South Vietnam

Just an observation, being there and not being there must give a totally different perspective.

 

Only the leftists are entitled to free speech, like calling for the assassination of the VP and his family!

 

I think it is called an epiphany!

 

Somewhere I heard or read that Soviet archives had revealed U.S. was indeed successful at containing the spread of communism in SE Asia.

"The domino theory, which governed much of U.S. foreign policy beginning in the early 1950s, held that a communist victory in one nation would quickly lead to a chain reaction of communist takeovers in neighboring states. In Southeast Asia, the United States government used the domino theory to justify its support of a non-communist regime in South Vietnam against the communist government of North Vietnam, and ultimately its increasing involvement in the long-running Vietnam War (1954-75). In fact, the American failure to prevent a communist victory in Vietnam had much less of a global impact than had been assumed by the domino theory. Though communist regimes did arise in Laos and Cambodia after 1975, communism failed to spread throughout the rest of Southeast Asia."
http://www.history.com/topics/domino-theory

 

Kerry is a traitor, and is largely responsible for the public holding Vietnam veterans in such low esteem.

He not only was a traitor, he publicly slandered the men he served with.

He is unapologetic about both.

 

I disagree with your first statement. Long before anyone heard of Mr. Kerry, vets who served there were regularly spat upon and cursed. That treatment has changed over the years probably since the 1st Gulf War. Now whenever i wear something that identifies me as a Viet Nam vet, i inevitably get 1 of 2 responses: "Thanks for serving" or "Welcome Home!"

 

So it only took 20 years before the stigma planted by Kerry and others finally began to dissipate.


During the Vietnam War in 1970 Kerry told a Congressional committee that American soldiers routinely "...raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of [J]enghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks..."

He's talking about you, Tom.

 

Actually, he wasn't. I never did any of those things nor did I have personal knowledge of anyone who did. Did they happen? Yes.

I had never heard of john Kerry before he became a presidential aspirant. But crap happened to returning veterans and their families long before John Kerry said what he thought. But let me say this about him, I don't know what he did in country but he was there. I can put up with a lot from someone who put his life on the line rather than all the politicians and pseudo-patriots who professed great love for soldiers but made sure their kids had their deferment.

 

That's what made it so wrong. The public believed him.

Face it, Tom. You were innocent of such charges, but were tarred by the same brush as Wm Calley. Thanks to Kerry.

Too bad you weren't paying attention in 1970. I was and I have known what a scumbag he is ever since.

Turns out he met with the enemy twice while an officer in the naval reserve, then spread their propaganda and did their bidding in the states.
That's called treason.

AndI can't overlook treason no matter what his military record was. Even Benedict Arnold was a hero.

 

Kerry is in the catagory as Jane Fonda. This is one issue that I tend to only listen to those who were actually there.

 

So what on earth do you know about South Vietnam?

 

I am sorry for not being attentive. I was in basic training. Had little time for the papers and watching the news.

So were you in the service?

 

The bolded part is the problem. You cannot just have to trust your government. Politicians like wars for political reasons--fame, honor, and even bad economics. Bill Clinton said that he felt cheated out of a war (we're talking about the livelihoods of many people here!) Many of our Keynesian politicians falsely believe that "war helps the economy."

It should be incumbent upon us as allegedly free people to study history, politics, economics, and our own officials as much as we can before simply blindly supporting the policies of our government--whether foreign or domestic policy.

 

Does anyone know about the "Christmas truce" of World War I?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
http://mises.org/daily/1978/The-Christmas-Truce-of-World-War-I

 

Well, I just don't know enough myself about these things, so we have to elect good leaders and trust them.

Completely off subject, but here is a site about Vietnam. The very first photo (the fellow sitting on the round object) is my cousin. He spent 2 years over there.

http://www.freewebs.com/jim4jet/

I was too young for Vietnam, but my father and his brothers served in WWII. I grew up hearing war stories and wanted to see what it was all about. But my Dad discouraged me, he said to go if they call you, but don't volunteer. It was all over by the time I was old enough anyway, but I had family members over there.

 

I've often thought of how amazing (and telling) this incident was. The problem definitely was not at the common man's level, now was it?

Doubt this could've happened in Viet Nam or Korea. This occurred between Christian Teutons and Christian Teutons.

 

Marine

Vietnam 68-69

 

Glad you made it back! Too many Marines (and others) never did. Those were tough years!

 

Thank you. You are right. Way too many.