About Vietnam Protesters
( And The Harm They Still Do )
Peace? Defeat?
What did the Vietnam protesters want?
The self-serving anti Vietnam war movement damaged our country beyond measure.
In the process, they shamelessly denigrated all Americans who fought there.
This site attempts to keep these facts fresh in the minds of the American public. This is especially important today, as similar cowardly ignorance threatens the freedom we have won for the people of Iraq.
Before you read further, review your impressions about Americans who fought and suffered in The Vietnam War.
Now, ask yourself if your impressions are consistent with these facts:
• 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975
◦ 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam (Actual Vietnam Veterans).
◦ The rest served their tours in Germany, Alaska, South America and the United States.
▪ Many protesters claiming to be Vietnam Veterans never served in Vietnam or any branch of the military.
• North Vietnam admittedly invaded democratic South Vietnam to further Marxist-Leninist ideology.
◦ With instruction and aid from the entire communist bloc.
• The American military did not lose a single significant battle in the Vietnam War.
◦ The US lost 60,157 KIA and MIA
▪ The Communists admit to 1,100,000 KIA and MIA.
◦ The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a military disaster for Hanoi.
▪ It resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the destruction of most Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam.
◦ The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam.
▪ 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.
▪ South Vietnam fell only because a pusillanimous congress failed to honor our pledges of support when the North violated the terms of the treaty.
• The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism.
◦ This can be argued a result of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam.
◦ This is one argument for the validity of the "Domino Theory"
• Two-thirds of those who served during Vietnam were volunteers rather than draftees.
• 77 percent of those who died were volunteers.
• Of those who died, 86 percent were Caucasian, 12.5 percent were African-American, and 1.2 percent were from other races.
• Fully 91 percent of those who served in Vietnam combat stated that they were glad they had served their country.
• 74 percent said they had enjoyed their time in the military.
• 71 percent of those who expressed an opinion indicated that they would go to Vietnam again
◦ Even knowing the end result.
•
• Betrayed at home by the university elite, the media, and the privileged, in the final analysis they had fought for each other.
Most Americans who served in Vietnam were ordinary citizens, grateful to live in a Democracy, trusting our elected government to call upon them to bear arms only when necessary for the defense of our country and our freedoms. This has to be the assumption of anyone claiming citizenship in any country.
• The Vietnam War was regarded by those who fought it as a struggle to help preserve freedom and democracy for the people of South Vietnam against communist invasion.
•
• Post-war Communist documents show that was exactly the true situation.
•
• Pampered celebrities, such as Hanoi Jane Fonda and John Kerry, arrogantly helped divide our country in the name of stopping "an unjust war."
•
• As those Communist documents also show, these "protesters" actually helped cause unmeasurable tragedy, tragedy which better Americans sacrificed their own lives trying to prevent.
•
• In our Democracy, any government position faces judgment at the next national election, but the duty to respond when called is 24/7 for any responsible citizen.
•
• The main imbalance in the war, (as in the Korean War), was simply that the privileged avoided their obligations, and have persisted since that time in demeaning the war and the patriotism of those who did serve their country, in order to protect themselves from the judgment of history.
•
• Hopefully, this brief account will help remind us all of the truths behind the war, and those who fought it as Americans.
•
• In a very elementary way, America's actions in Vietnam define Patriotism.
•
• They do so again today, in Iraq.
•
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho' sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician's stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
It's so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY
© 1987 A. Lawrence Vaincourt
Document: Vietnam Protesters
Last Update: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:31:20 GMT
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