I'm looking at a diary about Joan Baez confronting some Viet Nam veterans and I am shaking my head.
Why do some of us want to blame her, Nancy Senatra, the Democratic party, or anyone for losing the war.
More below.
As hard as the American soldier and Marine fought in Viet Nam, there was really no way to "win the war".
The Vietnamese were better at Jungle warfare than we were. It was their back yard. They grew up watching their fathers and Grandfathers fight the Japanese, French and American Armies. They were supplied with endless weapons and ammunition, hidden by their own people, were completely dedicated to freeing their Country of "Liberators" and some of the most Nationalistic people on earth. They fought for years as individuals and in units, we came home just as we were getting good at the tactics of that sort of warfare.
America was destined to lose that war for a million other reasons, only a few listed here.
I remember watching those remarkable people, living in 'beer can tin huts', making tools out of scrap metal. Combing thru the God-awful dump near Saigon for anything that was useful to them. I watched the Papa Sans burn our buckets of crap, and as it burned laugh at how we had to hold a towel over our face so the millions of flies wouldn't get sucked into our nose or mouth.
I ducked in terror as they would fire three or four rounds in our direction, just to disappear into the alleys and blend into the thousands of "refugees" living in their own Country.
I remember patrolling up and down some of those alleys from dusk to dawn, knowing if we weren't there, something bad would happen to some family not cooperating with the VC.
It was a shitty place and a shitty war. We lost because there was no reason to win.
I read Michners 'Centennial'. There was a long chapter about a group of Vets from WW 2 that would campaign with their Captain turned politician after the war. How proud they were to put on their uniforms and stand on stage as their former Captain told of the heroics of his unit during that war.
Year after year they would put on the uniforms and finally years later, they were paunchy, bald, grey and the uniforms they once looked so great in were at last tattered and torn, just like my generations Vets are looking now.
Let it go.
We lost because there was no need to win. We were beaten by a more adaptive fighter.
When there is a war in the future that America NEEDS to win, we will.
But as far as "The Nam" goes.......
Let it go.
Jim H.
Operations
716 th MP Bat.
Pershing Field Viet Nam 1970