I think he's saying that the generation (your parents and mine) who fought WWII either laid the groundwork for Vietnam or were the ones in "power" that got us involved... JFK, for one, was a WWII hero who actually got a lot of advisors in-country, though Ike also had some involvement after the Frogs got their asses whipped in the '50's. It was LBJ, who I think served Stateside in the Navy (token service at best) who presided over the vast bulk of Vietnam. Nixon was also a squid officer during WWII amd he's the one who listened to Kissinger (cursed be his name) and abandoned over 2000 men (our MIAs) so that Henry could get his Nobel Peace Prize.
We are truly different generations, with utterly different wars, but our common bond is the valor on our respective battlefields of the grunts on the ground and the pilots in the air!
PINGGGGGGGGGGggggggggggggggggg!