Posted on 03/17/2002 2:25:49 PM PST by Mom_Grandmother
In short: What's "win"?
I was most fortunate in having family members that served in previous wars, insist that I go to VA Hospital for a physical and medical care almost immediately after my discharge. My physical problems were documented by them at that time. It established a baseline, so to speak. I know others (like you) that didn't go to VA for years after discharge. They were greeted with, "WHAT do you want NOW?"
I do believe current DVA Chief is a decent/honorable man who is sincerely TRYING to change the DVA. Will he be successful? I certainly hope so!
Sounds like you weren't there....because if you had been you would know that the war was a political charade and the US armed forces were prohibited from executing the victory. After the bombing stopped--prematurely, I might add--we were not allowed to fight to win.
In the end we were ordered home by politicos who saw their re-elections being more impacted by the likes of Fonda and Cronkite than the true meaning of "Peace with Honor".
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This was the exact problem. By 1968 our military policy was being run exclusively by leftist street demonstrations, by leftists in the media, by leftists in academia, by leftists in entertainment, and by leftists in politics responding to them. Each of these groups was portrayed as being the dominent voice in America with no credible refutation.
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Type two, myself. Hereditary condition. It came on me almost to a year of the same age when it hit my father. Blood lipids and cholosterol also hereditary. If you showed any family or other tendency you should have been on aspirin years ago. The best shot you have going for you is a good internist. Zocor, niacin, lopid knock my cholesterol down and my lipids downt from 3900 to 400.
I don't know of any, if you learn of one, please let me know.
After 199 posts to this thread you nailed it precisely!
Fact is that there never was a time, from Jan. 1966 - Dec. 1970, when the war couldn't have been definitively won, within 6 months, given the political WILL to do so!
"A Bright Shining Lie" which looks at Vietnam through the perspective of John Paul Vann. It is by Neil Sheehan who is on the liberal side but the history is good if you overlook some of his liberal opinions. Often when enough time has elapsed liberals (such as William Shirer) can come up with good histories because nothing is currently at stake.
We could have won the Vietnam War by creating a Mekong Delta State for the 8 million or so South Vietnamese capitalists, using the Mekong River as a natural and easily defendable border.
See my blog post for how it could have worked:
http://eversmarterworld.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/leadership-foresight-and-security-how-we-should-have-won-the-vietnam-war/
Unfortunately our political and military leadership never learned from the First Indochina War (with the French) that without such a Total Defense Strategy, we were very unlikely to win.
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