You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours.
But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.
~Ho Chi Minh, 1946
Every time I read or watch anything related to the Vietnam war, I get either agitated or cry, frequently both (and I find myself compelled to blog). Despite the soul angst, I’ve watched the ten-part Ken Burns Vietnam series multiple times along with reading many books authored from both the US and Vietnamese perspectives. Never forget! The agitation goes so deep, my body shakes and sleep becomes near impossible without a sleep aid designed to dull the mind. I think, if I ever saw the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC, I would collapse under the weight of the many senseless deaths on both sides of the government sponsored atrocity. I was never in Vietnam so I can’t imagine the impact on those hoodwinked by the US government into serving in the Military during that period in history. Someday, I can only hope, those brave enough to volunteer will turn their arms against the real enemies pretending to lead our country for the benefit of the people when we all know, even if they entered with honorable intentions, they will leave with pockets stuffed full with blood money. Cynical? Hell Ya! For that, you can thank the repeated lies vomited by politicians throughout US history, a character flaw escalated to high art by the tRump administration.
Though I was too young to be drafted (I sure the hell wouldn’t volunteer), I am indelibly stamped by the era such that I have extreme difficulty believing anyone in institutional authority, political or otherwise, cares a rat’s ass about people or is willing to speak hard truths to we minions they obviously hold in contempt.
The first casualty of politics is truth. In times of war, active misinformation to manipulate the citizens escalates. In the case of Vietnam, the institutional lies resulted in 64,000 dead US and Allies along with 1,353,000 Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. That’s a 21:1 kill ratio favoring the US. Still..still…still…we had our ass handed to us in that horrific conflict. We lost because we were on the immoral side of the cause. God was definitely not on our side.
I trace my complete distrust of institutional authority to that impressionable period of my life up through eighth grade. My instinct evolved to look upon the US politburo politicians, police, and priests with skepticism bordering upon contempt, to doubt their every utterance before I even get to know them personally. This distrust is why I frequently entertain desires to hermitize myself in a remote wilderness tract. No one to lie if you avoid all human contact. No government to oppress if they can’t find me, better, are unaware of my existence.
US Society for the most part lost its trusting child-like naïveté with the exposure of the government lies propping up the unwarranted hostilities against a sovereign nation. Documents slowly and grudgingly released because of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) would later show this type of intervention was part and parcel of US foreign policy imposed upon any country with whom we disagreed politically or negatively impacted the ability of US companies to maximize profits on foreign soil. Shoot first. Bury the questions later. The government didn’t count on the FOIA playing Jesus and Lazarusing the answers to those questions from the dead.
Not all of us lost our naïveté. The tRump regime shows some people never learned the deadly Vietnam lesson or they repeatedly choose to bury their head in hot sands refusing to acknowledge any reality going against their delusions of American is Perfectism, i.e. that the country can do no wrong. Utter bullshit! A true patriot challenges their country. They don’t simply ignore the actions of a belligerent child. Too many who prop tRump up as the second Messiah fail to heed the words of the prophet Edward Abbey who said, “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country from the government.“
Nothing exposed the American’s inability to understand non-Americans than their deep-seated belief the Vietnamese would roll over and surrender in the face of mighty American soldiers. The Vietnamese were fighting a war of independence, their version of the American Revolutionary war. Only this time, the US played the role of the British imperialists. At stake for Vietnam was their identity rooted deep in ancestral rice paddies and jade green jungles. To this day, people like to claim we lost in Vietnam because politicians handcuffed the military. They still fail to understand the heart and soul of a people willing to sacrifice all for independence is more powerful than all the mechanized divisions thrown their way. The Vietnamese sent the French packing with their embarrassed tails tucked between their legs and defeated the self-proclaimed greatest power on Earth.
The presence of the US Military invading Vietnam, even under the guise of helping the country, was viewed as yet another in a long history of invaders, boosted the ranks of the North Vietnamese Army with hearts set on repelling oppressive outsiders. Many of those ranks coming from our “allies” in the South.
The entire fiasco exposed a startling lack of awareness and a severe leadership deficit. Our dear leaders had so little faith in the American people, they routinely lied about their intent, their actions, the escalation leading to the death of US military personnel which tells they knew early on they were in the wrong. Yet, they refused to deescalate for fear it would look weak. Saving face was more important than integrity. Ego moved from lies to coverups to more lies to increasing deaths. Vietnam was no longer a mistake. It was a concerted effort to defraud both the US and Vietnamese citizenry. It was criminal. Nixon eventually paid the price but was pardoned by Ford. The rest of those in the know were never held to account for their crimes against the US and humanity.
The US Government brought in Robert McNamara from industry to help manage the war by statistics. How many kills? Was the kill ratio in the US favor? I distinctly remember body counts reported on network TV. But, they were unable to measure the most telling statistic, the strength of the heart and soul of a people desperate to throw off the shackles of imperialism and finally be free of tyranny.
And the saddest aspect of the entire fiasco is that the permanent stain on the country claiming to be a beacon of freedom in the world lighting the way to a better tomorrow was the chief architect in snuffing the guiding light for a people desperate to claim their own futures. The Vietnam fuckup is the single most embarrassing event in US history with tRumps presidency and 500,000 Covid deaths and counting coming a close second. The loss overseas was a correction we arrogant needed. The ousting of tRump necessary a correction many gullible needed.
I hope, someday, the politicians will finally act with integrity and serve all the people instead of the moneyed and power brokers. I really doubt that day will come in my lifetime because I have absolutely no faith.
Musings of a Middle Aged Man 