Posted on Jul 25, 2015
What do you think about the Vietnam War should we have been Involved in the War?
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Vietnam War
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With all due respect to everyone, I think that it's a little too late to ask this question. Hell, Most of you were not old enough to go anyways. And the ones who did, like myself, we went because we were ordered to. It didn't make a damn bit of difference what the hell we thought about the Vietnam War. We were told that we were fighting Communism. That we were protecting the rights of the Vietnam People to be free from Communism. But I will tell you one thing right here and now, if I had it all over to do again, I wouldn't change a thing. I was not drafted and I signed up knowing that I would be going to Vietnam. It's too bad that they, the powers to be, would not let us fight that damn War the way we were trained to do. I have much more to say, but I'll leave it at that. If any of you are interested, read my book, UNIFORMS.
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SFC (Join to see)
I agree with you and COL Williams. While I always say that I was born for that war, I was born too late for it. The thing that angers me about that war is the treatment of the troops coming back.
War is war, and there will ALWAYS be the "should we have gone" argument. It is really as you two mentioned, too late to argue the point. Those of us that went to any of the conflicts over the last 5 decades went because we were told to. I actually joined DURING the time of OIF because I WANTED to go. I didn't give two craps about the politics. I just knew that I wanted to get out there and make a mess of stuff. The MAJORITY of troops in right now cannot say the same thing that those in Vietnam can say. Vietnam vets will ALWAYS be my heroes because of the fact that the greatest majority of them did not want to go. They simply did what was required of them. I got to do what I wanted to do, so my bitches and complaints that I have about the Army, I brought upon myself (for the most part). No regrets, just understand that there are huge differences.
War is war, and there will ALWAYS be the "should we have gone" argument. It is really as you two mentioned, too late to argue the point. Those of us that went to any of the conflicts over the last 5 decades went because we were told to. I actually joined DURING the time of OIF because I WANTED to go. I didn't give two craps about the politics. I just knew that I wanted to get out there and make a mess of stuff. The MAJORITY of troops in right now cannot say the same thing that those in Vietnam can say. Vietnam vets will ALWAYS be my heroes because of the fact that the greatest majority of them did not want to go. They simply did what was required of them. I got to do what I wanted to do, so my bitches and complaints that I have about the Army, I brought upon myself (for the most part). No regrets, just understand that there are huge differences.
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Sgt (Join to see)
I agree with you Sgt David G Duchesneau. I joined the Marine Corps, because I wanted to go to Vietnam. Aiding South Vietnam was a just cause, and if I had it to do over, I would do the same thing. Our government kept us from winning this war.
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It is a little too late for that. Like Iraq, and Afghanistan... As Soldiers we don't get to decide when and where, we just do our duty. History is the judge of our actions. For Vietnam, I think our intentions were noble, but we were never fully committed. It we are not committed, we can't win. Lack of clear war aims and the commitment to achieve them, crushed our tactical efforts. When I left Somalia, and Iraq, I believed we had made a difference, and things would be better. History will like tell a different story. I am sure the same will hold true for Afghanistan. What a waste.
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The war was worth fighting, but the micro-management of targets and tactics from Washington and the overly restrictive politicized ROE held us back.
If the civilian leadership is afraid to fight the war to win they should not start into it in the first place.
If they want to fight to win they should give the military an objective and then get out of the way.
Talk a little, kill a little, talk a little, kill a little, ... etc. is a recipe for disaster.
We still had it won in the jungles, but lost it on the streets of America. If a substantial number of the people side with our enemy and try to sabotage our efforts it is difficult for the military to succeed.
If the civilian leadership is afraid to fight the war to win they should not start into it in the first place.
If they want to fight to win they should give the military an objective and then get out of the way.
Talk a little, kill a little, talk a little, kill a little, ... etc. is a recipe for disaster.
We still had it won in the jungles, but lost it on the streets of America. If a substantial number of the people side with our enemy and try to sabotage our efforts it is difficult for the military to succeed.
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