THE VIETNAM WAR

[Captain O]

I've avoided this subject as best I can over the years. I'll be 77 this coming January and have found peace through the most amazing woman. I've been with her for 40 plus years now. I got there in early 1966. I was raised in the country and very naive. After about 3 or 4 weeks in Vietnam I realized that we should not have been there. I re-enlisted while there for another 6 months. I was young, it was exciting ( how stupid was that) and it was macho. I made rank quickly. The Army did that I believe to keep you going. Saying that it was "exciting" and that "we should not have been there" are contradictions, I realize. But young, stupid and naive were all playing against common sense, of which I had little. My life was altered forever. 55,000 young Americans lost their lives there, and for what?

Well, when the 94th US Congress withdrew funding from the ARVN, it essentially destroyed the VV Paris Peace Accords signed on January 23rd, 1973. We had won the war, but Congress literally "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory"! Without funding, the ARVN couldn't resist when the NVA/VC violated the Accords. They had no resources to do this, so they lost.

 

[EPS]

It's a good book about a small part of the Vietnam War one company and what they did and the guy's they lost I don't read many books but I finished this one in a few days

 

[RicInOR]

Oliver North:

When Richard Nixon was in the White House, I was in Vietnam and he was my commander in chief. When I was on Ronald Reagan's National Security Council staff, I had the opportunity to brief former President Nixon on numerous occasions and came to admire his analysis of current events, insights on world affairs and compassion for our troops. His preparation for any meeting or discussion was exhaustive. His thirst for information was unquenchable and his tolerance for fools was nonexistent.

Mr. Nixon's prosecution of the war in Southeast Asia is poorly told by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick in their new Public Broadcasting Service documentary "The Vietnam War." That is but one of many reasons Mr. Burns' latest work is such a disappointment and a tragic lost opportunity.

Ken Burns portrays the young soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the Vietnam War as pot-smoking, drug-addicted, hippie marauders.

Those with whom I served were anything but. They did not commit the atrocities alleged in the unforgivable lies John Kerry described to a congressional committee so prominently featured by Mr. Burns. The troops my brother and I were blessed to lead were honorable, heroic and tenacious. They were patriotic, proud of their service, and true to their God and our country.

To depict them otherwise, as Mr. Burns does, is an egregious disservice to them, the families of the fallen and to history. But his treatment of my fellow Vietnam War veterans is just the start. Some of the most blatant travesties in the film are reserved for President Nixon...

Ken Burns 'Vietnam War' got some facts wrong



• Oliver North was a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam, and recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and two Purple Hearts.

 

[Captain O]

Oliver North:









Ken Burns 'Vietnam War' got some facts wrong



• Oliver North was a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam, and recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and two Purple Hearts.

A-freaking-men, brother! A-freaking-men!

 

[RVNvet]

Appreciate that. Yup. the guys in the Herd were hard charging young American Paratroopers. Pretty tough to find better men, even though most of us were too young to vote or drink legally.

LOL! March '67. Just home from Nam. Downtown Portland, waiting, in uniform, for bus to home in NE. Went into bar and ordered a beer. Bartender starting asking about Sergeant's stripes, medals' ribbons, wings, etc. Answered politely and asked again for a beer. Bartender reluctantly asked for i.d., then refused to serve me because I wouldn't be 21 until August...
Max

 

[Captain O]

LOL! March '67. Just home from Nam. Downtown Portland, waiting, in uniform, for bus to home in NE. Went into bar and ordered a beer. Bartender starting asking about Sergeant's stripes, medals' ribbons, wings, etc. Answered politely and asked again for a beer. Bartender reluctantly asked for i.d., then refused to serve me because I wouldn't be 21 until August...
Max

You're a man among men, brother. We served and fought, each in our own capacity. I may have been stateside, but we still did our bit. (It's too bad the 94th Congress didn't do it's job)!

 

[RicInOR]

'BEYOND SHAMEFUL': DON'T FALL FOR THIS DECEITFUL VIETNAM FLICK- Exclusive: Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady exposes startling omissions, distorted facts in war film

 

[RicInOR]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/05/03/two_vietnams_ken_burns__ours_113404.html

"For whatever reason, the discussion of the successful Market Time mission received less than two minutes of attention by Mr. Burns. We know something about this first-hand."

 

[Captain O]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/05/03/two_vietnams_ken_burns__ours_113404.html

"For whatever reason, the discussion of the successful Market Time mission received less than two minutes of attention by Mr. Burns. We know something about this first-hand."

Of course not. It doesn't fit the political agenda of the Left.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I cannot believe that I missed this whole thread. Just WOW.