Vietnam: A Tribute to our Veterans

FR | May 30, 2004 | risk

[risk]

Vietnam: A Tribute to our Veterans

America appreciates its Vietnam veterans more than ever, this 2004 memorial day. Why not stop by and bump this thread with your thoughts on what we learned from fighting that war so valiantly, and then leaving it to the doves in Congress to shutdown. The only way we will see history repeat itself is if we allow it to happen. What were our biggest mistakes? I don't have the answers, but here are a few estimates:

• Attempted to fight a "legal," regional war limited to one country.
• Failed to accept and publicize the real cost of the war before it started.
  
• Neglected to explain how the Vietnam fit into the Cold War.
• Were blindsided by the brilliant, dual VC strategy of dau tranh (struggle):
  • dau tranh vu trang (armed struggle)
  • dau tranh chinh tri (political struggle).
• Relied on weak and corrupt politicians to lead the nation during war.
• Failed to root out communist infiltration into our schools, media, and government.

With 58,000 dead and thousands more American casualties, words fail to describe the tragedy of "giving up" when we were winning. Will we see that happen in Iraq? Drop in on this thread and put it into political perspective for those of us who grew up in the aftermath.

Is it time to start preparing to help the troops come home to a resentful public which misunderstands why they were fighting in Iraq? Are we going to let the Doves do this to us again without any real strategy to oppose them? That would be like facing an enemy that uses dau tranh without a plan, wouldn't it?

NV flag snapped by a troop by RECON/LRRP 3rd Bn/506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division from Firebase Alpha 2

[risk]

Speaking of France, a belated American memorial day remembrance for our French allies at Dien Bien Phu.

Franco-Vietnamese troops landing at Dien Bien Phu during the decisive battle of the French war in Indochina. The victory of communist Viet Minh forces led to French approval of the Geneva Accords in 1954, dividing Vietnam into a communist north and a non-communist south. Photo: ©Bettmann/CORBIS/SCANPIX

[Atlantic Friend]

At that time Air America was a much more honorable thing...