PBS Series on VIETNAM starts tonight.... - Page 6

buddygrandma · ‎10-17-2011

I started to watch this....I served as an Army Nurse in Nam, 67=68......during the Tet....I couldn't finish watching it.....but then again, couldn't watch You Tube vidoes of the hospitals based in Afghanistan, either. Perhaps we will never know the REAL reason for this war...for the one we thought was real, never, actually happened.

VaBelle35 · ‎03-10-2010

@lulu2 wrote:
My husband and I watched. I admit my ignorance. I did not know the real history of this despicable chapter in history.

@lulu2 I'm embarassed to say I knew the name Ho Chi Min (mainly from the tv show China Beach) but I didn't really understand who he was.

===================================
QVC Shopper - 1993

# IAMTEAMWEN

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

@KathyPet wrote:
61-69 was high school and college so I was truly a child of the 60-'s. I was a history major in college so what I found very interesting in last night's episode was the back story of Vietnam and the roots of the conflict going back to the Truman administration. I never knew any of that background.

@KathyPet

Earlier in this thread I admitted my ignorance about the roots of this war. I had no idea the US once supported Ho Chi Minh. I am so conflicted over who were the bad guys.

Our troops were sitting ducks in a country we knew little about. The terrain was murderous.

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

@VaBelle35 wrote:
@lulu2 wrote:
My husband and I watched. I admit my ignorance. I did not know the real history of this despicable chapter in history.
@lulu2 I'm embarassed to say I knew the name Ho Chi Min (mainly from the tv show China Beach) but I didn't really understand who he was.

@VaBelle35

I always knew him as the bad guy. I couldn't believe he quoted Thomas Jefferson and we once supported him. I cannot help but wonder what my take would have been had I been a native of Viet Nam.

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

@Isobel Archer wrote:
@lulu2 wrote:
Had we not been allied with France in WW2, would the US and Ho Chi Minh remained "on the same side?"
Again, I think it's complicated.

France surrendered rather quickly to Germany. However, the Free French continued to fight. Roosevelt wanted DeGalle to withdraw from Indochina after the war - as we were to do in the Philipines. However, DeGalle believed that maintaining colonial control was essential to rebuild France's power in the world. Truman - worried about Communism did nothing to stop him at the end of the war.

After that, we were more and more affected by the Cold War - and I think also, by the Korean Conflict.

@Isobel Archer

Thank you for your informative response.

VaBelle35 · ‎03-10-2010

I know several people who came to the US from Vietnam and have become US citizens. One person came with her brother with missionaries. She said when she arrived she didn't know any English so when someone came to the door she would hide a closet or under a bed.

Another tried to escape several times before being successful (his brother died trying to escape and his now wife sufferred greatly on her trip by boat).

I am amazed at what they went through, at such young ages, to come to this country. And it is that kind of determination that has made them all very successful business people.

===================================
QVC Shopper - 1993

# IAMTEAMWEN

goldensrbest · ‎03-10-2010

@Noel7 wrote:
Anyone interested can read THE SPITTING IMAGE on Wiki for a report on the MYTH that grew about treatment of our vets.

That's not the only source, there are others saying the same thing.

I have not read that ,but i sure do remember what was going on back then,i beleive what i see.

When you lose some one you L~O~V~E, that Memory of them, becomes a TREASURE.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@Isobel Archer wrote:
@Noel7 wrote:
@goldensrbest

There is a well respected book out saying a lot of the idea they were spit on and treated badly is myth. Most reports were unsubstantiated.

I can't speak for others but I can tell you it was not true in San Francisco. My husband and his Air Force friends were out and about all the time wearing their Air Force jackets and never experienced anything negative.
http://www.military-money-matters.com/vietnam-veterans-spit-on-part-2.html#axzz4t41GRZzg

It happened everywhere - yes even SF.

@Isobel Archer

No, sorry, there were no reported incidents in SF. In fact, most servicemen who were early outs marched in anti war protests.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@buddygrandma wrote:
I started to watch this....I served as an Army Nurse in Nam, 67=68......during the Tet....I couldn't finish watching it.....but then again, couldn't watch You Tube vidoes of the hospitals based in Afghanistan, either. Perhaps we will never know the REAL reason for this war...for the one we thought was real, never, actually happened.

@buddygrandma

Bless you and thank you for your service.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@goldensrbest wrote:
@Noel7 wrote:
Anyone interested can read THE SPITTING IMAGE on Wiki for a report on the MYTH that grew about treatment of our vets.

That's not the only source, there are others saying the same thing.
I have not read that ,but i sure do remember what was going on back then,i beleive what i see.

@goldensrbest

You SAW people spit on servicemen?