As I recall

As I recall …

It's 11/11 again and we are honoring our military members posted at some of the most glamourous locations and some of the most frightening and terrible places in the world.  We are actually celebrating the cessation of hostilities to end World War- 1 that had been touted as the war to end all wars.   This was touted as the war to end all wars but of course in about 25 years we were at it again.   My Dad was an infantry soldier in World War-II who participated in the Italian campaign and later, as a "second waver" at Omaha Beach in Normandy.  Six weeks later he was wounded in France and evacuated back to England and later to Ireland where he met my Mother and…well you fill in the rest.   Dad didn't get much a respite from the horrors of war since he was still on active duty in 1950 when he was sent to Korea for the next three years.  He arrived as a Master Sergeant and left with a battlefield commission and promotion to Captain.   Dad made the leap to Army Intelligence soon after Korea where he continued to confront the enemies of this nation as a silent warrior.   My time in hell began in December 1966 during my first tour of Southeast Asia.  I survived the Tet Offensive but I got in the way of an AK-47 30 Caliber rifle serving with Special Forces near the Ashau Valley in the northern border regions of Vietnam.  I returned for a second extended tour in 1970 and was there when we began the process of ceding significant portions of the country to the enemy forces of North Vietnam.   When I left in 1973, the war was actually over except for the final push by the North Vietnamese which happened with full evening TV coverage less than 18 months later.  Ironically it was my Dad's last war experience.  He was actually one of the many people who boarded helicopters on the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon.   It was the first time America actually lost a war and make no mistakes, we lost it – simple as that.

Let's examine some of the myths from our participation in Southeast Asia. 

1. Our loss in Vietnam was caused by a lack of support in Congress, the Press, the man on the street (Pick one).  NONSENSE!   We went from several hundred "advisors" to over 500,00 men and women in less than ten years.  We were supported by every non-nuclear weapon in our arsenal including Naval Carriers, Air Force heavy bombers, and ground force main battle tanks and long range artillery.   Our forces received generous pay increases virtually every year of the war.  No one ever said no to any legitimate strategy presented by our Generals except for missions that were clearly targeted at civilian economic infrastructures as forbidden by the Geneva Convention.   Congress rubber stamped everything.
2. Disaffection on the part of the civilian populace in the US demoralized the soldiers actually fighting the war and encouraged our enemies.  "Long haired hippies"  were as much a joke and item of derision among soldiers as they were in mainstream US.  We had AFN radio and the Stars and Stripes military sponsored newspaper and not much else in the way of new coverage from the U.S.   The enemy didn't even have either radio or press coverage for their forces.  They most certainly could not use demonstrations or similar activities in the U.S. as morale boosters.  They were motivated by a deep mistrust of non-Asians and a certain degree of deep rooted nationalism.  I participated in numerous interrogations of captured enemy soldiers but I never found even one who was a "card carrying" communist.  They were there because it seemed the right thing to do in support of their country.  
3. Soldiers returning from the war were routinely spat upon, hit with Umbrellas, mugged, insulted etc etc. as they walked down the street.  Nonsense!  This simply did not happen and anyone who says so will always preface their statements with the caveat that they knew someone who had this happen to them.   I wore a Green Beret and had a boatload of ribbons on my uniform.  I wore my uniform proudly in many, many cities, towns and villages and never once was I accosted or personally insulted.   Even proven "baby killlers" such as Lt. Calley never reported being accosted or otherwise insulted or confronted on our streets. 

Well that's all I have to say on the topic.  We MUST remember that we must never confuse the war with the soldier.  I was "for" Vietnam during my first tour but wide awake to the eventual unsuccessful outcome during my second tour.  I still went and served proudly since that was my duty.   My personal beliefs had no impact on how I conducted myself in the "woods."   I don't ever recall meeting a soldier who was in Vietnam to stop international communism or to answer a demand from his diety.   If I had met such people, I would have refused to have them on my Special Forces Team.