A Vietnam Vet's moving letter in today's "Stars and Stripes"

I challenge our media to ask the same questions as this vet's below:

(URL provided when available)


This is to thank the men and women in our armed forces serving overseas, and especially those in Afghanistan and the Iraqi theater. Many of us here in the U.S. admire them and appreciate their sacrifices and valiant efforts. They are in our thoughts and prayers for their safety and a quick return home.

I am a disabled Vietnam veteran. I served in both enlisted and commissioned positions. I also worked for ten years as a civilian for the Navy and in Europe for the army during Desert Storm. I can identify with many of the stories in the letters to the editor. They've caused me to remember my experiences in Vietnam. We were really motivated and dedicated. We didn't question our assignment. We were all "gung ho" to fight against communism and the "domino theory." We were told it would cause all of southeast Asia to fall to communists. We served well and proudly. We lost the war, but the communists never took all of southeast Asia. We were told that if we lost, they would take over. What happened?

We suffered many hardships in Vietnam, some more than others. We lost many friends and loved ones. We saw others suffer physical or emotional injury. Many of the "enemy" and many civilians were killed by the thousands. We seldom stopped to think that we were the invaders, and wonder that if someone invaded our country, would we be terrorists if we killed the invaders? We were single-minded and followed orders. We proudly did our jobs, thinking we were fighting for liberty, freedom and mostly for our country. At least we all had a date of estimated rotation from overseas station.

I know the conditions in Vietnam and those in the current conflict are different. But the hardships are very similar, the circumstances bear a resemblance, and the outcome will be the same. In time, there will be an Iraqi memorial in Washington, DC's National Mall. Decades later, many servicemembers will visit the memorial to recall the names and faces of fallen comrades. They'll feel the pain that many of us have felt. They will then realize the futility.

It appears likely now that they, too, may discover, just as we did, that our country lied. There was no "Gulf of Tonkin" incident, which triggered U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. It was created. The domino theory was only a fabrication manufactured to fool the American people. And it worked! Then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara now admits that we were fighting for a lie and the presidential administration knew it. There are 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Three million were injured. And for what? Vietnam is now a leading trade partner with the U.S. and a tourist destination.

I can only wonder about the similarities in the two conflicts. If the Sept. 11, 2001 perpetrators were mostly Saudis, why are we in Iraq? Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Why are we now told that there was never any connection between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein? What threat did Saddam pose to the U.S. or his neighbors? Why did his neighbors not join in the fight against him? Why did the U.N. refuse to join the U.S. in a rush to war before the weapons inspectors completed their project? Why did the U.S. move to attack so quickly? Who's freedom are we fighting for? Why do so many Iraqis hate Americans? Why is Vice President Cheney's former company the prime contractor in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and the Iraqi theater?

I sincerely hope that our current fine young servicemenmbers aren't victimized like those of us who served in Vietnam. It was difficult when we returned. Our country had turned against us. We were called names and ridiculed. Many of us have reconciled that we were duped and used. We can now only look back and try to figure out how it happened. I can only suggest that we should have thought more, questioned more, and analyzed our situation. We had no choice but to serve as ordered, and we did so proudly.

Our current servicemembers also have little choice but to serve, and they are doing so admirably. They do have the choice to vote. I thank them for their sacrifices.

P. Anthony Stich
Eureka, Calif

"What threat did Saddam pose to the U.S. or his neighbors? Why did his neighbors not join in the fight against him?"...You would think they would be eager to join in the fight if they felt threatened by him....

No one's going to call our soldiers names when they come back. That's one lesson we did learn from Viet Nam.

I have always wondered if people _really_ took out their anger about Vietnam on the soldiers. To me, that seems like such backward thinking (that a soldier should be held responsible for a nation's foreign policy any more than a regular voter). You are absolutely right that the left does not make that mistake now. But I have to wonder if the left ever _really_ made that mistake before. My hunch has always been that it was a media deception to vilify the left, but I have never seen any studies or reports to validate my hunch. So I am left with no refutation of "history" that the vets were hated by the anti-war bunch. Any thoughts? Anyone?

I can assure there is some truth to the stories about the way Vietnam Veterans were treated on their return. It didn't happen to everyone, I had no experiences with it except being cautioned not to wear my uniform in Oakland when I returned. Since the war I have been a counselor for veterans with PTSD and I have heard too many stories from veterans for them to all be lies. Many veterans would not even identify themselves as Vietnam veterans until recently. The radical left, just like the radical right can be very hurtful and cruel, sometimes to people that least deserve it.

I was involved in the antiwar movement for quite some time and saw it happen--at a point, some truly vile folks started taking over, doctrinaire wannabe-Maoists, general crazies, and some very neurotic upper-middle-class types who came up with gems like "Jewish people in the movement must especially understand their special role in the oppression of black people" (these were white WASPs saying this).

It was quite sick--started around late 1968 with the Columbia U. occupation and the rise of the Weathermen and got worse from there. They never really took over the antiwar movement, they just smeared their shit all over everyone.

:smoke:

I remember it well. There was a lot of hype that war protesters were calling soldiers baby killers and other equally vile names but I think that has been traced back to FBI agents who were trying to discredit the peace movement. Many Viet Nam veterans have told me that they felt vilified not by the peace movement but by the WWII generation who treated them like failures and told them they had lost the war. Viet Nam vets weren't welcome in some American Legion and VFW facilities.

I don't follow her commentary at all, but I thought I'd read that somewhere.

The GOP's desparaging Vietnam vets continues to this day. Think of the party's treatment of Max Cleland or John McCain. Plan on more of the same should Kerry become the democratic nominee.

Can't stand that witch. :puke:

anymore what people think. At this point I think the truth is different for each of us. We have our paradigms that color the way we see things.

I think the best way to support the troops is to bring them home. Get them out of harm's way. They did not start Bush's war. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Had our country wised up about Vietnam much earlier I doubt the "WALL" would have needed to be built.

I have been called a barbarian and a murderer just on DU alone.