Our Vietnam Heroes Deserve Better Than A Ginned Up Election Year Anniversary

Michelle Obama's Mirror ^ | 5-29-2012 | MOTUS

[NOBO2012]

Do NOT get me wrong: it’s way past time for a proper commemoration of the service and sacrifice of our Vietnam war dead and the returning Vets. So I’m sure that’s why George W. Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 that designated this election year as the official 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War...

Butt I’m having a little trouble reconciling my internal history data module with my calculator function to come up with 2012 marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

Mind you, I’m not saying that the Vietnam “50th anniversary” commemoration was ginned up to provide Big Guy with an opportunity to give a patriotic speech on the Memorial Day proceeding the reelection year. Heck, when the Democratic Congress passed the measure they didn’t even know which one of their gals or guys would be president this historic reelection year.

I’m just saying it seems curious that this is the year chosen to commemorate this particular anniversary, given the actual history of the Vietnam conflict.

Because 2012 isn’t the 50th year from the date we first began providing military advisors to Vietnam (1955), or the year President Kennedy first ramped up the number of “advisors” assigned to Vietnam (1961), or even the year President Johnson seriously ramped up the level of “advisors” (1963) ahead of the first actual deployment of U.S combat troops (1965). Nor is it the year marking the end of active U.S military engagement (1973) or even of the date of the fall of Saigon (1975).

So what did happen in 1962 to mark it as the official start of the Vietnam War?

[Boonie]

It doesn’t matter what they do...It’s too late......

[donozark]

Maybe it is fifty years so as to celebrate implementation of Operation Trail Dust? I mean Operation Hades?I mean Operation Ranch Hand? The spraying of Rainbow Herbicides over South Vietnam and Laos? Authorized the previous year by Democratic President Kennedy and each mission approved personally by him for the first year.

What a pleasant thought...

[Chainmail]

"It doesn’t matter what they do...It’s too late......"

It isn't too late because I'm not dead yet. It is interesting that they only two Presidents that praised our service in Vietnam were Ronald Reagan and Obama.

Better late than never.

[Joe Boucher]

Reagan did it because he was an honorable man who believed in america.
Obammy did it for one of too many photo opps for his re-election bid. Scumbag that he is.