Images from the Vietnam War

man, i just thought i would talk about some of that a little, and if im being truley honest, i just wanted to vent a little bit then crawl out of here and "partake in some skunky, red, white and green. i didnt realize all that was still caged up in me, beachball you have hit the nail on the head and i completely overlooked the fact that the powers of the day filled the world with mostly lies. your positive response, is refreshing, and i wont overload ya folks with my rants and raves, but i saved one box of photos, i will post some of the good and the horrible someday. by the way thanks for not eviscerating me for getting that off my chest.

 

Placou 1968 you or anybody else can come here and vent all you want. We support you and greatly appreciate everything you have done. There are a lot of Vets who understand and know what you have been through. I was one of the lucky one's, to young for VN. My brother served over there but I missed it.

To all of you......... Welcome Home !!!

 

I was just a teenager when I came out against the Vietnam War but I can say I was wise enough to protest the government that waged the war and not the soldiers who fought in it.

 

ditto newo, that damn war is the most sensless thing i have ever had the misfortune to be in attendance of. now we have troop draw downs, and these women and men have been combat hardened for over a decade, i cant imagine what that would be like. it seems to me most people work 20 years or so then start looking toward retiring soon, but some of these soldiers have spent the equivelent of 10 years, or half of a lifetime of work practicing the art of death/killing, most of them will be in their mid to late 20,s and when SOME apply for a job, the only marketable skill they can list is associated with death and destruction, i cant help but think a hiring business owner might be put off by those skills alone unless he has a similiar background.

the return of these folks kind of concerns me, because they wont be any different than us when we came home, except the world is a less tolerant place to live in now, when i came back if you got out and got drunk and got into a fight or had a car wreck, or just general mischief, the law just took ya home, called you a cab or in other words turned a blind eye to the incident mostly because they didnt want to do whatever work would have been involved in jailing us, plus some of us wernt going to go to jail without bloodshed, i vividly remember a friend of mine telling our local lawman the following....no man will ever again cage me like a fucking dog, dont try it, dont call no one, just leave me the fuck alone and i mean alone.
that was because we got stopped for some reason, i dont recall why, each of us had some things on us that wasnt very poplular with the "elders of the day" and im sure it smelled like the cheech n chong mobile.
upon the cops reflection of the words of my friend he ask, yes "ask" us if we would just throw the shit in the ditch and get out of sight, we did, until time to go back and get our goodies.
where i live that was the climate of those times.

today these returning troops are coming home to face a much more stiff lipped, stern acting, badge heavy, group of pricks and im afraid times are going to be rough for the soldiers as they try to navigate through society,
i just read this as i was typing, heres a very good example:

soldier returns from middle east war, lives in a state that allows for the carrying of concealed firearms, has met the criteria, paid for and went to school here in order to be licensed to carry a concealed gun, the soldier has no previous criminal history.
soldier decides to become a tourist in the city of new york, he pays and goes to the top of the empire state building,(tourist site), he sees a sign saying no firearms allowed, the soldier approaches the security guard and identifies himself and shows his license to carry a concealed firearm, then ask the security guard to assist him in checking in his weapon, in order that he can comply with the rules, security calls the police, the soldier is arrested, and now faces a minimum mandatory jail sentence with no option other than jail, JUST FOR TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
federal charge, no option other than jail, just for attempting to complying with the rules.
i hope allan shapiro reads this and goes apeshit and offers to defend this poor guy for free just to prove a point.

 

There will be many more VN's, Iraq, Afganistan's , this is where the country and world are at and will be for a very long time. Of course the US wants its young to be dedicated to fighting the countries wars. We would have been wiped out long ago if not for the american military fighting spirit. In the forseeable future this wont and shouldnt change. Humanity hasnt reached brotherly love yet, this country would be foolish to even speculate that peace is here or on the horizon. US military industrial complex is strong as ever, and the boys to fight the wars will always be here when needed. God Bless them too , they are Many , I was one and I know what Im saying. Thank God there is a strong counter culture Here to compensate for the horrors of war, an enclave where War Vets can get their heads back on straight enough to function with a good heart and clear conscience for a heathy life.

Over the years Ive come to realize the majority who actually hates the military and do everything to refute everything the military does are folks that never served, especially in combat. Most everyday folks dont hate the military , its not their calling and dont serve but dont ridicule the history of our military.

PS. Governments are always stupid when it comes to war, none the less the wars will be upon us generation after generation. Such is life as Ive always known it.

 

WE The Unwilling... Led By The Unqualified...To Do The Unnecessary... In the Unknown...For the Ungrateful.

 

Pretty much thats the prospects for any young person wanting to serve.

 

Hey now Orison. Thank you for posting the Dear America links. I hope other people watched them. Heavy duty real shit - not many opinions.

I was an 0331 in a Marine infantry company for 7-8 months; then in another job where I moved around to other Marine units on various infantry operations. 13 months - Hill Fights (check THAT shit out), Prairie, Deckhouse, Con Thien, Street Without Joy, and so on. It's hard to believe.

My friend that I served with then and still trip with now with said, "There ain't many from that class" (the class of 66-71 that fought; and then turned on/dropped acid).

 

My granddad served in Vietnam, it is actually where he met my Grandmother as she was a nurse helping the injured soldiers. He lost both of his legs in that war, I never knew him with legs. He died around 1998. Vietnam isn't the only place he served either, I am not sure of the rest but know he has around 6/7 medals that my dad keeps.

I have so much respect for everyone who fought, lost their lives, sacrificed things, one day I do hope that mankind can move past war and share the world instead of ripping it to shreds. Peace out

 

i hope you get that wish, but as posted above, war is with us to stay, i have more pride in the youth today that elect to serve than i can describe, and it will continue that way, i personally have no intention to vote for anyone that supports a reduction in military strength, ......a nation of sheep, breeds a government of wolves.

 

is it My lai massacre?

 

Yes, that's from My Lai.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdPG5JqtHF0"]Al Jazeera Correspondent - So Close So Far Away - YouTube


I watched this last night - lets just say, it was rather moving.

 

damn I saw a baby in the my lai photo and just lost it...

 

I counted three.

 

Hugh Clowers Thompson, Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006) was a United States Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. He is best known for his role in stopping the My Lai Massacre, in which a group of US Army soldiers tortured and killed several hundred unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mutilating their bodies after they had been murdered. Although initially ill-treated in some quarters for their intervention, Thompson and his crew, Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn, were recognized and decorated many years later for their heroism at My Lai. Andreotta had died in combat three weeks after the massacre, and so was honored posthumously.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson,_Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkFa2lSNAGc"]Hugh Thompson Jr - YouTube

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkxAKjOkqOU"]CCR- Fortunate Son with vietnam war footage - YouTube

 

The Viet Cong lieutenant had just murdered a South Vietnamese colonel, his wife and their six children. The American anti-war movement adopted Adams’ photograph as a symbol of the excesses of the war. But for the rest of his life Adams was haunted by the photo and felt it was misunderstood. “If you’re this man, this general, and you just caught this guy after he killed some of your people…How do you know you wouldn’t have pulled that trigger yourself? You have to put yourself in that situation…It’s a war.”

The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv11KilBpHQ"]Eddie Adams Talk About The Saigon Execution Photo - YouTube

http://www.executedtoday.com/2009/02/01/1968-nguyen-van-lem/

 

You know the helicopter pilots story reminded me of this:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OJPPQ4wJ2So"]The Running Man Opening Scene - YouTube

This movie would've been brilliant socio-political commentary if Schwartzenagger wasn't in it.

C/S,
Rev J

 

After 40 years we're still wrestling with the issues left from that war. Hopefully we as a nation can get over it while embracing the lessons learned from our involvement. Yes, hopefully.