Vietnam War Interview Forum

Guest

>1.     Location(s) during war:

Between Saigon and Cambodia, Tay Ninh and Ben Cat.

>2.     Personal thoughts- before/during/after:

All I knew of war came from the movies and the evening news.  The Cold War had been going on for years and the Communists were very aggressive.  There was real concern/fear in the US that if South Vietnam fell to the Communists, so would the whole of SE Asia.

I arrived in Vietnam in Nov. '68, during the peak of our troop buildup.  There were over a half a million men there at the time.  It took 8-9 men to support each man fighting in the jungle.  I ended up in an infantry company, walking point for nearly ten months.  I was terrified the whole time.

Our society, my family, my fiancee and I expected that life should continue as it had before the war after I came home.  No one wanted to talk about the war, it was a national embarrassement.  I tried to get into achieving the American Dream with everyone else but it just didn't seem right.  I was confused, angry and depressed for years.  

All the wrong I saw drove me to find all that was right and good.  There was good and bad in the war and at home but no answers to why I survived when so many other kids didn't.  I was no different than they were.

I finally found some of my answers in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  I had survived simply because it pleased Him for things to turn out that way.  I found a bigger reality than men can create.  Good is stronger than evil and truth is not relevant to each individual.

>3.     Significant memories throughout:

I was no John Wayne but by God's grace I was the only non-casualty in two different squads, five other point men were killed or wounded during those ten months and at one point over fifty percent of our company was dusted off to the hospital after a single ambush.


>4.     How your friends and family reacted to the war:

The war was only real to them because I was in it.  I suppose it was the same for the other half million families but no one else cared much.  Even the protestors didn't care about the kids who were fighting because their country asked them to.


>5.     Thoughts on the media coverage and the general public’s opinion on the matter:

The media must sell news.  Shock, blood and gore sell much better than good news.  It was no wonder that people thought we were losing the war.  Life was normal for all those who weren't directly impacted by the war.  Protestors got too much coverage because it helped sell news and our politicians didn't want us to win, they only wanted to keep the Communists from taking over.  


>6.     How you and your friends who were serving thought about the war throughout their service:

Survival became more important than patriotism.  We suffered together and supported one another the best we could.  We laughed and cried, lived and died together 24-7 for months at a time.


>7.     How the overall experience has affected you afterwards:

After seeing the worst that men can do to one another and the shallowness of the American Dream, I was driven to find all that was truly right and good.  There is a bigger picture than men can create, good is stronger than evil and truth is not relevent to each individual.  

>8.     Thoughts on the Vietnam War and how it was seen then compared to now:

Vietnam was a national embarrassement back then.  Soldiers were physical reminders of losing a war to a third world nation.  Our ideals were shaken and our politicians ran in all directions to escape any blame for the war.  The war protestors were nieve and ofter were used by those who wnat to do harm to our country.

Today, most of the embarrassement seems to be forgotten but we haven't learned many of the lessons from Vietnma.  i.e. politics are a tool used to reach a solution that can be accepted by the majority of those involved.  War is an insturment used to creat a victor and a vanquished.  Mixing the two is real confusing and niether goal is acheived.


>9.     What you think the relevance of Vietnam is now, and what that might have in common with the current Iraq/Afghanistan war:

We don't understand the enemy and they know if they wait long enough we will eventually give up.

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