...for as long as it takes
What did you know of America's involvement in the Vietnam War before you were sent to Vietnam?
Do you think that Americans received an accurate description of the
war in Vietnam?
How much of what was going on at home were you aware of while serving in Vietnam regarding the anti-war movement?
While you were serving in Vietnam, what did think of the men back home who were burning their draft card or emigrating to Canada because of their opposition to the war for various reasons?
Is there one memory that stands out among the rest of your time in
Vietnam that you would like to share with others? Something that you
want people such as myself to know, that could never imagine without
actually being there.
What do you remember of the way you were treated when you returned home from Vietnam? (By your fellow veterans, the American public, the media)
What do you believe are the most common long-term effects of the
Vietnam War on Vietnam Veterans? What do you think is the best way to
help those who suffer from these effects?
Have you believed since Operation Homecoming that we left people behind in Vietnam?
My daughter's American History textbook, written in 1992, states that: America became involved in the Vietnam War "to show the world that
America was a powerful nation and that it was serious about its
anti-Communist policy."
In August 1964, I was in summer school at the age of 16. They brought in a TV as the announcement of the (alleged) attack in Tonka Gulf. I remember the teacher stating that we would be going to war. Right after class, I went down to the Army recruiter's office to try and join. I of course was turned down and was told to return next year when I was 17. There was little on the TV during 64 and 65 about our involvement that I remember. Growing up in a military area, several of my friend's fathers, who were in the service, were being sent to Vietnam. A week after my 17th birthday, I enlisted in the Army. They would not send you to Nam till you were 18, so the first year was spent on training. I was delayed another year due to breaking my leg in a combat training jump. So I went over in 1967 a week after I turned 19.
What were you told when they said they were sending you to Vietnam?
I remember there was a lot of voicing that we were there to stop communist and save the people of the land.
Did you believe what they told you?
At 17-18 year olds, guess I would and did believe most everything I was told, after all our Government wouldn't lie to us would they? I have to admit by the time I was to ship over, I had a lot more doubts than I had when I went in. I think that a lot of that was due to the time I was hospitalized with the broken leg, I talked to quite a few veterans that had come back. Most of the ones I talked to were during PT, several with missing arms or legs. Some of the stories they shared put some doubt in my mine.
Do you feel what the kids are learning about the Vietnam War in school is a factual report on the actual events that took place?
No, by no means. As one who has spoken at both High Schools and Colleges on the topic, you can tell from their questions that they have no ideal of the truth. I doubt that they will ever get more than a couple of paragraphs in the history books. There some great books out there to reveal some of the truths, along with newly released tapes of LBJ.
Coverage of the Vietnam War included nightly news reports to keep America informed of our involvement in the war. A reporter is one who reports; one who gathers information, according to the dictionary.
No
If your answer is no, in your opinion, what was missing from the reporters' coverage of the war?
There seemed to be more focus on "Body Counts," than the actual events. We were pushed to increase the body counts, even if they were just water buffaloes. I don't think the public was ever made aware of just the level of the enemy that we were up against or to the number of years that these people had been fighting. We were in a land whose people had been in war for nearly 1000 years and we were not really welcome by either side except for the money that was being spent.
Did the journalists', whose job it is to inform the public, add things that spruced up their report; did they over-dramatize to make a good story?
Do not all reporters on all stories? The GI Reporters sitting in Saigon were some times worst than the civilian TV or radio reporters that may have been in country.
By the mid-sixties, the 'anti-war movement' was in full swing in America. There were those who disagreed with America's involvement in Vietnam.
Outside of the actual combat and killing, I think the one thing that was most upsetting was seeing pictures in the "Stars & Stripes and my hometown paper of people back in the states protesting what we were doing. (The following page: The 60's Sign of the Times shows one such picture) We were young boys that were forced to grow up into men in a war torn land doing what we were told to do. Not all of us believed it was the right thing to do, some of us never considered it right or wrong, just followed orders.
In 1974, President Ford offered amnesty to those who fled to Canada to avoid the draft. He offered them a 'conditional pardon'. This meant they would have to 're-pledge their allegiance to the United States.' His 'conditional pardon' also meant they would have to ''serve as hospital orderlies, conservation workers, etc., for two years.' These conditions
were not accepted by most of them. President Carter, in 1977, granted them a 'blanket pardon'.
There were times when waist deep in water with leeches, no dry socks or dry anything else for weeks and forget about a hot meal, that I wish I had never joined the Army and took my chances on being drafted. I would never have gone to Canada or burned my draft card, I was raised that it was both an obligation and Honor to serve your Country.
I still hold no respect for those that burned their draft cards or went to Canada. Guess I never will, not because I went as much as the fact thst I did my duty and served. Not every GI went to Vietnam.
What did you think of President Carter's 'blanket pardon' in 1977?
I felt it sucked and was a disgrace to all of those who died.
What do you think about the 'draft dodgers' now?
I think they should be put in jail, but then I think there should be a mandatory draft still today. As I said before, it should be considered an honor and duty to serve this Country. One can learn a lot in a two year stay in the service..
Memories of the Vietnam War for a Vietnam Veteran are something that
will probably never fade away.
I think the one thing that has stood out but also turn my way of thinking during the remaining time I was in Country, was the day that I saw a small child explode about 15 feet away, killing her and 4 GIs and wounding 3 others. This brought on a major distrust of the people of the land. It was a major wakeup call that we were dealing with an enemy that put no value on human life that they would take a small child and wrap explosives on her body in hopes of killing at least one American. This was not an isolated incident. Another fine example is one night on patrol we caught a 12 year kid with a mortar tube and shells on a bicycle. We had been hit the night before and very well by this kid, that attack killed 4 GIs and wounded 7 others. Bottom line, you never knew who the enemy was.
This next question may sound stupid, but:
Did anything good come from your time in Vietnam?
I ask this question, because I have noticed that there is a special camaraderie among Vietnam Veterans, a brotherhood that will never be dissolved regardless of how many years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War. It is a 'kinship' that I think few people experience in their lifetime.
I think that the meaning of friendship was strongly increased in many cases, a friendship that has survived many years after the war. Last week I lost a very close friend that I served with in Vietnam and have lived in the same area for the last 25 years. We were closer than I have ever been with my own brothers. We spent 8 months together in Nam and had a bond that few family members hold for each other.
I remember hearing stories years ago and from what I have been
reading lately, that Vietnam Veterans were treated differently when they
returned home from the way veterans in previous wars were treated.
When I landed in California, we were greeted by protesters, cussed at and I was struck with a tomato. Walking in the airport I had a little old lady come up to me and kicked me in the shin calling me an SOB baby killer. When I got home the family was glad to see me at first, but things weren't the same. School buddies that didn't go, we didn't have anything in common and the ones that had gone didn't care to talk about it more than I did. To this day my cousin who I was very close to have never spoke about our tours in Nam. The guy I went into the service with under the "Buddy System," served in Country at different times, after we both got out we were roommates for a year and worked together and we never have talked about it.
Did you have trouble adjusting to family life upon your return? Did
your family have trouble adjusting to you?
When I came home, I had 2 months left on my enlistment. After being there at home and seeing how things were, I reenlist in the service. I served 3 more years and got out and came back home. I only lived there for 6 months and didn't feel at home or that it was the place to be. I moved to Texas after that and never moved back home. The location change did not take away the problems as far as adjustment, but at least by being in a new location, people did not know I had served in Vietnam and I sure as hell didn't tell them.
In your opinion, why were Americans so hostile toward Vietnam
Veterans upon their return home from the war? What can you say that
would help to ensure that veterans are never treated that way again?
I wish I knew the answer to that one, I have read several books and still am not so sure why this war became so unpopular, yet keep in mind that the Korean veterans were not treated much better. I don't think as long as there are Nam veterans living, as we saw with the Gulf War vets homecoming, that it will happen again.
I have read a lot about the long-term effects on the Vietnam War
among Vietnam veterans, physical, mental, and emotional.
Of course we have all heard the infamous diagnose of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), this includes such things as isolation, flashbacks, tempers, drug and alcohol use. It has taken a long time for some Nam veterans to come home. I didn't start making the journey till 1990 and it was a long trip. All the problems have not gone away, but I have learned ways to deal with them where I can be functional in life.
Why do Vietnam Veterans suffer from long-term effects that differ
from effects on veterans of previous wars?
I'm not so sure the effects were/are that much different. I remember the family talking about my father and I know still to this day that both of my uncles who served in WWII and Korea have problems still hanging around. I deal with veterans everyday in my job as a Veterans Service Officer from WWII, Korea and Vietnam, a lot of the same problems are there for all of them.
Since joining OJC, I have learned a lot about American POW's and MIA's. I know that you are a member of OJC and that you believe people were left behind at the end of the war. In the same history book I mentioned earlier, the only mention of POW's is President Nixon agreement to 'withdraw American troops from Vietnam in exchange for the return of American POW's'. It does not mention the over two thousand
that were left behind.
I never had a doubt, after all how could this war be different from all the others?
If you have believed it since then, in your opinion, why did our government and the American public accept this as the truth?
I think it goes back to maybe people believing that their government would not lie to them and the other issue is that they wanted to get the whole thing over with.
What would you like to tell this generation about the Vietnam War and
about your time there, which you feel they will never find out from
parents, teachers, and history books?
I think the bottom line is that we have a great Nation that we all should be proud to live in. We need to remember those that served, did what they had to for what they believed to be right, whether they went to Vietnam or served in other areas. There is never any really good out of a war and for every winner there must be a loser.
