I was a cop at the time and enjoyed the riots, I was ashamed at the welcome home for our Veterans.
I have always wanted to know more about our involvement and picked up a 1,000 page book by Henry Kissinger still seeking to know why.

One paragraph said a lot and prompted me to ask:
today with the crazy fat boy in charge of North Korea: Do any of you have some second thoughts?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ed Fowler,

*Vietnam

I doubt we have very many Vietnam War protesters here.

I always thought one reason why the current troops get so much love is because of guilt from how the Vietnam Vets were treated.

Historically, I also believe Stalin was the greater evil between him and Hitler. Hitler was stopped but the long term consequences of Stalin are still evident today. Him standing behind China, North Korea and Cuba. People are still suffering in North Korea. I don't believer they're suffering to the degree that North Koreans are but I doubt that the Chinese and Cubans are living the lives they could be living.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
*Vietnam

Viet Nam is an acceptable spelling too, it's just not seen as much anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by airsoft guy:

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
*Vietnam

Viet Nam is an acceptable spelling too, it's just not seen as much anymore.

quote:

Attention Veit Nam War Protesters of the late 60s

Veit Nam too?

Anyway, OT I don't think we'll find many protesters around these parts.

And if we do, they'll be the "aw shucks, I really wish I had served now" type that is too ashamed to admit it.

I sincerely hope you can forgive my spelling error. Thanks for letting me know.

Vietnam was a much different situation than is North Korea.
For starters, in Vietnam we were trying to clean up a mess the French had mishandled, with the cold war issues hanging over the whole mess and it went downhill from there.
North Korea is a result of just kicking the can down the road because it seemed like the easiest thing to do, until there is no more road left.
Both are much more complex than that, but they are a long way from the same situation.

quote:

in Vietnam we were trying to clean up a mess the French had mishandled

^^^True, although I believe that we, notably IKE and JFK, did plenty of screwing up as well.

Korea was almost entirely a clean-up for the US Department of State which screwed up beyond belief.

Viet Nam is how it is written in the native language.
Vietnam is the American way it is written.

quote:

Originally posted by Ed Fowler:
I sincerely hope you can forgive my spelling error. Thanks for letting me know.

You shouldn't have to apologize for a simple typo. Grammer Natzees half whey two mooch but hertz ofer sipmle speelin erors.

On topic, I don't know how North/South Viet Nam would have turned out had we 'won' the war, so there's no good 'control group' for your question. . .

Of course, we lost the war, in large part, *because of* the anti-war sentiment at home, so to simplify things, the South fell because of all the dope-smoking hanoi jane-loving dirty hippy protestors. I think they care more that they 'made a difference' than they care about what that difference meant to the people stuck under communism as a result of their protests.

quote:

Originally posted by oldRoger:


^^^True, although I believe that we, notably IKE and JFK, did plenty of screwing up as well.

Korea was almost entirely a clean-up for the US Department of State which screwed up beyond belief.

Plenty of screw ups to go around. Don't forget LBJ and Nixon too.

In the end we had to declare victory so we could pull out and save face knowing all along what the eventual outcome would be.

The sad thing is that at the end of WW2, when Vietnam was a French colony recently liberated by the Japanese defeat, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent from France and tried to make nice with the USA.

We blew him off and sided with France because he had communist leanings, the cold war was starting up, and France was supposed to be our ally. And the rest is history.

Ironically, De Gaulle was a bit of a lefty and mostly concerned about himself than helping us but we were more worried about keeping Europe together and the communists out.

Unfortunately, our leaders considered the ongoing mess in Vietnam necessary collateral damage, the price to keep the dominoes of southeast Asia from falling to the Soviets.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Viet Nam is how it is written in the native language.
Vietnam is the American way it is written.

What about 'Nam?

'Nam is just as bad as 'Murica!

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Viet Nam is how it is written in the native language.
Vietnam is the American way it is written.

What about 'Nam?

'Nam is badass/slang term used by the GIs.

I have never, personally, met a Vietnam protester. I saw some when I returned both times, but never met any of them. Perhaps that was a good thing on my part, or I may have had to do a bit of jail time.

I enlisted in the USMC before graduating high school on the 120 day delay program. August of 1964 Parris Island South Carolina. August 1965 Viet-Nam Operation Starlite. Combat veteran at 19 years of age. Four years active service Pvt-E1 to Sgt-E5 Deployed outside the continental limits of the United States 26 months of a four year enlistment plus two years inactive reserve.

Amphibious Assault ships that I was on LST Terrel County 1157, Waldo County 1163, Lorain County 1177, Henry County 824, Okinawa LPH3 and IwoJima LPH2.

The last six months of my enlistment GITMO Cuba 3rdBn 8th Marine Regt. Perimeter security The Cubans used blue-Green tracer to put down people fleeing the oppression.

Viet-Nam was part of my life story but not all of my life. I don't belong to Veteran Associations except for the Marine Corps Association (we take care of our own) I collect VA disability for Agent Orange exposure and hearing loss.

That's my story. I don't knowingly associate with Viet-Nam war protestors and I often think of those we lost.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
I have never, personally, met a Vietnam protester. I saw some when I returned both times, but never met any of them. Perhaps that was a good thing on my part, or I may have had to do a bit of jail time.

I saw plenty protests. All types. At UO (Ducks) back then. We math and/or science majors did not protest much. The day after Kent State, we chased protesters out of our physics lecture hall.

Not saying any has done this in this thread, but I think it always important to remember that a war protestor does not necessarily equate to someone who treated soldiers poorly.

There is a time to protest war, but there is never a time to treat soldiers the way they were often treated then.

Thank you for your sacrifice Vietnam veterans, from a civilian who wasn't born until you'd been home for 10 years or so. And also from someone who looks at many of the conflicts the US gets involved in as needless sacrifices of American lives.

I was a Vietnam protester in 1970. I didn't really do much; I went and marched in a protest parade "because everyone else was" and because I "didn't want war and killing". ... All the standard naive doofus stuff.

Yes I have second thoughts; I am ashamed and embarrassed.

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
I was a Vietnam protester in 1970. I didn't really do much; I went and marched in a protest parade "because everyone else was" and because I "didn't want war and killing". ... All the standard naive doofus stuff.

Yes I have second thoughts; I am ashamed and embarrassed.

Thank you for your honesty!! It would have been much easier to just stay quiet, I am sure.