Today is the day we set aside to honor our veterans that honored this country in service.
I also like to bring forth a few memories and such that I seldom talk about with anyone.
I served in Vietnam from 1967-1970 and today I am 79 years old……and I see fellow vets dying off at alarming rates and soon my war and the veterans will be just a fleeting memory that people roll out every November.
For years when people knew that I served in Vietnam they always put forth their opinions on how the war was fought and how we could have won that conflict.
Sadly there will always be these ‘experts’ on war and how it is fought. My response has always been the same….’if you were not there then your opinions are nothing more than fanciful bullshit’.
Vietnam War ended about 50 years ago and we that were there are still trying to come to terms with it….
April 30th marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s end when Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon, soon to be renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The war was a terrible experience for the United States, but even more so for the people of Vietnam and much of the rest of Southeast Asia. Estimates are that up to 3 million Vietnamese perished, as well many many thousands of Cambodians and Laotians. Fifty-eight thousand American died, and a trillion American tax dollars were wasted.
Many of us who were there are still trying to understand and come to grips with it. Based on years of study, here is what I think people still get wrong about the war. What I write will be controversial, but it is based on what I saw and learned. If I seem angry, it is because I still am.
In nearly all wars, the other side is demonized and made into evil caricatures of human beings; doing so makes it easier to kill them. From the U.S. perspective, the Vietnam War was no exception. Even the Vietnamese who were supposedly on our side were commonly referred to as gooks, zips (Zero Intelligence Personnel), slants, slopes and more, often to their faces. In my experience, the U.S. military chain of command made no effort to correct this. Given the pervasive racism among American troops, it should come as no surprise that violence against Vietnamese civilians was common. It is hard to understand how anyone thought the Vietnamese people would rally to the U.S. side while being badly treated.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/wrong-about-vietnam-war
I still feel that anger…..my country turned it’s back on me and my fellow vets and then 10 years later wanted to welcome us home…..it was too damn late.
The BBC had a very good breakdown of the war and why it was unwinnable from the start….
Another major reason why the USA could not win the war was the lack of support at home from the American public. The huge protest movement divided the country. A major pro–war movement also erupted. Many veterans of the war called the anti–war protesters traitors and communists.
Opposition to the war came from a number of sources and for a number of reasons
This was the first televised war. It was vividly reported by journalists who went to Vietnam in search of stories. Images of innocent civilians being killed, maimed and tortured were displayed on the TV and in newspapers – many Americans were horrified and turned against the war.
Opposition to support for the South Vietnamese Government
The South Vietnamese Government, which the Americans were committed to defending was revealed as corrupt and anti–democratic.
Many Americans questioned how the American Government could justify standing up for this oppressive regime. The USA was meant to fight to protect freedom and democracy.
It became clear that the Vietnamese peasants did not welcome American troops. Many Americans questioned why their country was involved if the local population did not want them there.
Opposition to the ‘Draft’
The ‘Draft’ was the conscription of American men into the US army and lasted from 1954-1975. As sons, brothers and fathers went to war, people began to question whether it was worth it. Draft Law hit African Americans hardest.
Many middle-class Americans opposed the war because, by 1967, the death rate had increased to 160 per week.
Opposition from Civil Rights Movement
There was opposition to the war from civil rights activists, who were fighting for more rights for African-Americans in the USA. Many African-Americans were drafted and because they were new recruits, they were often given the worst postings and assignments. Muhammad Ali had his boxing title revoked for refusing to fight in the war.
Opposition from youth
The main opposition came from students. In the 1960s, protest movements began in California but spread to all the major cities and universities across the USA by 1968.
On 4 May 1970, four peaceful student demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio were murdered. They were shot by Ohio National Guardsmen during a noon-time campus anti-war rally – this became known at the Kent State Massacre.
Many believed that war was morally wrong. There were mass protests across the USA, including in Washington in December 1969.
Singers wrote anti-war songs and songs that criticised the Vietnam War itself. Bob Dylan wrote ‘Masters of War’ and John Lennon wrote ‘Give Peace A Chance’.
Political opposition
The American Government spent vast amounts of money on the war that could have been spent on domestic problems. Some politicians who had supported the war to begin with, such as Robert McNamara, began to turn against American involvement.
The end of the war in Vietnam
The resignation of President Nixon also weakened US enthusiasm for involvement in Vietnam.
In 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a major offensive and over-ran a series of South Vietnamese strongholds. In May 1975 communist forces took Saigon. In 1976 the two halves of Vietnam were united in a single Socialist Republic.
The Vietnam War was the greatest struggle of the Cold War era and the only major military defeat in United States history.
Please go out and do something nice for a veteran….keeping in mind the sacrifices they made to defend their country and their way of life.
TO ALL MY FELLOW VETERANS….THANK YOU!
This will be my only post today.
Enjoy your day and remember.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo
