…Many people who observe current events in the United States and overseas have said, “We are fighting the Vietnam war all over again.” As many military experts have noted, Iraq is not precisely Vietnam. But there are significant similarities. Clearly, some people did not learn from it…
Many people who observe current events in the United States and overseas have said, “We are fighting the Vietnam war all over again.”
As many military experts have noted, Iraq is not precisely Vietnam. But there are significant similarities.
– In both cases, even with our superior technology and resources, occupying a country and fighting a counter-insurgency against guerillas who are part of the indigenous population is very difficult.
– In both cases, civilian leaders acted as if they knew more about war-fighting than the military officer corps.
– In both cases, U.S. troops were and are being killed and horribly injured one day at a time, little by little, week by week, month by month. Many, many American families end up wracked by grief, kids have to grow up without a parent, and parents lose their sons (and now, many daughters).
– In both cases, think tank intellectuals and politicians who had not been in combat themselves had big thoughts and grand global strategies. And these people were quite willing to sacrifice the lives of our troops in pursuit of these grand plans.
– In both cases, Vietnamese and Iraqi civilians, including women and children, have paid a heavy price as “collateral damage.”
There are other similarities, as well as many differences. How much more do the ‘Nam war and the ‘Raq war have in common? It looks like we will be finding out.
In both conflicts, there were many gray areas, many mixed feelings, many troops dead and severely injured. Many emotionally strong points of view and a great wrenching divide in our country. Many defense contractors making a lot of money too.
Many people have experienced a deep and severe grief over family members and loved ones killed or injured in Vietnam, and now Iraq. But many people have not experienced that deep grief, then or now.
Maybe they didn’t want to feel it. It’s easier to cover it up, ignore it. Ignore the flag-draped coffins, forget about the injured and damaged vets. For some people, that is the easy route.
Many ‘Nam combat vets fell into depression, PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse and even homelessness. Those who lost legs, arms, were terribly burned or injured by explosives had to live the rest of their life that way, and still are. ‘Raq war vets face the same things.
THE MILITARY DRAFT
Young men during the mid- and late-60s and early 70s had some serious decisions to make about going into a very dangerous situation in Vietnam. In many cases, 18-year-old guys got drafted after they graduated high school or after the dropped out of high school. If you weren’t going to college, you had a few choices:
– You could submit to the draft into the Army and have a very good chance of ending up in ‘Nam.
– You could join another service such as the Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard. Chances are you’d have a better deal that way. You probably wouldn’t end up in combat in Vietnam’s jungle. But, because of that, it became very competitive to get into those services. This explains why those services are not having recruiting problems now.
– You could join the National Guard or Reserves. But again, that became extremely competitive too for the same reason. Back then, the Guard and Reserves were not being sent to Vietnam on the scale they are in Iraq. Generally, the Guard and Reserves then were a safe haven from ‘Nam.
– You could leave the country and go to Canada, Australia or Europe and wait it out, though criminal charges would be pending against you.
– If you refused the draft, you could be charged and go to prison.
Paradoxically, if you were headed for prison for criminal activity, many judges offered the option of the Army or Marine Corps instead of incarceration.
If you went to college, you got a “2-S” student deferment. But when many graduated four years later, the war was still on and they got drafted then. Some kept going to graduate school to keep the deferment. If you studied to be a teacher or a minister or priest, you could get a deferment too.
Those in college could join the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) to be an officer. Guys graduating from college could go to Officer Candidate School (OCS).
Guys in the military academies chose military service. But, reportedly, so many West Point graduates were volunteering for ‘Nam, and quickly becoming casualties, that eventually the number of West Pointers allowed to go to ‘Nam was restricted. Significant portions of whole West Point graduating classes were getting quickly killed.
HOW MILITARY-AGE GUYS RESPONDED
There are many reasons why guys who were draft age in the 60s and early 70s ended up in Vietnam or didn’t. Some reasons are clear-cut. Some are more hazy, murky and gray. There seem to be similarities to the Iraq situation here too.
– Some just figured they should do what the government or their parents told them to do.
– Many figured that it was their patriotic duty and responsibility.
– Some wanted to get in on the excitement, adventure and action of war. To prove themselves maybe. To grow from a boy to a man.
– Some trusted the politicians in Washington. Some didn’t.
– Many guys were scared of dying and getting their legs blown off. Guys who went and guys who didn’t go all had these legitimate concerns. Some guys felt it was worth it. Some didn’t.
– Some felt the U.S. was doing something very good in Vietnam, protecting freedom, fighting communists, helping the underdog. Some didn’t.
– Those who were already in the services sometimes wanted to get their “ticket punched” in a war zone so they could advance in rank. This is common now too.
And the time frame might have been a factor. In 1965 the war was somewhat new and many were optimistic about victory. By 1967, 1968, there was a much increased cynicism and concern. And many, many more Americans dead and severely injured.
By 1970, many people figured it was a lost cause. In 1972, the plan was developed to turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese Army and get Americans out.
WHAT NOW?
Today our combat arms forces, mostly Army and Marines, are not draftees, at least for now. But the massive call-up of National Guard and Reserves, and stop-loss orders keeping troops in the service beyond their normal discharge date are a draft of sorts.
There has been a massive hiring of private contractors, military vets and mercenaries being paid large salaries for jobs in Iraq. And of course, other defense contractors are bellying-up to the federal hog trough of the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on Iraq.
Iraq seems to increasingly look like a stalemate, even to some senior military officers. The insurgents are getting steady reinforcements against U.S. forces. People who want to kill U.S. troops are heading for Iraq. Insurgents’ tactics, such as the use of roadside bombs, are becoming more sophisticated and deadly, causing devastating injuries to our troops.
Our military and VA medical centers are filling up and overflowing. And fresh graves are being dug daily. Children are losing their dads, or moms. Parents are losing their sons, and some daughters. Many wives losing their husbands. Those are heart-breaking similarities between ‘Nam and ‘Raq.
I never thought I would see another Vietnam in my lifetime. But, we never left it behind, never resolved it. Never agreed about who was right and who was wrong. What was true and what were lies. What was good and what was evil.
Some people did not learn from it.
by Steve Hammons [send him email] has worked as a journalist, editor, counselor, juvenile probation peace officer, public safety urgent-response specialist, teacher, instructor and US Government researcher. He graduated from Ohio University with studies in communications/journalism, health education/psychology and pre-law. Hammons’s two novels, Mission into Light and Light’s Hand, tell the story of a US joint-service military and intelligence research team investigating emerging special topics. Steve is a Populist Party featured columnist.
