Vietnam, the lies, truth, traitors, and Our Amazing Vietnam Veterans

Most people, when they think of Vietnam and our involvement in it they fixate on the ‘70’s but that really isn’t right. You see our first involvement with Vietnam started in 1955. When our first military advisors were sent there and it just grew from there. By 1964 the United States already had 21,000 troops in country. Congress’ answer was to approve the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution” in August of 1964.

Let’s start with what is the Gulf Tonkin? For more than forty years we couldn’t get the answers on this question we were looking for because of the fact the information on this was classified. Recently these once-classified documents were released and things became clear. Unfortunately not the way past government officials would have wanted it to come out. You see it is obvious that high government officials distorted the facts and believe it or not, deceived the American people. It was their way of justifying our involvement in the Vietnam War.

In August of 1964, while the USS Maddox was in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin it was attacked by North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats. But what happened after that is what we, the American people, didn’t know. Of course we couldn’t possibly know because everything was classified and the government was actually doing what it was supposed to do and not leaking it to the press. At least not what they didn’t want us to know.

So what about the USS Maddox? The Maddox was to patrol international waters off the North Vietnamese coast from the demilitarized zone north to the China boarder. In late July the destroyer, was stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin when a raid was launched against Hon Me Island. During this time two South Vietnamese commandos fired machine guns and small cannons at the islands radar and military installations. More than 25 miles away another attack by the South Vietnamese was being carried out against Hon Ngu Island.

History is amazing as it allows us to see the truth as it happened and to realize no one is perfect. You see the North Vietnamese had patrol torpedo boats pursuing those who attacked Hon Me Island. The USS Maddox withdrew from the area but the records indicate the destroyer was unaware of the raid on the island which was what set the wheels in motion between North Vietnamese forces and the U.S. Navy listening in on one another.

The Maddox intercepted reports the North Vietnamese possibly had plans to attack the destroyer. Captain John J. Herrick the Commander order her out to sea in hopes of avoiding said confrontation however he reversed his orders later in the day and turned back toward the coast to north of Hon Me Island where the destroyer detected three North Vietnamese patrol boats approaching her from the west. The Captain had his crew ready to open fire since the three patrol boats were moving in fast. They fired three shots across the bow of the closest boat to them and in return the lead ship launched a torpedo then veered away and things just escalated from there. Overhead the Maddox had cover from four F8 Crusaders and after twenty two minutes all was quiet once more leaving one enemy ship dead in the water and burning while the other two were left heavily damaged. The Maddox came through unscathed.

So what actually happened in the Gulf of Tonkin? It is said there was not one but two attacks on the US but historians dispute that. Reports say the U.S. destroyer Maddox exchanged shots with North Vietnamese torpedo boats, as I said above, but two days later the Maddox and another destroyer reported coming under fire again. It wasn’t until forty years later historians were able to prove that wrong when unclassified information was released from the Johnson library and shows the second attack was more or less due to faulty equipment. The two US destroyers were shooting at nothing but ghosts in the sea and then Secretary McNamara knew this but still didn’t come clean when asked by Congress. He did however have a discussion with President Johnson the following day and admit he knew what, shall we say, didn’t happen according to the unclassified papers. It was this false information, these secrets kept from Congress and the American people that would propel us in to war between America and North Vietnam. Sad to think our Commander and Chief new about this. Then again propaganda spread by the Democratic Party to instill fear in the hearts of Americans has been going on a long time.

Once President Johnson announced the North Vietnamese had attacked U.S. ships there was no turning back. He asked Congress for a resolution to support his actions of sending airplanes out against the North Vietnamese. Of course Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which would give Johnson the power to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote international peace and security in Southeast Asia. Once again we were where we did not belong for all the wrong reasons.

So why do this? Why drag us into another conflict and bringing more of our young men and women in to a fight we had no right to be in? The United States government wanted to prevent the world from falling under Communist influence. The fear was, if other parts of the world were to fall, then it would surely come to our shores. Actually in my simple way of looking at things I figure it is best to guard our own boarders and keep the unwanted out and if other countries so chose to adopt their outlook, their way of doing things, then so be it. We are not the police of the world and need to concentrate more on keeping our own country safe and secure. Perhaps if we left others to fight their own battles we wouldn’t have so many looking to do us harm. Then again I am not a military expert and I do know there are reasons for us to help our neighbors especially those who ask, but we should never push our way of life on others. What works here doesn’t always mean it is meant to work everywhere.

So the Vietnam era began with a lie and a command from people we trusted. Lives were lost, young men were forced into the draft, families broken on all sides, for a war that seemed to have no end in sight. We battled Vietnam from 1955 until 1975, approximately 20 years. A conflict that pitted the communist of North Vietnam along with its southern allies we knew as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and the United States was smack dab in the middle of it. The sad thing is by passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Congress gave Johnson what has become known as a blank cheque allowing him to “take all necessary measures to prevent aggression in Southeast Asia.”

Well we all know how this ended but what we may not know is in 1970 the Senate repeals the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which put a limit on the presidential powers associated with the war. Yet when Nixon took office we remained in Vietnam with the administration claiming constitutional authority of the president as commander-in-chief sighting it was his responsibility to protect the lives of U.S. military forces which would justify his actions in keeping the war going.

In 1969 when President Nixon took office he introduced Vietnamization which was aimed at ending American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam yet we were still there until 1975. The end result, the North Vietnamese had their victory with the withdrawal of American forces. The Communist government we fought so hard to keep out of South Vietnam was now in control.

Meanwhile on the home front people protested against the war. They wanted our boy’s home and out of what they believed we should not be a part of. I am not saying they are right by any means because to me, no matter when our military is deployed it is the responsibility of every American to support not only those deployed but the families they left behind. I was in high school in the ‘70’s. I didn’t understand the protesting because my heart was broken over my friends who were drafted, who had to go to a foreign land and fight. I prayed for their safe return. I had family members who were also inducted into service. Some made it home, others didn’t. It was a heartbreaking time for many families and to watch the hatred spread across this country was disheartening.

As usual the rich and famous got involved in speaking out and causing even more damage. One person I will never forgive is Jane Fonda, otherwise known as Hanoi Jane. I can go into the history of how she betrayed our troops, our brave men, but do a little reading on the subject and come to your own conclusions. I for one will never pay to see anything this woman is in. Her father, Henry Fonda, was an amazing man. He stood by the troops during WWII, made amazing movies in support of patriotism and love for this country. She couldn’t hold a candle to him.

Another turncoat was self-proclaimed war hero who got caught in his own lies, John Kerry. Just looking at this man, to this day, turns my stomach. When he came home he went right along with Hanoi Jane in calling our young men baby killers and accusing them of raping women. His actual words were, “rampaging every day through the Vietnamese countryside like the hordes of Genghis Kahn.” He calls himself a war hero but doesn’t mention his days of running around with Hanoi Jane to give aid and comfort to the enemy. If you don’t believe me that he is a liar then read his authorized biography “Tour of Duty” and then do the fact checking yourself and you will see John Kerry is a fraud and a traitor to every man and woman who served in Vietnam. He is a traitor to our nation along with Hanoi Jane.

When our amazing Vietnam veterans returned home they were greeted with hate, spit at, called names, and made to feel ashamed of the job they were deployed to do. Many came home so messed up it took years to get them help because they didn’t trust the government or any of their agencies to help them. There were no parades in the streets or cheers welcoming them home. Yet parents had the burden of burying the sons because a Commander-in-Chief allowed these lies to become truth. Our veterans paid for their lies with their lives and the hate from people who should have been in support of them. No one wants to go to war, even when we know there is no choice but to not stand behind those who have to give their all because you feel the government is wrong, well that’s just messed up.

 

Our Vietnam Veterans like any others had no choice. They were following the commands of those “We the People” put in power. If we do not like what is going on than we have the power to change it at the voting booth but it should never be tossed at our veterans. Today so many Vietnam veterans are still hiding, still afraid to come out and get help, still not sure who they can and cannot trust. We have so many Vietnam Veterans who are homeless and can use the help of our government but know how the government works. Slow and steady, hurry up and wait. That’s the help they get from our VA’s across the country.

One of the big reasons I voted for President Trump was his willingness to help our forgotten heroes, our veterans. This country needs to unite once more. We need to stand behind our President and our Troops. We need to hold our head high and stop all this baby nonsense and take a look back on history so it does not repeat itself. You want to fight for something, you want to protest and march in the streets for this cause or that, then take up protesting for the betterment of the United States.

Protest for jobs, for improving inner cities, for our children to have a better life then we did, for our police and military to be able to do the jobs they are meant to do and not feel as if they are the ones on trial, and for our veterans to be treated and cared for the way they deserve to be. Bring this country together under one flag, the red, white, and blue, because these colors don’t run and those who serve and protect it will always be there for you.

May God Bless America and make us United once more.