Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Walter Cronkite On Vietnam Revisited
Nextrush Free ^ | 2/24/2018 | Nextrush/Self

Posted on 02/26/2018 2:25:40 PM PST by Nextrush

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-29 next last

1 posted on 02/26/2018 2:25:40 PM PST by Nextrush
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Nextrush

Cronkite would probably be disappointed if he saw Vietnam today. One of the most capitalist countries on the planet.


2 posted on 02/26/2018 2:27:22 PM PST by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nextrush

Walter Cronkite did the lead in on a report on the Battle of Ia Drang Valley - 1965, first major battle in Vietnam. While a win for us - we lost a lot of men - war is like that.

At the end of the report the reporter (the field reporter, or maybe it was Cronkite in “summary”) says something like,

“So while the battle is considered by some to be a victory, it remains to be seen how long the American public will stand as the number of these boys coming home in body bags only increases.” (Footage of the body bags laid out on the ground behind).

The first major battle of the war!!


3 posted on 02/26/2018 2:35:55 PM PST by 21twelve
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

I lost faith in the MSM when it covered Khe Sanh. The infamous burning plane crash got photographed more than Raquel Welch.


4 posted on 02/26/2018 2:36:31 PM PST by Spok ("What're you going to believe-me or your own eyes?" -Marx (Groucho))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Nextrush

Wow!
Is there ANYTHING your blog isn’t an expert on?


5 posted on 02/26/2018 2:42:50 PM PST by humblegunner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nextrush
In that era, Nixon was considered a conservative. The reason Ike made Nixon his VP was because Nixon would attract support from the conservative wing of the party.

Rockefeller himself ran for the 1968 nomination. The conventional wisdom of the punditry at the time was that the Republicans should nominate Rockefeller because tricky Dick was to conservative to win.

Of course, we now know that the country and the Republican Party were changing. The nomination of Barry Goldwater was not a disaster, but a sign of changing times in the party. The Gipper himself entered the 1968 primaries. The conservative movement left Nixon behind or perhaps more accurate, he didn't keep up.

6 posted on 02/26/2018 2:45:15 PM PST by colorado tanker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 21twelve

That’s why they don’t allow live reporting from a combat zone any longer. The press used it to divide the nation in the 60’s and early 70’s. And you wonder why so many brave American soldiers were reviled when they returned from Vietnam.


7 posted on 02/26/2018 2:46:34 PM PST by shotgun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: shotgun

It may not have made a difference but showing the brutality of the Maoist and communist regimes might have clarified our mission. As it were, the leftist press were allowed to only shown one side of the issue and promote the antiwar agenda. Maybe not fake news but only half of the story — the half that they favored.

My how times have changed — this would not happen today; in the age of the Internet. Most of us are much more aware of things now than ever before. Makes it harder for the propagandists.


8 posted on 02/26/2018 3:01:39 PM PST by dhs12345
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Nextrush

Blast from the past. Thanks. I served in the Navy stateside in the Navy and would get calls from friends who came back shot up. The stuff that was going on would shock anybody. One of them was a tank commander and had to get permission to return fire on the nva who were hiding in rubber plant groves. They were told not to do it because we had an agreement with the French that would pay them 1 million dollars for each rubber tree that we destroyed. Occasionally, they would squeeze off a few shells just to vent and piss off the brass. Almost everyone that served during that time (including me) were disgusted with the war because the politicians never let the military finish the job.


9 posted on 02/26/2018 3:05:18 PM PST by richardtavor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator
Cronkite would probably be disappointed if he saw Vietnam today. One of the most capitalist countries on the planet.

Oddly Vietnam is a "defacto allie" of the United States today. They fear China. American Warships actually make port of calls in Vietnam now.

10 posted on 02/26/2018 3:06:59 PM PST by cpdiii (DECKHAND, ROUGHNECK, GEOLOGIST, PILOT, PHARMACIST, LIBERTARIAN The Constitution is worth dying for.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Spok

Raquel Welch appeared inside the back cover of Soldiers Magazine in February 1968, and her pin-up soon could be found on every bunker wall throughout Vietnam. Of course I kept one in my memorabilia, and here it is:

11 posted on 02/26/2018 3:30:13 PM PST by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: shotgun

“The press used it to divide the nation in the 60’s and early 70’s.”

Nothing has changed, except the public schools and universities do a better job to prepare kids to fall hook, line and sinker for whatever bias reporting the press puts out.


12 posted on 02/26/2018 3:53:43 PM PST by MichaelCorleone (Jesus Christ is not a religion. He's the Truth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Spok

I was with the 298th Signal overlooking the strip when that

happened.
Dangerous place.We took fire earlier that day

at the infamous Rockpile.

Uncle Walter my **s,friggin` defeatist commie stooge.


13 posted on 02/26/2018 4:28:06 PM PST by Harold Shea (VN vet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

It offers an opinion, an analysis. I don’t claim the status of God or the final word.


14 posted on 02/26/2018 4:35:08 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Spok

They certainly spun things to get attention and ratings at the very least with some very biased and jaundiced.

Peter Arnett was one of the “press corps” in Vietnam for example.


15 posted on 02/26/2018 4:37:27 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: colorado tanker

Nixon had Pat Buchanan by his side beginning in 1966 and as the story goes Nixon would ask Buchanan “What do they want?” when it came to conservatives.


16 posted on 02/26/2018 4:38:54 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: dhs12345

They work hard with the images coming out of Syria nowadays but many of us see right through it.


17 posted on 02/26/2018 4:40:09 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: richardtavor

It was sad to see the waste of human lives and treasure in Vietnam. We lost lives by the thousands and Vietnam along with the Great Society even more so piled up the spending and began the financial bleeding of massive national debt.


18 posted on 02/26/2018 4:42:25 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Harold Shea

And it was approved by management as well as I point out here.


19 posted on 02/26/2018 4:43:44 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Nextrush

“It was sad to see the waste of human lives and treasure in Vietnam.


The Korean War,which lsted only 3 years, was worse-——the death rate was much higher than Vietnam.

.


20 posted on 02/26/2018 4:51:55 PM PST by Mears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-29 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson