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That was a horrendous time. Thank you for your service.
I can't accept the thanks due to combat veterans of that war. I was a civilian in Vietnam. Your consideration for them is admirable and shared by me. I witnessed remarkable acts of courage, dedication, and sacrifice which will stay with me for life.
I was aware that was a possibility but I took a guess. Thanks for letting us know. I was in school during Tet and the news day after day was one horrible thing after another. (With the KIA lists in the local paper listing more and more names.)
LBJ was president from November 1963 to January 1969. That doesn't equal 10 years or even 2 full terms... Among other things.
I stand corrected...... 6 years 2 JFK didn't serve and 4 of his own. I forgot he didn't want to run for the second term....... never the less he increased WAR in SV
It was a national disgrace that the United States invaded a sovereign country that had neither attacked nor threatened the United States or its interests.
It was a national disgrace that the United States used napalm and more tons of bombs on the people of Vietnam than were dropped in all of World War II.
It was a national disgrace that United States forces tortured native Vietnamese and conducted massacres like My Lai.
It was a national disgrace that the hero of My Lai had to wait thirty years for recognition for what he did.
1. It is in the interests of the United States that the world not become communist.
2. It was war. We should have used more napalm and more bombs.
After the French withdrew and the country was arbitrarily split in half, the CIA facilitated the relocation of ~1 million ethic Tonkins to the south, mostly to the Mekong Delta area. Large #s of them were flown or shipped south on CIA planes and boats. Problem was there weren't sufficient resources in the area for that influx of population. Many of the local Cochins were displaced by the Tonkins who were favored by Diem's regime. Those Cochins would raid Tonkin-controlled villages for food and other resources or try to force the Tonkins out of those villages that were once their own. The CIA, eager to get the USA engaged against the communist North, over-sold this local struggle for basic necessities of survival as a "communist insurgency" sponsored by the North. The CIA encouraged the Diem government to react accordingly. They provided the "military advisors" who would lead the ARVN troops in retaliatory missions. The harsh reprisals created more contempt for the Diem government. Before long, a group of people who would have generally preferred just to live in their villages in peace were turned into the thing the CIA wanted the to be; anti-Diem insurgents who were willing to work with the North. And the CIA was one step closer to its hell-bent goal of getting the USA fully engaged in combat in Vietnam.
Finally, why did US help South Korea until the end, but not South Vietnam ?
It could easily be argued that we might not have been able to sustain our support for South Korea if the media environment in the early 50's was like it was in the late 60's (i.e. color news footage of bloody 19 year old kids being slung into helicopters beamed into America's living rooms nightly). Also, Korea was essentially a conventional war, uniformed armies against uniformed armies. Viet Nam was a hybrid with a large insurgency/counterinsurgency component. The latter type of conflict lends itself to a prolonged engagement, especially when one of the sides is an external element. If Korea had drug on for another several years eventually there would come a point where the political pressure to cut-and-run became overwhelming. Fortunately for South Korea, we were able to force a durable stalemate before we got there.
1. It is in the interests of the United States that the world not become communist.
2. It was war. We should have used more napalm and more bombs.
3. True.
4. True.
HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED A SINGLE DAMN THING ABOUT THE COMMIES?
The only way commies come to power is if the poor majority are pissed off.
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