How the viet Nam war differed from other wars

JAS

Active member
Dont know exactly how accurate this is.I think pretty accurate..I lived it.!!. I found it very interesting,especially the one about men had to explain why they served..jesus it was messed up..in America anyway!


The average age of a solder was 19. (The average age in WWII was 26.)

In the Vietnam War, many went to college to avoid going to war.

Men had to explain why they served; not serving was acceptable.

Soldiers served a tour of duty.

In combat, there was no safety in the rear--there was no rear in Vietnam.

There was little support for either the soldier or the war from the general population of the United States.

The war was fought in a country whose history, culture, religions, and values were quite different from ours.

Vietnam had not threatened the United States.

War against Vietnam was never declared by Congress, thus the correct term is Vietnam Conflict.

The war's goal was unclear; there was never clear indication that America would do whatever was necessary to win.

The officers in charge were often inexperienced and/or inconsistent. Fragging occurred.

There were no clear combat zones; there was no front.

Fighting casualties exceeded those in WWII.

Territory was taken, lost, and taken repeatedly.

No emotional support was offered to soldiers returning home.

All of the soldiers did not return home at the same time.

No war since the Civil War caused such a rift in U.S. public opinion, leading to social unrest and violence.

The war was broadcast on television daily. It has been called the television war.





Information obtained from: http://acs.oakton.edu/~wittman/differ.html
__________________
It take many nails to build crib, but one screw to fill it
 
Jas....sorry to be picky but how did casualties exceed WW2 I can think of several Japanese Islands where America lost about the same number men on these Islands as they did in Veitnam
 
407,300 American Deaths from combat in WWII

58,239 KIAs in Vietnam
230 Frags (intentional friendly fire)
14,000 MIAs.

No where near more casualties in Vietnam than in WWII.
 
I feel that the way our countrymen had treated Vietnam Vets was the biggest disgrace that could have ever occured to any country and something that should never be repeated again!

I may not have been alive during the war but I have plenty of family members that had served.
 
I feel that the way our countrymen had treated Vietnam Vets was the biggest disgrace that could have ever occured to any country and something that should never be repeated again!

I may not have been alive during the war but I have plenty of family members that had served.

Top will probably agree with me on this. I think the anti war movement started by the likes of Jane Fonda gathered a "hip" crowd and their hatred of anything having to do with war was despised, sort of a perverted herd mentality. That obviously included the guys who laid their lives on the line every second they were in country. None of that crowd were worthy to lick the boots of our soldiers.
 
I feel that the way our countrymen had treated Vietnam Vets was the biggest disgrace that could have ever occured to any country and something that should never be repeated again!

I may not have been alive during the war but I have plenty of family members that had served.

I have a story of a family member who shall remain anonymous who had been drafted and sent to Korea during the Vietnam Conflict. He returned via San Francisco (can't you see this coming), and was confronted by a hippie (my relative was in his uniform at the time) who asked sarcastically "how many women and children did you kill today?" My relative stared at him for a moment and then punched him through a window. When the police arrived and asked what had happened, the surrounding crowd responded that my relative had been attacked and was simply defending himself. A close shave, but it shows you what kind of treatment the soliders got from the civillians at that point in time. (circa 1967-74)
 
Top will probably agree with me on this. I think the anti war movement started by the likes of Jane Fonda gathered a "hip" crowd and their hatred of anything having to do with war was despised, sort of a perverted herd mentality. That obviously included the guys who laid their lives on the line every second they were in country. None of that crowd were worthy to lick the boots of our soldiers.

Now don't go giving Fonda all the credit. I'd say that Cronkite and the media in general changed more people's opinions about the Vietnam War than any hippy ever did.
 
Now don't go giving Fonda all the credit. I'd say that Cronkite and the media in general changed more people's opinions about the Vietnam War than any hippy ever did.

But people chose to follow them and act in the most disrespectful way any generation has ever acted (IMO). It is truly sickening the way soldiers where treated upon coming home.

It is one thing to disagree with the war it is another to humiliate the people that where doing what they where told, for they had no other choice. Well other than being even more of a disgrace by runing from their country when asked to support it, which is one of the costs of living here.
 
Agreed Donkey. I'd say the younger generation was more influenced by the hippies and the older people were more influenced by the media.
 
Two personal post-Vietnam stories ...

To give you just a 'little' idea of what transpired when we came home, I can relate two stories from my personal life.

Coming home from Vietnam:
When I came off an airplane in Ohare Airport in Chicago, I picked up my duffel bag and was 'running' from one concourse to another to catch a connecting flight ... a bald headed bimbo (Hari Krishna or some such sect), jumped in front of me and was screaming some of the most filthy language at me I have ever heard coming out of the mouth of a woman (I was in uniform). It seemed, one of the simplest things I was, was a 'baby killer' and a 'rapist'. Since I didn't have time to argue with her, I raised my hand and stiff-armed her right between her breasts and knocked her on her arse, then stepped on her as I continued on my way. An airport policeman saw what happened, hurried up and without hindering me asked me what happened ... I told him, he turned around and went back to the bimbo, and the last thing I saw was the cop putting a set of handcuffs on the 'lady?'.

Home on leave ... first week after return from Vietnam:
My girlfriend and I were walking down Main Street in our town, when a jet went supersonic overhead with the resultant sound that we all associate with an airplane exceeding the sound barrier. As the sonic boom was fading into silence, I looked up at the people that were standing around and realised that I had unconsciously reacted to the loud booming, window and ground rattling sound ... you Vietnam Vets know exactly what I mean. I had 'hit the deck' and rolled to cover (streetside curb), against the next 'incoming'. When my girlfriend told the people that I had JUST returned from Vietnam, I heard comments from some of the younger little 'corner warrior pr*cks', that had me seeing red. If it hadn't been for my girl I would have ended up in jail for committing mayhem on people that just weren't worth it.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR TO SOME OF YOU? My stories are MILD in comparison to some of the stories I have heard from other Vietnam Vets ... spitting and name calling were just some of the mildest actions carried out against returning veterans.

Is it any wonder that some of our compatriots snapped and went on people killing rampages?

There were a few times that I could have been one of them ... but ... I was never quite that far gone (bent but NOT warped).
 
To me, Vietnam was wrong. But it wasn't the fault of the soliders that served there. They were simply obeying their orders.
 
Agreed Donkey. I'd say the younger generation was more influenced by the hippies and the older people were more influenced by the media.

Cronkite was no screeching hippie. When the immortal Walter Cronkite declared the war 'unwinable' most mainstream people took notice. After that the antiwar movement changed from hippie's puerile rebellion against all forms authority (thats what it really was) to a more general sense of disatisfaction of the war amongs ordinary people. My father served in the US Army from 1957-1960 so he was certainly no hippie, he simple thought we had no business in Vietnam.

I also agree that to credit the anti-war movement to Jane Fonda is a unfair comparsion. There is a difference in protesting a war, and giving aid and comfort to the enemy. I might be against whats going on in Iraq, but that doesnt mean I am going to do PR for Abu-al Masri. Nor does that mean I would participate in the humiliation of our soldiers as they returned home. Politicians start wars not soldiers.
 
I'd like to point out when troop numbers exceed past a certain point it is war not a conflict, plus only a certain ammount can be activated by the President, after than ammount is exceeded Congress must declare.
 
-Jas-

Hate to -p- in your helmet ... your comment
"War against Vietnam was never declared by Congress, thus the correct term is Vietnam Conflict."
is 10,000% incorrect.

Even though war was never declared, Vietnam WAS later declared to have been a 'WAR' (instead of a conflict), and guidance was circulated through the chain of command that 'henceforth and forevermore', the Vietnam Conflict would be referred to in ALL official records, instructions and memos as the Vietnam War ... it was further directed that as many changes to existing records as possible would be carried out to reflect this change. This was directed by the Joint Chiefs with the concurrence of Congress and the President of the United States via directives to all branches of the military.

I have looked everywhere I can think of to give you some references ... but ... was unable to find specific sites. What I can say, is that I personally remember seeing these directives ... and ... that I made changes to some of the directives, instructions and training materials that were held within my command in response to these directives. (This took place in the 80s or 90s ... don't remember the exact date).

Maybe some of you other vets can help with dates and references - would sure appreciate it.
 
Back
Top