who served in Vietnam.
The re-enactments can “help people forget the pain even. To hide it, it stays in here,” Smith said, pointing a finger to his chest. “That’s hard. I think this is good.”
Do I have an opinion? Bet your sweet ass I do….I spent 2 and half years in SE Asia and none of it was anything romantic or something I wsould want to re-live for spectators. If people want to play war then join a military unit and learn first hand what it is to be facing death regularly.
I spent over two years wet and covered with mud suffering foot rot and 3 seperate holes one made with and PPS, one from a mortar and one from a Valmet sniper rifle and not once did I feel like it was something romantic or something I would ever want to relive. But if pretending makes you feel like a man then by all means play your stupid little game.
If I have offended anyone…then I have succeeded in my intention……Glorifying Vietnam is sick, pathetic and moronic….
Yeah, war stopped being romantic with WWI.
Agreed…that is the reason that there are very few re-enactors that want to re-live the horror from that point on.
Agreed. One may honor the impulse to serve the men & women showed, knowing they did so to meet their own honorable instincts, even if they were manipulated into their service by unscrupulous political forces, who lied to them. Personally, though I managed, at that time, to see through the lies enough to avoid having to go, I sublimated my own urge by serving society in my work, spending 11.5 years in a job protecting society from the mentally ill, specializing in managing those who became assaultive…
My own father’s service in WWII, and his reluctance to ever talk of it, gave me a strong sense of what war does to men & women who must engage in it; this, perhaps, gave me the insight to look for the truth of why our generation was asked to go over there. As the truth emerged, it strengthened my resolve, but, never caused me to disrespect those who were unable to avoid the trap. In fact, it gave me more respect for them, for having survived under duress.
Those who engage in celebrations of war, of any kind, whether the war is considered moral, or not, are, in my mind, without a clue of what honor means, or the wit to understand themselves, or others; their massive brains are useless to them, thus making them useless to society.
I have noted, over the years, the greater portion of those who serve do not know the truth; this is sad, but, has been the way of history since the first battle over water rights at a water hole; most people are easily led, it seems. But, that is no excuse for those who wish power over others to fool anyone into engaging in warfare; there is no excuse for it.
I used a quote in today’s post which covers this pretty well, to wit:
“There are many things worth living for, few things worth dying for, nothing worth killing for.”~~ from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” ~~
You have my respect, my friend, because you have acted with honor from the start, and have dedicated yourself to preventing the necessity for others to follow that dangerous path. It’s really a shame not everyone can understand what honor means, or, how to show it themselves….
gigoid, the dubious
P.S. I used this response on both posts…
THanx for the mind words….my bitterness will remain….enjoy your Sunday….chuq
Gentlemen… I could toss into this mix of emotions the idea that re-enactments, even Vietnam re-enactments, could also be interpreted as a way we honor and recognize the life and times, and deaths, of those who participated in such tragic affairs. It could be interpreted as a way history comes alive to a public that’s gone through the “sanitized” educational system from books alone. Yet even re-enactors can only go so far because you can’t effectively present the real ravages of war… bodies being blown apart, the noise, the chaos. Even Hollywood has an issue about going too far this way, although Saving Private Ryan was as good as it gets.
BUT… to those who have served in all the chaos and guts of war, re-enactments is just offensive theater. I served in the “era” but for some reason I was never sent to Nam. That bothers me to this day because it was the conflict of MY lifetime and MY generation. On the other hand, I could very well have fallen victim to the emotional ravages had I gone there.
Now, also in this mix is the kind of conflict being re-enacted. To the public (and likely to history) Vietnam didn’t reach a victorious conclusion based on some moral high ground.. truth, justice, and the American way kinda thing. I mean, you don’t see mainstream Spanish-American War re-enactors, Indian War re-enactors, Korean War re-enactors, or Mexican War re-enactors (on the U.S. side). Yet we value all who were involved in these conflicts as honorable veterans.
Back in the mid-90’s I attended, believe it or not, a re-enactment of D-Day. It was done at the former Army installation outside of Chicago, Ft. Sheridan, along the lake. I had no idea at the time that there were WW2 re-enactors of any sort. But before the “event” the various groups involved, Brits, Americans, Germans, Canadians… all had encampments true to the equipment of the day. In fact, I was talking with one “German” all decked out in a Wehrmacht uniform, if he garnered any looks when he went to the local Dairy Queen. But the point here is that down to the last pineapple grenade and potato masher and radio sets… everything was authentic. Guys walking around with tommy guns and Schmeissers. When it came to the actual beach landing the public was seated on the ground on a bluff overlooking a small section of beach. The beach had the familiar obstacles.. and the bluff had a couple bunker artillery mockup emplacements. Out on the lake bouncing a bit in two real (but obviously not historically accurate) Navy landing craft were maybe a hundred guys.. all in authentic dress and all carrying M1 Garands or carbines. Someone managed to get a real P-51 to fly over the beach at the right moment, and the “Germans” all fired their weapons. The whole thing was pretty amazing.
Anyway, I digress and this reply is getting too long. I think a lot of this has to do with timing… the distance from the events. It’s not likely that if there were any Civil War vets still alive they would welcome seeing Gettysburg re-enacted either. As the Vietnam vets pass on it’s likely re-enactment views might change in the future.
I honor you guys who were there. But there IS a story to tell to coming generations. Maybe re-enactments are not the vehicle for telling it if the vets of some conflicts.
The story of the Viet Wra will soon be lost to all pretty much like the Korean War but I do not think a re-enactment is the way to keep the memories alive….chuq
Oops. Last line should read… Maybe re-enactments are not the vehicle for telling it if the vets of some conflicts are still around.
OOps…..me too…LOL chuq