By W.R. Baker
CORRECTION: The list of reasons below are those that Bob Baker developed. He found the Bui Tin quotes in a WSJ article (of August 3, 1995) to backstop what he had written. I inadvertently changed the original sentence in Mr. Baker’s article and substituted my verbiage in the 4th paragraph below – which is in error. Here is the original statement that was omitted: “All quotes are from former NVA Colonel Bui Tin* who served on their general staff and received the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.”
I’m surprised that primary sources (i.e., those who were in Vietnam) don’t seem to be as important as secondary ones are for historians today. Just a brief survey of what is now being taught in colleges about Vietnam, including (surprisingly) military ones, and you’ll find it is now a seldom offered course by itself and it seems consigned to being only a chapter in history books.
Unfortunately, not all of these books are totally accurate and, more importantly, they repeat the errors found in the sources they quote and then in the books or articles they then publish. The old proverb “tell a lie often enough” is beginning to spread.
(see comment above) Most Vietnam veterans believe that there were many reasons, not just one, why the Vietnam War ended so miserably. Here are some reasons, in no particular order from former NVA Colonel Bui Tin who served on their general staff and received the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
- We didn’t blockade Haiphong at the onset (where even British vessels could be found).
- We didn’t knock out the railroad lines between China and North Vietnam.
- U.S. ground forces were not allowed to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail. If they had, “Hanoi could never have won the war;”
- Though North Vietnam clearly violated Cambodian and Laotian sovereignty, U.S. forces were not allowed to continue chasing (hot pursuit) the NVA/VC when they retreated back across these same borders.
- The anti-war movement “was essential to our strategy.” The senior leadership followed the anti-war movement in the U.S. and “were elated” when Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and others visited. “America lost because of its democracy; through dissent and protest it lost the ability to mobilize a will to win.”
- South Vietnam’s generals were “inept” and political.
- The bombing of North Vietnam, if it had been concentrated (as in the Christmas bombing), “would have hurt our efforts.” Piecemeal bombing gave the North time to reshuffle and rebuild.
- The NLF (National Liberation Front) was controlled by Hanoi – it was never independent (it was always run by a communist party commissar), despite efforts to convince the American public and politicians otherwise.
- Regional and Popular Forces (Ruff/Puff) were in control of 90% of the populace countryside by 1972. The often-forgotten Peoples Self-Defense Force (PSDF) were there in the rural hamlets, too.
- Fighting in 1968 had decimated communist forces in the South. Years of rebuilding compelled them to use NVA troops to fill out the VC ranks. “If American forces had not begun to withdraw under Nixon in 1969, they could have punished us severely.”
- When President Ford failed to respond to the attack of Phuoc Long in January 1975, the North knew that their overall victory was at hand.
- “We had the impression that American commanders had their hands tied by political factors. Your generals could never deploy a maximum force for greatest military effort.”
- The North only had to win over the American media in order to eventually be victorious because they swayed politicians (who love to be loved and, of course, reelected) and the feeble-minded university professors who love to pontificate and sell their books). Because fewer people read books today, let’s not forget the pseudo-documentarians and Hollywood-types who insist on stating or insinuating how bad the military was in Vietnam and how the communist forces were the good guys or merely misunderstood.
This same type of thing also seems to occur in fictional accounts of wartime events. If they are especially outrageous, they are almost likely to be “visual humanities” and promoted as if the events actually happened. In these cases, the historian seems to be the director and the movie studio (in typical Hollywood fashion) is more concerned with making a profit. Taking a slap at the military is almost always good for business when it comes to Vietnam, though.
It is a depressing curiosity as to why there is still a proclivity to demean our efforts in Vietnam (while now acknowledging veterans) by the U.S. Government and some state sites, especially educational ones, on the internet. Or is it?
About the Author
W. R. (Bob) Baker graduated with the first 96B/Intelligence Analyst class at Fort Huachuca, AZ in 1971. He was then assigned to the 1st Battalion (which soon became the 571st MI Det.), 525th MI Group, headquartered in Da Nang, Vietnam. His further assignments included positions at Fort Bliss, Texas; two tours with the European Defense Analysis Center (EUDAC) in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany; and the 513th MI Group in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
He left the US Army and worked as an analyst for Interstate Electronics, Northrop-Grumman and Xontec defense contractors before teaching in primary and secondary schools.
Mr. Baker has a bachelor of science degree in Government from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Dayton. He has authored other Easter Offensive articles and is currently writing a book on this subject.
This story originally appeared on “Small Wars Journal” in February 2019. Here is the direct link: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/historically-and-factually-accurate.
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CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website 
At the end, because WaterGate was in full swing, Nixon was unable to bring forth the massive airpower promised when the South agreed to the end accords.
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what is really scary is that the ‘good doctor, herr Kissinger was becoming so frustrated he wanted to nuke N. Vietnam.
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Good article Bob.
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You need to read “The Shadows of Power” by James Perloff. Chapter 8 The Establishment’s War In Vietnam
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I married my hero! A Nam Vet. He didnt complain, but I knew he was hurting, he had done his duty! For 3 years, he came out alive! Unlike many of his friends! He had inlistef, his Dad was on the draft bord so he did not want him to have to draft him. It was a bad time! These heroes share not treated right!!!! They did what they was were able to do. Many of them we where waisted for political reasons. I pray God will forgive those who ordered our heroes badly! I am proud of my Marine, and now he is too! Don’t rehash this crap again, None of it was the fault of those who share there to do their job, and not allowed to win IT!
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I am truly happy that your husband has your support and that you are both proud of his service.
It is around two am and I am rehashing my little part of the war as I have for the last 48 years. We were never “in it to win it” The politicians and diplomats made deal after deal with one another. Finally, we left South Vietnam to the North Vietnamese under threat that the Chinese would escalate their involvement and lead to a global war.
A lot of good people died , on both sides, for nothing. Perhaps God will forgive those who played with our lives – I won’t.
This will be my last comment. Good Luck and God Bless.
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Dante divided hell into levels. One level is reserved especially for those who betrayed their brothers in arms.
If not then, we now know that the politicians did not fight that war to win. The soldiers did the best they could with bad politics.
The war was won on the battle field, even with one arm tied behind their back. The politicians lost the war from the first day.
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Politicians are elected by citizens/people, after 1968 people started electing politicians that promised peace, we lost the war because we fought a war in Asia, against the George Washington of Viet Nam, and we never won the war on the battle field, it turned into a stalemate, a quagmire
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How many people know the truth about the politician? We don’t. Look how JFK’s sexual proclivities were kept quiet. How many know that Kissinger first was an adviser to Eisenhower and every president through Clinton. How did he go from advising LBJ and then he was Nixon’s Sec of State?
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I would like to add that although at the end, Nixon’s possible impeachment problems, or not, stopped the US from adhering to the peace accords which stated that if the North attacked the South the US was allowed to freely utilize their air power to stop any advances. Because of Nixon’s political troubles even trying to marshal air support was doomed.
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Read NO PEACE, NO HONOR; Larry Berman, the author goes in depth and explains the thinking of Nixon and Kissinger.
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Excellent. As a Vietnam veteran, I had two tours there. The first one was up in I Corps. I was a platoon leader and troop XO in B Troop, 3rd Squadron 5th Cavalry. We lived in Dong Ha and operated from FSB A-4 about 3 kms from the DMZ. Unfortunately, I lost two soldiers there when their ACAV hit a mine, two high school classmates and four college roommates. Not a happy time. There’s a replica of the Vietnam Wall here in Elizabethtown KY and the names of those soldiers that died are on it. I visit occasionally, find their names and shed a few tears. The second tour was was in Can Tho in the delta with Troop C, 16th Cav (Air) as the XO. We primarily supported ARVN operations. When I returned home from each tour, I never wore my uniform because if I had, when I arrived at the airport, the anti war protesters would have spit on me and called me a baby killer.
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Also as I read your article, I started crying as I remembered those soldiers that I lost in what I believe was a senseless war that caused unspeakable grief and pain for both returning soldiers and their families. It was a terrible time and experience but I was sent there to do a job and had no choice. As an aside, I have 19 letters that I sent to my WW2 veteran parents describing what I did there from the time that I arrived until I returned home.
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John Christian, I spent a few weeks up in Dong Ha. with The 3rd Marine division.
Our team mooched off the Marines for recovery and resupply for our covert ops North and West of the DMZ into Cambodia. The Marines were great hosts. Unfortunately, we were prohibited, to tell the truth about our activities for many reasons but were creative enough to at least keep the home families somewhat secure in our safety. We all signed 25 year security of non-disclosure. In 1995 we were then free to say anything….. I don’t believe any of us have ever said more than we just got around all over.
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Writing about what happened, the why, who were involved would bring the shadow government out into the open. It would help to get rid of the political hacks
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I was all over the place. I signed no agreement. Who would listen? We were expendable. When the Huey that I was riding in was shot down, in a place that we were not suppose to be, a blue team came in and removed the KIA’s and the helo wreckage was dropped in the South China Sea. I don’t think that they would have given a second thought to dumping me there as well. Fortunately, I was CA to a different KZ . Problem solved. There have always been hacks and always will be. A lot of after action reports on both sides are now declassified. You can see where the Chinese ramped down in 69-71 and then escalated in late 71-72 when a lot of US divisions went home. A lot of the documents read as if there was an agreement between the US and China for the US to withdraw circa 1971 in order to avoid an influx of Chinese ground troops. I still maintain that the whole thing was a proxy war held in an insignificant country in order to avoid damage to the players countries. I know for a fact that there were Russians and Chinese in Cambodia because I helped load them on a Caribou headed to our rear. We did damage the “trail” a lot but, the Vietnamese would work around the clock to make repairs; often with female conscripts. We did a lot of covert things often without being read into it. All I had was a redacted topographic map marked in grid squares. Who really knew what country that you were in. It was just a large free fire zone. Good Luck with your research. Best Wishes
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There are number of pictures of the soldiers doing what was necessary to protect the children, women, old men during combat. Unfortunately, they are some hard to find and you have to know they are out there.
Put lie to the US soldiers did not help the unarmed civilians.
No one really mentions how much the doctors did to improve the health of the Vietnamese people.
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A good basic primer. Vietnam war was fought
like WW II without the USA WWII 100% total war commitment to victory. I never thought that the US ever really wanted to, nor was committed to winning the wars
In South East Asia
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Like I have said ‘ Everyone’s war is different” There was nothing conventional in mine. We were committed to win our little corner of it and did. Mr. Podlaski’s book describes a lot of people’s tour in a way that I can not: Civilized and easy to read and understand for people who have not been there. Something that your children and grandchildren can read
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We had to endure the flack from those who protested, as we died in the paddies, mountains, and foliage, all the while fight the good fight for each others well being.
The scum who protested and knew nothing of what we went thru was a group of pansies who were coddled by Mommy and Daddy for their resistance. They are now the political slime who are still saying fuck all of us for doing what we did. Well, here’s a clue for you morons Step out so we can take you down! I earned the right to make such statements so “F” all of you a-holes!
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I agree with Joesph Coughlin. I earned it too
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Amen brother. The Pansies call themselves Antifa today and they need a strong lesson. Send a few back to mommy and daddy in a plastic bag and they’ll stop the bullshit.
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YOU ARE READING MY MIND… I THINK WE BOTH KNOW THAT IS A DANGEROUS PLACE TO GO.
ANTIFA, the MSM, the entertainment industry, pink hats, flashy people, Dems and wannabe’s have become the collective enemy of the state.
The Black population is beginning to recognize they have been used and abused for decades and their attentions are being drawn away from the Dem leaders because of all the negativity they are spewing AGAIN.
This violence has got to stop somebody and I mean a LOT of somebody’s are gonna get hurt, really hurt, some dead hurt if it doesn’t stop. We are better than this but people gotta wise-up and step back, take a breath and decide what do we really want that can be achieved without destroying physical structures, national pride and good efforts by a people who want nothing but success for everyone?
The ANTIFA way is NOT the course to achieve anything positive. period.
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We watched the protesters on the news. My dad was livid! He did not care why because it was viewed as not supporting the solders. That was not acceptable. He believe that the protesters should have taken their concerns to the politicians.
Orders work their way from top to down. Always has and will never change.
In every war the old men send young men to fight and die. We all knew the war was not being fought to win.
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…and to this day it remains the constant… the old men send the young’uns out to do their bidding knowing they will die but if it endorses THEIR CAUSE then there is NO price too steep to pay. POLITICIANS,… PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS are the true enemy of ANY country!
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Actually, they send other people’s young’ uns out to do their bidding. If their young’uns are in the military, they might be part of the long grey line. If they go to the bush, it is just long enough to get a CIB and some BS medal to wear with their jump wings and ranger tabs to parade around the pentagon getting face time with others like them. Those of us that have been their know the difference between airborne and airborne qualified and ranger and ranger qualified but, the REMF’s don’t. You have to earn the little gold star in the center of your wings by more than a little PT, a few PLFs and five jumps. You are not really a ranger until you have been so far out that you have to climb a tree with a 292 and PRC77 to hook up with a FAC bird to call in an arc light on yourself because you are outnumbered 50-1 or more. You know, as a rule, nobody respects the other guys war. I have tried. Just not good at it – just have to kill them all and let God sort them out. Sorry
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Many rumors about a Chinese advisor killed in Ia Drang Valley November 72 and Westmoreland’s threat to Court Martial anyone who mentioned that again. Again politics wins the day.
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I was on FSB David in Cambodia in 1970, when it was over run. When I fired the fougasse on the dinks in the wire, there were a lot of crispy critters to police up , after sunrise. Some of them were chinese and russian. they were sent to the rear on a caribou and the dinks were thrown in a hole. I was just an FNG that did the dirty work . I was not threatened with court martial probably because I would not care, but no one wanted to talk to me about it. I went out to my company on a log bird the next day. I have not forgotten anything . Politicians, not warriors
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The battle of Ia Drang Valley occurred in 1965 and Westmoreland left Vietnam in mid 1968.
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Is there any article or book that addresses that information?
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In 1972 the ground war was entirely in the hands of the South Vietnamese. All we were providing in any measurable amount was air support. There were no large unit US engagements and certainly nothing in the Ia Drang. Westmoreland left Vietnam in mid-1968 and served as Chief of Staff until 1972 when he retired. The short answer to your question is “no”.
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While I myself don’t know of any publications which mention Chinese advisors in the Ia Drang, the decisive role that China played in the Vietnam war is finally being told.
And China was, as in Korea, a co-belligerent as well.
Link to book on the subject:
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In deference to the other comments, I wish to remind everyone that everyone’s war was different. A few days could make a lot of difference in one’s experiences. Case-in-point, I have a friend who was in the same training companies as I but, reported to Ft. Lewis a little after I deployed; consequently we were assigned to the same battalion albeit a different company. Our experiences co
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I must have hit the wrong key and sent this too early. Dumb grunt -not a clerk typist. As I was saying, my buddy had experiences not unlike John Podlaski’s . My time in the RVN was from 28May70- 02April71 A few weeks made all the difference. I was in the bush with the exception of Sniper School in Bien Hoa and an R&R to Sydney and a little time in an aide station or two. You should read AD514580 Lessons Learned 1st Cavalry Division Period Ending 31 July 1970. The document shows what the Cambodian Invasion was all about. Lessons Learned – what a joke! My former BC went back to the world with another theory – draftees sucked and the volunteer army was the way of the future. Now that they have the all volunteer army, they will have to find a way for draftees to fight the next one. What they have now sure as hell won’t cut it.
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I would read the intelligence briefings while at USARY Hqs during 68-69 and see so many reports of the enemy massing day after day. It was difficult to weed the chaff from the straw. A good portion of our staff officers were drunks and their clerks were stoned during their off duty hours too. I rode a bus to the 199th LIB for in country training in Oct 69 and the bus driver PFC was actively trying to run the Vietnamese bicycles off the road. Not one officer or NCO on the bus tried to stop him! I met some great people while there but I also met others who were piss poor soldiers and humans.
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Maybe we should of stayed out of the Vietnam war. We went to help the South but did they real want us there? I went back after the military was pulled out in 1973 to support the South as a Helicopter Mechanic . (Working for L.S.I.) soon we was out of JP- fuel, I feel the South military leader had sold it and kept the $$$. Most of the time I was there I could not do my job because we didn’t have pilots to fly or parts to fix helicopters. Maybe the South was getting ready to loose and get out of the country. I guess they are doing pretty good today under the North control,, so maybe we should stayed home??
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I’m not sure if it was a question of whether or not they “wanted us there”. We started out in the proverbial “advisory” role trying to train the South to fight for themselves. We found over time that the corruption among the ARVN Generals was beyond comprehension and that most of the Generals were chosen for their political loyalty rather than competence. There were exceptions in the ARVN Ranger and Airborne Battalions, but they were truly the exception. The willingness to fight among the ARVN was always in question and we gradually took over the war without a definable or realistic strategy and it became an American war,
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A lot of truth written by the NV Colonel. Politicians are after the mighty dollar thru contributions and pay raises they give themselves. The media was a giant factor. Let the military fight the wars and no interference by the political side at home.
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Very well written. My uncle, an officer, was in the early planning in 63-64…..we talked after I returned home in 69 and he was retired. He said that many military officials, including himself, highly recommended blocking the various supply routes into North Vietnam. The final decision by government officials, was to not block the routes, to avoid confrontation with USSR and China.
You did not mention the Domino Theory. Our intervention allowed Thiland to greatly improve their economy, military arsonel, and military presence in SEA. In actuality, our presence in SEA prevented aggression from North Vietnam and USSR.
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Good article about a war which the politicians started and which should have never occurred. Over 4,000,000 killed because of this country politicians and $$$$$$$$.
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The latest numbers that I have indicate that there are some 300,000 of us Vietnam veterans left alive, and that we’re dying off at a rate of some 150.000 a year. Please share your thoughts–thanks!!–Tom
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Eat shit & run rabbits ! We kick ass wile I was there in 67/68 .
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Also worth’s read is
McNamara’s Folly
The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War
by Hamilton Gregory.
The Movie the Post shows what an evil person McNamara was.
Tom Allee USAF 62-68(REMF)🇺🇸
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We were “micro-managed” by politicians that didn’t know a F’kin thing about war!
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Add to the list the 1968 Tet offense when the generals could have chased the enemy to Hanoi, but did not. Everyone wondered why the US troops were not allowed to take the fight to the enemy.
N Vietnam General Giap did not understand this tactic.
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if we had chased the NVA to Hanoi about a million Chinese soldiers would have come streaming out of China to meet and greet us. Never get involve in a land war in Asia, was the reason we lost the war, listen to president Eisenhower, he knew
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Unfortunately his ‘military industrial complex ‘ comment keeps being ignored. When you investigate who makes the billions in arms, landing strips, etc. it is easy to see why we have continually been at war.
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” Anyone who thinks that you can fight a war on the mainland of Asia with white troops should have their head examined.”
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to President John F. Kennedy 1961
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You could add that General Westmoreland was an ineffectual commander who was fighting with WWII tactics and principles in a Guerrilla war. His sole focus on body count and “search & destroy” missions which put US soldiers fighting in terrain favorable to the enemy were exactly the wrong strategies in retrospect. The fact that he continually lied to Congress and the American people about our “progress” was just an indication of his character. As it turned out, McNamara was the most senior person to try to convince Johnson that the war was “winnable” but Johnson didn’t want to believe it. Westmoreland’s lies only bolstered Johnson’s own view of the war because he didn’t want to be the first US President who lost a war.
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During 1968 / 69 the generals worked up a rescue plan to free all of the POWs at the Hanoi Hilton. They all worked out a plan, all the fine details were covered. They sent the plan to LBJ. The answer came back NO
Somewhere in the archives there is the plan. It would be revealing as to how and why. Who decided not to bring the prisoners home.
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I do agree in part that Westie was ineffectual, but given the micromanaging from the Whitehouse including especially McNamara and the dithering of LBJ along with others in the administration I am not sure any military leader of the time could have been effectual.
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You are probably correct that any General would have had difficulty, but Westmoreland’s continuous lies of deception to Congress and the President didn’t help. It was Westmoreland who insisted that Khe Sanh was “vital” instead of Hue when all his Generals disagreed. It took Abrams to get our Marines out as quickly as he could.
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William Techumsah Sherman would have soaked that country with VC and NVA blood.
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I meant to say that McNamara tried to convince Johnson that the war was NOT winnable. My apologies. Johson was eventually angered by McNamara’s belief that we couldn’t win and he had him “kicked upstairs” and appointed to lead the World Bank (a job that he did not seek).
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All generals lie. That is how they got to be generals. My battalion commander became Westmoreland’s aide with the proviso that he be given a battallion when one was available. When our BC was relieved we got him, a west point type who had taught at the ranger school. He used us to test out his theories and orchestrate a path to becoming a general. Our leadership was not much better than the RVN. A lot of politics. Our invasion/incursion of Cambodia was fodder for a lot of awards and decorations. My company was given a reward for finding “The City” in Cambodia ( a larger version of the underground facility described in “Cherries”)the reward,besides the medals and such was to be an element of the Pacification Program. We were to train the RF/PF in Dinh Quan ( near FSB Nancy) how to conduct an ambush. They took their cooking pots and transistor radios to camp out. The ruff puffs could care less who came and went. So much for the RF/PF controlling the countryside. The countryside was controlled by whomever gave the bigger-better-deal to the locals. There was a SOG camp located in an old french chateau in the village. Those guys seldom ventured outside the walls. They had all the comforts of home. It wasn’t very long before we were back in the bush on another search and destroy mission. From my vantage point, this was just a proxy war between super powers using guys like me on both sides to provide step-ons for the people that were graded by body counts. In deference to my colleagues, everyone’s vietnam was was different. I came in country just a little earlier than John Podlaski and was separated when the cav went home. I was just another replacement grunt
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Correction: I wrote Westmoreland and I meant Creighton Abrams. They were just names to me . The only general that I met, in those days, was killed in a helicopter crash
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Nobody has ever told me what strategy Westmoreland could have adopted within the limitations placed upon Him by Washington which would be more likely to have proved successful in an environment where the VC / NBA we’re operating in regimental and division size units. And we were making progress. The Tet Offensive was a huge “Hail Mary” which was intended to shatter the ARVN and produce a national uprising which would replace the RVN government with one which would tell the US to go home. It failed in both efforts, and the attempt cost it crippling casualties.
The NVA would never have done this if it had even thought it was winning.
Our strategic failure in the Vietnam War was the fact that from beginning (Truman)to end (Nixon), nobody made any effort to WIN the war. All efforts are directed to assuring that we did not LOSE the war during “MY PRESIDENCY”. Colonel Bui does not mention this point, although its effects are seen in several of his points.
I fully agree with his analysis otherwise, and I have been chastised by the administrators on the Vietnam history panel for suggesting that the war was lost in the United States.
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I agree that the war was lost in the United States. Not because of the protestors (they were simply expressing their frustration with the endless promises and falsehoods), but by a Congress and several Presidents who couldn’t decide or articulate what “winning” was in a manner that the US citizenry would accept. We could have “won” by massive carpet bombing of entire North Vietnamese cities as a way to reduce the North’s will to continue, but the collateral damage to innocent North Vietnamese citizens was deemed to be too much to bear. We could have interdicted the Ho Chi Minh trail with large scale troop allocations, but the trail ran through Cambodia and Congress would never have agreed to massive strikes and incursions into Cambodia (the 1970 incursion aside albeit too late in the war). A huge determinant was the North’s willingness to sacrifice its own people which ran counter to Westmoreland’s belief that our extraordinary kill ration would eventually cause the North to seek an end. It was General Giap who said on multiple occasions that the North was willing to lose more than a million of its own troops if unification of the North and South was the end result. I don’t know what Westmoreland could have done either, but I would suggest that not lying about our “progress”, refusing to admit that we were essentially propping up a corrupt government whose own citizens didn’t respect or believe in and being honest to Congress and Johnson about out ability to actually “win” would have helped tremendously. All of the retrospective readings would lead us to accept that the North Vietnamese were fighting for a unified country and their own ideals while we were never sure what we were fighting for. I’m still proud to have served, but still get pissed off as to the lack of a “why”.
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Never get involved in someone else’s civil war! I have tried to become civilized to no avail but, the US involvement was a means to support the military industrial complex and to have a proxy war with the super powers. We improved Vietnam and left it to them – just like Germany, Japan and Iraq. A lot of tax dollars….I am wearing LL Bean clothes and shoes that were made in Vietnam. I never thought that I would do that. Everyone profits but the dumb grunts who fight the wars. I have almost every disease presumptive for Agent Orange including cancer plus PTSD and I was only there a little over 10 months. The VA cut my disability because they cut out most of my stomach and the cancer is gone but, I can’t eat enough to maintain muscle mass. I guess the government is saving up to fight North Korea and or Iran .
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Does it surprise you that people make money off of war? Warfare consumes things. Things have to be grown, made, and shipped to where they will be consumed. People who devote themselves to growing, making and shipping those things want to be paid for their efforts (just as you do out on the firing line), because they have families to support. Tell them to do these things as a patriotic duty, and when you reach back for your next basic load, it won’t be there! I LOVE having them make LOADS of money — so that I will have the food, ammunition, batteries, uniforms, equipment, medicine, etc. that I need to do the damned fighting.
I have never seen or heard of any pressure to begin or continue the war to make money that was not North Vietnamese/Anti-war propaganda. People said Johnson had invested money in the construction corporations supporting our efforts, but nobody has shown me his name on a list of shareholders. People said we were there to secure the Vietnamese oil reserves. The total oil production of Vietnam from the beginning of time through 1974 was ZERO. The proven reserves of petroleum in Vietnam as of December, 1974, was ZERO. It was not until 1975 that oil was discovered — not in Vietnam, but in the South China Sea nearby; and when there actually WAS oil to secure, we declined to oppose the Communist takeover. It pains me that soldiers who have answered their country’s call should so naively parrot the lies of our country’s enemies.
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Gee James: My little part of the war was from 28May70 – 2Apr71. . According to AD514580 Operational Report – Lessons Learned , st Cavalry Division (AM), Period Ending 31 July 1970, RCS CSFOR-65 (R2) we did spend a lot of money on the Cambodian Incursion. We have spent a lot of money on every war we fight and have improved every country that we have fought in. It is good business. We employ contractors to do nonessential work just so we can have them around when we need them . In case we give another war. This is also good business. Those contracors in turn provide income to retired Senior Officers as consultants and lobbyists . My military income from Vietnam went into an accrual. The proceeds were used as a down payment on my first house. I sold enough of my spoils of war to REMF’s to buy a new Camaro from the BX in Bien Hoa- it was delivered to me six months after I got home. I receive VA Compensation and some of the best healthcare on the planet – free of charge. I made money as a contractor in Germany until the wall came down. The army at that time was a joke- what with sergeant’s time;commanders time; and stress cards- I am glad we did not have a serious war to win. Providing a service and getting paid is great. I am not a communist, socialist or a protester against the USA. i would not live anywhere else, even for tax free money. . .However, there was mismanagement of the war from the White House , Pentagon on down to the lowly Senior NCO’s during my tenure. Everyone had their own self-promoting agendas. By 1970 the Cadre was nonexistent in the field with exception of few O1-O2-O3 that were there until they found something better. In my travels , in Vietnam, I encountered civilian contractors building roads, apartments and military complexes for the same tax-free money that I enjoyed later in life. The Vietnamese benefited from what they did and the Germans benefited from what I did. In 70-71 there was racial divide and alcohol and drug abuse back at the FSB. A lot of enlisted learned that they could get an Article 15 for drug abuse or something and hang out at the FSB and trade our supplies for more drugs and “boom boom” . I am glad that I was out in the bush most of the time. I only came in when wounded or passing through on my one R&R. According to the above referenced document 2394.9 tons of A rations, 1,662,319.8 tons of B rations, 166,225.1 C ration meals414,070 LRRP meals, 13,907 Sundry Packs , 6,612 tons of ice , 1,203,081 pints of milk, 50,908 gallons of ice cream were issued for May Jun Jul. I got a few C’s and a few LRRP’s. It would have been nice to have a toothbrush and paste and a bar of soap out of the Sundry Packs. However, I did get my share of ammo or organics. According to the above referenced document 15 targets totaling 440 gallons of Agent Blue were sprayed by helicopter during my early days in Cambodia. I was grateful ,at the time, as it made an enemy ambush more difficult. I now have Gastric Lymphoma, Ischemic Heart Disease and Diabetes all presumptive for the defoliant. Some of us hung in there and did our best and produced step-ons or enemy KIA as that is all we were graded on. I went to in-country Sniper School and was grateful for my XM-21 and Starlight Scope. I put both to good use. I was in the bush until the day before my DEROS and then flew home and out-processed at Oakland in one very long day. The people that were wounded and the people that died deserve more than half-assed theory or blame game on why we did not win. My peers and I did our best to keep one another safe and alive, in spite of piss poor leadership. There is one acronym that John Podlaski omitted from his glossary: FTA and F…You!
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