Many of the "Boat People" of Vietnam ended up at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. At that time, I worked for the Ft. Smith School District on a paint crew, and we painted an ancient school that was near Chaffee's property. The Vietnamese were being taught English, and other subjects, there.

There was a day in which I was getting ready to mount the scaffold we used to get to the highest point of the building. Suddenly, a wizened old man came up to me with tears in his eyes. I didn't know what to expect.

He said, "You were there. You were a soldier."

I answered, "Yes, sir. I was."

He openly wept, now, and said to me, "Thank you for trying to save my country." Then, he embraced me. It was my turn to break into tears, and I hugged him back, and said, "It was my honor, sir."

Note that I didn't want to die in Vietnam, my friends. But I would have gladly given my life, if it would have saved that country from Communism. My best friend ... a good-natured, freckle-faced, red-headed kid from Iowa ... did make that sacrifice (only to be betrayed by the DEMs in Congress, who violated the terms of the Paris Accords).

For myself, I was badly wounded my last day in combat on the same day that Smitty was killed. In the Ashau Valley ...

And thank you for doing what was right.

It was my honor. Thank you, sir.

In recent days, I've been thinking how honorable it would have been to die in a war while I still believed in the nation.

Who knows? I may get another chance.

The day the VC sapper team breached the wall of the US Embassy in Saigon on January 31, 1968 was the day Walter Cronkite betrayed every single American who did his duty in RVN, declaring the war to be lost. The "most trusted man in America" was in reality a leftist traitor.

Several years ago, I met a Vietnamese man on Evergreen Island in the Mekong near Cai Be. He worked with the US Army's 25th ID during the war. He loves Americans and risked his life to help them, getting put into a reeducation camp for his efforts (at least they didn't kill him and his family).

I also visited Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. The propaganda is fierce inside, calling the war the "American War". They use images of US POWs, including McCain, disgusting! But the real Vietnamese people are indeed lovely, as are the Cambodians in my experience.

In the mid 70's I finally found out (from vets) that 'we' actually won the Tet Offensive and 'we' crushed the VC, my first thought was 'that lying bast--d Cronkite. And then I understood why he, Cronkite, couldn't understand why America thought he was the most trusted man in America. He knew better. That was the start of my loss in the faith of the press. Hooey.

Not to mention the wonderful cuisine of both countries.

You got that right. The best French baguette I've ever eaten was at the Sofitel Legend Metrople Hotel in downtown Hanoi! We had some great pho in Saigon, and wonderful Cambodian food in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. I'm looking forward to Hue City and DaNang.

Cronkite fooled almost all the people most of the time.

What a pompous ass.

As a US Marine veteran (combat infantry 0311) my first orders out of boot camp were "1st Marine Division - Vietnam." As it turned out, the Corps began pulling out of Vietnam and my orders were eventually changed.

Although I totally supported the cause of Vietnam that would try to allow the South Vietnamese to live a free life (as all human beings should) I am not sure we should have done as much of the fighting as we did. We should have aided South Vietnam with full support, but not fight the war to the degree we did for them.

This does not in any way reduce the honor and sacrifice of all servicemen and women who lost their lives in the conflict. They were fighting for an honorable cause and were betrayed by politicians and leftists when they were on the verge of victory. (That John Kerry is still around and having political power in this administration after his egregious betrayal of his comrades in arms is disgusting.)

Thank you sir for your service and sacrifice (and Smitty's as well). It was always my honor to serve with the best America had to offer in all branches. Semper Fi!

I met a soldier who was at the Chosin Reservoir when 100,000 Chinese came over the wall. It was a bloody battle but it told the story that in Korea; Viet Nam and today we were and are still in war against China. And just like the slave issue was deferred from the day they signed the constitution to the Civil War, when the south and north finally fought it out, we will one day have to eliminate Chinese power or lose ours to them. Communism and the leaders who run it are evil, plain and simple.

You are correct that the Chinese communists were highly influential in US policy in Vietnam and Korea. Both wars would have had a better outcome without the Chinese support of our adversaries.

Communism is a one-party, anti-free speech, anti-freedom of religion, anti-individual rights political ideology. It is amazing that some people wish to put the same kind of system in place in the USA.

Rockefeller and Wall Street bankrolled Mao and the North Vietnamese Communists -- Anthony Sutton proved this in his books by using receipts for heavy equipment etc. -- these are the traitors --Rockefeller Foundation/Gates Foundation are behind all of the NWO "Great Reset" we are seeing done thru the CVirus cover....Most people have no clue that the Bolsheviks of Wall Street have been at work for a very long time and are now tightening the noose on the USA

You just described the Democrat party!

Too bad we cannot send those people who want communism so bad over to a country that has "it". Sort of like a disease.

In Taiwan, I had a taxi ride from one of the former Chicom POW who didn't want to be sent back. He'd been among the forces that chased our Marines at the "Frozen Chosin", and saw that a lot of his comrades who had been sent ahead to ambush our retreat had frozen to death in position.

If an Army brat can be allowed to say this, "Semper Fi"!

Completely agree with you about Kerry, by the way.

Not every Army brat - but you can!

May the values we fought for continue to be a blessing for the country.

Amen to that, brother!

Are there ONIONS in here???!!! THANK you, Soldier....

Thanks Wolfie !!!

Thank you sir for your service!

My dad was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He did 6 tours. How many North Vietnam soldiers volunteered for even one tour? Communism is evil.

Honors to your father. I remember those pilots dropping us off, under fire, and landing to pick us up, under fire. Brave guys ...

That meeting and embrace must have been incredibly cathartic for you.

As a fellow (Navy retired) vet, thanks for your sacrifice, brother.

Thank you for your story and service. I didn't join the military (something I often regret, as it came from cowardice plain and simple), but I've tried to change my life as a respect to the sacrifices guys like you made for America in helping those who were bullied and murdered by the Communists all around the world.

Malinse, take a close look at the policies and programs of the Biden Administration. Eventually, those policies will have to be put in place through force, because Americans ... for the most part ... disagree with them, and the ideals behind them. Freedom is always one election away from destruction. Liberty is not the general condition of the human race. Be aware of what's happening inside the government (information that is filtered heavily by the mainstream media ... you have to do some digging).

As for me, I still expect to die on a battlefield, even at 71 years of age.

You, sir, are a philosopher warrior and a truth teller.

In 2017 I took a package tour to White Cliffs, which is an opal mining town in the Australian outback. Among my fellow passengers were two blind (yes, blind) Vietnamese-Australian sisters. We visited one of the miners' claims, and were shown around the small dwelling the fossicker and his wife and built. Noting some of the posters on the wall, I asked his wife, "Was your husband a Vietnam veteran?" He was. At that, one of the sisters sought out our husband and said, "Thank you for fighting for our country." I later learned that they had come to Australia as child refugees.

The Vietnam War was just, so you did well.

However, one of my relatives was probably poisoned by Agent Orange. He had severe mental issues until his death. That probably played a big part in me embracing natural health.

Thank you for your service and selfless sacrifice.

Shortly after arriving in Na-Trang while awaiting further
assignment, I and a couple of others, fulling the duty of every enlisted man to get out
of every stinking detail he could, pulled a disappearing act and went to
explore the area. We came across a Catholic priest, a native Vietnamese, who
showed us around the orphanage he ran. At the end of the tour the good father said,
“Thank you for coming to my country.”

I went there when the 101st was taking over Camp Evans from the Marines, in 1968. One of those Marines did me a huge favor. He saw me standing there with my bolt-action rifle (I was a sniper), and he said, "Come with me, son." He was a Gunny, after all, so I followed him. Then, he pointed to the west and said, "See those woods? How many 1000-yard shots you figure you'll get out there, boy?" I saw his point.

He fixed me up with with an M14, and then made sure I had a steady supply of the NATO rounds fitted with 5.56mm sabot-discarding bullets. Never missed a shot with them, and never fired a round at a longer range than 70 yards.

I was wounded on May 8, 1969, the day before the battle for Hill 937 started (also known as Hamburger Hill). The NVA artillerymen who killed my spotter and wounded me probably never knew that they saved my life, most likely.

Welcome home, brother. Glad you're a survivor.
Call sign: Cobra 6
114Th Assault Helicopter Company
Vihn Long 1968

Welcome home!

I can't say it enough: welcome home to all of you. Thank you for your service, and I pray we have not lost your country for you.
Lord, please save our country for the sake of those who sacrificed so much for liberty, and for the sake of their friends who gave all.

Using the sabot-discarding round, that little 5.56 left the muzzle at about 3000 fps. Range wasn't that good, but in that country, you didn't fire for long range. I've seen heads explode ... the accuracy was amazing.

Vietnam ... is what the DemoCCPrats are hoping to achieve here ...

*** Everyone here have an excellent week!

It was the Vietnam war that radicalized my sister in the 60s who, by the way, came from a conservative Republican family. I used to ask my father, "whatever
happened to Mary?" who is still a leftist to this day. My parents, fine Christians, took a Vietnamese family in their home in the 70s where they lived for a year until they could get on their feet.

Mary bought into the lies. We have always fought to liberate.

Well, my comment seems superfluous after reading Wolfie, but my little pet tangent is that neither JFK nor LBJ was competent to conduct a war in a strategically sensible way. And that Nixon got us out, for the most part.

Nothing ... absolutely nothing ... that you have to say is superfluous, AA!

It's interesting to note that General Giap ... the commander of all North Vietnamese forces ... after his disastrous invasion of the South in 1967, expected US forces to pour across the border and bring down the North. He had nothing lest to defend his country with. Of course, Johnson did not do this. Victory was not in his plans, you see.

The war - which was conducted in a time when virtually all US military hardware was manufactured in America - was necessary for the creation of the "Great Society". It created the wealth used for Johnson's massive social programs.

I've been reading Horowitz's books and his mention of the anti-war movement and its "legacy" brought to us today through our colleges and universities. That contributed to the rapid moral decline of this country.

I was a long-haired hippie in the 70s. Hitchhiked cross country and joined the Navy in Philadelphia. I joined, literally, the day the Viet Nam War ended in 75. And, unfortunately, I carried my primary career in with me. Being the best drunk I could be. I barely got out with an honorable. I think I even voted for Carter around that time.

Thank God, though, for a Greatest Generation gra'mom who passed on her love of books, reading and history to me. After a while I finally grew some brains.

I like to joke that I didn't fully mature until I was in my 40s. But I still count my blessings of my gra'mom and that I don't share the same idiocy of all those morons who have helped to catastrophically f**k up this country for the last four-plus years. I can hardly believe what I'm seeing. And I like to think I've pretty much seen it all when it comes to corruption. Up close and personal.

But this vindictive, vicious, over the top pure evil on steroids from the Dems and Media these past four years is something I would have never believed forty years ago. I would have called you a liar.

That's why I think it's of critical importance to spread these FrontPage articles around like religious tracts and challenge these idiots loudly and often. Because, as we've witnessed, these scum know no lows to which they won't go. No lie they won't tell. Like that piece of crap Schiff; Right to your face.

Similar to you, but about 10 years after, entered college a young Christian and they f'kd my head up. The national Viet Nam Memorial had just opened. I visited there spent some time with some vets on MIA/POW vigil. But it was too late for me I went back to college after Easter break and went to the dark side for several years. My Lord pulled me back out late 20s. I serve Him now and pray for our country to be saved, but I will never fully recover from my moral failure as a young Christian. "No man is worthy having put his hand to the plow..."

I couldnt agree with you more mate, as I was "Of The Left" most of my life until one day I realized just who was playing what game against whom, and boom, I dropped the Red Pill, not an Acid Tab, just the truth.
I was born in Scotland 1948, was 100% in the trip of London England in the late 60s.Moved to the USA in early 1980s.

Tell me John, did we ever meet in Bangkok at one time perhaps late 1990s or early 2000s?.
If so email me at abw48@yahoo.com.

Wolfie what is your take on McNamara's Morons and McNamara himself. I see a huge parallel between McNamara's Morons, Mario Cuomo dumping the homeless on the streets and Andrew Cuomo dumping Covid into nursing homes.

From what I see is its a needs of the party first mentality and not even disease or war matters more.

Of course, I went to Vietnam in 1968, and by then, SecDef McNamara's little war had been going on, for a long time. By the time I got there, one of my cousins had been killed, and one came home with an eye shot out. My father begged me, as a volunteer, to go to Germany.

But people who had been putting their lives on the line inspired me to volunteer for service, there. So, I went to Vietnam.

I think that McNamara probably executed his Boss' demands. That is, a war without end that would cause a massive amount of materiel to be manufactured in American factories, thus ... through taxes ... giving Johnson what he wanted: Billions of dollars to fund the "Great Society", which did absolutely nothing to help the people it was intended for (unless a 10-year waiting period to get into Cabrini Green, in Chicago, can be considered a good thing).

We have seen much the same thing with Presidents, since then, and seemingly endless wars. The one exception to this rule was Donald John Trump. Even when he was sufficiently provoked into war with Iran, turned down the "gracious offer". Thus, President Trump became the first "Peace President" since Eisenhower.

The wars started to send a message without the aim of victory failed. Escalation was messaging. Peace with credible character and sufficient weaponry can work. Eisenhower threatened to use the bomb to end the Korean War. He sent marines to Lebanon. Nobody wanted to push their chips into the pot. Trump remained credible without war, which could have left him open to partisan betrayal. Biden is a power vacuum waiting for defeat.