Could have sworn this whole bit was in a movie sometime...
Posted on 09/21/2017 9:20:30 AM PDT by oh8eleven
Most of the interviewees talk in the lugubrious tones of the defeated. We all know the story ends badly. But when it’s over, we aren’t told why we lost. The music is more memorable than the pictures, and the pictures are more compelling than the narration. We are deluged by sights and sounds but not enlightened as to cause and effect.
The film casts the antiwar movement in a moderately favorable light. Are the protesters the real heroes here? What about the valiant US soldiers, 75 percent of whom were volunteers?
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Could have sworn this whole bit was in a movie sometime...
I would recommend that you go take your meds.
Even your attempts to insult are losing coherency.
One cannot overstate the perfidy of the Repub’s in so many things.
I’m tired of them all.
Sorry, that was my joke, come up with one of your own.
Unless you forgot.
Oh, I don’t know - you’re the one that thinks that he knows about my war. Since you haven’t told me about your experience, then we’ll have to assume that you were a service avoider (which would make you my geriatric age) or just a younger “expert”.
Now, both of my grandfathers did serve in WWI and my Father and both Uncles served in WWII. Just my turn, ya know?
Never even met me and you first accuse me of being a communist, then a leftist, then a draft dodger.
But it's ok, you're old and not in control of your faculties and will be dead soon.
Yep. You have to judge a man on his statements. You’ve made some that would have brought a thrill to old Jane Fonda.
I will most likely live longer than you will.
I’m still putting kids into the world - doing just great. Best of all, I’m proud of how I am and what I’ve done.
'Old' Jane Fonda? You're older than she is...and just as nuts.
Your math is as deficient as your politics.
Hanoi John Effin’ Kerry is a prime example of what you refer to. The North couldn’t possibly fear troops like him.
PS We didn’t “lose”. Those spineless maggots in DC gave up on us and sold us out.
Semper Fi, Brother!
I knew Vietnam Veterans from different times in the war because my much older brother and his friends served earlier and some of my older friends, my older husband, and other family served more in the middle of the war while my actual age group of school peers and friends served toward the end.
The issue of drugs was different during different time frames and even areas of service according to what they said. My brother said when he was there drugs were not even an issue, just a few people using like any where else on the planet. This country in general was supporting the war and soldiers at this point. In fact when my brother got home he was treated very well, only felt the sting later when lumped with all Vietnam Veterans by the public.
My husband said when he was there drugs were not an issue where he was but he moved around quite a bit and said there were pockets where people were using, especially marijuana since marijuana either grew wild or someone was cultivating it on large scale in some areas. He said the drug usage he saw was mostly recreational, off duty and was not to the extent it had any effect on the military’s ability to do their job anywhere he was at. People were just beginning to turn against the war and the military while my husband was there, he heard about it but when he got back it was getting worse. My husband was blown up by a landmine and was in an Army hospital for over a year and when he was finally recovered as much as he would- Traitor John Kerry and his merry band of mostly fake Vietnam Veterans testified to Congress about our military being like that of Genghis Khan. That was the turning point of the public turning against the military and soldiers in large numbers and acting out on it. Even most of those that did not believe it, did not agree did not speak up against that type of thing, so it seemed to the soldiers that most felt that way.
I have friends that were there toward the very end of the war that say drug use was rampant and in fact soldiers would hide and do drugs instead of going on patrols or whatever they were supposed to be doing. They also said heroin use was out of control as well. In their words, everyone knew the war was basically over- they had no support and many did not see the point of being the last to die. The military in general was completely demoralized at that point, everyone was blaming the military and individual soldiers and those that were there later in the war knew that people were turning on soldiers, didn’t support them, and worse. They got there when it was too late for anything they did to make a difference. They felt no support from anyone, in fact several told me later in college they had girl friends dump them while they were there because they would get sucked in by liberals and believe the propaganda about baby killer soldiers. Some had family that didn’t support them; at their young age it must have felt real good to be there without support, knowing you could die and not make a difference, in fact would likely make some happy if you did die if it helped their agenda. I have to say I do not blame any of them that turned to alcohol or drugs to deal with all that they had to deal with.
I have to say none of my family, friends, classmates came back with any drug issues. None. I knew personally only one person that did and he was an employee of a friend’s father. He had become addicted to heroin and was trying to get his life back together- while still using heroin so you can imagine how well that worked. I do know there were far more issues with that among my age group than others, but not the military people I knew personally.
We also have to realize as the war went on more people were using drugs everywhere, it was becoming more socially acceptable. The military is part of our society so includes some of the bad parts as well. It was also far easier to get drugs in Vietnam, Thailand, ETC than it was here and it was easy enough here.
To blame the loss of the Vietnam War on drugs does not make sense. If the war had been actually fought instead of poorly micromanaged and used for political agendas it would have ended before serious drug use became an issue.
Just my opinion from my own talks with many Vietnam Veterans over the years.
That is a fact. We were winning when we quit. Our military won the battles they were given. They were dealt a sorry hand but they played it as well as they possibly could.
Main problem was that Washington was looking at Vietnam through the prism of the Korean War experience. Hardest thing to do is not re-fight the last war.
“So a video of a single army unit burning a village...”
The fake media goes all the way back to the beginning of the written word I imagine. And certainly was around in the 60’s helping the commies.
That footage seems “fake”. In one scene it shows our troops walking away from a village (well, at least several huts) that are ablaze with a fury. I suppose doused with fuel, a grenade - did they have phosphorus grenades? It looks something like that. Anyway, what one might imagine an enemy village might look like after we found it and cleared it out.
The images of the women and children putting out little spot fires with their buckets - not so much. Perhaps fires due to a nearby firefight or nearby bombs or artillery throwing out burning debris. But I would hope our troops would do a better job of burning an enemy village than tossing a few matches on the roof and then walking away, leaving the locals to fight the fires.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_destroy
Yup, ‘Search and Destroy’ was a myth as were ‘Zippo’ missions...
We’ll make you like us even if we have to burn your house and food.
I spoke out as well, every chance I got, with politicians, media, and every person that said anything off. I do remember it was pretty lonely though, most ignored what was going on, many even believed all the lies.
I remember one day there was funeral for a soldier killed in Vietnam in a small town we lived near. It was a small ranching, logging conservative community but there was a University there. We did not know there was a funeral going on and my dad and I were going somewhere and got stopped by police at a stop sign for the funeral procession to pass by. The officer told my dad it was a soldier killed in Vietnam. As we sat there we noticed there was a crowd on the corner and then we realized they were anti-war protestors- protesting the funeral! Getting ready to make a big show when the hearse and family went by. That was unheard of to us- we were stunned but it didn’t take my dad long to react. He jumped out of the truck and ran toward them with so much anger I had never seen him like that. He told them how disrespectful they were and even though he was alone and there was quite a number of them he was acting as though he was going to physically attack the males (I am sure he was) they all ran off. There were a number of people in cars waiting, there were a number of other people there. No one else said or did anything. Nothing. They just ignored the protestors. That made my dad even madder later when he realized that he was the only one that said anything to them.
Often when I spoke up I was the only one. Later people would tell me they agreed but most would never confront the liberals at all.
The local villagers don't appear to at all afraid of the soldiers or even hostile. The soldiers don't help put out the fires but they don't get in the way either.
I am not particularly impressed with the level of training of that bunch, since it shows them bunched up on that one trail and nobody seems interested in watching for movement around them and during that one scene while they are digging and cleaning their M-16s, you would think that they were on a stateside training exercise instead of Vietnam. They don't seem to be thinking about the possibility of mortar fire, judging by the shallowness of those holes and their indifference to cover.
The things you learned very quickly over there was to pay close attention to where you stepped and to the edges of the treelines where the enemy was almost certainly watching and waiting.
Ignore the snickering moron: he’s decided that he’s a Vietnam War Protester in his dotage.
Semper Fi
Chainmail
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