thedrifter
05-14-05, 05:06 AM
May 16, 2005
Anti-war effort made us forget Vietnam
By Barry R. Fetzer
I never intended to discriminate, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.
I think I’ve been discriminating against the Vietnam War by the books I’ve bought and read or rather by the books I haven’t read.
Being retired, I’m fortunate to have the time to look over the collection of books I’ve amassed to decide what I’m going to read next.
As I perused my bookshelves the other day, I noted that they contain mostly books on history — particularly the history of war.
Most of my books cover the history of American wars from the American perspective. And the majority of them cover the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World Wars I and II.
This is where the discrimination comes in. Even though my generation fought the Vietnam War — upperclassmen in my high school bled and died there — my bookshelves don’t reflect it.
It was America’s longest war. I grew up during those years and have vivid memories of war correspondents’ grim accounts; I was even the target of anti-war demonstrations while serving in my college’s ROTC unit. But I have only a few books that address the Vietnam War.
Most of those have titles that are reminiscent of the anti-war rhetoric rife during the late 1960s and the first half of the 1970s: “No Place to Die: The Agony of Viet Nam,” by Hugh A. Mulligan; “War Without End: American Planning for the Next Vietnams” by Michael T. Klare; and “Self-Destruction: The Disintegration and Decay of the United States Army during the Vietnam Era” by an author writing under the pen name Cincinnatus.
Based on the books I own, you might think I was an anti-war protester.
I wasn’t. I became a Marine shortly after the war ended and received my basic officer’s instruction from Vietnam combat veterans in a lifelike “Vietnam Village,” replete with thatch-roofed huts and bamboo doors.
Aviators sporting Distinguished Flying Crosses and Air Medals earned over the jungles of Vietnam taught me to fly helicopters shortly after the war ended.
While I wasn’t an anti-war protester, I’m sure the anti-war movement influenced me to some degree.
And that may be part of the reason for my choices in reading material. My selection of books may be an indicator even today — 40 years after America’s swift military buildup in Vietnam began and 30 years after Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army — of the division the war caused in America.
It might also be an indicator of the success of the anti-war movement.
That effort demonized not only the war but, by association, the individual participants. And to add insult to injury, the anti-war movement’s success caused many — myself included — to forget the Vietnam War.
But time cures all ills. After the lack of appreciation shown in the past, Americans are attempting to make retribution to the brave souls who served in Vietnam.
Memorials to our fallen sons in Vietnam are belatedly being added to those honoring more appreciated wars in communities across America.
But remembering has to begin with individuals. So as I respectfully celebrate the sacrifices of my fellow Marines, I remember that the massive buildup of American forces in Vietnam began with elements of Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, landing on Red Beach 2 at Da Nang; on the same day, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 arrived at Da Nang Airfield.
And for the future, I’ll be less discriminatory when selecting the books I read and focus my study on Vietnam.
Our brave Vietnam veterans deserve nothing less. And are owed so much more.
The writer is a retired Marine living in eastern North Carolina.
Ellie
Anti-war effort made us forget Vietnam
By Barry R. Fetzer
I never intended to discriminate, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.
I think I’ve been discriminating against the Vietnam War by the books I’ve bought and read or rather by the books I haven’t read.
Being retired, I’m fortunate to have the time to look over the collection of books I’ve amassed to decide what I’m going to read next.
As I perused my bookshelves the other day, I noted that they contain mostly books on history — particularly the history of war.
Most of my books cover the history of American wars from the American perspective. And the majority of them cover the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World Wars I and II.
This is where the discrimination comes in. Even though my generation fought the Vietnam War — upperclassmen in my high school bled and died there — my bookshelves don’t reflect it.
It was America’s longest war. I grew up during those years and have vivid memories of war correspondents’ grim accounts; I was even the target of anti-war demonstrations while serving in my college’s ROTC unit. But I have only a few books that address the Vietnam War.
Most of those have titles that are reminiscent of the anti-war rhetoric rife during the late 1960s and the first half of the 1970s: “No Place to Die: The Agony of Viet Nam,” by Hugh A. Mulligan; “War Without End: American Planning for the Next Vietnams” by Michael T. Klare; and “Self-Destruction: The Disintegration and Decay of the United States Army during the Vietnam Era” by an author writing under the pen name Cincinnatus.
Based on the books I own, you might think I was an anti-war protester.
I wasn’t. I became a Marine shortly after the war ended and received my basic officer’s instruction from Vietnam combat veterans in a lifelike “Vietnam Village,” replete with thatch-roofed huts and bamboo doors.
Aviators sporting Distinguished Flying Crosses and Air Medals earned over the jungles of Vietnam taught me to fly helicopters shortly after the war ended.
While I wasn’t an anti-war protester, I’m sure the anti-war movement influenced me to some degree.
And that may be part of the reason for my choices in reading material. My selection of books may be an indicator even today — 40 years after America’s swift military buildup in Vietnam began and 30 years after Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army — of the division the war caused in America.
It might also be an indicator of the success of the anti-war movement.
That effort demonized not only the war but, by association, the individual participants. And to add insult to injury, the anti-war movement’s success caused many — myself included — to forget the Vietnam War.
But time cures all ills. After the lack of appreciation shown in the past, Americans are attempting to make retribution to the brave souls who served in Vietnam.
Memorials to our fallen sons in Vietnam are belatedly being added to those honoring more appreciated wars in communities across America.
But remembering has to begin with individuals. So as I respectfully celebrate the sacrifices of my fellow Marines, I remember that the massive buildup of American forces in Vietnam began with elements of Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, landing on Red Beach 2 at Da Nang; on the same day, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 arrived at Da Nang Airfield.
And for the future, I’ll be less discriminatory when selecting the books I read and focus my study on Vietnam.
Our brave Vietnam veterans deserve nothing less. And are owed so much more.
The writer is a retired Marine living in eastern North Carolina.
Ellie