Vietnam War ended 50 Years Ago Today

[CyValley2]

NYT photo essay:

How Photography From the Vietnam War Changed America

The images changed how the world saw Vietnam, but especially how Americans saw their country, soldiers and the war itself, which ended 50 years ago this month.

www.nytimes.com

 

[wxman1]

I did think about this as we welcomed home our first Honor Flight of the year last night.

Also, one of the last to be killed was an Iowan. My mom knows the family.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/2025/04/29/vietnam-war-anniversary-iowan-honored/83102671007/

 

[coolerifyoudid]

That was a pretty amazing series of photos . Thank you for sharing that.

My MIL was very active in her support of Vietnam vets. About 20 years ago, I attended one of their events and spoke with a number of veterans. The feeling in the room was one of haunted isolation. It was a collection of people that were held together by their desire to have someone that could relate to them, even though nobody knew how to feel.

I have nothing but sympathy in my heart for those that had to serve during that altercation. It never ended for most of them.

 

[cykadelic2]

NYT photo essay:

How Photography From the Vietnam War Changed America

The images changed how the world saw Vietnam, but especially how Americans saw their country, soldiers and the war itself, which ended 50 years ago this month.

www.nytimes.com

The last pic in that essay brought back memories of when I greeted my older brother upon his return from that war.

And the day he left for the war was one of the more difficult days I experienced for our family, especially my parents.

Very fortunate that he had a safe return from that madness with a relatively minimal amount of long-term mental scars.

 

[BCClone]

That was a pretty amazing series of photos . Thank you for sharing that.

My MIL was very active in her support of Vietnam vets. About 20 years ago, I attended one of their events and spoke with a number of veterans. The feeling in the room was one of haunted isolation. It was a collection of people that were held together by their desire to have someone that could relate to them, even though nobody knew how to feel.

I have nothing but sympathy in my heart for those that had to serve during that altercation. It never ended for most of them.

Forest city had a huge event for them a few years ago. Very humbling for us who weren’t there.

 

[JP4CY]

Unbelievable photos. Thanks for having an unlocked article.
My Dad was maybe 13 when his brother was back on the farm after his initial tour.
Said they'd have to hold him down when he'd sleep from the night terrors.

 

[wxman1]

That was a pretty amazing series of photos . Thank you for sharing that.

My MIL was very active in her support of Vietnam vets. About 20 years ago, I attended one of their events and spoke with a number of veterans. The feeling in the room was one of haunted isolation. It was a collection of people that were held together by their desire to have someone that could relate to them, even though nobody knew how to feel.

I have nothing but sympathy in my heart for those that had to serve during that altercation. It never ended for most of them.

Still hasn't. I have encountered numerous that although do honorably accept the veteran moniker refuse most benefits and such as they never left the US.

 

[simply1]

War eventually caught up to my dad, if indirectly.

 

[Saul_T]

I recommend a physical copy in every household:
Amazon product

 

[ClubCy]

Unbelievable photos. Thanks for having an unlocked article.
My Dad was maybe 13 when his brother was back on the farm after his initial tour.
Said they'd have to hold him down when he'd sleep from the night terrors.

My mom has told me stories of my uncle who had these experiences after coming home from Vietnam as well. Night terrors every single night of a mixture of screaming and crying. They couldn’t close doors too loudly or it would set him off. Anytime he heard yelling he would become a shell of himself. He developed a drinking problem to cope.

He got sober and ended up having a long and extremely success career with Boeing but you can tell at times he still harbors a lot of feelings.

 

[ruxCYtable]

My mom used to have the radio on every night about dinner time. Was Walter Cronkite also on radio? In my memory, he was. Anyway, I very distinctly remember them discussing the Fall of Saigon.

 

[drmwevr08]

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 its the defining thing about him.

 

[Nothingman]

My mom has told me stories of my uncle who had these experiences after coming home from Vietnam as well. Night terrors every single night of a mixture of screaming and crying. They couldn’t close doors too loudly or it would set him off. Anytime he heard yelling he would become a shell of himself. He developed a drinking problem to cope.

He got sober and ended up having a long and extremely success career with Boeing but you can tell at times he still harbors a lot of feelings.

My uncle also served in Vietnam and had a long, successful career at Boeing in Seattle. Brother?!

 

[CascadeClone]

All very before my time, but definitely impacted the world I grew up in.

Only story I have around it was dad's draft experience. He got his number but had no idea what it meant, so he asked the guy. The guy looked at it and said "it means that you aren't getting drafted until the Chinese are in Nebraska". His younger brother did get drafted, but very late, and the closest he got to Vietnam was North Carolina.

 

[Kinch]

My mom cried tears of joy 50 years ago today.

 

[BoxsterCy]

NYT photo essay:

How Photography From the Vietnam War Changed America

The images changed how the world saw Vietnam, but especially how Americans saw their country, soldiers and the war itself, which ended 50 years ago this month.

www.nytimes.com

Was maybe the heyday of photojournalism with both Life and Look magazines competing and Life being at the top of their game from WWII though the 1970's.

 

[ClubCy]

My uncle also served in Vietnam and had a long, successful career at Boeing in Seattle. Brother?!

I have been looking for you for so long!!

 

[diaclone]

About 15 years ago I had a direct report who was in the war. He had some heath issues that he attributed to Agent Orange. He is a good guy. IIRC he knew folks that were on hamburger hill. War is terrible.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

My uncle was drafted and served two tours and got a Purple Heart. My mom talks about the night terrors after he got home where he'd scream all night and literally tear the sheets. Alcohol became a crutch to cope. Had a very successful career as a transportation engineer but he died in Vietnam, it just took 25 years for his heart to actually stop beating.

Ended up passing away about 25 years ago due to lung cancer caused by Agent Orange exposure.

 

[Saul_T]

NYT photo essay:

How Photography From the Vietnam War Changed America

The images changed how the world saw Vietnam, but especially how Americans saw their country, soldiers and the war itself, which ended 50 years ago this month.

www.nytimes.com

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.