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Posted by Jim on December 09, 19102 at 05:23:00:
In Reply to: Re: Why did America get involved? posted by rodney hughes on November 10, 19102 at 02:48:47:
Rodney Hughes if you are truely doing a paper on the Vietnam war email me and I will try and help.
Your question is hard for any veteran to answer in a few lines.
At the time we believed that the Communist were going to take over the south and we were supposed to believe all of the surrounding countries. The French had lost in 1954 and left and by the early 60's there we were starting to help with the South. If the Vietnam war had never occurred and they asked for our help in 2002 I think we would probably go and help them. By the early late 60's and early 70's you could see that even though you had the best equipment available (helicopters, gunships, tanks, miniguns, sensors, etc) it still took the will of the people of the South to help win and to protect thereselves. There were a lot of good ARNV (south) soldiers and some who would always have you take the lead. If you were not there they sometimes did not know what to do.
Basically we went to help people that we thought needed help and who had asked for help. It got to a point that neither side wanted to lose face and it just lasted longer and longer. Fianlly the Vietnamazation came about (letting them fight their war with our past training and equipment) I lost relatives and friends while I was there and it is very sad even today. It is a good thing though that we have a good relation with Vietnam now and I hope it gets even better. It is a beautiful country. We are friends with a lot of Communist countries now and deal with them regulary. It is hard to hold a grudge when the soldiers of the North and the VC thought and were told they were doing the right thing and we were told the same thing. We will always stand behind out country. And it appears that they did the same by standing behind their country.
You can hardly see a 17 to 21 year old around this date that would compare to the same age group of men back then. Nowdays they just say I WOULD'T DO IT OR THEY CAN'T MAKE ME. We had more respect for our country and others to act like that.
Good Luck