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GOOD!! They woke the American people up to what their own government wasn't telling them. How anyone thought that sending our best and brightest young men to die 8,000 miles away in Asia was in our best interest is beyond me.
I think it's very timely that PBS is showing a documentary on Vietnam, what with all the talk of North Korea. I look forward to how they address the protest movement. If David Harris is still alive, I hope they interviewed him, as he was one of the most vocal protestors against the Draft.
The men were over there and they talked about them as if they were baby killers and spit on them when they came home. John Kerry said they were barbarians acting like Genghis Kahn. War is brutal.
How is that for treating American men who were drafted in a war ?
The working class men did not have a chance to be the best and brightest.. those privileged kids got to stay in college and were not drafted .. the poor guys from working class families fought the war on the front lines. General Westmoreland spoke who was drafted and fought the war on the front lines in retrospect.
The college kids became hippies and said they wanted no part of wealth. they were hypocrites.... they then became Yuppies and got the better jobs because of their college background. In the late 60's and early 70's the college kids were all wearing faded jeans looking poor but they were privileged and fooled no one. Communists could easily persuade their minds as some were looking for a new experience anyway .. they were the mindless privileged weirdos who were self absorbed with no direction. They liked their drugs and LSD.
The men were over there and they talked about them as if they were baby killers and spit on them when they came home. John Kerry said they were barbarians acting like Genghis Kahn. War is brutal.
How is that for treating American men who were drafted in a war ?
The working class men did not have a chance to be the best and brightest.. those privileged kids got to stay in college and were not drafted .. the poor guys from working class families fought the war on the front lines. General Westmoreland spoke who was drafted and fought the war on the front lines in retrospect.
The college kids became hippies and said they wanted no part of wealth. they were hypocrites.... they then became Yuppies and got the better jobs because of their college background. In the late 60's and early 70's the college kids were all wearing faded jeans looking poor but they were privileged and fooled no one. Communists could easily persuade their minds as some were looking for a new experience anyway .. they were the mindless privileged weirdos who were self absorbed with no direction. They liked their drugs and LSD.
Speaking as one who served in that time frame...We kinda liked our drugs and LSD as well.
Not everyone who served was a draftee...or poor..or black. The draft did disproportionately scoop up the poor and minorities who could not cobble up a deferment.
Vietnam was one of the compelling reasons we went to an all volunteer military.
Westmorland was an unmitigated @ss..and a P**s poor military commander who pandered to the politicians back home. He was totally on board with the 'Hearts & Minds' strategy..and a firm believer in lying about body counts as a way of trying to convince the American public that we were 'winning'.
Spot on. Thank you for articulating this. I am tired of hearing "we lost the war in Vietnam". We won every military engagement we were in, but the politicians of course effed up the exist scenario. They also put in place really stupid ROE's that got a lot of our guys killed needlessly.
What the Vietnamese knew was this: The Americans don`t live here and they will be going home whether it be in 6 months, 5 years or 100 years, they will be going home. They threw the Chinese out twice and the second time it took nearly 300 years to do it but home they went.
Spot on. Thank you for articulating this. I am tired of hearing "we lost the war in Vietnam". We won every military engagement we were in, but the politicians of course effed up the exist scenario. They also put in place really stupid ROE's that got a lot of our guys killed needlessly.
Yup. We have won every conflict. That's why Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City.
The men were over there and they talked about them as if they were baby killers and spit on them when they came home. John Kerry said they were barbarians acting like Genghis Kahn. War is brutal.
How is that for treating American men who were drafted in a war ?
The working class men did not have a chance to be the best and brightest.. those privileged kids got to stay in college and were not drafted .. the poor guys from working class families fought the war on the front lines. General Westmoreland spoke who was drafted and fought the war on the front lines in retrospect.
The college kids became hippies and said they wanted no part of wealth. they were hypocrites.... they then became Yuppies and got the better jobs because of their college background. In the late 60's and early 70's the college kids were all wearing faded jeans looking poor but they were privileged and fooled no one. Communists could easily persuade their minds as some were looking for a new experience anyway .. they were the mindless privileged weirdos who were self absorbed with no direction. They liked their drugs and LSD.
Interviewed by Stephen Young The Wall Street Journal, 3 August 1995
Excerpt of Colonel Bui Tin answers
Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence
The conscience of America was part of its war-making capability, and we were turning that power in our favor. America lost because of its democracy
Our losses were staggering and a complete surprise;. Giap later told me that Tet had been a military defeat, though we had gained the planned political advantages when Johnson agreed to negotiate and did not run for re-election. The second and third waves in May and September were, in retrospect, mistakes. Our forces in the South were nearly wiped out by all the fighting in 1968. It took us until 1971 to re-establish our presence, but we had to use North Vietnamese troops as local guerrillas. If the American forces had not begun to withdraw under Nixon in 1969, they could have punished us severely. We suffered badly in 1969 and 1970 as it was.
American commanders had their hands tied by political factors. Your generals could never deploy a maximum force for greatest military effect
[CENTER][SIZE=5][/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]How North Vietnam Won The War [/SIZE][SIZE=4]Colonel in the North Vietnamese Army Bui Tin
[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Interviewed by [/SIZE][SIZE=4]Stephen Young[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]The Wall Street Journal, 3 August 1995[/SIZE] Bui Tin
Excerpt of Colonel Bui Tin answers
[SIZE=3]Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence
[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][SIZE=3]The conscience of America was part of its war-making capability, and we were turning that power in our favor. America lost because of its democracy[/SIZE][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][SIZE=3]
[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3]Our losses were staggering and a complete surprise;. Giap later told me that Tet had been a military defeat, though we had gained the planned political advantages when Johnson agreed to negotiate and did not run for re-election. The second and third waves in May and September were, in retrospect, mistakes. Our forces in the South were nearly wiped out by all the fighting in 1968. It took us until 1971 to re-establish our presence, but we had to use North Vietnamese troops as local guerrillas. If the American forces had not begun to withdraw under Nixon in 1969, they could have punished us severely. We suffered badly in 1969 and 1970 as it was.[/SIZE]
[/SIZE][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][SIZE=3]
[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3]American commanders had their hands tied by political factors. Your generals could never deploy a maximum force for greatest military effect[/SIZE] [/SIZE][/SIZE][/CENTER]
It wouldn't have changed a thing. The US lost the war. Nixon (R) was president. What's this about treason?
NVA Colonel Stated Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence
The betrayal of one's own country by waging war against it or by consciously or purposely acting to aid its enemies.
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