How Many Of You Veterans Were Commissioned Officers?

This had been another unwinnable war costly in US lives, limbs, and mental stability. Plus plenty of tax dollars and reputation on our side. Horrific civilian casualties, countless destruction to homes, buildings and infrastructure, and the subsequent rise of even more widespread hatred for Westerners in the region.
Ah, but we get to play with our toys
 

We (the U.S.) have the ability to end these so-called conflicts in a matter of moments, so why we spread it out over time is beyond me.

Of course, we all know the answer to that question.
 

We (the U.S.) have the ability to end these so-called conflicts in a matter of moments, so why we spread it out over time is beyond me.

Of course, we all know the answer to that question.

If I were dictator I would pull every American out of there as fast as possible. At Dunkirk it took 9 days to evacuate 338,000 troops. That's about 37,500 a day. Surely we can match that. Since we only have 24,000 troops in Afghanistan, we should be finished in a little under 16 hours.
 
We (the U.S.) have the ability to end these so-called conflicts in a matter of moments, so why we spread it out over time is beyond me.

Of course, we all know the answer to that question.


Quick answer... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for some people. Also, I agree with you and others about a draft dodger. You don't want to fight for your country, fine, but I come from the old school where, you made your bed, you lie in it. They should never have been allowed to return to the US.
As far as Vietnam, I don't know about anyone else here, but, where I fought (the iron triangle), all we did was fight to take over a section of country, then withdraw and hand it over to the ARVN troops. About a month or so later, we were back in the same piece of real estate fighting and dying to take it back because the ARVN soldiers (maybe not all, but enough) had run away.
Definitely soured me on a war we weren't allowed to win.

Edit. I still love this country, but, it's getting harder to accept all that is happening to it.
 
The last few posts seem to be a call for isolationism. Just wondering how that would work out. Not for or against, just wondering. We are greatly entangled and George Washington warned against it but here we are.
 
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Definitely soured me on a war we weren't allowed to win.


There was no way we were going to win that war. Think about it. We had primarily draftees that were sent 8,000 miles from home to fight. When I was there everyone had a short timer's calendar where we were counting the days till we could get the Hell out of there. And the people we were trying to help? The ARVN's? What kind of person throws in with foreign invaders? Opportunists and cowards that are going to cut and run as soon as things get tough.

On the other hand who were we fighting against? Hard core mother truckers who were fighting for their country and had home field advantage. People that were willing to load up a bicycle with hundreds of pounds of supplies and push it hundreds of miles on the Ho Chi Min trail in order to supply their fighters. The only way you can beat people like that is to kill every last one of them because they are not going to give up. And then you had the Russians and the Chinese. More than happy to sit on the sidelines and watch us bleed, but more than ready to jump in on the side of North Vietnam if it push came to shove.
 

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That was a stupid war, engineered by stupid people fought by kids that were too damn young to understand what was going on. It was a conflict understood by none, it remains so.
I've educated myself on the Vietnam of the 1920-30's, it was a mess then and only got worse.

(Opinion, I cannot help but believe that chaos aided the French in their role as a colonial power.)

I don't think the ambiguity of Vietnam will ever be resolved until this generation is in the ground.
I have learned that the soldiers of this nation are to defend this nation-that is their primary purpose for being.
We became the world's policemen in and after Korea, look at the results.
The events we 'stick our noses into' are beyond number: pull up the # of military bases throughout the world-unbelievable.
 
I received a direct commission in 1954 as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S.A.F. I was a new registered nurse and while the Korean War had come to an alleged truce, I was still considered a Korean War Veteran. I receive and automatic promotion to 1st Lt. 18 months after I entered the Air Force. I served a year in Texas and during that time became a flight nurse after attending school in Montgomery, Alabama. I then was assigned to France for 2 years, serving as a flight nurse for my second year. It was an interesting experience and I was discharged, used my G.I. Bill to obtain a Master's Degree in Psychology. During this time I was alerted to standby for the Bay of Pigs, then the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The last time was when JFK was assassinated. I had gotten married and was pregnant when my 10 yrs. of reserve status ended, but my husband, sadly, who was a fighter pilot was called to action in Viet Nam and was shot down over the South China Sea.
 
Raise a cup of coffee to you Lewkat, and a slow salute to your spouse.
Love the nurses, nothing like a female nurse that you can share
gentle words with.
"I hurt."
"Hang on baby, I'm coming."
 
I received a direct commission in 1954 as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S.A.F. I was a new registered nurse and while the Korean War had come to an alleged truce, I was still considered a Korean War Veteran. I receive and automatic promotion to 1st Lt. 18 months after I entered the Air Force. I served a year in Texas and during that time became a flight nurse after attending school in Montgomery, Alabama. I then was assigned to France for 2 years, serving as a flight nurse for my second year. It was an interesting experience and I was discharged, used my G.I. Bill to obtain a Master's Degree in Psychology. During this time I was alerted to standby for the Bay of Pigs, then the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The last time was when JFK was assassinated. I had gotten married and was pregnant when my 10 yrs. of reserve status ended, but my husband, sadly, who was a fighter pilot was called to action in Viet Nam and was shot down over the South China Sea.
My sincere respect and a Navy salute, Mam.
 
Believe it or not, we had a few fellows in our platoon that were “drafted” by the Army, but then were able to become a Marine. Not sure of the specifics of how that happened, but it did. I saw their paperwork. Strange things went on during that war.

I remember that happening at the induction center, Indianapolis! Since I was volunteer Army, it didn't affect me, but they went down the row of certain groups, tapped out every 5th one, and this selection process, those chaps were headed to become a Marine! Remember it well!
 
Marines, navy drafted personnel in Vietnam. They had no choice, man power required it.

(The army has the worst chow off all the services. They started
Battalion in early sixties, mess halls, with one officer in charge-he ordered the supplies, otherwise he disappeared. long, long lines, the cooks had no direct supervision, served and cooked as they choose-slop.

Navy and air force has best chow, it was wonderful to eat in an air force mess: real food!

Peculiar how good chow can color your perspective.
damn army!
 
Prior to the A.F. becoming independent from the Army, the food was, well, Army. It was long known that the Navy had the best chow. My grandfather was a CWO4 in the Marine Corps and he raved about the Navy Mess. By the time I got into the military, the Air Force was long independent, at least 7 years, and we were called the ladies' and gentlemen's service and considered spoiled beyond the pale. Not so, but yes the food was terrific.
 


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