Opponents of the Vietnam War alleged that African-Americans saw the brunt of combat in the jungles of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
We are now approaching the 51st anniversary of the Vietnam War. All through the Vietnam War, I heard the shrill voices of the war’s opponents alleging that it was mostly poor blacks who were seeing combat in the jungles of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Here are some interesting statistics forwarded to me by a retired public relations professional:
88.4 percent of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 10.6 percent were black; 1 percent belonged to other races.
86.3 percent of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian; 12.5 percent were black; 1.2 percent belonged to other races.
86.8 percent of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1 percent were black; 1.1% belonged to other races.
Overall, blacks suffered 12.5 percent of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5 percent of the total population.
We can see from these stats that the opponents of the Vietnam War lied when they alleged that blacks saw the brunt of combat during that war. The truth is that blacks served and died in numbers approximating their percentage of the total population.
The blacks who served, died and were wounded in the Vietnam War were true American heroes. And, of course, so were all the others who saw combat in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
2 comments:
The Viet Nam Police Action was a sham from the beginning. If your family was rich, you had a good chance of getting an exemption from the draft. Higher education with a good GPA saved some of the poor folks, but a lot were still drafted when they graduated. The local draft boards were picked from people who knew who to give draft exemptions to. There wasn't any fairness to it. Some of the persons who sat on the draft boards have come forward years later to lament their roles in this travesty. Over 50,000 young men died. All races died in a senseless police action. It was wrong, but it wasn't about race. God have mercy on their souls.
If you are reading this and served on a draft board, Fuck You!
This is an excerpt from an interview with former Lt. Governor Ben Barnes with Dan Rather:
DAN RATHER:
Well, I used the phrase "preferential treatment." Perhaps I shouldn't have. Would you describe it as that? A request for preferential treatment? Or how would you describe it?
BEN BARNES:
Oh, I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get in the Air National Guard or the Army National Guard. I think that would have been a preference to anybody that didn't wanna go to Vietnam that didn't wanna leave. We had a lot of young men that left and went to Canada in the '60s and fled this country.
But those that could get in the Reserves or those who could get in the National Guard meant that they could serve and get their military training. And chances are they would not have to go to Vietnam. The Vietnam era was different from the era now in that Air Natio-- all National Guards and Reserve units-- have been called into military fighting now.
DAN RATHER:
And what year was this, Ben?
BEN BARNES:
1968.
DAN RATHER:
By 1968, casualties in Vietnam were running high.
BEN BARNES:
Yeah.
DAN RATHER:
Did you or did you not think at that time, "I'm a little uncomfortable with this." Or did you have long talks with your conscience? A lot of our best young men were going into that green jungle hell and dying or being maimed for life.
Did you say to yourself, "I'm a little uncomfortable with doing this?" Or were you at that stage of your life and your political career where you just said, "Look, this is the way business is done." Help me understand that?
BEN BARNES:
It would be very easy for me to sit here and tell you, Dan, that I had-- I wrestled with this and lost a lot of sleep at night. But I wouldn't be telling you the truth. I-- very-- not eagerly, but I was readily willing to call and get those young men into the National Guard that were friends of mine and supporters of mine.
And I did it. Reflecting back, I'm very sorry about it. But, you know, it happened. And it was because of my ambition, my youth, my lack of understanding. But it happened. And it's not, as I said, it's not something I'm necessarily proud of.
DAN RATHER:
You've thought about it a lot since then?
BEN BARNES:
I've thought about it an awful lot. And you walk through the Vietnam memorial, particularly at night as I did-- a few months again. And-- I tell, you'll think about it a long time.
DAN RATHER:
How do you feel about it now?
BEN BARNES:
Well, I don't think that I had any right to have the power that I had to be able to choose who was gonna go to Vietnam and who was not gonna go to Vietnam. That's a power. In some instances when I looked at those names, of-- maybe of-- of determining life or death. And that's not a power that I wanna have.
DAN RATHER:
Too strong or not to say that you're ashamed of it now?
BEN BARNES:
Oh, I think that would be a-- somewhat of an appropriate thing. I'm very, very sorry.
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