US Troops Back in Vietnam

[Chief_Joseph]

http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/04/18/2740-soldiers-provide-medical-care-for-vietnamese-people/

Things have certainly changed

 

[expat_71]

Chief_Joseph wrote
Things have certainly changed

Yes they have.
American servicemen have been here a long time on and off though.
There have been teams made up of all the US services looking for M.I.A's. for more than 8 years now,I had the pleasure of their company at many a beach BBQ.
It always surprised me how polite and well behaved these young men were.

Back to HUE , that report gives the readers the impression that HUE is very 3rd world with poor schools and hospitals,It's not.

Last year I was involved with a project in HUE for six months , this required 3000 highly skilled fabricators and dozens of medical staff.
All were recruited in less than two weeks.
Now I think about it that could be the reason why US had to jump in and help.

 

[Chief_Joseph]

I wonder if any of those troops have prior service and memories there.

This is the first I heard about it. I'm sure the poverty is played up in the article, it was Published by the US Army's PR people. Still, the fact remains that US Military personnel are operating in Vietnam and doing a fine job helping out.

 

[FaceLikeAPingPongBall]

Perhaps after another 33 yrs we'll be reading stories like this about septics helping iraquis after losing a war there..........

 

[Chief_Joseph]

Perhaps you can stop running me and my friends through the mud. There's plenty of the same happening in Iraq right now, by both American and British troops. I'm in the middle of a drive to gather school supplies for troops to distribute.

 

[expat_71]

I would have thought most would be too young,the US and Viet vets meet all the time and reminisce whilst getting very drunk.

The American tourists civilian or ex military are by far the most popular of all the visitors here.

$$$$$$!

 

[Chief_Joseph]

I would imagine. I've actually heard alot about US vets, Aussie Vets, ARVN vets, VC vets, NVA vets all contacting each other. There's some interesting groups putting stuff like that together, sharing stories, comparing, sharing war photo-albums.

 

[expat_71]

Before I had heard of ARRSE I had a lot of books written by Vietnamese vets that had been translated into English.
I'm sure a few US vets would have loved to read them.
Sadly I past them on as soon as I had read them(not so long ago ,not many English books availble)you would have been shocked at how similar they were with the US stories.

 

[Chief_Joseph]

I dunno. I actually used to be pretty obsessed with the Vietnam war. I spent 2 years studying it, and used to be a living encyclopedia of it. I was incredibly fascinated by the Vietcong. I read alot about them and the NVA, about their tactics, weapons, views. I actually became a communist for a time and hated the US military. Over time, I've come to regret many things I said about the US military.

I think it is a fascinating subject. Both sides of that conflict are equally sympathetic to me. There was no ethnic cleansing and no genocide. Both sides were brave. I think that's part of the tragedy. The Vietcong and NVA fought for a united and proud vietnam, the ARVN and US forces fought for a free and democratic vietnam. Such brave individuals turned against each other by circumstance.

 

[dingerr]

I dunno. I actually used to be pretty obsessed with the Vietnam war. I spent 2 years studying it, and used to be a living encyclopedia of it. I was incredibly fascinated by the Vietcong. I read alot about them and the NVA, about their tactics, weapons, views. I actually became a communist for a time and hated the US military. Over time, I've come to regret many things I said about the US military.

I think it is a fascinating subject. Both sides of that conflict are equally sympathetic to me. There was no ethnic cleansing and no genocide. Both sides were brave. I think that's part of the tragedy. The Vietcong and NVA fought for a united and proud vietnam, the ARVN and US forces fought for a free and democratic vietnam. Such brave individuals turned against each other by circumstance.

Blimey Chief thats something to fess up to, you're not going to come out the closet and admit you're homosexual next are you

Don't let Trippy see that post, he'll swallow his false teeth and chock to death. (Now there's a thought )

 

[Chief_Joseph]

I've actually mentioned bits of that before, though never in a single post

 

[Trip_Wire]

I dunno. I actually used to be pretty obsessed with the Vietnam war. I spent 2 years studying it, and used to be a living encyclopedia of it. I was incredibly fascinated by the Vietcong. I read alot about them and the NVA, about their tactics, weapons, views. I actually became a communist for a time and hated the US military. Over time, I've come to regret many things I said about the US military.

I think it is a fascinating subject. Both sides of that conflict are equally sympathetic to me. There was no ethnic cleansing and no genocide. Both sides were brave. I think that's part of the tragedy. The Vietcong and NVA fought for a united and proud vietnam, the ARVN and US forces fought for a free and democratic vietnam. Such brave individuals turned against each other by circumstance.

Blimey Chief thats something to fess up to, you're not going to come out the closet and admit you're homosexual next are you

Don't let Trippy see that post, he'll swallow his false teeth and chock to death. (Now there's a thought )

Actually, I check most of the threads here daily dingerr!

No, I will not lose my teeth or choke on such remarks. The Vietnam war ended in 1975 or so and started in 1961 or so. That makes the start of the war at 46 or so years ago. The end of the War at 32 years ago. Depending on when one counts the start of our part in the war.

As I recall, CJ is 18 or so at this point, that would make him not born yet at end of the Vietnam war.

He's a smart kid; however, I don't think he had a very good understanding of the Vietnam War at the age he was studying it. He was most likely more influenced by the anti-war propaganda and young adults, of the 'flower' generation around him, in his early years.

So, I don’t get to upset with his statement, given his age and no first hand knowledge of that war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

 

[dingerr]

Trip,

I'm aware of the dates of the war (its hard to miss such an ignominius American defeat).

The point of my post was of humour. That being said, the truth cannot stand in the way of a good story.

There really was no need to be so condescending.

 

[Trip_Wire]

Trip,

I'm aware of the dates of the war (its hard to miss such an ignominius American defeat).

The point of my post was of humour. That being said, the truth cannot stand in the way of a good story.

There really was no need to be so condescending.

Conescending? Perhaps, I wouldn't have had any comment on CJs post, had you not decided, to use my screen name to promote your rather silly attempt at being humorous at my expense. I see no need for such tactics, nor did I find any humour in it. In fact, I found it rather insulting.

BTW: Here are Popular Vietnam War myths debunked.:

http://www.vietnam-war.info/myths/

This one in particular, might be of interest to you.:

Myth:

The United States lost the war in Vietnam.

The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkley a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included Tet 68, which was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA.

THE UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE DID.

Read on........

The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973.

How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? We fought to
an agreed stalemate. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27
January 1973. It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal
of U.S. forces, limitation of both sides' forces inside South Vietnam
and a commitment to peaceful reunification.

The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 then there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. Thanks for the perceived loss and the countless assassinations and torture visited upon Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians goes mainly to the American media and their undying support-by-misrepresentation of the anti-War movement in the United States.

As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and
misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. It was reported as an
overwhelming success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for
the U.S. forces.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Despite initial victories by the Communists forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those forces. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a great commander.

Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. It resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous.

For the above, Please give all credit and research to:
Capt. Marshal Hanson, U.S.N.R (Ret.)

Capt. Scott Beaton, Statistical Source

 

[Chief_Joseph]

Let's try to have an actual conversation about this.

It's true, I was young when I did the research, but I have retained quite a bit of what I learned about it. Actually, I shocked and horrified most of my peers, instructors, and family with my communist rhetoric (this was taking part around 2002-03, those were my commie days). I think it was largely out of rebellion. I started learning about things that had been kept from me: napalm strikes, my lai, agent orange, and it led me into sort of a crusade.

However, I also learned about the Green Berets, about the US Pilot who saved the survivors of the My Lai massacre (and testified). However, I had a tough time seeing the greyness of it, and I needed to see it as good v bad, and I marked the VC and NVA as "good", largely because I have a natural fascination with the underdog.

My Math teacher in those days was a vietnam vet, and he had plenty of stories of the heroism of his fellow marines (he did not talk up his own exploits, but rather those of the people he served with). I always quieted my rhetoric around him out of respect. I look back at his stories now, and these days have a much greater appreciation for what he was trying to tell us.

The Vietnam war, as I said, is truly a fascinating war. Hollywood has barely chipped the surface of what it really meant. The war in vietnam was an irregular war in every sense. The Vietcong proved, brave and resourceful, as did the NVA. They never won a "set piece" battle, but they won skrimishes against US and South Vietnamese troops. US and South Vietnamese troops won just as many, if not more (it's tough to know everything that happened in those jungles).

It's true that US troops did not lose. We lost that war on the homefront, not the front line. Who knows when it would have ended though? Tensions went on for quite some time, but I think with stories like the one that begins this thread, and the dialogue between veterans we see today on the subject, we can say that the war is over.

I have a deep respect for both sides, and think both have lessons to teach. That's my take on it. I wasn't there, and I wasn't around when it happened, but what I've learned about it has shaped me, and I hope that it will help me to be an effective soldier as I begin ROTC in August

 

[LJONESY]

So CJ is only 18?? Thought he was a bit older than that and his days as a communist?? Wow 14 must have been a rough tough age..... This is great my little brother is older than him.........

 

[Chief_Joseph]

It's not a secret. I never said I was older. I actually got that fact out of the way quite early on. I never said I was "rough" or "tough" either.

 

[LJONESY]

CJ with all the time you spend on this forum, just get a gf dude. Or better yet get three of them.

 

[Chief_Joseph]

Here's another little group that's interesting. I stumbled upon it about 3 years ago

http://www.vwam.com/

They also have a history project, that's incredibly comprehensive. Ihttp://www.vwam.com/vets/hisintro.html