Vietnam War ended 50 Years Ago Today

[NickTheGreat]

We had a neighbor growing up who "survived a suicide mission" and had issues with it for decades, Sometimes people would find him in his truck on the side of the road crying and screaming. He didn't like to talk about it, but but he obviously saw some things.

 

[CyValley2]

I recommend a physical copy in every household:
Amazon product

The video series (PBS, elsewhere?) is so powerful. Like Ken Burn's Civil War series, I've watched his Vietnam series many times. I think I'm on the 11th time through at the moment.

 

[wxman1]

Not so shameless plug. I am heavily involved with Eastern Iowa Honor Flight. We are basically out of WWII veterans and now have a heavy focus on Korea and Vietnam veterans. If you are or have family members that fall into these categories I would highly suggest working with them to apply to go on this FREE trip for the veteran to give them the experience at their memorials with their fellow veterans that they deserve. If you are not in Eastern Iowa we can hook you up with your local wing to get on their list.

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Honoring the service of World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam War and other Veterans of Eastern Iowa The mission of Eastern Iowa Honor Flight is to provide veterans with a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to visit monuments and memorials built in their honor for the sacrifice and service they...

eihonorflight.org

 

[NWICY]

I had a conversation with my dad last week and he was talking about how Vietnam was the first "tv war" and he kind of complained how the news now doesn't do a good job of showing it on a day to day basis so everyone understands the horrors of war. I quickly reminded him of the internet and told him there are literal websites dedicated to battlefield coverage and you can find images and footage in much higher quality than he would have seen as a kid on his TV.

You are 100% right that you can find it, but at the same time unless you are looking for it, it is very easy to think there is nothing going on.
For lack of a better word I'd call it societal segmentation.

The Ukrainian war is basically a after thought. The Houthie Iran deal is a 30 second clip of missiles either being fired or exploding.

 

[GMackey32]

My Dad wasn't old enough to be drafted but my Uncle was one of the early draftees. What saved him was his bad hearing. Received a 4F and avoided the war.

 

[dafarmer]

Had a cousin killed in Viet Nam who is on the Memorial Union. Found a letter to my mom that she kept relating the ###### up mess we were in. My number was 13 and had to take my physical while attending ISU. Draft was stopped before I had to go, and if you know of a VN vet sit down and talk and listen to him.

 

[CyValley2]

My Dad wasn't old enough to be drafted but my Uncle was one of the early draftees. What saved him was his bad hearing. Received a 4F and avoided the war.

My draft number was 313. I believe the draftable young men were something like a top number of 140 or so?

When I was a junior at Waterloo East High School, students attended the practice graduation in the gym for the 1968 class. Craig Rogers sang a moving song with his beautiful voice. He was killed in Vietnam.

Craig Rogers: (Did not know until now he was Airborne)

SP4 Craig Ray Rogers, Waterloo, IA on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

 

[KnappShack]

Nothing I have ever studied or read about makes me want to punch myself in the face more than the Vietnam War

All of it. The lead up. The actual war. The politics. The evacuation. The treatment of vets. All of it

 

[GMackey32]

Nothing I have ever studied or read about makes me want to punch myself in the face more than the Vietnam War

All of it. The lead up. The actual war. The politics. The evacuation. The treatment of vets. All of it

I'm a big history nerd and read a lot of books about US conflicts but I've avoided Vietnam thus far just because of everything involved with it.

 

[cysmiley]

Vietnam Vets do not deal with the era the same way. I have some friends that deal with it openly and participate in events that honor those that served. I do not, nor will I view the NYT picture essay, nor have I ever seen any movie (including Ken Burns) about that war. That time is in a locked box in my memory, my wife knows not to try to open it, even though she is writing a biography on me for my kids and grand kids to see the rest of my life experience! Just a note to caution as one, with the best of intentions, talks to Veterans that served in that era. I have visited the wall to honor those with whom I served.

 

[AuH2O]

My dad served and it has had some lasting impacts. I've found it strange though in recent years that he doesn't really want to talk about it but if you ever met him, or simply walked around his home, more than anything else about him you would know he served there. It represents less than 5% of his life, and it was mostly awful, yet it’s the defining thing about him.

Same here. I remember growing up during the summer I would do chores with him on the farm, and he would take a nap after lunch. I’d had have to wake him up, and he would always wake up startled and jump up looking terrified. And this was still going on over 20 years after he came home. He got reconnected with a few guys he served with and started doing a few annual reunions. That has certainly helped.

 

[CyValley2]

I'm a big history nerd and read a lot of books about US conflicts but I've avoided Vietnam thus far just because of everything involved with it.

Until maybe 10 or more years ago, having come of age in the 1960s, I avoided Vietnam War subjects like the plague. Decided at some point that I wanted to know more than what little I did. What an ugly picture.

One book in particular got under my skin. "JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power" by John M. Newman.

Major Newman, USA ret., later Ph.D. Newman was a staff member working for the Joint Chiefs when choosing this topic for his dissertation. I believe he was the first author to get a most reluctant McNamara to agree to extensive interviews about the war.

Newman interviewed other key Kennedy administration officials and reviewed key documents, such as National Security Agency Memoranda. Eventually, McNamara gave the author complete access to his protected government archives.

McNamara said he and Kennedy had a "concrete" understanding (meaning the policy would not change) that U.S. combat troops would never be sent to Southeast Asia. Despite the intent of the Pentagon and the MACV command and PACCOM to deceive JFK with positive statistics in order to lock him into a growing militarization, the president held firm until his death.

Diem's fall and assassination (November 1, 1963) was confirmation of his thinking. (Also, JFK was aghast at the Buddhist immolations that began in June 1963, a further powerful sign of SVN government corruption and isolation.)

So, Dallas ended the lives of nearly 58,000 American men (LBJ not only reversed JFK's Vietnam policy within days of November 22 but in March 1965 inserted the first U.S. combatants into South Vietnam when Marines came ashore at DaNang).

Cronkite interview with JFK early September 1963. In it JFK refers to the events of the last two months, a reference that includes the Buddhist resistance that began in June. Note how the president repeatedly says it is South Vietnam's war, not ours. It is SVN's war to win or lose. We cannot win it for them, only aide them.

At one point JFK laments 47 American military men have died in Vietnam. By the gods, 47!

Vietnam Q/A begins at 12:37 mark:



Amazon product



John M. Newman is an American author and retired major in the United States Army. Newman was on the faculty at the University of Maryland from 1995 to 2012, and has been a Political Science professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia since January 2013.

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

My card said 064. And as several said, the draft ended before I had to go.

 

[GMackey32]

Until maybe 10 or more years ago, having come of age in the 1960s, I avoided Vietnam War subjects like the plague. Decided at some point that I wanted to know more than what little I did. What an ugly picture.

One book in particular got under my skin. "JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power" by John M. Newman.

Major Newman, USA ret., later Ph.D. Newman was a staff member working for the Joint Chiefs when choosing this topic for his dissertation. I believe he was the first author to get a most reluctant McNamara to agree to extensive interviews about the war.

Newman interviewed other key Kennedy administration officials and reviewed key documents, such as National Security Agency Memoranda. Eventually, McNamara gave the author complete access to his protected government archives.

McNamara said he and Kennedy had a "concrete" understanding (meaning the policy would not change) that U.S. combat troops would never be sent to Southeast Asia. Despite the intent of the Pentagon and the MACV command and PACCOM to deceive JFK with positive statistics in order to lock him into a growing militarization, the president held firm until his death.

Diem's fall and assassination was confirmation of his thinking. (Also, JFK was aghast at the Buddhist immolations that began in June 1963, iirc, a further powerful sign of SVN government corruption and isolation.)

So, Dallas ended the lives of nearly 58,000 American men (LBJ not only reversed JFK's Vietnam policy within days of November 22 but in March 1965 inserted the first U.S. combatants into South Vietnam when Marines came ashore at DaNang).

Cronkite interview with JFK early September 1963:
VIetnam Q/A begins at 12:37 mark


Amazon product

View attachment 148830

John M. Newman is an American author and retired major in the United States Army. Newman was on the faculty at the University of Maryland from 1995 to 2012, and has been a Political Science professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia since January 2013.

I’ll put it on my list of books I want to read. I’m intrigued.

 

[jsb]

The book Friendly Fire about Michael Mullen and his mom is a good read. He grew up in NE Iowa and his mom remained an activist her entire life.

I find it crazy that 50 years ago the draft was in place. People had no choice in the matter. I can hardly imagine that.

My dad enlisted in the Army after graduating from Iowa State in 1971 because his draft number was low. He ended up incredibly fortunate and served at Fort Leavenworth and never had to go overseas. If you listen to him, they took the last names that began with A-L and they stayed here and M-Z headed to Vietnam. In many ways his service was kind of like college....his second year he didn't even live on base. But---still---he had to be there. He couldn't decide to be finished with the Army. Again, that's just crazy to me.

 

[TitanClone]

I probably wouldn't be here if US involvement happened even just a few months earlier. One of my grandpas was discharged shortly before it really picked up. He said the only action he ever saw was when the ship he was stationed on did a couple drive by missions and just fired warning shots into the shore.

 

[CyValley2]

I’ll put it on my list of books I want to read. I’m intrigued.

I would much enjoy your opinion of the book after you finish reading it. Please get the 2nd edition, it has a bit of updated information, iirc.

 

[CyValley2]

The book Friendly Fire about Michael Mullen and his mom is a good read. He grew up in NE Iowa and his mom remained an activist her entire life.

Ah, you rang a memory bell in my thick skull.

An ABC television movie, starring Carol Burnett and Ned Beatyy, and titled Friendly Fire told this story. Wonder if it's available to stream. Geez, he was from LaPorte City, about 10 or so miles from Waterloo, my home town.

Wiki:

Friendly Fire (1979 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jsb]

Ah, you rang a memory bell in my thick skull.

An ABC television movie, starring Carol Burnett and Ned Beatyy, and titled Friendly Fire told this story. Wonder if it's available to stream. Geez, he was from LaPorte City, about 10 or so miles from Waterloo, my home town.

Wiki:

Friendly Fire (1979 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My aunt graduated high school with him. His mom would right letters to the editor in the Courier frequently.

 

[Drew0311]

I work with Vietnam vets at the Museum. They tell great stories. Most of them won’t tell their families but will tell other vets. It’s like we are their therapists. Pretty crazy war.