The "Truth" about Vietnam

April 30, 2005 -- THE spectacular fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, 30 years ago, had Americans glued to their television sets. Millions watched as long lines snaked up stairs at the American Embassy waiting to be rescued by the U.S. military.
It had been barely 10 years since the first U.S. Marine combat troops arrived in Vietnam at Danang. That decade had been punctuated by premature proclamations of victory, promises of "light at the end of the tunnel" and a Tet offensive that effectively destroyed the Viet Cong, but remained a potent Communist propaganda coup in Western media.

www.nypost.com...

I would strongly encourage each of you out there to read this. It may be shocking to many of you to learn a little truth about "nam". On April 30th 1975 Siagon fell. It would be another 98 days before I would be free from the bamboo cage that had been my home for the previous 210 days in Cambodia.

God bless you "Chet" where ever you are..........

God bless America Too.................


[edit on 30-4-2005 by DrHoracid]

Nothing has ever changed in 30 years. A little truth about Vietnam and the board goes dead. It still doesn't fit the "agenda" of the politicaly insane. All those whom spit on ME and called me babykiller still can't face the fact that "Nam" was a media circus caused and filled with vicious lies from the "Dan rather" crowd. So many good men died becuase of the US media in those days. Well to each of you and especially YOU Hanoi Jane......(writer makes a special salute with one finger)

Semper Fi....................

I must say yes many great men have died for this nation but not for great reasons. The true history of 'Nam' will and forever be the history we seek to make it. There are many rewrites and unfair stories of late. The truth that so many died on both sides is all that should stand out in a thousand years. How can both side hold with true faith and pasion that they did the right thing? Im in Iraq rightnow watching events happen that will never be seen by the public or reported by the media. This "war" will be the nations to talk about for years but it will be mine to understand in a different light then history will tell. Will I see the truth in it or help others in time to see whats may remain true, maybe? But what can be said is that no one person can hold the truth or total understand of what happens here. If we are open and let all sides debate about it then it to alls gain. Im sure I would have much to say to the far left on many isseus on Iraq and US actions here but it not the truth that we are creating in the end, its history. I would like to think no soldier has died in vain, and for me, supporting the right to free speech is a way to show that. I cant make people support this "war" or understand the past but I can defend a system of government that lets people come to an understanding on their own. Not sure if this is clear, I would hate to get spit on, and Im glad the public support us here, but its my job to defend those very people who would deface me and this "war." Saying that, the support for POWs or the lack of it, was a true crime. Its not hard to see now that the public uses events in history to shape their lives. But they do this for their own self needs. People have little value of self and look to the media for self worth. If the media doesnt care than the US wont care. Today we are dealing with the same number of attacks here in Iraq, soldiers are still being killed but it was only a big deal for a few months in the being of the "war." People are worried about gas prices or the Jackson Case not the real issues of the day. Its sad.

Nothing has ever changed in 30 years. A little truth about Vietnam and the board goes dead. It still doesn't fit the "agenda" of the politicaly insane. All those whom spit on ME and called me babykiller still can't face the fact that "Nam" was a media circus caused and filled with vicious lies from the "Dan rather" crowd. So many good men died becuase of the US media in those days. Well to each of you and especially YOU Hanoi Jane......(writer makes a special salute with one finger)

Semper Fi....................

First of all - I salute you as a vet who fought "In The Nam". I can't imagine what that must have been like coming home to nothing but hatred, when your only crime was fighting for your country when you were called to do so. Personally I'm an ex myself - 101st Airborne- stationed in Ft Campbell. I never had to go to Nam, as I missed it due to age by a couple of years.
Doc - and everyone else who served the great nation of the USA - THANK YOU!

I must say yes many great men have died for this nation but not for great reasons.

I think fighting to contain the spread of Communism was a great reason. The war was just conducted poorly. The American people's patience was destroyed by our liberal media. God Bless all those who served in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Originally posted by Rasputin13
The American people's patience was destroyed by our liberal media.

I salute you Doc and all who have chosen service. Doc, you got some kinda hella strength to have survived that.

Rasputin, the media showed the people back home what was going on. The people back home then decided for themselves that it was insane and we shouldn't be there. That is the truth.

That is why the media is so muzzled now (beginning with the Gulf War).

I've always thought the way our society treated our returning Vietnam vets was abominable. It was their leaders who got us into it that should've been strung up. You cannot blame the grunt for fighting through the mission he has been given. Civilians don't understand that, though. Civilians don't understand a lot about war.

My experience after the Gulf War was the total opposite. And much of that stems from those Vietnam vets who stood up and said we will never allow that to happen again. We will honor our troops. I can never thank them enough for being the first to get out there and tell America to support us. Folks who weren't there can't even begin to know what that meant to us over there. It was overwhelming.

I read this yesterday and it was strange, my hands shook as I read it. I can't tell you why. This is from Knight Ridder Senior Military writer Joe Galloway, author of "We Were Soldiers Once.. and Young."

Posted on Sat, Apr. 30, 2005
Revived Vietnam still haunts

Anniversary of war's end comes with fresh memories

JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY

Knight Ridder
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Never mind that dateline. It will always be Saigon to me, the place where I landed 40 years ago to cover a war that eventually would consume much of my youth and much of my country's innocence before it ended in bitter, bloody chaos 30 years ago today.
www.charlotte.com...

Originally posted by dirk d
...The truth that so many died on both sides is all that should stand out in a thousand years.

... Im in Iraq rightnow watching events happen that will never be seen by the public or reported by the media.

... If the media doesnt care than the US wont care. Today we are dealing with the same number of attacks here in Iraq, soldiers are still being killed but it was only a big deal for a few months in the being of the "war." People are worried about gas prices or the Jackson Case not the real issues of the day. Its sad.

You have voted dirk d for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

Hi Dirk - I've read your posts before and thank you for your candor. Its appreciated.

I'm not an American and I don't support this war, but I think people like you are doing the best you can in a terrible situation. Its unfortunate, but I've always thought that the American public was lied to in order to garner support for the invasion. The truth of that is now coming out...little by little. However its not through the mainstream media that the public will learn what's really going on. The media is controlled (owned) by the very people who are benefitting from all this. That said, with the internet, there are resources for finding out more than what they tell us in the mainstream, so really, those who don't know, don't really want to know. The people in general are being kept dumbed down by talk of Michael Jackson and gas prices as you say. Everyone is up in arms about gas prices...but the U.S. has the lowest prices in the world!

Dr. Horacid - I'm sorry for the terrible time you had in Vietnam...I'm sure it haunts you to this day. I know you believe that you were doing the right thing and defending your country and I admire you for that.

Maybe I'm naive, but from where I sit, neither of these wars was necessary. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who wins because both sides lose - in deaths, disability, destruction and debt. There are winners, oh yes, and its always the same ones - the banks, the corporations and corrupt government officials who are never held accountable (or not nearly enough).

Ho Chi Mihn actually appealed to the United States first for help, we ignored him, and kept ignoring him until he appealed for help from the Soviet Union, then and only then did the US get involved in the Vietnam conflict.

Dr. Horacid - I'm sorry for the terrible time you had in Vietnam...I'm sure it haunts you to this day. I know you believe that you were doing the right thing and defending your country and I admire you for that

Well said! Doc, as well as every single person who served in 'Nam - are heroes. They are HEROES. THANK YOU!

Originally posted by Rasputin13
I think fighting to contain the spread of Communism was a great reason. The war was just conducted poorly. The American people's patience was destroyed by our liberal media.

Go liberate Vietnam if you truly believe that.

And to all Vietnam veterans who survived the war, we all hope you live out your lives as happily and peacefully as possible.

[edit on 1-5-2005 by sweatmonicaIdo]

Vietnam today could be a lot better off if they decided to use market economics instead of the state-run system they have. Ho Chi Minh, Saigon, could be a lot better off today. But, I think this one of those things that will be better addressed by the natural course of history. We don't really need to fight communism, they defeat themselves as their economy is flushed down the toilet.

[edit on 1-5-2005 by Jamuhn]

Vietnam is doing quite well for itself these days.

Trade is growing as well as prosperity.

ECK, they could be doing A LOT better. Vietnam is slowly starting to open itself up for trade due to the obvious truth in front of them. But, they are not all the way open for business. Their infrastructure is still terrible by the way.

Here's part of that article from Joe Galloway that I linked..

The old familiar streets are still here, but now they're lined with chic shops and boutiques instead of the seedy bars where delicate Vietnamese women once wheedled overpriced "Saigon Teas" out of big American GIs.

The traffic is, at once, both denser and calmer, as motorcycles have replaced bicycles and the man-powered cyclo taxis have been banned from the center of town.

The Vietnamese are still the hardest-working people I have ever known, hustling and bustling and chasing a buck and a living with determination. The majority of them, 60-plus percent, are under age 30, and for them the war is something in the history books.

The country and the people are far different than when we came and when we left. In the cities, the old shabby yellow colonial buildings that survived have been spruced up and modernized. Office towers and high-rise hotels tower over their older neighbors. Cranes are everywhere in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as new construction sprouts on every available scrap of land.

Communists rule here, but business is still business, and business is good in Vietnam. The country's economy grew at a rate of 7.7 percent in 2004.

Trade between Vietnam and the United States has reached $6 billion annually. Trade with neighboring China is also at $6 billion a year. A local Honda plant cranks out millions of the ubiquitous motorbikes that sell for the equivalent of $1,000 to $2,000.

On the outskirts of Hanoi, a huge gate modeled after the Brandenburg in Berlin, complete with sculpted horses, marks the entrance of a new subdivision for the very affluent. A planned but still unbuilt house there sold six months ago for $250,000. The same non-existent home has already changed hands twice. The last buyer paid $450,000 for it.

Yet in poorer rural areas such as Quang Tri province, the per capita income is still around $200.

Not bad. Had they not been engulfed in such a lengthy war, they'd be far more ahead.

To EastCoastKid:

Thats a wonderfull point!! Thats why we went to "war" with that nation to begin with. It would be a world trading power by now and we(US) wouldnt have any control of it. Look a Japan as a focus. Its a major player in the world but lacks an army, why?

Originally posted by dirk d
To EastCoastKid:

Thats a wonderfull point!! Thats why we went to "war" with that nation to begin with. It would be a world trading power by now and we(US) wouldnt have any control of it. Look a Japan as a focus. Its a major player in the world but lacks an army, why?

Well, I don't see why we or any nation should have control over any other sovereign nation. But if you play your diplomatic cards right, as Nixon did with China, new and beneficial agreements can be made - without having to resort to animosity and war.

Originally posted by DrHoracid

I would strongly encourage each of you out there to read this. It may be shocking to many of you to learn a little truth about "nam". On April 30th 1975 Siagon fell. It would be another 98 days before I would be free from the bamboo cage that had been my home for the previous 210 days in Cambodia.

God bless you "Chet" where ever you are..........

God bless America Too.................

[edit on 30-4-2005 by DrHoracid]

Did I read that right? Are you saying you were held prisoner for 308 days? Or are you talking about "Chet"?

Vietnam is a country with rich natural resources and a well educated (literacy rate is over 90%), diligent population of 80.4 million. Since 1986 the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam has committed itself to economic reform, or "Doi Moi" (New Changes) a move from a centrally planned economy to a multi-sectoral one based on open market principles, and thus opened the door to foreign investment.

The Government has abolished price control, devalued the Dong, legalised private ownership, freed the private sector, withdrawn support from a number of loss making state enterprises, opened up the country for foreign investment and has begun to introduce a modern legal framework and pursued monetary and fiscal policies. These reforms were introduced in an attempt to double Vietnam's GDP and to becoming an industrialised nation by 2020. The pace of reforms has been slow, but must be looked at in context that Vietnam has only been open to the west for less than 20 years. Its growth has therefore been remarkable.

www.us-asean.org...

They do seem to be doing a lot better these days. I just hope they can keep instituting such reforms throughout the future. But, yea, they do seem to be doing a lot better than I thought at first.

Originally posted by Jamuhn
They do seem to be doing a lot better these days. I just hope they can keep instituting such reforms throughout the future. But, yea, they do seem to be doing a lot better than I thought at first.

Research good. Thanks for the link, too.

I wish I could go there and see it for myself. It's an intreaguing land.