Mom, Apple Pie, and the Ghost of Quagmires Past

21 January, 2004 | marron

[marron]

ping

My apologies in advance.

[VaBthang4]

If you could please...

Provide a brief summary of your point.

[4mycountry]

You've been working on this for a while. A loooong while.

Summary would be nice.

[Publius]

Bravo! Well written.

[Sans-Culotte]

Excellent post. A weighty tome, to be sure, but well worth the reading.

[pabianice]

I suspect the closest your friend ever got to Viet Nam was watching "Full Metal Jacket" at his local movie theater. Anyone who claims to have been in the service -- let alone Viet Nam -- and cannot provide any verifiable details is most likely full of crap. Ask for some verifiable details; then let us know what he says.

[onedoug]

"We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances." --Jeremiah Denton

[Taliesan]

Hey! Nice job!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

This is a vanity?

No way. It is polished professional work, tight as a drum, a clarion call.

You put up the source link of this piece this minute!

[StonyBurk]

Good read-- the ending is so Lincolnesque.The whole country
changed while I was in service. Got kicked out of a church
back when the dog and pony show of the Clinton Impeachment
was being played to the delight of the threepiece suits of
FoggyBottom. Wore an inverted flag then. The oung assistant Pastor --who neve reven served in the Military and didn't know flag regulations-nor my intent tried saying I was
disrespecting every one who had ever served our country by
that act. Oh well-- DOn't mean nothin'

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Seriously good piece of historical perspective by a Freeper.

Long, but inspiring--and written by someone who is or should be a pro.

[El Gran Salseron]

Terrific job! This writing should get the post of the month award or whatever they call it!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Ping.

A must-see.

[betty boop]

The challenge is for us to determine where God stands, and to make sure we stand there also. Once certain of our position and our direction, our job is to hold our ground, stand for what we stand for, and to move forward in the direction we know we must. God has granted us liberty, and we owe him courage in return.

Oh marron, this is glorious, sublime! Kudos!!!

Truly, it's never a question of "who's side is God on?" As you note, it's ever a question of do we stand with God?

This essay ought to be an excellent tonic for the "No more Viet Nams!" crowd -- who so simple-mindedly equate the then with the actual now. Unfortunately, folks this simple-minded probably won't understand a word you wrote.... Sloganeering standing in for rational throught seems to be all the fashion.

Thank you so much for this beautiful essay!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

This essay ought to be an excellent tonic for the "No more Viet Nams!" crowd

Indeed, I went looking for the URL with a view to sending the link to a scoutmaster and serious Christian who is also a shop steward--and a hereditary Democrat whose mother had a picture of JFK on the wall. It's probably hopeless, but . . .

[MHGinTN]

"... if you hold fast to your principles even in the midst of a fight, you will change reality. Walls will come down, empires will fall ..." Thank you; I need that reminder occasionally, in the midst of doldrums.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the ping, betty boop! And thank you, marron, for a most wonderful essay! It has been bookmarked.

[Semper]

When I started reading, I was struck by the following:

Forty years have passed since his time there and he is still haunted by what he did and saw, and the feeling that it was all for nothing ...

My immediate response was to say that it WAS for something. It was to oppose the spread of communism, it was to honor our protection commitment to SEATO (the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) of which both the U.S. and South Vietnam were members. It was part of a larger battle against communism which eventually we won - even though we did not conduct and conclude the effort in Vietnam as we should have.

And then I continued to read and low and behold you said essentially the same thing - only much more eloquently.

I experienced the Vietnam conflict first hand - three times - near the beginning, the middle and the end. At first we were very successful with small units protecting the countryside from the Vietcong terrorists. Then it became more conventional and the costs started to rise. Then it became prolonged and we eventually had to leave with the job not done. I will always remember the statement from General Giap, commander of the communist North Vietnam forces saying that he could never have won without the help of the protesters back in the United States. That was not the only reason for our failure, of course, but it certainly gave help and comfort to our enemy.

Anyway, great article. Thanks.