- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Watching the Vietnam War on PBS...
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:50 am to I B Freeman
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:50 am to I B Freeman
quote:
It is how old men get young men to do their fighting
You can say this about almost every aspect warfare.
1
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:51 am to I B Freeman
Two years before my dad was eligible for the draft, his birthday came up #001 in the draft lottery
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:52 am to upgrayedd
quote:
General William Westmoreland, testifying before President Nixon's Commission on an All-Volunteer [Military] Force, denounced the idea, saying that he did not want to command an army of mercenaries.
Milton Friedman interrupted him: "General, would you rather command an army of slaves?" Westmoreland got angry: "I don't like to hear our patriotic draftees referred to as slaves."
And Friedman got rolling: "I don't like to hear our patriotic volunteers referred to as mercenaries. If they are mercenaries, then I, sir, am a mercenary professor, and you, sir, are a mercenary general." And he did not stop: "We are served by mercenary physicians, we use a mercenary lawyer, and we get our meat from a mercenary butcher".
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:55 am to Rouge
Vietnam is why I find it hilarious that people talk about the good ole days. The US government opened fire on a college campus, yet people think some statues or even Charlottesville are the most toxic topics of all time.
ETA - Vietnam is one of many reasons that notion is ridiculous.
ETA - Vietnam is one of many reasons that notion is ridiculous.
This post was edited on 9/27/17 at 9:59 am
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:57 am to Jule
For all you guys that are really enjoying the series and all the info packed in
Do yourselves a favor and pick up this book
Seriously tGOAT indo-china book getting into details on how we got to where we got.... from the end of ww1 in 1918 to the dramatic airlifts out of the embassy....
Seriously has all the major players and small players but spells out how. They all intertwined and how fcking the French completely fricked America in the boondoggle.
But for real, y'all give this book a try... it's crazy how history repeats itself when you start comparing our involvement across he ME today.
Do yourselves a favor and pick up this book
Seriously tGOAT indo-china book getting into details on how we got to where we got.... from the end of ww1 in 1918 to the dramatic airlifts out of the embassy....
Seriously has all the major players and small players but spells out how. They all intertwined and how fcking the French completely fricked America in the boondoggle.
But for real, y'all give this book a try... it's crazy how history repeats itself when you start comparing our involvement across he ME today.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 9:57 am to I B Freeman
Eh, those generals at that level are basically half military, half politician. They're given a shite sandwich and told to sell it as a Philly cheese steak.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:09 am to LesMiles BFF
quote:
How would today’s youth react to such a thought / draft?
I think it would be the "Hell no, we won't go" movement on steroids.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:17 am to Jule
Vietnam was a waste of young american men and a colossal failure in foreign policy. Exactly like our occupation of the middle east
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:22 am to Ajo Devil
My mother's first cousin was never the same. Went over there as an average 19 year old and kind of got addicted to it. Did two tours in the army, then went back with the merchant marine. Married a Vietnamese girl, brought her home, she got homesick and went back right before the fall of Saigon, while she was (unbeknownst to him) pregnant. Years later the teenage son he never knew he had shows up on his doorstep.
He's been an outlaw biker (NB4 Darth) and did a short stretch in the federal pen for having a cache of explosives on his property. This turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him because the prison social worker got him into PTSD counseling and hooked him up with a lot of VA benefits. It's been a long strange trip, but at long last he seems to be doing okay.
He's been an outlaw biker (NB4 Darth) and did a short stretch in the federal pen for having a cache of explosives on his property. This turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him because the prison social worker got him into PTSD counseling and hooked him up with a lot of VA benefits. It's been a long strange trip, but at long last he seems to be doing okay.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:26 am to LSUCouyon
Tigris, I have watched every minute of the documentary. The statement by JFK, about not being elected if he pulls out pissed me off more than anything else.
This was a terrible time in our history.
The Kennedy family as a whole was a collection of manipulative, hypocritical charlatans. That's why I laugh that all the Democrats just fell in love with Bobby in '68. He didn't have the balls to come out as an anti-war candidate until Eugene McCarthy had tested the waters in the opening primaries. He was so anti-Vietnam that while a part of his brother's administration he didn't say a damn word when we got in the mess. Plus, he had zero chance of winning the nomination.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:34 am to Martini
quote:
When I was a kid on my one street I had three friends I grew up with that had
1/ an older brother flying A7 Corsairs off carriers doing 4 tours ejected during first tour was rescued and kept flying.
2/ a father of a boy in my class and two older daughters was shot down and died in North Vietnam in 1967.
3/ A father of another classmate was shot down over Hanoi in an A-4, same plane as John McCain around 1965-6 and was also in the Hanoi Hilton. He came home to a ticker tape parade and had a daughter he had never met.
Probably another dozen on my street fought at various times. That was just one street in old Goodwood in the mid 60's to mid 70's. My slice of it.
Had an uncle do 2 tours with the 101st
and another do one tour that ended on a few months short on january 16, 1969 - boat was hit mine somewhere in brown water - he woke up in a hospital in PI - only one other on the boat survived.
Was in the second grade when a classmate got pulled out of class - his dad was a back seater in an F4 that got shot down by a sam -
one of the guys that coached me at 7 and 8 years old was there in 70 and 71. great dude but he was one tormented soul.
and most people that go to war are indeed never the same, if war/combat does not change you - something is fricking wrong with you.
This post was edited on 9/27/17 at 10:35 am
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:36 am to choupiquesushi
quote:
one of the guys that coached me at 7 and 8 years old was there in 70 and 71. great dude but he was one tormented soul.
One of our HS coaches was a platoon leader over there and was in the bad shite. Good guy, and seemed pretty well adjusted, but he never slept. Like, never, ever.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:47 am to Jim Rockford
quote:
One of our HS coaches was a platoon leader over there and was in the bad shite. Good guy, and seemed pretty well adjusted, but he never slept. Like, never, ever.
my coach lived around the corner from me... was good friends with his little brother..... same deal
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:51 am to Jim Rockford
quote:
One of our HS coaches was a platoon leader over there and was in the bad shite. Good guy, and seemed pretty well adjusted, but he never slept. Like, never, ever.
Worked with a guy that said he roomed with a Vietnam vet on a job once. Sad the guy slept with all the lights on and a loaded .45 under his pillow.
I also worked with a few Vietnam vets. One guy was a lifer that did 2 tours (he was even a drill sgt and saw action in Panama and Grenada). We got snowed out for work one day so a bunch of us decided to go to the bar for a few drinks. He got pretty buzzed and started telling us a few stories. The one that stuck out was how he killed some VC by crushing his windpipe with the butt of his rifle. His nephew worked with us and was at the bar and was kinda taken aback by the story. He said in 40 years, he never heard his uncle tell that story.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:57 am to Blue Velvet
quote:
Draft dodgers were heroes. Didn't realize that when I was a kid. I was raised to believe that they were cowards.
They are cowards. Those who served are heroes.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 11:01 am to double d
quote:
They are cowards. Those who served are heroes.
I've never had to stare down the barrel of something like that, so I can't judge people for it.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 11:06 am to upgrayedd
I have an Uncle that I would LOVE to open up to me about the war as a grunt marine. He doesn't say a thing about it ? He told me when he sees stuff on TV about Nam, it brings out too many memories and all he can do is ball crying and he doesn't like to cry like that
Said that he just turns the channel when he sees Nam brought up on TV or whatever
Said that he just turns the channel when he sees Nam brought up on TV or whatever
This post was edited on 9/27/17 at 11:24 am
Posted on 9/27/17 at 11:17 am to SuperSaint
It's fascinating to me to hear people share their experiences about that kind of thing. Maybe you should just start by asking where he went to basic, where he was stationed, what the c rations tasted like, etc. and see where it goes from there.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 11:45 am to IIxxBREADxxII
Police riot.
Chicago.
Trump would instigate.
Chicago.
Trump would instigate.
Posted on 9/27/17 at 11:50 am to CelticDog
A lot of people know now to question game plan.
"What is exit strategy"? Bush chaney Powell
Yellow cake liars changed the dynamic for all time.
We should have o/u on number of us dead after trump vs nk.
"What is exit strategy"? Bush chaney Powell
Yellow cake liars changed the dynamic for all time.
We should have o/u on number of us dead after trump vs nk.
Page 5 of 6
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News