I was going to post this in the already existing Vietnam thread above, but it's archived.

 

Just want to say that today is the 50th anniversary of the end of that war. I was on a Med cruise at the time, but one of my best buds (and fellow Cincinnatian) was on a destroyer off the coast.

 

Our foreign policy establishment hasn't learned much since then.

 

R.I.P to those who served and died, as well as to those who served and survived. I'm thinking of you, as are many others.

46 minutes ago, Homer_Rice said:

I was going to post this in the already existing Vietnam thread above, but it's archived.

 

Just want to say that today is the 50th anniversary of the end of that war. I was on a Med cruise at the time, but one of my best buds (and fellow Cincinnatian) was on a destroyer off the coast.

 

Our foreign policy establishment hasn't learned much since then.

 

R.I.P to those who served and died, as well as to those who served and survived. I'm thinking of you, as are many others.

I remember where I was when I heard this. I was getting ready for school. 
 

I was always grateful that my brothers didn’t have to go to Vietnam. My oldest brother was a Marine but managed to avoid being sent there. 

6 hours ago, Homer_Rice said:

I was going to post this in the already existing Vietnam thread above, but it's archived.

 

Just want to say that today is the 50th anniversary of the end of that war. I was on a Med cruise at the time, but one of my best buds (and fellow Cincinnatian) was on a destroyer off the coast.

 

Our foreign policy establishment hasn't learned much since then.

 

R.I.P to those who served and died, as well as to those who served and survived. I'm thinking of you, as are many others.

I took remember.

Horrible tactics to gain ground and retreat.

 

Hated the fact the young liberal people hated us 

for serving..

If you did a Med cruise we may have been in Naples at the same time.

Was stationed there for a lil over 2 yrs.

 

Anyway tks for serving Homer..much respect sir.

19 hours ago, Shebengal said:

I was always grateful that my brothers didn’t have to go to Vietnam. My oldest brother was a Marine but managed to avoid being sent there. 

Just the luck of the draw for me. And I'm glad your brothers were safe.

14 hours ago, claptonrocks said:

I took remember.

Horrible tactics to gain ground and retreat.

 

Hated the fact the young liberal people hated us 

for serving..

If you did a Med cruise we may have been in Naples at the same time.

Was stationed there for a lil over 2 yrs.

 

Anyway tks for serving Homer..much respect sir.

Look, both you and I know that the "young liberal people hated us for serving" meme just isn't true. That wasn't part of the experience I had or of many others with whom I have spoken over the years. It's just made-up bullshit to make Vets sympathetic in the context of post-Vietnam culture.

 

Were there people opposed to the war? Sure. I was, both (mildly) before and (hard-core committed to being anti-war) after my stint in the military. Been that way since the late 70s.

 

The whole modern warmongering culture we live in now is disgusting. Don't thank vets for sacrificing (ultimate or otherwise.) It's a citizen's duty to do citizen's things. That's all. And, in fact, the truth of the matter is not that Vets made a sacrifice, it's that they were sacrificed by the people who power the empire. It ain't like this is the Union and we're fighting the Confederates anymore. Though there are some among us who think that might be a good way to look at things. How did us Yankees win the war and then lose the peace?

 

Because that's what happened and we are reaping the consequences daily. Should have stood Robert E. Lee and a few others up against a wall.

 

My sympathy for the Vets is not because they were "heroes" or some other jingoistic bullshit. My sympathy is because their lives were lost ( or damaged) unnecessarily. Any life cut short is a tragedy and even more so when it is done in the service of a cynical empire which has forgotten just what it was that made the United States special in the first place.

43 minutes ago, Homer_Rice said:

  Should have stood Robert E. Lee and a few others up against a wall.

 

 

 

QFT.

 

Instead we've got elementary schools named after him.

8 hours ago, Homer_Rice said:

Look, both you and I know that the "young liberal people hated us for serving" meme just isn't true. That wasn't part of the experience I had or of many others with whom I have spoken over the years. It's just made-up bullshit to make Vets sympathetic in the context of post-Vietnam culture.

 

Were there people opposed to the war? Sure. I was, both (mildly) before and (hard-core committed to being anti-war) after my stint in the military. Been that way since the late 70s.

 

The whole modern warmongering culture we live in now is disgusting. Don't thank vets for sacrificing (ultimate or otherwise.) It's a citizen's duty to do citizen's things. That's all. And, in fact, the truth of the matter is not that Vets made a sacrifice, it's that they were sacrificed by the people who power the empire. It ain't like this is the Union and we're fighting the Confederates anymore. Though there are some among us who think that might be a good way to look at things. How did us Yankees win the war and then lose the peace?

 

Because that's what happened and we are reaping the consequences daily. Should have stood Robert E. Lee and a few others up against a wall.

 

My sympathy for the Vets is not because they were "heroes" or some other jingoistic bullshit. My sympathy is because their lives were lost ( or damaged) unnecessarily. Any life cut short is a tragedy and even more so when it is done in the service of a cynical empire which has forgotten just what it was that made the United States special in the first place.

I'm done with this thread.

I see where you stand.

*sigh*

"war is bad" = radical left

 

while we're here though I have to recommend Mark Bowden's Hue 1968.  Same guy that wrote Black Hawk Down.  Really good look at the NLF/PAVN side of things.

On 5/1/2025 at 11:43 PM, T-Dub said:

while we're here though I have to recommend Mark Bowden's Hue 1968.

I have that book. It's a good read. Lots of good books about that conflict, including Nick Turse's recent one: Kill Anything That Moves. Also, Caputo, O'Brien, Fire in the Lake (can't remember the author's name off the top of my head.) Two excellent bits of fiction: The 13th Valley and Matterhorn.

 

I was in a serious relationship with a gal who left Hue (with her family) after Tet. Should have married her. Although, if I had, I probably still be living in Philly. And while that is a good place to visit, I really didn't like living there!