Posted on 07/14/2018 12:04:36 PM PDT by eastforker
The peace movement started long before any US conventional troops ever got orders to Vietnam. You do not know the facts. You write BS.
BFL
Thanks.
We evolved rapidly, though: we finally got decent boots, uniforms, and new capabilities and our tactics moved to finding, fixing and nailing the enemy - and protecting the villages with Combined Action Platoons.
You underestimate the resilience of the American people if properly led. If our government had actually explained the reasons we were there and had to finish the fight - and if we had used the draft only to fill the ranks in Europe - we would have hung in as long as it took. We would have had to arrest and try and imprison the traitors who were working for the enemy like Ayers and Dohrn and Hoffman and Sarnoff and Healy and Berrigan and Fonda and Davis, et al but again, if our government had given a rat's rear end and did their job, the people would have been totally on board
It took me a while to recover from my wounds but when I was back (and now a Lieutenant), I volunteered to go back and continue the fight - and did.
Don't underestimate our dedication. Some of my friends were amputees but they asked to get back into uniform and fight.
The "Ban the Bomb Symbol" was quickly converted to become the "Peace Symbol".
As the "Peace Movement" started collecting front organizations around them (Like the National Welfare Rights Organization, Save our Soldiers, the VVAW, Communications Workers of America, Mayday Coalition, Weathermen, etc.) The Communist-led organization called itself the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ) and the Socialist Workers Party called theirs the New Mobilization or just "New Mobe". Interestingly, the CP and the SWP refused to work together - calling each other "Maoists" and "Trotskyites" respectively.
Meanwhile, our Justice Department just sort of watched with interest and did nothing.
Yes, it is hard to imagine. Yet many of us did because we saw our duty in front of us. For me, I was 19 in 1965 and I saw a feature article in a May 1965 issue of Life magazine that showed a Marine Helicopter crew fighting for their lives. I thought "I'm not better than they are" and signed up.
Sometimes our country calls us to very hard things and great risks. I didn't feel that someone else should take my place. As a major plus though, I learned what I was made of and I learned a great deal about the great young men of the rest of our country.
I don't want my kids to have to fight - I don't even want them to join the Marines! - but I know that they do what is right if they are needed.
You are correct. A hippie type and anti military type on this site, like the one we have both replied to, is very unusual on FR.
The worst ones for me are the "draft women instead of me" proponents.
So true. It is sad to run into such a hippie and antiwar type here on Free Republic. This site has so many real Vets plus the spouses of our deceased who support every Vet plus our active duty military.
I think it appealed to scared young men; why wouldn’t it? As the war dragged on, young people could see maimed veterans returning.
I think our government explained the reasons to fight well enough, and that is why the anti-war movement bloomed late. The public support seemed to crumble (as I understand it) when it just appeared that nothing was improving that could provide a timetable for an exit; unlike the permanent commitment to South Korea, which only had sporadic casualties, this seemed to be a permanent war.
I agree the core of the “peace movement” was leftist subversives; like many such groups today, they attract people with less malicious intent who are looking for a purpose in an otherwise meaningless life.
For what its worth, it certainly seems that the US in 1965 was much more inspiring for a young white guy today. They are legally marginalized and demeaned in every way; I’d be quite content to see “preferred minorities” (racial and gender) do the fighting and dying for the country they’ve taken over. Maybe it is a consequence of living in a dying state (NJ) that is chasing its American population out with massive tax burdens (which also causes employers to flee); outside of our rural areas, it seems the only ones flying American flags are government workers of our bloated bureaucracy. To see a new governor elected in this high-tax environment after he publicly pledged to raise taxes, and then see him appoint an anti-gun Sikh as attorney general, you realize this is why the colonists revolted; there is no way in Hell they’re sending my children anywhere to fight for them. When you watch the broadcasts from election night, and the talking heads refer to people who are afraid they are “losing their country”, this is exactly what they mean. American traditions and rights mean absolutely nothing in these Red (not “red” as in electoral maps) dumps anymore...
I was born in upstate NY, lived in NJ, MA, plus many other states. I like TN as we have no state income tax. Why not research things and find a state you might like. Many of my friends live in TX.
Like many others, family is the primary reason to stay; as the older generation passes away we would definitely be looking to move. This place isn’t just unaffordable - it is unrecognizable.
However, once the Left got its feet under them, the narrative turned to "that we were interfering in another country's civil war" and the reporting specifically transitioned to featuring setbacks and wounded and dead troops - and attacks on how we were conducting the war.
The pressure forced LBJ out and then when Nixon was elected, the press went into the full shriek mode, just like we're seeing today for President Trump.
In 1969, after I was discharged the first time from the Marines, I decided to respond forcefully to an anti-gun diatribe by NBC's Bob Abernathy and I asked for time for a rebuttal. The Station, KNBC Channel 4, finally decided to discuss the matter with me a few days after the broadcast.
After about an hour in the Station Manager's office, I could see that I wasn't going to get to respond on air - so I asked that manager why the Vietnam reporting was so skewed: I saw only battles that didn't go well for the army, suffering Vietnamese and dispirited troops. I said that "you never show us clobbering the enemy, all the prisoners we're taking, the affection we get from the villages".
He said while smiling, "if we showed that stuff, the war would never end".
Then I was escorted out of the building.
They are the core of the "resistance" to President Trump.
I can recommend Virginia: excellent gun laws and except for a jerk democrat Governor, the State Senate is in good hands.
I lived in Hampton. I liked Hampton, Newport News, Virginia Beach, Jamestown, etc. I would not live in northeastern, VA near DC.
My BIL was the ROTC DMG at VA TECH in 68. My sister graduated from Mary Washington. Me- I liked Nebraska.
And I’m a graduate of ODU... Loved Virginia Beach!
Don’t worry about Northern Virginia - we have the Isaac Walton Club, the Fairfax Rod & Gun Club and if you don’t want to wait to join those fine shooting ranges, The Quantico Shooting Club welcomes everyone - and we have a 1,000 meter range!
Semper Fi,
Chainmail
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