Vietnam War Veterans Day is observed on March 29 of each year, marking the day in 1973 when our remaining combat troops left Vietnam. While it recognizes those 2.7 million Americans who served in the Vietnam War, the focus is primarily on the 58,220 brave souls who lost their lives in service to their country.
Every time I think of those who lost their lives, the more than 300,000 who were wounded, the many thousands whose lives were ruined by drugs, PTSD and ailments like cancers related to Agent Orange, it hits me right in the heart. And, it isn’t just American troops, it’s also the South Vietnamese troops I lived and served with and the kids in the Cao Dai Orphanage that my 4-man group helped. Those memories are why I titled my memoir, “Vietnam…Can’t Get You Out of My Mind.” It is always there.
When the Communists waged their surprise Tet offensive on January 30, 1968, it contradicted the rosy picture being dished out by the top brass and politicians. The photo of a Viet Cong prisoner being shot in the head by a Vietnamese police officer, which appeared on the front page of many American newspapers, further eroded public support of the war.
Americans had a bad taste in their mouths about the Vietnam war and those who had served in it throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. They grew weary of the Iraq War that was clearly an unnecessary war of choice, as well as the Afghanistan War that started on a justifiable note but turned into an unjustified 20-year slog. We spent an inordinate amount of blood and treasure for both wars, with practically nothing gained from either of them.
You would think that any President with a sense of history and a lick of common sense would not have started another totally unjustified and unlawful war, without at least explaining the necessity to the American people. Neither the President nor his “war” secretary have given a coherent explanation of the Iran War’s necessity or of when and how it might end. That is why that war is very unpopular.
On the one hand, Trump says the Iranian public should rise up and overthrow their vicious government. They might have the inclination to do so if we were not killing hundreds of innocent civilians like the 175 killed in the girls’ school, thanks to outdated targeting intel. Trump claimed we had won on the first day of the war, so why are we positioning up to 8,000 troops in the vicinity? And, why is Trump considering $200 billion in war funding? It looks like we may be in for the long haul.
It was rather obvious that the Iranians would close the Strait of Hormuz, causing the cost of oil and fuel to skyrocket, but Trump and his war planners gave it nary a thought. This crap show is going to get much worse before it is over. And, it’s all because the geniuses who are responsible for the fiasco did not learn the costly lessons that so clearly came out of the Vietnam War.
Those of us who served in that war would feel better for our heartache about its outcome, if the present administration had just spent a few minutes studying the causes of our heartache. Trump made no explanation as to why a war was necessary. He did not even make the pretense of getting Congressional approval. The spineless GOP legislators would likely have given it to him. Both Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have gone all in for the war, fearful of stepping on Trump’s toes. Risch contends the war is a “defensive” war, rather than a “forever war” and that it will “end rapidly.” We’ll see.
For his part, Trump has found good use for a picture of the casket of a soldier who died in his war. The photo is embedded in a Trump political fundraising request. It shows Trump wearing a baseball cap, peering over a soldier’s casket at a March 7 dignified transfer ceremony. As a Vietnam veteran who volunteered to serve, I have a few observations: (1) take off the GD cap, these are the remains of a person who gave his life for his country and he deserves respect, (2) it is revolting to use a soldier’s casket in a political fundraising appeal and (3) for a draft dodger to commit such offenses is particularly appalling. No veteran should ever suffer the indignity of having their mortal remains being featured in a presidential fundraising appeal.
Idahoans should use the occasion of Vietnam War Veterans Day to remember and pay respects to veterans who have served in all of the nation’s wars.
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