J. D. Pendry

March 17, 2007, 1000 hours, Vietnam Memorial, Washington, DC  

I was 16 years old in 1968. I knew as much about the world around me as the average 16 year old did. I was aware of Vietnam because my brother took a tour there with the 25th Infantry Division and because it was always on the television. Intertwined with war news were always stories about protestors and draft card burners. They weren’t reported to us in the news as communist party and socialist inspired protestors, however. That is something I’d learn later when I was but a few years older and beginning to pay attention to such things.
 

The North Vietnamese began an offensive on lunar new year day in January of 1968, the year of the monkey. The Vietnamese name for the day is Tet Nguyen Dan, referred to as Tet. So now, it’s commonly called the Tet offensive of 1968. I heard about it, but knew as much about it’s implications as the average 1960’s teenager might be expected to - unless, you happened to be one of the heavily armed teenagers fighting the battles in the streets and jungles of Vietnam. What I most recall from the television news was scenes of U.S. Marines at the Battle of Hue. I learned later, as would any person willing to look, that Hue was just one defeat in what turned out to be a militarily devastating defeat for the North Vietnamese. Following Tet of 1968, the North Vietnamese, militarily defeated by their own admission, were ready to sue for peace. So, why didn’t they?
 

They saw the protestors in our streets preaching about American imperialism and war atrocities. Never brought up were the plentiful atrocities committed by the other side, not that it would ever justify any of our own, that would put a face on the enemy. Instead, the enemy was painted as a peasant victim of an American war of aggression. The news media in those days was as biased as it is today. The difference is that today we have many people to point out the bias. Trusted newsmen of the major networks (there was no cable or satellite television, no Internet blogs and AM radio played the Rolling Stones) never let facts like the military defeat of the North in Tet of 1968 get in the way of reporting their personal beliefs. Probably the most trusted name in news at the time, Walter Cronkite, told America that following Tet, America was defeated in Vietnam. America trusted what Uncle Wally told them. Did you ever wonder how many names were added to the Vietnam Memorial Wall after the North Vietnamese military defeat in 1968? I wonder if Walter knows.
 

In 1968, the enemy along with the rest of us saw the riots at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago. Any possible political will toward victory in Vietnam was lost there. Politicians then, as now, were more concerned with their political careers than with the fate of our Nation or the sacrifice of our Troops. With protestors in the streets and personal opinion disguised as news, the tide turned against winning in Vietnam. The victories delivered by the U. S. Military on the battlefields of Southeast Asia became defeats through the efforts of street protests, biased newsrooms and the Congress of the United States. Sadly, most of America stood by and watched it happen.
 

In 1969, we started Vietnamization of the war. That is train up, equip and support the South Vietnamese so that they could defend themselves and we could leave. By most accounts, it was working. At least it did until 1973 when Congress decided to end “Nixon’s” war and abandon a country still dependent on us by cutting off funds to support the South Vietnamese. With our troops all but gone and promised logistical and combat air support not forthcoming, the South Vietnamese Army’s combat capability deteriorated to the point that it couldn’t defend itself against a Soviet and Chinese backed North Vietnam. Uncle Ho and Uncle Wally became forever allies in the war against American aggression.
 

One of the most humiliating scenes I can recall in the history of my country is watching on television the evacuation of our embassy in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). People who supported and depended on us struggled to get onto the embassy grounds and aboard U.S. helicopters only to be beaten back and left to the communists. Thousands of them became boat people refugees trying to escape the country. Millions more died in reeducation camps and in Pol Pot’s killing fields. Politicians and protestors of the time will never accept responsibility for what their actions brought about. The rest of us who stood by while it happened own some responsibility too.
 

Four years after evacuating Saigon, Islamic Fascists took our embassy in Tehran, not surprisingly after we abandoned another ally. Whether you liked the Shah of Iran or not, is really quite irrelevant. When we did not offer him help at a time when he needed it, Islamic Fascism secured a foothold and began its worldwide support for terrorists. They knew us well. They counted on no response from us and gloated at our failed rescue attempt that was not likely to succeed in the first place. Since 1979, they’ve counted on a lack of American will to respond or sustain a fight and they’ve been right up until 9/11.
 

Welcome to 1968, 39 years later. I wonder if the Islamists care that it’s the year of the pig. In Iraq, we are training an Army to defend its country. At some point, we’ll equip that Army and then we’ll begin to leave along with our promises to continue support. We’re seeing an Islamist Tet now. They’re trying to kill as many innocent people as possible. Not to discourage the Iraqis, but to discourage the Americans at home whom they expect will be true to their current history of abandoning fights, and forsaking allies.
 

Our politicians have already shown they lack the courage to stand behind their votes that sent Soldiers to war and are looking for ways to withdraw support. Some have bragged about it. The news media still does not allow facts to get in the way of personal biases. Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and the other Socialist and Communist Party backed protestors are back in the streets.
 

Americans have choices. We can stand on the sidelines, hope for the right outcome, and prepare to evacuate embassies across the Middle East. Or, we can actively turn the tide by confronting weak-kneed politicians, biased media and the street protestors. It is the most important choice we have to make.
 

Every choice comes with consequence. Consider the consequence of your choice.
 

Copyright © 2007 J. D. Pendry

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