I have said it again and again. If they wanted to win that war so damn bad, fine. Let them choke on it. I was against letting private companies do business there for decades and am certainly not happy with our government doing this. At least wait until those of us who lost friends and family over there die before you start doing this stuff. I had friends who left legs over there, bodies over there, etc. etc. But for a phenomenally high lottery number I could have been one.
I don’t understand what he is up to but here is where I quit.
I don’t understand what he is up to but here is where I quit.
Quit what?
“At least wait until those of us who lost friends and family over there die before you start doing this stuff.”
Did you feel the same way about Germany and Japan?
The world moves on.
Then blame LBJ and the Congress. All of the Joint Chiefs told him not to go to war.
The reality is we beat Vietnam in military terms. Badly. If not for the leftists here, we'd have closed on the win.
They Vietnamese know it, too.
Frankly, at this point they wish they'd have "lost," but they did not understand their "sponsor" states (esp. China) were just using them.
They want to be the next "Japan" (i.e., the country we literally nuked into submission and then helped rebuild -- and who also has become one of our stoutest allies over there).
Have many friends who have visited Vietnam, and the Vietnamese are very kind to Americans.
For example, had a friend who fought in Vietnam (sadly, he's passed). You know who tortured him? Wasn't the Vietnamese. It was the French (this was before our formal involvement). His former battlefield opponents he met empathized with him.
Had another friend (who has also passed -- sigh) who actually met the Vietnamese person who ran the POW place he was stuck in before escaping. Years later they actually met when my friend visited. They became friends after some tense moments and a lot of apologies (not from my friend).
Related story: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/1110/Why-US-veterans-are-returning-to-Vietnam
But again, fully understand your anger and position. Nothing can compensate for dead and crippled friends. Hence, NOT criticizing you comment. Just offering some other viewpoints.
Last thought: Excusing the forgivable is easy. Excusing the unforgivable is hard. There's a book written about someone who did that. In my world, he goes by the title "My Lord and Savior."
What about Japan? Or Germany? Feel the same way about them?
The world turns and things/times change. Stewing in the past, under a super corrupt Johnson Admin seems a bit counterproductive. My draft lottery number was 300. Watched friends go over and hated what was going on but that fiasco was over 40+ years ago.