One of my dark-humor quips in recent years has been: I hope our government learned the lessons of Vietnam. And built an embassy in Afghanistan with enough room for multiple helicopters.
That stopped being funny when I saw the TV images of helicopters hovering over the embassy in Kabul and refugees clinging to airplanes. It’s eerily reminiscent of 1975 in Saigon and brings back memories for those of us who served in Vietnam.
I was one of the lucky ones. On coastal patrol in 1966-67 I drew my pistol every day to search sampans but never saw combat. No one I knew personally was killed or wounded and I apparently was not exposed to Agent Orange.
By the time Saigon fell the U.S. had completed an orderly, multi-year transition to shift warfighting to the South Vietnamese, who held out until Congress withdrew U.S. support. I had been part of the operation that welcomed our prisoners of war home in 1973.
Still, the fall of Saigon brought up conflicting emotions. I
was relieved that the war finally was over, and saddened by the loss of life
and utter waste of the whole conflict. I was angry at the politicians who
dragged us into a war they mismanaged and ultimately chose to lose.
I also felt bitter toward my fellow Americans whose justifiable opposition to the war was turned against those who fought it. When I left active duty and began looking for a civilian job in 1968, an employment counselor advised me to not mention my service in Vietnam to prospective employers. I was instructed to wear civilian clothes on reserve duty in the Pentagon in 1970 because people in uniform were being hassled on the streets of Washington.
I still encounter people who assure me they supported our troops even though they demonstrated against the Vietnam war and I still do not fully believe them.
After the fall of Saigon it took nearly 20 years for our
military services to regain the support of the American people and begin
winning again under a new generation of leaders who had been junior officers in
Vietnam. They were supported by political leaders from the World War II
generation.
That will be more difficult this time. The political
generals and admirals who bungled the Afghanistan withdrawal are unlikely to be
held accountable. Preoccupied with rooting out mythical white supremacy and
purging oficers who disagree with them, they have no interest in rebuilding an
effective fighting force and appear incapable of doing so.
The Armed Forces may not get much help from today’s political
leaders. Relatively few Vietnam veterans have held public office, and the vast
majority of my generation’s politicians either dodged the draft or served far
from the combat zone.
If anything, the current administration is more craven and significantly less competent than the likes of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara. Compared to the end of the Vietnam war, the Afghanistan rout has been a military and diplomatic blunder of historic proportions. In today’s political climate, it’s unlikely that any of these officials will be held accountable.
There are a few hopeful signs, however. One change since the
Vietnam era is that the military men and women who fought in Iraq and
Afghanistan have had the heartfelt support of the American public. When our
troops come home they are welcomed by cheering crowds at the airport instead of
protesters.
The most positive sign is that increasing numbers of
Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are being elected to Congress from both parties. That’s
a change from the aftermath of Vietnam. If the nation is to recover from
military defeat and international humiliation, these are the people to lead it.
Flashback
One of my dark-humor quips in recent years has been: I hope our government learned the lessons of Vietnam. And built an embassy in Afghanistan with enough room for multiple helicopters.
That stopped being funny when I saw the TV images of helicopters hovering over the embassy in Kabul and refugees clinging to airplanes. It’s eerily reminiscent of 1975 in Saigon and brings back memories for those of us who served in Vietnam.
I was one of the lucky ones. On coastal patrol in 1966-67 I drew my pistol every day to search sampans but never saw combat. No one I knew personally was killed or wounded and I apparently was not exposed to Agent Orange.
By the time Saigon fell the U.S. had completed an orderly, multi-year transition to shift warfighting to the South Vietnamese, who held out until Congress withdrew U.S. support. I had been part of the operation that welcomed our prisoners of war home in 1973.
Still, the fall of Saigon brought up conflicting emotions. I was relieved that the war finally was over, and saddened by the loss of life and utter waste of the whole conflict. I was angry at the politicians who dragged us into a war they mismanaged and ultimately chose to lose.
I also felt bitter toward my fellow Americans whose justifiable opposition to the war was turned against those who fought it. When I left active duty and began looking for a civilian job in 1968, an employment counselor advised me to not mention my service in Vietnam to prospective employers. I was instructed to wear civilian clothes on reserve duty in the Pentagon in 1970 because people in uniform were being hassled on the streets of Washington.
I still encounter people who assure me they supported our troops even though they demonstrated against the Vietnam war and I still do not fully believe them.
After the fall of Saigon it took nearly 20 years for our military services to regain the support of the American people and begin winning again under a new generation of leaders who had been junior officers in Vietnam. They were supported by political leaders from the World War II generation.
That will be more difficult this time. The political generals and admirals who bungled the Afghanistan withdrawal are unlikely to be held accountable. Preoccupied with rooting out mythical white supremacy and purging oficers who disagree with them, they have no interest in rebuilding an effective fighting force and appear incapable of doing so.
The Armed Forces may not get much help from today’s political leaders. Relatively few Vietnam veterans have held public office, and the vast majority of my generation’s politicians either dodged the draft or served far from the combat zone.
If anything, the current administration is more craven and significantly less competent than the likes of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara. Compared to the end of the Vietnam war, the Afghanistan rout has been a military and diplomatic blunder of historic proportions. In today’s political climate, it’s unlikely that any of these officials will be held accountable.
There are a few hopeful signs, however. One change since the Vietnam era is that the military men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have had the heartfelt support of the American public. When our troops come home they are welcomed by cheering crowds at the airport instead of protesters.
The most positive sign is that increasing numbers of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are being elected to Congress from both parties. That’s a change from the aftermath of Vietnam. If the nation is to recover from military defeat and international humiliation, these are the people to lead it.
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