Question for Vietnam Vets

[free1954]

did you ever read, A BRIGHT SHINING LIE about army lt. colonel JOHN PAUL VANN.

[blackhawknj]

China was in the throes of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s,later in the brief border conflict they had with North Vietnam the PLA came off second best.

[JohnPeeff]

Most of the North's supplies came by sea thru Haiphong not overland thru China yet we never mined the harbor till 1972 ! When Nixon did and they ran out of SAM's they went to the table . The bombing halts were stupid on our part.

[togor]

Big picture....once US combat forces left Vietnam, it was only a matter of time. The same may yet be true for Korea.

[Major Tom]

Big picture....once US combat forces left Vietnam, it was only a matter of time. The same may yet be true for Korea.

And the Middle East countries!

[Allen]

The Vietnam war. A war to prevent the takeover of South VN by North VN. A war to stop the spread of communism. Think of all the lives lost, the money spent and the disgrace of America by having to pull out w/o a win.

NOW, just a few years later, it is common to have socialist/communist politicians and entire parties in the U.S. They are somehow allowed to stay here and the voters are somehow allowed to stay here.

Other than the guaranteed resistance anti-American comments by the forums socialist does this make sense to anyone?

[retread12345]

As a highly trained and valuable PFC. I could not see how we could come out on top with the way it was being fought

. Being 18 and knowing absolute XXXX about the people
their amazing history of warfare and endurance, I cared little for them personally. They were all gxxxs . to me
Why was it OK for us to stop at borders and the NVA . could build highways to wherever they wanted?
Years later,I think if VICTORY was not even defined by the brass, we could have blocked the borders with the same amount of men we had there already and forget the "War of Attrition" . I had heard, but never found out if our Allies in France, England, Canada or Germany were aiding the NVA with medical supplies and other essentials
There were lots of lies perpetrated by the brass and the press. All which worked against us.. I remember talking to a friend there who asked . " Just what the fxxk do they
have here ? Gold ? oil? Uranium" . Just tell us and it would make sense. The troops were used and misused daily. They were willing to fight, given a legit,reason
the NVA were willing to DIE, and in huge numbers to achieve their aims . That didn't make them right, but they got what they wanted

[Major Tom]

For the most part, ARVN troops were not trusted by U.S. troops. The ROK troops from So. Korea were brutal and feared by the VC/NVA. Australlian troops performed very well. Very early on, I observed that our government did not know how to win the war.

[JWM]

Was in the Nam in early '66. Within a very short period of time we knew there were too many dirt bag politicians that would stop us from winning the war, and the draft dodgers and protestors were right up there with them. It was not long before all too many of us believed we were wearing the uniform for ourselves...and shortly thereafter for all of those civilians back home that cared.

When it was clear that Bush was not going to bring our troops home after taking Iraq, it was clear to me that nothing had changed in the political arena concerning the war(s) in the Middle East.

James

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For the most part, ARVN troops were not trusted by U.S. troops. The ROK troops from So. Korea were brutal and feared by the VC/NVA. Australlian troops performed very well. Very early on, I observed that our government did not know how to win the war.

Bingo!

[Vern Humphrey]

Was in the Nam in early '66. Within a very short period of time we knew there were too many dirt bag politicians that would stop us from winning the war, and the draft dodgers and protestors were right up there with them. It was not long before all too many of us believed we were wearing the uniform for ourselves...and shortly thereafter for all of those civilians back home that cared.

When it was clear that Bush was not going to bring our troops home after taking Iraq, it was clear to me that nothing had changed in the political arena concerning the war(s) in the Middle East.

James

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Bingo!

During my second tour, I was with the 1st Bde, 5th ID -- which was part of the 3rd Marine Division (one of only two combined Army-Marine divisions to see combat.) 3rd MarDiv was right on the DMZ.

At one time we were using the 9th Marines Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and they had a huge scale map that covered a whole wall. The map had a steel backing and they had magnetic graphics -- you could show an operation quite easily with a setup like that.

One time, out of boredom, we set up an invasion of North Viet Nam, with an amphibious force landing up the coast to encircle the NVA who would have HAD to fight us. A senior officer came in, saw what we had, and xxxx a brick! "Take that down! What if some newsman sees it?"