The fall of Saigon

What I remember most are those news clips of vietnamese partial to the US trying to escape an inevitable fate by hanging onto and eventually falling off Helicopters that were evacuating troops and personnel. Vietnam was a disaster that no president wanted to be responsible for ending, because pulling out without a victory is a political no no.

It happened at a time of my life as I was just beginning adulthood. Ahh, so this is what grownups do. Not the introduction I was hoping for.
 
they should never have been there - interfering in other peoples business - showing off their might and getting it wrong, off course the foot soldiers had no option that had to go where directed - it was govts again trying to fight communism around the world??
 

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Vietnam injured my youth yet also gave me the opportunity to know myself. I could have learned another way. Wish I had. My condolences to all baby boomers. ALL OF US. A cruel mistake thrust upon my generation.
LEARN FROM THIS. Listen to our youth. They have the right to their destiny
 
JustDave said:
What I remember most are those news clips of vietnamese partial to the US trying to escape an inevitable fate by hanging onto and eventually falling off Helicopters that were evacuating troops and personnel. Vietnam was a disaster that no president wanted to be responsible for ending, because pulling out without a victory is a political no no.

It happened at a time of my life as I was just beginning adulthood. Ahh, so this is what grownups do. Not the introduction I was hoping for.
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Yes. Kennedy is on tape talking to McNamara saying he knew full well that there was no chance of winning that war but, "If I pull out now I won't win in November." To me that makes him personally responsible for any soldier who died after that point. Yet, people still speak glowingly of him as though he was a great president. He was just another ambitious, immoral man who craved power even at the expense of brave young lives. He was just better looking and had a better speech writer than most.

I don't see that we ever learn much from the past. In order to do that people would have to face the truth and sometimes admit that they were wrong. Instead we romanticize the past and make the same mistakes over and over.
 
Della said:
Yes. Kennedy is on tape talking to McNamara saying he knew full well that there was no chance of winning that war but, "If I pull out now I won't win in November." To me that makes him personally responsible for any soldier who died after that point. Yet, people still speak glowingly of him as though he was a great president. He was just another ambitious, immoral man who craved power even at the expense of brave young lives. He was just better looking and had a better speech writer than most.

I don't see that we ever learn much from the past. In order to do that people would have to face the truth and sometimes admit that they were wrong. Instead we romanticize the past and make the same mistakes over and over.
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With hair like McNamara a man can get away with anything now if he had been bald USA would have turned on him and no free pass .

Add he was so arrogant about his hair line he would grease it back to flaunt it , made me sick to see such contempt for us balding younger men .

Point is you want a BALD man in charge as no free pass will be given by society .
 
JustDave said:
What I remember most are those news clips of vietnamese partial to the US trying to escape an inevitable fate by hanging onto and eventually falling off Helicopters that were evacuating troops and personnel. Vietnam was a disaster that no president wanted to be responsible for ending, because pulling out without a victory is a political no no.

It happened at a time of my life as I was just beginning adulthood. Ahh, so this is what grownups do. Not the introduction I was hoping for.
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I never went back even though VERY EASY tour but know plenty who have with wives , tourism and say the food is unreal .
 
smiley said:
all asian food is unreal - in europe in many instances we cook bland tasteless food I got served it by mother ; grandmother ; wives etc etc
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Yes Asian food is unreal and as someone who loves rice and pasta many have that as side dish . one of my favorites which is Japanese is raw eels over rice with a sauce that is incredible .
 
and didn't the french pull them into the war - I remember someone in my younger days saying - it's like a set of dominoes in the far east - just knock one down and they all fall down - how not true that was - and what was Cambodia doing all this time??
 
Looks like the Domino theory didn't happen. I remember seeing McNamara at the window of the Pentagon the night of our sit in. He was staring at us. Eerie. Later to learn his own kids were in our crowd.
 
I'd just gotten off shift, sitting in a room on a remote island, 1455 miles from the mainland, when a person joined us
saying, "Saigon fell".
Only military on the island and the only 'news' was from Armed Forces Radio which is on a time delay.

I remember wondering what kind of pressure those troops were under and how much chaos surrounded them.
It was a long time before I actually saw the visual footage of the fall.

Since our main mission was 'Cold War' information gathering on the island, we just passed the wine
bottle around and talked about that part finally was OVER...
 
Sorry moderators .

This has turned into a bit of a political thread.

I only meant to pay my respects to those who made it back, and remember those who didn't.
 
Laurie said:
Sorry moderators .

This has turned into a bit of a political thread.

I only meant to pay my respects to those who made it back, and remember those who didn't.
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Vietnam willl always be a hot button........at least until every member of my generation is dead. Don't worry, your thread on track.
 
Past my time, but I have spoken to many senior Officers who told many stories of the Vietnam War. Some abominable, some awe-inspiring.
We have come along way since the F-4 Phantom II. The U.S. has made significant progress in military aviation.
 
I went last year. It's a very interesting country and the people are wonderful. It's unsettling to see a beautiful city like Hanoi and think about all the bombs we dropped there. Our policies from 1954 to 1975 were misguided, to say the least.

I won't go back -- it's too far away -- but I'm glad I went. And I'm glad I went as a tourist and not under the auspices of Uncle Sam.
 

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