Posted on 04/24/2021 4:44:45 AM PDT by Kaslin
Ho Chi Minh is a classic example of “enemy of my enemy is my friend”. OSS supported the Viet Minh in fighting the Japanese. Whether we recognized Ho’s allegiance to the greater enemy – Moscow – is for all intents irrelevant. Japan was our mutual greater enemy and Moscow was our ally. Who knows, nationalist that he allegedly was, Ho may well have been playing both ends against the middle. Similar post-war political conflicts occurred in Malaya and the Philippines. Yeah, confusing to the point of needing a dance card.
Another “did you know”; towards the end of the war, Ho became seriously ill with some tropical illness. OSS medics helped treat him to recovery. Thus without US aid, Ho Chi Minh may well have died.
In service, I attended an early counter-insurgency training program. One thing that has stayed with me is the paraphrased instruction of a senior “old “Asian hand” officer; “Ho Chi Minh is looked upon by many Vietnamese in a manner not unlike our view of George Washington. Do not denigrate his name to any Vietnamese.” Well, reckon it’s true enough that some things end up honored more in intent than observance.
End of any day, US commitment to South Vietnam has been validated by North Vietnamese conduct during the war and after.
the communists with their carefully-planned and executed “antiwar” movement won - and now we have those traitors and their children leading our country now.
Definitely. They’ve been dreaming and drooling with anticipation that one day they may be in charge. And now they are, and can’t destroy the US quick enough for their taste.
Good article. Thanks for posting. JFK was a cowardly weasel. Wish Trump had declassified more.
In light of everything that is now known did we accomplish anything in Vietnam or did we sacrifice 60,000 plus lives and $500 Billion in monies for essentially nothing. What kept us from overrunning NV and winning? Was it the fact if we had then either China and/or the Soviet Union might have then become involved and a fuse lit for a Nuclear War? We may never know all the answers but we are still left with a lot of questions.
Who really benefited from the War?
I was sort of hoping that I’d heard the last of you - but I have found that there are certain people who are irredeemably stubborn.
1. We fought that enemy for eight years - and we also had to deal with our own idiot “best and the brightest” leaders, a very effective communist enemy at home, and a really deceptive media. But we fought well and effectively, in spite of it.
2. For those eight years, South Vietnam stayed free. People kept their farms, their businesses, and their lives.
3. The rest of the world, including our Soviet adversaries, saw us take it and keep going, 10,000 miles from home, with 1960s logistics and an impatient and irresolute public at home.
4. It was that image of us and our relentless courage that sustained our alliances, made the “National Liberation War” an expensive artifact, and forced the Soviets to realize that we weren’t as soft as they thought.
Have you ever thought of what would have happened if we didn’t fight? The world would have been forever very different if courageous young men hadn’t fought hard and like hell.
Count your blessings that there were men like us.
How many allies do you think we'd have left and what strategic position would we have been left in, if we had just let South Vietnam get crushed? Answer: we would have been pushed out of the Southeast Asia/South Pacific and our allies - S. Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia - would have been left to find other friends.
All of the strength we had with our alliances and the final fall of Soviet communism were directly because we did have men ready to fight and die for our allies and our country.
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