Veteran's Day also counts for our Vietnam veterans
By Trey Rusk
Running Code 3
November 9, 2018
I'm old enough to remember the Vietnam Police Action. It was really a war but even back then political correctness wouldn't allow it to be called a war. Nearly 60,000 American soldiers perished in Vietnam. I call that a war!
If you were poor and could not get a draft deferment then off to the jungle you went. Some draft dodgers went to Canada in an effort not to serve. To add insult to the veteran's that did serve, President Jimmy Carter later pardoned the draft dodgers.
Soldiers who served in Vietnam were not considered heroes to the American public because the war was very unpopular. The negative feelings and protests toward this police action resulted in a divided nation. Our own military, The National Guard killed and wounded several students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University.
Today, that attitude has changed and those who served in Vietnam are considered heroes and honors are being bestowed upon them for their actions fifty years ago.
Sadly, many soldiers who made it back home to the scorn felt toward them because of a unpopular war never fully recovered mentally. To make matters worse, we lost the war in Vietnam.
In my opinion, America was wrong to ever enter the Vietnam debacle. I can say that now because most people can see that even after we pulled out of South Vietnam, nothing really changed.
Had we declared war and fought like we were in a true war the outcome may have been different. It took nearly 60,000 American lives and countless South Vietnamese lives to confirm this police action was a costly mistake.
In Vietnam, the soldiers that were drafted or volunteered for duty honorably served their nation.
God Bless our Vietnam Veterans.
That's the way I see it.
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