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Vietnam Veterans

noonereal

noonereal

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I was just listening to a song that brought me back to the misguided Vietnam War.

I just want to give a shout out to all the veterans from that war still with us.

They did not come home with a hero's welcome and most never signed up to fight as in WW2 or the wars since.

Much respect to all still with us.
 
noonereal said:
I was just listening to a song that brought me back to the misguided Vietnam War.

I just want to give a shout out to all the veterans from that war still with us.

They did not come home with a hero's welcome and most never signed up to fight as in WW2 or the wars since.

Much respect to all still with us.
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Here's the song that brings memories of Vietnam back to me.

 
MAGAnificent said:
Nobody likes forever wars.
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Wrong. The Military Industrial Complex loves forever wars. Their bread and butter. And when GW Bush declared the Global War on Terrorism, they were estatic. They got 20 years out of Afghanistan.
 
The ultimate Vietnam War song from the same LP.

You want to listen to this.
It will explode the realities of Vietnam for you to understand.

 
Stealers Wheel said:
Wrong. The Military Industrial Complex loves forever wars.
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Odd. That is the same military industrial complex the left is fine with in regard to the present forever war between Ukraine and Russia. There are many politicians who would prefer the war goes on longer.
Stealers Wheel said:
Their bread and butter. And when GW Bush declared the Global War on Terrorism, they were estatic. They got 20 years out of Afghanistan.
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The war on terror was an absolute necessity. Only an idiot would think otherwise. Where it went wrong is much like what went wrong in Vietnam. Politicians decided to limit the rules of engagement. That's why Vietnam went on for ten years and Afghanistan went on for 20 years. I blame both political parties for that. In contrast, our involvement in WW2 only lasted roughly 3 years.
 
MAGAnificent said:
Odd. That is the same military industrial complex the left is fine with in regard to the present forever war between Ukraine and Russia. There are many politicians who would prefer the war goes on longer.

The war on terror was an absolute necessity. Only an idiot would think otherwise. Where it went wrong is much like what went wrong in Vietnam. Politicians decided to limit the rules of engagement. That's why Vietnam went on for ten years and Afghanistan went on for 20 years. I blame both political parties for that. In contrast, our involvement in WW2 only lasted roughly 3 years.
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Gee, then Nazi Germany, who had basically no rules of engagement whatsoever, should have easily crushed the guerrillas it faced.

No?

Increased brutality only lead to more guerrillas?

Hmm.
 
MAGAnificent said:
Odd. That is the same military industrial complex the left is fine with in regard to the present forever war between Ukraine and Russia. There are many politicians who would prefer the war goes on longer.

The war on terror was an absolute necessity Only an idiot would think otherwise. Where it went wrong is much like what went wrong in Vietnam. Politicians decided to limit the rules of engagement. That's why Vietnam went on for ten years and Afghanistan went on for 20 years. I blame both political parties for that. In contrast, our involvement in WW2 only lasted roughly 3 years.
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We agree. Defense contractors don't make money if bullets aren't flying and bombs aren't dropping. They place their subcontractors in key congressional districts to assure Congress won't vote to cancel contracts like they did at the end of WWII.

When WWII came to an abrupt end, the defense contractors were like "Wait, WTF?" They vowed to never let that happen again.
 
Stealers Wheel said:
We agree. Defense contractors don't make money if bullets aren't flying and bombs aren't dropping. They place their subcontractors in key congressional districts to assure Congress won't vote to cancel contracts like they did at the end of WWII.

When WWII came to an abrupt end, the defense contractors were like "Wait, WTF?" They vowed to never let that happen again.
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Obviously, we need the defense industry. The problem is lobbyists and congress critters who allow their votes to be purchased.
 
MAGAnificent said:
Odd. That is the same military industrial complex the left is fine with in regard to the present forever war between Ukraine and Russia
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The left was always against war, the right has always loved wars.

And fyi we are not fighting in Ukraine or Russia.
 
"Ruby" was a remarkable song I wasn't familiar with (dark tho), but I sort of like this one as music...

WUPS - I just looked this up on Wikipedia and I was wrong. It was never about Vietnam, but a war so brief I didn't think it would have music about it at all.

 
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Eriech said:
This song is on my playlist in honor of good friends we buried.

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As soon as I was down to my double digit fidget I started wearing my "short timer's ribbon" (black and yellow ribbon from a bottle of Seagrams V.O.), and had my short timer's calendar almost colored in, every time I'd hear "We Got to Get Out of This Place" I sang "short ...short ...short, short, short, We got to get out of this place if it's the last thing we ever do.

That song stays with me forever. It always brings back that strange loneliness and the awful feeling even when singing the song. I was very ready to leave Vietnam and at the same time I was scared to go home.
 
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noonereal said:
I was just listening to a song that brought me back to the misguided Vietnam War.

I just want to give a shout out to all the veterans from that war still with us.

They did not come home with a hero's welcome and most never signed up to fight as in WW2 or the wars since.

Much respect to all still with us.
Click to expand...

I watched all 2 hours plus of this interview. The old British saying "tough as nails" is very apt for this guy and he signed up to go.



Sadly, because of his race, his superior officer did everything he could to make sure James Capers was not awarded a Medal of Honour but there is a campaign for it to happen.
(The original commanding officer was going to put him down for it but died in a helicopter crash)
 
noonereal said:
I was just listening to a song that brought me back to the misguided Vietnam War.

I just want to give a shout out to all the veterans from that war still with us.

They did not come home with a hero's welcome and most never signed up to fight as in WW2 or the wars since.

Much respect to all still with us.
Click to expand...
The TV series China Beach had a episode showing some of the disgrace of how they were treated when returning.
 
The toll on some of us constantly exposed to Agent Orange is like getting herpes. You can’t escape it, it just keeps on giving. Destroyed not just many of the combatants but their families as well.
 
My father in law was a LRRP (long range reconnaissance and patrol) Ranger.

Attached to an Infantry division - they’d go out in small groups of 6 guys on special missions.

He saw some real awful shit but doesn’t talk much about it. Thankfully, the man has always been one hell of a shot. And had grown up sneaking around in the woods silently hunting, etc.

He did tell a story about one night how they sat there…rolling grenades, etc down a hill and hoping he’d never have to fire his weapon because then his spot would be given away.

I’m guessing he didn’t have to fire that shot.


When Carter forgave the Draft Dodgers, he mailed most of his medals, etc to the White House? I really wish he wouldn’t have done that, but I can definitely appreciate his reasoning. He buried a lot of friends. A lot of his friends made group didn’t make it home.
 
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gman said:
The toll on some of us constantly exposed to Agent Orange is like getting herpes. You can’t escape it, it just keeps on giving. Destroyed not just many of the combatants but their families as well.
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Agent Orange has been absolutely brutal on Pop.
 
BirdinHand said:
My father in law was a LRRP (long range reconnaissance and patrol) Ranger.

He saw some real awful shit but doesn’t talk much about it.
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My dad was a WWII vet (1st Division, 16 Infantry Regiment), and he told me that those that talked the most about their experiences saw the least.
 
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NJBob said:
My dad was a WWII vet (1st Division, 16 Infantry Regiment), he told me that those the talked the most about their experiences saw the least.
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That tends to be what I’ve witnessed from family members that went to war.

Random stories…typically not combat related, but more stories about friends.

They tend to keep the horrors private.
 
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