Ken Burns Documentary " Vietnam War"

Both of my drill instructors were Vietnam vets, one of them served in the 716th MP Battalion during the battle of Saigon. I learned an awful lot from those guys, and it saved my butt more than once.

I served with a great many vets, pretty much every first or platoon sergeant I knew served there. Most were okay although I think civilian life would be quite hard for them. One in particular was never okay, he slept in his van every night and kept weapons around him. One time the whole platoon was watching Apocalypse Now in the ready room and he completely lost it. After that we never had someone not locked and loaded around him......just in case.

My Father was too old and I was too young thankfully, but we had a couple of relatives serve there, one (dad's cousin) on a PCF,,or swift boat. They patrolled up and down the river every day, and drew fire every day. One time they gave a staff officer a ride up the river and they drew fire just like always. The officer put himself in for a medal. My dads cousin came home but too much of him stayed in Vietnam and he disappeared one day and no one has seen him since.
Another one of my dads cousins never came home. I visited the Wall in 85 and saw his name.

I work with two vets and one of them Is Vietnamese. We joke that they probably shot at each other. Both of those guys are pretty much okay, thankfully.

Now I hire Afghan vets, also with varied experiences. The main difference is that they are appreciated in a way my earlier generation wasn't. When I flew home on leave I'd hit the bathroom immediately upon landing and change into civies so that people didn't know I was in the military. Still, they've suffered. After sixteen years of this war a great many soldiers have suffered.

Nowadays I get thanked for my service.
I don't need thanks. Thank the guys who didn't come home, or came home but left something behind. Thank the families who lost their husband, dad, or their son.
 
My uncle served 3 tours. His 1st marriage didn't last too long, but it was long enough to be resented by his kids until they were adults. His 2nd marriage has lasted until today and they are still happily married.

Had a buddy who's stepdad served and onetime while hunting with him and another friend a few too closely together fired rounds sent him dropping to the ground and styaing there for an hour.

My hat is off to all those who served in Vietnam. May no one have to endure what they went through over there or back here, ever again.
 
With you on that one i served because I wanted to and so othere would not have to.

Those who made the ultimate sacriface are the true Heroes.

In War there are no winners or losers, only survivors



I don't need thanks. Thank the guys who didn't come home, or came home but left something behind. Thank the families who lost their husband, dad, or their son.
 
Yes. My dad volunteered for the USMC because he knew he'd be drafted and figured he would have a better chance at surviving as a Marine. He was a Marine mechanic and stationed at Dong Ha, Vietnam (I think that's right...). I think he was there in 69. It was near a part of the Ho Chi Minh trail so they got attacked frequently. One time a friend pulled him out of his tent where he was sleeping and it took a direct hit from a mortar round. He ended up getting really sick and passing out while running and it ended up being some kind of bad cyst. So he was moved to Japan and served the rest of his time in Okinawa. He said he always felt bad that he didn't get to serve all of his time there because when he was in the hospital he was there with guys who had serious combat injuries. One guy next to him was stitched up the side from ankle to neck with a machine gun. Cut to about a year ago I was over there on a Sun. and we were watching a show on Vietnam. They showed his base, a week after he left, get absolutely clobbered with tons of casualties. He didn't know that had happened. So if he was there I might not be here now!
 
I'm the son of a Vietnam vet and remember Ft. Knox 1968-70 vividly. I too served with Vietnam vets. Two of my drills were vets and most of my senior NCO's and Commanding officers were vets at Bragg and they were definitely different both good and bad but mostly good. I did a lot of time in Central America during their civil war and thankfully my team leaders were vets and took great care of us younger guys in some pretty hairy situations. I felt completely safe with them.

Saying that I'm a little burned out on Vietnam. Hollywood went nuts on Vietnam in the 80's and I soaked it all up past saturation. I do hope a younger generation will watch though.
 
Saying that I'm a little burned out on Vietnam. Hollywood went nuts on Vietnam in the 80's and I soaked it all up past saturation. I do hope a younger generation will watch though.

That's kind of the problem with doing a huge extensive series on Vietnam. It's not in the situation that the Civil War series was. The public's memory of the Civil War had gotten into a pretty Disney-fied state when Ken Burns' TV series came along. The public's collective memory of Vietnam today is still much sharper and not rose-tinted.
 
Nowadays I get thanked for my service.
I don't need thanks. Thank the guys who didn't come home, or came home but left something behind. Thank the families who lost their husband, dad, or their son.

Maybe, oh, 10 years ago, in the wake of guys coming home from Iraq, there was this youtube video that started making the rounds about this weird hand gesture you could do to basically say "Thank you for your service." I think they called it the "Eagle Salute" or somesuch. Three things stuck out to me about this.

1. If the vet or serviceperson had no idea about this "salute" even existing, he'd probably just think you're a weirdo and ignore you or maybe nod in a "Uh....back at ya" manner and keep moving.

2. I couldn't understand why a physical gesture was needed but words were somehow inappropriate. I think the theory was that you could use the gesture if you got the sense the vet didn't want to be bothered or interrupted, but you still wanted to say something. Which brings me to my third point.

3. It always struck me as a fundamentally selfish thing. Like, oh, you just had to go and say something to this person. You couldn't maybe read the situation and decide "Nah, I'll let 'em be," or "They seem friendly. I'll just go up and say thanks." But in either case, it always seemed to me like the whole gesture was about making yourself feel good for having said or done something, when the vet may not even really care that much. In a way, it's almost imposing upon this person and their time for you to interrupt whatever they're doing just so you can make sure they know you appreciate their service. And if talking to the person is somehow intrusive, why is it any better to do some weird gesture? It's still all about you and virtue signaling, rather than about the vet.

I don't know what vets need on a general basis, but I'm gonna guess it starts with being treated like regular people, while being aware of and -- when appropriate -- acknowledging their service. It probably doesn't involve you going out of your way to stop them in the airport just so you can let them know that you're a good person who appreciates military service.

I dunno. That's probably an overstatement of the whole thing, but it still just never sat right with me. It's kind of like approaching a celebrity and interrupting whatever they're doing just so you can tell them you loved them in blah blah blah, except unlike a celebrity who has chosen a life in the public eye, you're doing it to someone who didn't ask to be in the public eye at all.



Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, for those who are interested, here are four novels about and/or set in/after the Vietnam War, all written by vets:

- "If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home" by Tim O'Brien. This one is an autobiography written about O'Brien's experiences in Vietnam, written in 1973.

- "The Things they Carried" also by O'Brien. This one is more semi-autobiographical, and mixes fiction with elements from O'Brien's service. It's actually a collection of short stories all loosely connected to each other.

- "Paco's Story," by Larry Heinemann. This one is set largely after the war, with the title character trying to adapt to life back home, and to move on from the war.

- "The Short Timers," by Gustav Hasford. This is the novel from which Full Metal Jacket was developed. It's a good bit more absurd, as well as more gruesome and cruel in places than the movie. It also is a bit longer. Fun fact: Hasford was a war correspondent who served alongside Capt. Dale Dye, who appears as a character in the book (Daddy D.A., although the character was played by a black actor -- Keith Hodiak -- in the film).



All are great reads. O'Brien's work is probably the most approachable, but the others are good too.
 
That's kind of the problem with doing a huge extensive series on Vietnam. It's not in the situation that the Civil War series was. The public's memory of the Civil War had gotten into a pretty Disney-fied state when Ken Burns' TV series came along. The public's collective memory of Vietnam today is still much sharper and not rose-tinted.

I think most people in the U.S. slept through any history classes they took. Most likely they will tell you the Civil War was in the 1960s. They don't know the Civil War from the Civil Rights movement. I don't think these shows are educating the general public, only people already interested in history.
 
I think most people in the U.S. slept through any history classes they took. Most likely they will tell you the Civil War was in the 1960s. They don't know the Civil War from the Civil Rights movement. I don't think these shows are educating the general public, only people already interested in history.

This reminds me of a quote made by the navigator of the Enola Gay after he gave a talk at a school and was introduced as someone who had served in World War Eleven.
 
The average Homer Simpson has two-sentence recollections of certain wars.

"WWII was fought because Hitler was killing Jews."

"The Civil War was when Abe Lincoln freed the slaves."

"Vietnam was fought over . . um, something or other. That was one of the bad wars, like Iraq."
 

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