Years ago I was driving back from the stable and this came on the radio (Prairie Home Companion). Had to pull over for a bit till my vision cleared up, got a little misty.
Below the flip is something I wrote years ago.
This was written several years ago when the “Traveling Wall” stopped at Ft. Vancouver. My opinion hasn’t changed much.
I got out the old Jungle Fatigue blouse with the combat patches and headed over to Fort Vancouver to the Traveling Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Wall. It's billed as "The Wall that Heals". Not this Veteran, not this time. I went because I knew that I would never make it to Washington D.C. for the real thing. It was early and the crowds hadn't shown up yet. It took me two times to get past the emotional force field The Wall throws up at you. I managed to control most of the feeling welling up from my soul. The one I could not keep down was a profound sense of anger. I was angry with myself for being a brainwashed idiot in my youth. I was angry at all of the lying sons of bitches politicians that got us into that meatgrinder. I was angry at the anti and pro war sides that were duped by the aforementioned sons of bitches. And then there were the French colonial masters.
Having been raised in the 50s and 60s on a diet of anti-communism, movies glorifying war, Boy Scout oaths, and history written and taught by the winners, I was ripe for the picking. I had no idea that Ho Chi Mihn was our ally or that the promised elections of 1956 were called off because of US intervention. I had no idea that Viet Nam and China hated each others guts and were only allies in this conflict because the US had left the Vietnamese with no where else to turn. Why was I so clueless? Because it was not in the best interest of the lying sons of bitches who talk a good game of national self determination but haven't got the guts to let it happen. Why was the election of 1956 not allowed to happen? Because Uncle Ho would have won that’s why!!! The South Vietnamese government was corrupt and incapable of representing the people. It is that simple. But they were OUR corrupt incompetent dictatorial bastards and would be supported come hell or high water. Well hell came soon enough and the monsoons brought the high water. Were any of the history classes going to teach this? Of course not. Had I known all of this history would I still have enlisted? I could say I might have at least with open eyes instead of having that “Bright Shining Lie” blinding me.
How can one be angry at both the anti and pro war factions? Easy, they were so wrapped up fighting each other they lost sight of the real tragedy, we were destroying a country and hundreds of thousands of people in the name of America The Self Righteous. The anti-war side abandoned the principles of non-violence and truth by engaging in destruction and immoral tactics. Calling the parents of a recent casualty and calling him a baby killer was abhorrent, although this may have been a conterintelpro game. One never knows. The returning veterans knew the truth; they could have helped stop the madness. Although many of them did, the vast majority retreated into themselves or worse, into self-destructive behavior.
The pro-war faction was so caught up in patriotic flag waving brought on by fancy speeches by the lying sons of bitches and revulsion at the tactics of the anti-war factions that they too were blinded by the lies. The two sides could not find or even think of finding common ground. And that common ground was the useless waste of human life so the lying sons of bitches could get reelected and their military industrial complex cronies could make tons of money in the name of freedom. What a crock! For ten years the money just kept rolling in, why stop a good thing?
And now the French colonial masters. How I despised those pompous, chauvinistic, self-righteous failures.
They lost in 1876 to the Germans and couldn't stop thinking about how to get in another war so they could win next time. Well they got it, WW I, the war to end all wars, a war so horrible their soldiers went on strike (a good move on the soldiers part). Cue the US Calvary to the rescue. This set the stage for round 2 with the treaty of Versailles; make conditions so wretched in Germany that hate would rise to the top, which it did. After failing to stop the Nazis when they took back the Reihnland they folded like a wet paper bag. With the end of WW II they had to have their colonies back. Why? Because they are pompous, chauvinistic, self-righteous failures. Can't let the Brits have colonies and not themselves. Of course our lying sons of bitches caved in even though FDR had set a policy of self-determination for all former colonies. We won't get into the Philippines as that's a different story and of course they were OUR colony. So the French get back Indochina, rule with an iron hand and set the stage for their second Waterloo also known as Dien Bien Pho. The United Nation partitions the country, sets up elections for 1956 and the rest is now history. Although it will never be taught like this in a US history class.
That's why I'm angry.
BOHICA
RA18960500
Repentant ex member of Murder Inc.
Southeast Asia Division
Our motto, "Kill Anything That Moves"