The Cowerding of America - Vietnam

 The first signs I saw of America no longer being the land of the free and the brave was with the onset of Vietnam.  We engaged in a “CONFLICT” not a war and it was never classified as a war.  I would like to add in this conflict (not war) the U.S. Marine Corps lost five times as many dead as in World War I, three times as many dead as in Korea, and more total killed and wounded than in all of World War II.  We sent young men to die and those men did not even know what they were fighting for.  We did know that we did not have the full support of the U.S. Government or the American people.  

We followed orders while celebrities like Jane Fonda called us murders.  Our President Johnson was caught between a rock and a hard place.  He did not want to be the first American President to lose a war (conflict) and yet he did not want the American citizens to turn against him and the Democrat Party.  Our troops were asked to fight in a war which our political leaders in Washington would not let us win. 

Draft evasion (dodging) became vogue.  It was more popular to be a coward than to be loyal to the United States Military or the United States Government.  Draft dodgers were usually college-educated sons of the middle class who could no longer defer induction into the Selective Service System - PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON.  Deserters, on the other hand, were predominantly sons of the lower-income and working classes who had been inducted into the armed services directly from high school or who had volunteered, hoping to obtain a skill and broaden their limited horizons.  Then you had the TRUMPS, BUSH, and other wealthy families with influence who kept their boys out of harm ways.  Let us not forget two other prominent draft dodgers Joe Biden and Dick Cheney.

Starting in 1965, Canada became a choice haven for American draft dodgers and deserters. They were not formally classified as refugees, but as immigrants, there is no official estimate of how many draft dodgers and deserters were admitted to Canada during the Vietnam War. One informed estimate puts their number between 30,000 and 40,000.  Whether or not this estimate is accurate, the fact remains that emigration from the United States was high as long as America was involved in the war and maintained compulsory military service; in 1971 and 1972 Canada received more immigrants from the United States than from any other country.

There were more than 300,000 deserters and draft evaders in total, in which 209,517 men illegally resisted the draft while some 100,000 deserted. 

We do know that it was the largest number of Americans to leave the country to avoid supporting the United States since the American Revolution.  Draft dodging was so popular that books were written on how to do it.  In 1977 on his first day in office President Jimmy Carter pardon the draft dodgers. It is estimated half of them living in Canada returned to the United States with smiles on their faces, while many families stood over graves of their young boys killed in Vietnam crying.

Distinct from draft resisters, there were also deserters of the American forces who also made their way to Canada.  The deserters have not been pardoned and may still face pro forma arrest, as the case of Allen Abney demonstrated in March 2006.  Another similar case was that of Richard Allen Shields: He had deserted the U.S. Army in Alaska in 1972 after serving a year in Vietnam. Twenty-eight years later, on March 22, 2000, while he attempted to drive a lumber truck across the US-Canada border (in Metaline Falls, Washington) he was arrested by U.S. Customs agents and jailed at Fort Sill.  He was discharged from the Army with an Other Than Honorable discharge in April 2000. Not harsh enough in my opinion.  

There were some legal ways to avoid the draft.  Men who had physical or mental problems, men who were married, with children (ended in 1965), attending college or needed at home to support their families might be granted deferments.  Homosexual were exempt and a large number of heterosexual boys claimed to be homosexual to be exempt, while many homosexual hid their sexuality and served proudly with distinction.  It should be said two thirds of the men who fought in Vietnam volunteered for service.  Seventy-three percent of the men that died in Vietnam were volunteers.  

In the ‘60s and ‘70s, young people were referred to as the “Love Generation,” partly because of their insistence on sexual freedom, drugs, hippie lifestyle which they proposed as an alternative (“make love, not war”) to the Vietnam conflict.  I cannot help but refer to them as the loser generation and I am a product of the 60’s.  I credit them with contributing to the downfall of America.  Their goal was to change society and they did.  We have not recovered from what they started.  America slowly became a nation of whimpering slaves to FEAR—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts and fear of North Korea, China, Russia, Middle East and Muslims in general.

                                                            

 Attorney General Holder said, America ' has become a nation of cowards' on race.  This is one of the rare occasions I agreed with him, but we have become a nation of cowards not just on race, but on just about everything and his boss President Obama was the biggest coward of all.  John McCain’s economic adviser Phil Gramm said that this country is a “nation of whiners”.  But, please do not blame today’s ills on the 55,000 Baby Boomers who died in Vietnam! 

There was little to no stigma attached to draft dodgers in the 60’s and there is little to no stigma attached to millennials today.  It seems to be a generational thing where there's no stigma attached to being irresponsible.  Millennials delay getting jobs, their own place to live, in general delay growing up in order to delay responsibilities.  Just as the 60’s love children contributed to the decline of society so will the millennials living in mommy's and daddy's basement.   Some of these parents really don't want their kids to leave because they fear they cannot take care of themselves.  A friend told me a few months ago their 30 year old son cannot move out because he has to pay back his student loans and ask me, “Why are they making him pay it back?  It is so unfair”.  She was a love child!  Every failed generation wants someone to blame.

The media during the Vietnam era and the media today are destroying our nation.  The media defines those that want to serve our country as loser, not heroes.  Regardless of what the gutless media says my heroes are the young men and women who face the issues of war and possible death, and then weigh those concerns against obligations to their country, simple obedience to duty, as they understand it and are willing to suffer loneliness, disease, wounds and the ultimate price death.  Some in media are making cowards of our people! 

I love our America, but I will criticize us and not stand by QUIETLY and watch us become a ‘ONCE UPON A TIME GREAT NATION’.  Many students have told me that they are the most well-informed generation in history; really those same students could name all five Simpson family members, but could not name four of the five freedoms in the First Amendment!  Ignorance breeds cowards! 

I pray that the thousands of Americans in uniform around the word are not paying attention to the current cycle of news stories in Washington coming out of the Democrats and die heart liberals that are upset that President Trump ordered hitting a Syrian Airbase for using chemical weapons against their own people. It must be demoralizing to see the rest of us acting like such cowards—and making things more dangerous for them.  I know it was for us who served in Vietnam.  Have we forgotten the vows we made when the Twin Towers fell, and the Pentagon burned? That we would do what it takes to avenge our dead?

General Westmoreland and Vietnam failures

In 1982, General Westmoreland filed a $120 million lawsuit against CBS and journalist Mike Wallace for suggesting that he had lied about the number of enemy troops in Vietnam. They claimed General Westmoreland withheld crucial intelligence so that he could continue to fight. Westmoreland lost the lawsuit. I know the judgement was just because I was in intelligent service and I witness first hand Westmoreland changing daily death totals, missing in action figures and other crucial figures.  President Lyndon Johnson was not told the truth. We had to sign a ten year contract that we would not discuss anything we read, saw or heard during our time in the service when discharged. Westmoreland later admitted to his actions, but said it was for the good of the country. It was what Westmoreland thought was good for the country not what the people thought.

Westmoreland was hard headed and thought he could make tactics used in World War II work in Vietnam.  “Search and Destroy” did not work. It only made the communist rebel fighters and North Vietnam regular army more determined to defeat the U.S.  He wanted to fight the war as if there was a ‘front line’ and there was NO front line in Vietnam.  Westmoreland tactics created chaos in Vietnam. His demand for more troops created a situation where men were sent to Vietnam not properly trained and that included young officer and enlisted men.

General Westmoreland’s reliance on manpower, artillery and air bombardment failed to cause North Vietnam to surrender. 57,000 Americans died for what? Once again the politicians were wrong and failed to listen to the citizens of the U.S.

The key to possible success in Vietnam was for Westmorland to listen to junior officers, non-commissioned officers and the enlisted men on the front line, but Westmoreland was too proud to do that. His ego was too large.  Westmoreland did not want the South Vietnamese involved in the fight, therefore he spent no time establishing training programs for South Vietnamese soldiers.

General Abrams was sent to Vietnam in 1967 and took full command of the U.S. forces in 1968. Abram did away with “search and destroy” and initiated “clear and hold.” He improved life in Vietnam with better schools, farming operations and refugee resettlement. He also was serious about training South Vietnamese soldiers to protect their own country.  Abram believed more success could be achieved by trying to make friends with the people instead of trying to destroy their country. Americans sometimes forget that people in South Vietnam had relatives in North Vietnam that were being killed.

I believe if Abram would have been in Vietnam from the beginning there may have been a different outcome. North Vietnam knew they only had to destroy the moral of the Americans and the victory was there. They knew the South Vietnamese Army could not defend themselves without the American military. The fact they could not defend themselves was Westmoreland’s fault not the South Vietnamese. Westmoreland and traitors like Jane Fonda made it impossible for a victory.  

If Hollywood is against Trump he must be a good candidate.

 Prominent actors, writers and thinkers joined a "Stop Hate Dump Trump" campaign to denounce the billionaire Republican presidential frontrunner, saying he is a threat to the United States.

Harry Belafonte, Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, Jonathan Demme, Noam Chomsky, Eve Ensler, Danny Glover, Rosie O’Donnell, Michael Moore and Lily Tomlin are among those lending their support to the drive to prevent Donald Trump from getting into the White House. Prominent thinkers I question that! The persons I have underlined have always been anti-American. The fact that these people, with their anti-American views, are against Donald Trump makes him more attractive to me. They have all lived well because of capitalism. 

I do not know of anyone that has been more of a threat to the U.S. and U.S. military personnel than JANE FONDA. I was in Vietnam when Jane Fonda paraded around in Hanoi with our enemy. She gave her support to the very people that were killing American military personnel. She did it openly and was never charged with a crime.

‘THINKERS’ – I do not need them to think for me. I do not know of any thought Jane Fonda has ever had that lines up with my thoughts. I listen to her apology on Oprah Winfrey for going to North Vietnam and I did not buy it.  Jane Fonda said, “I made one unforgivable mistake when I was in North Vietnam, and I will go to my grave with this. I don’t know if I was set up or not,” she said. “I was an adult. I take responsibility for my actions. I was laughing and clapping and there were pictures taken.” She was “laughing and clapping” while Americans were dying; she was “laughing and clapping” while Americans were rotting away in POW camps; she was “laughing and clapping” with her new pals who she knew were torturing American soldiers.

She did not make ‘one’ mistake she made many mistakes! She went behind enemy lines to give our enemy support, she spoke on North Vietnam radio calling American military personnel in Vietnam baby killers, she gave messages that the POW’s slipped to her to the commanders of North Vietnam military before she left Hanoi, she straddle a North Vietnam weapon that had been used to shoot down U.S. aircraft and laughed while posing on it.

The POW’s that slipped Jane Fonda notes thought she would help them, but instead she betrayed them. Two of the men were killed and the others were beaten after Jane Fonda left. She is responsible for their beatings and deaths! Her apology was a business decision.  

This incident received little press coverage, but both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars issued a joint statement condemning the U.S. Navy over the launch of its newest warship, the USS Jane Fonda. The ship’s name, which was kept under wraps until right before the launch, was revealed at a star-studded event presided over by Ms. Fonda. Prior to the launching of the USS Jane Fonda she made this statement, “I dedicate this ship to the brave men who fought and died in Vietnam.” How dare her!  This is just one more example of how sick our corrupt government has become and how the Obama administration goes out of its way to insult our military personnel. I would have declined the honor if I had been Jane Fonda – Jane Fonda does not think like me!

Something like this could not have been done without the authorization of Obama, who has ignored Navy tradition before by naming ships after other civilians, such as civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and Medgar Evers. Obama’s personal agenda is being played out prior to the end of his term.

For those of you who only know Fonda from her movies, her background speaks for itself. She received an Oscar for her portrayal of a military wife in Homecoming. In one scene she achieved a very real climax while receiving oral sex from her lover while her husband was deployed in Viet Nam. She just had to get one more dig in on Vietnam veterans.   

A film that did not make any money, Introduction to the Enemy (1974) is a film made by Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden to introduce Americans to our sweet, compassionate, kind North Vietnam enemy. It tells how resilient and industrious the North Vietnam people were and how they took the French and U.S. planes they shot down and made homes and bicycles out of them.

Between her anti-American radio broadcasts from North Vietnam and appearing at anti-Iraq War rallies, Fonda demonstrated against Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank. This is someone who once said, “I would think that if you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees, that we would someday become Communists.”

‘THINKER’ – Harry Belafonte is another one that does not think like me. I would not have gone to Venezuela and met with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, but Belafonte did and while there he praised the anti-American, anti-human rights Chavez regime, saying, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world and the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution."  He also said to Chavez, "We Americans respect you, we admire you."

Belafonte has been criticized many times for referring to Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as President Bush’s, "house slaves." I do not always agree with Colin Powell, but he has dedicated his life to the service of the United States. He also served as a much-needed role model for the black community in an age when men of his integrity have become rare. Harry Belafonte has proven to be a hypocrite in his criticism of American foreign policy while the socialist policies and leaders he has embraced have led to countless deaths of their own citizens in Africa and other Third World countries.

Harry Belafonte’s anti-American views are extreme and repugnant. He has praised Castro and Chavez, blamed the United States for the terrorist attacks that took place on 9/11 and denounced America as a villain in world affairs. No, Mr. Belafonte does not think like me. He thinks more like Jane Fonda and that is why they can join forces against Trump.

Michael Moore -made hundreds of millions of dollars off of the highly fictional Fahrenheit 9/11, a “documentary” that alleged close links between the Bush clan and Osama bin Laden’s family.  Recently he said that private wealth is a “national resource” that belongs to all the people and called for jailing the rich.  Then he called bin Laden’s death an “execution.”  For a man who made a fortune exploiting 9/11, denouncing wealth, and the action against the al-Qaeda leader, is beyond disingenuous. Michael Moore does not think like me.

Danny Glover -  Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover was a campus radical as a student at San Francisco State University and has been an advocate for left-wing causes ever since.  He was friends with Hugo Chavez, is a union rabble-rouser and said the Bush administration was composed of “liars and murderers.”  After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Glover was quick to blame the tragedy on global warming. Danny Glover is a supporter of Edward Snowden and has attempted to negotiate for his asylum in various countries even after Snowden’s own father said his son should return to the U.S. and face his punishment. I do not think Danny Glover’s thoughts represent my thoughts.

Rosie O’Donnell – I think Ms. O’Donnell is incapable of thinking. She just opens her mouth and garbage comes out. She says whatever she thinks will anger the most people. Talent does not keep her in the public eye, because she has none, so she resorts to controversy.

These great thinkers claim they are offering Americans a chance to be heard and engage in action, as Trump's campaign gains momentum even as he increases his hateful and divisive rhetoric. Trump has said some very politically incorrect things, but no one has been more divisive and hateful than the very ones that organized ‘Dump Trump’.

They say they believe Trump is a grave threat to democracy, freedom, human rights, equality and the welfare of our country and all our people. I have never heard of Trump meeting and supporting our enemies as the organizer of ‘Dump Trump’ has. I have never heard of Donald Trump giving his support to communist tyrants. I have never heard of Donald Trump saying if we understood communism better we would all pray to God that we would one day be a communist nation.  These so called great thinkers have always been on the opposite site of the U.S. in Vietnam, Middle East, Venezuela, Cuba and Africa. They have contributed nothing to the United States or to its people except left wing and anti-American rhetoric. If the United States is as bad as they claim it is why don't they move to a communist country?  

No, these pseudo political pundits (actors/actress/comedians/directors) do not think for me or speak for me.