Tet 39 years later

[The Wizard]

On this 39th anniversary of the Tet Offensive many thoughts cross my mind.
Several years ago a President from Texas took office under unusual circumstances and then started a war predicated on lies. Shortly after that I, and many others, took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Following the oath we were trained in the arts of war and sent off to fight that immoral war to kill maim and destroy people who never threatened or attacked the United States in any way.
Over 58,000 were sacrificed in combat and hundreds of thousands had their lives shortened because of their participation. Many of us have been declared disabled from damage done to mind and body.
After years of battling with the Veterans Administration and the unconscious demons residing in my deepest thoughts, I was granted benefits. The VA’s readjustment counselors have helped me and many others cope with those inner demons that have occasion to raise their ugly heads.
The Vietnam War was a tragedy that didn’t have to happen. It has had an influence on every decision I’ve made since. It has also caused me to bond with fellow veterans who are continuously struggling with similar inner demons. So together we work on the things that have kept us from getting the most of what’s left of the rest of our lives.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
(The Life of King Henry V, Act IV, sc. iii, ll. 56 –67)
Now, 39 years after the Tet Offensive the Constitutional rights we defended with our lives, the Constitution for which we gave blood sweat and tears is threatened by a President from Texas who took office under unusual circumstances and started a war predicated on lies against a country that neither threatened nor attacked the United States.
The list of his offenses runs the gamut from putting himself above the law to compromising the free press to suspending free expression to invading the privacy of law abiding citizens..

So we, this surviving band of brothers, remembers the past, and do what we can to help those who follow us. And the best we can do is live by the creed of the Vietnam Veterans of America: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”

[acmejack]

1. Amen

[unhappycamper]

2. “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”

You are correct, my Brother. Welcome home.

Proud Member of the Smedley Butler Brigade of the Veterans For Peace,
uhc

[Lowell]

3. Welcome home brother

another tet survivor

[The Wizard]

4. Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis

and blue jeans did as much to bring down the Soviet Union as military spending. We won the Cold War with our ideas. Military intervention is the absolute last resort as we know.
Neville Chamberlain proved that appeasing fascists bent on world domination is a losing strategy.
If we remain silent in the face of Bush's naked military aggression and abandonment of the returning GIs we all suffer the consequences.
Thanks to everyone for the recs.
And, any day you're looking at the green side of the grass is a good one.
Welcome home to everyone here who served.

[james101]

5. Bush supports the troops.

Bush just doesen't support the Veterans.

[northofdenali]

6. Beautifully written, Wizard -

I didn't join till after Viet Nam (USAF 1975 - 81) but my ex-husband-still-friend did 2 tours (1967 - 1969) with the 101st Airborne. He remembers Tet well.

Viet Nam vets have done more for this country than most people will ever know. Our local Center is fully staffed 24/7, and a better bunch of guys you'll never meet. I do some vol. work with them when I'm needed, which funny to say isn't often because there are so many folks here who do the same. Our returning Iraq vets (both Army and Air Force) say the Center has kept them sane especially in the face of possible redeployment (particularly the 172nd Strykers).

We WILL rid ourselves of the Pretender-in-Chief, a lying, AWOL sack of shit who was handed his "office" like all other things in his life - without having to work, qualify, or earn it.

Thank you for your service.

[The Wizard]

7. Thank you for your kind words

And thank you for lending support to those who need it most. One of my goals is getting people to volunteer at the VA hospital here. Even just giving a guy in a wheel chair a push to his next destination makes me feel good. At Christmas I gather some volunteers to distribute gift bags to the in-patients. Whenever possible I counsel other vets as to coping with their problems getting through VA red tape.
With the current shyster punk-ass Administration in Washington having no concept of real patriotism and sacrifice, we have to watch each other's backs and lend a hand when necessary.
I was in the Big Red One 67-68. The 101st was operating just north of us.

[Dover]

8. Beautiful........thank you.

You, the Veterans of America, have all done your best under the worst of conditions, and then some. My deepest gratitude for your words of strength, love and ongoing service to your brothers, to your country and Constitution even as our leaders disparage it, and for your compassion toward former foes. We are all a band of brothers and sisters...never again.

[Major Hogwash]

9. Fallujah was the Tet of the Iraq War.

The turning point, when people could more clearly see that the Iraq War was going to turn into a quagmire and be a lost cause.

What do you think, Wizard?

[Monkeyman]

10. I agree

Veterans For America is updating their web site. VVA will be at the hearings next week Watch C-Span for Rick Wiedman he got something I think you will understand . Vietnam vets are stepping up and saying Sir No Sir again.

Never Leave A Man Behind

[The Wizard]

11. Fallujah and Iraq

are different from Tet and Vietnam in that the news coverage from Iraq is tightly managed. Most Americans have no idea what happened in Fallujah, whereas with Tet, and the Vietnam war in general, there was raw footage on the 6 o'clock news to go with dinner.
Whereas Fallujah was a city destroyed for essentially burning the bodies of four mercenaries, Tet was a major offensive across the entire country that resulted in 65,000 North Vietnamese and VC killed. After Tet the North Vietnamese army was decimated. The Iraqi army shed their uniforms after the U.S. invasion and now operates out of the shadows in varying degrees around the country.
In both cases the majority of the population wants(ed) the U.S. to leave. We knew this going in. Spreading democracy at the point of a gun will always fail because anything imposed at gunpoint isn't democratic.

[Monkeyman]

12. Wizard Tet turn America around. Fallujah coverage didn't show when it happened

But it showed when the Marines came home on Vote Vet it was the start of the turn around about Iraq. That all I was saying. Tet was on TV day and night at home. Tet was day and night 24/7 for those of us there.