RSVN; (ODA-503) 5th SFG, 67-68
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I, like many of your veterans that served in the Republic of Vietnam, will never forget those few brief months, for me in 67 and 68, that I spent there. I had the privilege of fighting for Freedom, Liberty, and the right of a people to choose their own form of government through free elections. I would like to assure my children, Peaches and Sean, and the families of the MIA and the men whose names appear on The Wall that that is what we were fighting for. As I reflect upon history I remember the name of Lafeyette, a Frenchman who came to America to help the colonists win freedom from England. There were many more whose names I, regretfully, forget. Among them was a German unit, some Russians, and other nationalities. May God Bless their souls. The past 30 years have done much damage to that concept and the idea that Freedom is worth dying for. I assure all that, despite our Media (TV, Newspaper, Movies, Magazines) these values are and will always be worth dying for. I cringe when I see these values so easily set aside. I feel that those who have access to the public through such Media have done a great disservice, not only to our vets, but to our Nation also. When have you seen a movie, read a book, or seen a television production that depicted the discipline, courage, self-sacrifice and honor that was so common place in Vietnam? Even many vets speak of Vietnam with shame on their faces and in their voices. I am proud of them. I am proud that my country attempted to assist another people obtain the same liberty and freedom that we enjoy every day. That state of Freedom was won by the letting of much blood by veterans, some of whom are dying in quiet little rooms, being buried with no recognition of the contribution they made, no recognition because the people they fought for have forgotten their sacrifice. Maybe that is the way it should be. It hurts me though, when I read an obit and some fellow 75 or 80 years old has died and there is a small little line stating the unit he served in... in 1942 or some time like that. In Vietnam we, the soldiers, suffered from a lack of leadership, mostly, elected or appointed civilian leadership. The cause was there. For some reason the Media has chosen to blame the soldiers for that lost war and are ashamed of us. I am not, and you shouldn't be. I have not, before nor since, been associated with men of such high integrity, courage, honor and a willingness to give all for a stranger. Many say the Vietnamese did not want to win that war. I disagree with those too. South Vietnam lost 214,000 of their brightest and best. They displayed their desire for freedom with their blood. Atrocities, yes, war is an atrocity and evidence of a failure in statemanship. I am dismayed and yes, angrered by the fact that the ENTIRE focus of atrocities is on Americans. Did you know that the NVA, in the short time they were in Hue in 1968, managed to kill and bury in mass graves 3000 civilians? You did not see that on 60 Minutes! That is only one instance of their obsession to destroy anyone, man woman or child, in the pursuit of absolute dominance. They were a most murderous army and for those that are interested it is well documented, though obscure. The article by CNN/Time ("The Valley of Death" June 8, 1998 Time mag.) is just another example of how the "movers and shakers" have chosen to depict the American soldier as criminal or mad. Elite forces are particularly targeted for this sick kind of journalistic arrogance. That kind of reporting makes me heartsick when I think of Ssg. Monte Busby and Capt. Joe Zamiara, just two of many who thought more of a strangers freedom than their own life. Honorable men. Courageous men. Their lives were not in vain because the fight for freedom is timeless, with boundaries not set by men. |