Posted on 03/29/2022 2:51:09 PM PDT by Az Joe
My boss on my sub was a PBR Captain in ‘Nam.
“Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans’ group.”
Once you’ve been through that the first world problems I face are pretty mild.
I guess if you have to go to Vietnam being behind some 50cal machineguns is a good way to do it.
Even at that the term “volunteer” might not exactly mean what we assume it means. I have no idea to what degree this may have come in to play and Im certainly not suggesting that all volunteers were criminals of some sort but...
Two of my youngest uncles were characters that society didnt fully approve of and in different incidences they found themselves before a judge. I wasnt there and dont know exactly how this was relayed but I know that they were made aware that they were going to be guilty and face some time unless they just so happened to decide to volunteer as marines. Immediately thereafter they discovered that they really wanted to be marines.
“And at least 1/2 of volunteers did so to avoid being drafted.”
Yep.
Count me. My lotto number was 60.
5.56mm
Tet February 1968.
The media lied.
5.56mm
For later
I enlisted to go to Vietnam. At my young age I saw that the government was offering me an all expense paid trip to an exotic land. I was not disappointed. I have been back many ties since.
Two of my relatives served in Vietnam. Both volunteered. One was KIA.
Acknowledged
I volunteered for service in the Navy after I received my draft notice from LBJ in the spring of ‘67 so I guess I was a volunteer.
Exactly. I got my draft notice and I took it down to the Navy recruitment office to get a better deal. Ended up as a corpsman.
When two things are different, it’s commonly referred to as ‘apples and oranges’.
And I wasn’t referring to some post-exit support or lack thereof - I was speaking about the ‘50s, when we should have been supporting Ho Chi Minh in VN’s bid for independence, instead of the corrupt puppets we ended up with, trying to play nice with France.
We could have had as much influence as China or Soviets in the development of that region had we done so. Vietnam was never friendly with China (as later events proved out), and the Soviets were happy to play the proxy war. Vietnam was one of America’s classic self-inflicted wounds - but that’s hindsight for you.
My lotto number was1! I read that in Stars&Stripes, while stationed at Plekiu.
LOL.
The irony.
5.56mm
Exactly - from the very FIRST overtures that Ho Chi Minh made to the US. There was no “North” and “South” when we should have made the better decision. Those came about because of our poor knee-jerk reactions.
The ‘horrors of communism’ that we were supposedly trying to contain and destroy were the effects of our own earlier decisions, trying to support the stupidity of French colonial actions and related political corruption.
For all the talk about Constitution and Declaration of Independence, in foreign relations the US really hasn’t walked that walk in a very long time.
I recommend you go back and re your #5.
Your current argument is patently shameful in that you defend your conclusion by now introducing an irrelevant premise, that being a reference to the French defeat earlier in the '50s. That is an exercise in intellectual dishonesty.
Well, it depends on how one interprets those events and then whether they are honestly presented to support one's arguments, doesn't it?
You frame Ho Chi Minh as one worthy of U.S. support in the 50's, and that to withhold such support was "one of many mistakes made by the U.S."
I haven't thought about him in recent decades but a quick glance reminds he was educated as a young man in the USSR during the 1920's and was sponsored-employed by its Comintern (which, when under Lenin, was just as ruthless as ever). He was always a dedicated communist and always disposed of his political enemies quite ruthlessly.
Are you surprised the U.S. ignored his overtures in the mid 40's given what it knew about him and after witnessing the USSR's behavior in the same time period?
Finally, the Dem-led Congress in the 70's wasn't just "power-drunk" as you suggest, they were also leftists; see for instance, the history of Kamla Harris and Dem Congressman "Red" Dellums.
Have a nice day.
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