The US dropped more tons of bombs on Laos than North Vietnam destabilizing the former and Cambodia. The US is still paying for bomb removal in Laos to this day. Terrible US policy was responsible for the Khmer Rouge rise to power and genocide. Sound familiar?

That's all too bad, sorry about that, but look on the bright side, the multinationals in the military-industrial complex became filty-stinkin' rich, and what good for them, is good for us, and they got to use up all the old stuff left over from Korea. So what if it cost 55,000 dead and 300,000 wounded and maimed, and that's just the US side. Like Milo said, "everybody's got a share, so they won't mind"!!!

Fandango...you are an ass! I was over there because my country sent me to serve. I doubt you were even old enough, or even born yet, to know the reasons we were there? Yes, innocents died..collateral damage in a highly non-technological war. Our government, Your government ran the war. In 1967 we were only months away from defeating the NVA but then President LBJ, whom non-serving Texans seem to thing he was the greatest and through poor advisement, ceased our ability to bomb north of the DMZ to get the NVA to the peace table and the NVA took the advantage to rebuild their resources. We, as a nation, did one thing though, we abandoned the South Vietnamese with massive resources at hand, except for one major ting, ammunition to fight with! We embargoed munitions to the south after our government pulled us out.

Agent Orange, Red and Blue...another government attrocity that I, we, Vietnam Vet feel to this day, I hear no mention of the MIAs here.

BTW, If you could be so kind as to go over to Vietnam now and retrieve my left leg and the missing bits of my small intestines along with taking my shell sock (now politically known as PTSD) back with you and leave it there, I would appreciate it. And, get all those Americans who threw bags of piss on returning GI's to maybe say "I'm sorry" while they shake my hand today thanking me for my service, that would go a long way too to stop my ghosts from those days from haunting me at night!

And became one himself. R.I.P Horst Faas

Faas documented only some of the death and destruction caused by the Americans upon a small impoverished Asian nation. Faas could not photo all the B-52 carpet bombings of both civilian and military targets where millions of men, women, and children in South and North Vietnam were either killed or maimed. His photo could not record the stench of death and smell of Cordite from American massive artillery barrages; the horrific indiscriminate killings during search-and-destroy missions; random and senseless massacres of civilians by American firepower; and the brutal rape and murder of young women, and looting in village sweeps by American soldiers. Even so, his photos are sufficient indictment of America's crime against humanity, human rights, and human decency.

The perverted American government of the 60s and 70s made war criminals out of naive American youths from the America's heartland where patriotism runs deep. Over 55,000 precious sons and daughters of America's finest came home in body bags. Hundreds of thousands are permanent physically or psychologically disfigured. The human cost to the Vietnamese people are several magnitude greater than US had suffered.

Nearly 40 years has passed since Ho Chi Minh City superceded Saigon. A new generation of Americans with little or no memory of the past perverted US government whose military ambition destroyed so many lives, shattered many dreams and broke too many hearts.

As those who failed to learn from history are bounded to repeat it, the American people, today, find their government waging four wars for over ten years on the Asian continent once more. Like the Vietnam War, naive America's young men and women are exploited by government propaganda to kill and be killed in remote lands. While thousands of Americans soldiers have come home in body bags, tens of thousands of Iraqi, Pakistani, Yemen, and Afghani civilians are buried in anonymous graves. It is deja vu except this time there is no massive anti-war demonstration on the home-front or calls for the change of leadership in DC. The complacency or acquiescence of the American people to the four protracted wars waged in their name is evidence of the effectiveness government brainswashing.

fandango-you suck.

We tried to intervene in someone's civil war where we had no business. Washington promised the Viet people support and then sold them out. What they did to the one's of us that went over there was even worse.

I still have lots of memories of that place 42 years later; the smell, heat, leachs, hot beer, buddies, red smoke, kids, maliria pills, in comming fire, napalm, tropical chocolate and amillion other things. I learned a lot too; no matter what the govt. says...they are lying and it's easier to protest than to serve.

The U S involvment was a misguided effort. The people that served are my brothers and sisters that I stood with, cryed with, laughed with and love and respect. Knowing what I do and feeling like I do...I'd still march off, waving the flag.

What amuses me is that inspite of a Vietnam on their Hand, americans wholeheartedly supported Iraq war in 1991 and in 2003.

Unlike in vietnam, the government had learnt quite well how to control media and they did.

Even in an all digital world, the government has unfortunately evolved far better than peoples' organizations that support individual freedom. The latter have no clue in what way the government is controlling ordinary people and their mind.

As a 20 year old I used to think, it's impossible for government to control the tide of freedom that will come with the digital age. But i am not so sure anymore.

Hey stonepipe -- truth hurts. doesn't it?!

--------

stonepipe

fandango-you suck.

• !

#1.8 - Fri May 11, 2012 7:11 AM EDT

fandango and fatcat,

"Faas could not photo all the B-52 carpet bombings of both civilian and military targets where millions of men, women, and children in South and North Vietnam were either killed or maimed."

Fass could not photograph all of the military weapons, supplies and other war material that North Vietnamese stockpiled in civilian areas that included but not limited to schools, hospitals, homes and areas occupied by civilians. Why did they do this? Simply because by putting this war supplies in those areas would cause casualties amoung civilians. THEY purposefully did this to their own people.

From your comments it's clear you don't understand what the North Vietnamese were and are capable of doing. But you two "armchair generals" haven't a clue about that war and how it was conducted by the north. I suppose you think jane fonda was a great hero also.

Richard, you are wrong. They did this because they had no choice but to fight a guerrilla warfare against a mighty American military with superior air power. If they had rented a warehouse, its easy target.

But that is not the point. They point is, Americans had no business being in VN in the first place. Read up on Tonkin resolution. This declaration of war was based on FRAUD by President LBJ which started operation Rolling Thunder. This resolution was in response to American Navy shipped getting attacked by NVL, which we know today beyond a reasonable doubt that it was fraud.

Richard Nixon once said, if they we dont stop the spread of communism, we would eventually go to World War 3. Welp, I'm still waiting.

amused- I promise you something very bad will happen to you sooner than you think. Same goes to you fandango.

Fandango: You and your ilk are still blaming the GI's for things they couild not control. The GI's were sent to Viet Nam by an uncaring government. They had no choice but to go; to do otherwise was treason and/or desertion. And yes, the NVA and the VC used schcools, hospitals, and so forth around Hanoi as storage depots because they knew the Rules of Engagement forbade our putting attacks on such structures (after all, they are peaceful structures, aren't they?). Similarly, the NVA put SAM ssites and AAA sites next to hospitals and religious structures (chcurches,temples, etc.) for the same reason; our bombing wasn't accurate enough to hit the site and spare the church, ... right next dor. Just like the bad guys do in southern Lebanon, and in Gaza today. So, do not even try to blame the poor frikin GI who has to wade out in the mud and get his a** shot off to defend your luxurious life style. Instead, get down on your damn knees and kiss their boots. While you're at it, beg their forgiveness for your total lack of gratitude, not to mention total lack of caring for anything but yourself.

Bill Clinton was a great President. Why is it necessary to drag his name through the mud with the rest of those evil individuals you mentioned?

He had a draft deferment too, and he authorized the aerial bombardment of Belgrade, Serbia- Hitler's Luftwaffe bombed Belgrade as well. Clinton oversaw the Kosovo disaster. Yes, Bush and Cheney are the worst war criminals since LBJ and Nixon.

Dont agree with the Clinton comments, but you are dead on LBJ and Nixon. There is a special hell for those guys.

Don't forget willard...

He was in France a the time.. Ironically,... telling the French how important the American mission in Vietnam was..

I was in the Submarine Service during Viet Nam. Not very close to the war and to see those pictures again was a shock. In 1968 I was at the Honolulu Airport waiting for a friend to arrive. A bunch Army guys were going back to the war after R and R, the sun was setting, the full sunlight was coming through the outside boarding gate door, as the soldiers stepped through the door they disappeared into the light, it was very spooky!! I'm so pissed at that war and the people who started it, I truly hope there is a special place in hell for them all, a place they so richly deserve.

I agree with all the names except Clinton?? and you forgot King Rumsfeld. Mastermind!

Dont agree with the Clinton comments, but you are dead on LBJ and Nixon. There is a special hell for those guys.

Didn't know you were a Christian, Fandango. That you actually believe in heaven and hell.

;)

Look at photo #5... see the man with the MoPic camera ? he is an 84-C

Every person with an 84 MOS was a guy with a camera, not a weapon .

It was those guys who made it possible for you people back here in the world to see what we saw...

but you missed all the fun us "84's" had capturing those images

and unlike the subject of this obituary, we were ORDERED into service with no option of

"hanging back on this one"... and there are few things in life as thrilling as facing enemy fire with a camera

while hanging out the side of a Huey or on foot .

Mr. Fass was about as good a shooter as they come, he had the guts to get the shots needed to educate AMERICA about a"skirmish" that was costing infinite amounts of blood & money...

combat & news photog's supplied all of the evidence of the lies that the administrations kept fostering in the press, Viet Nam was grinding-up all of the cash & bodies we fed into it..... and the USA would get NOTHING back in return NOTHING !

Every time I see a picture of Robert McNamara smirking I want to either puke or put my hands around his neck & express my "feelings". .... Tom, Bill & Charlie are not here today, their parents & families will never be the same and bastards like Cheney & the rest of the chicken-hawks remain mouthy & arrogant.... and out of the reach of my waiting & willing hands .

Tom, Bill & Charlie are not here today, their parents & families will never be the same and bastards like Cheney & the rest of the chicken-hawks remain mouthy & arrogant.... and out of the reach of my waiting & willing hands .

Is that a threat? We need to call the Secret Service?

There should be more of YOU and less of them. Thanks for your thoughtful words.

vet - people like you make us not lose faith in humanity. God bless you.

Vet: you said it very well, better than I could. Welcome back home friend. Been there, done that in my way. A SOG-supporting FAC.

I read in the Stars and Stripes magazine, while on ambush with the 5th ARVN Division, a quote from General Walt, of 5th Marine Division, I think. I was 1st Inf. Army. He said the 5th ARVN Division was the worst fighting Division every assembled in the history of warfare. The pic above with the soldier who has the 1st Inf Div patch was outside Lai Kai, 1970. I was told last month I now have two rare leukemia's. Thanks for the memories.

Yank, 11B Recon 1st 28th Inf Black Lions

WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! NO It was not worth one life.! But Egypt was and now is not. American, misguided policy. How's the tourist industry in Egypt? Zero! Murbarak went from friend to foe at the whim of America.

Sorry off the subject, just a point.

Dave,

Amen, brother!

People don't seem to understand that the "heros" of WWII were the military leaders, political leaders and influential members of society that got us into Vietnam, established policy and managed the war. Yet, even today, we (my time 1965-1967) were the ones to recieve all the sh!t from the American society when we returned.

Thank you America for blaming the "little guy" for Vietnam.

Dave and Richard: Let's get together somewhere. I'll buy the first drink for each of us. We, all of us Nam vets, have a lot of painful memories to try to numb, and a lot of beautiful ones too (friends, beautiful sights, etc.) to enhance. Let us try to find a way to minimize, but not eliminate the peinful memories, to make more room for those memories we want to keep with us(friends, especially).

thank you David , I have been saying the same thing for years now , Im 63 yeARS OLD NOW AND BECAUSE OF NAM I CANT WALK A BLOCK ANY MORE MY HEALTH IS SO BAD THANKS NAM ,Bags of piss yep got them in San Francisco , Left several buddys in nam,LBJ, NIXON, all of them i hope they rot in hell , nam is my living hell and i relive it everyday...........

lennox,

You don't have a clue of what we were doing in Cambodia, what the Khmer Rouge AND North Vietnamese were doing there nor when they were there.

The Khmer Rouge and North Vietnamese were in Cambodia for years before we bombed their supply bases and staging areas in 1970.

Neutral country?! Ya, right! Just like Laos was neutral. Neutral in the political sense but damn deep into the war both in Vietnam and theior own countries.

Well I can't say you have a short memory - just way short on knowledge about the Vietnam war.

Sorry! And Thanks Dad.

Sorry to hear about your Dad. He sounded like a good leader,wish I knew him over there.And you do feel guilt for comeing back.

Thank you both. And Steven, thank you for your service. I was too young to understand fully what my dad was going through, and you likely have as well. My father was wounded in action on December 18th, 1968, his purple heart hangs proudly in my "man cave". :) My encounter with him was brief, but as I get older and now that I am a dad myself, I think about him more and wish I had really had a chance to know him. I have some reel-to-reel tapes they called "living letters" that he sent home that I listen to, but the machine is old and I don't think it works quite right, but the words are understandable.

Status Report: SNAFU. SNAFU is an excellent acronym to describe the whole frikin war (Situation Normal: All F%^ked Up). If you can get a copy of "What the Captain Means," youi might find it both entertaining/funny and enlightening. I believe it may be on tape somewhere, or in You Tube somewhere. Try to Google it. Back to your post. Most GI's who survived their tours to come home had a feeling of guilt: "Why did I survive, when good men died/got killed?" I know I did. Still do. Will till the day I die. Sounds like your dad was a Hell of a man. One day we'll meet in Heaven; we've had our time in Hell.

Fred, thanks for the info - I'll definitely check it out. :) I picked my nickname for exactly what it means. It pretty well applies to just about any war, and a lot of other everyday life situations. SNAFU / FUBAR... :) I'm sure the feelings of guilt from coming home are natural, but they effect everyone differently and they were overwhelming for my dad. Some are able to come home and somehow make a fairly "normal" transition back to civilian life. For others, it's just not that simple. He was exposed to the "harmless" Agent Orange like a lot of Vietnam vets were and eventually succumbed to Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I'll never forget his funeral, meeting some of the men he served with. One of the few things I remember from being 8. Thank you for your service as well. War is hell, freedom isn't free, but I sure wish our nation didn't feel the need to get involved in everyone else's wars!!

In all fairness, honesty and
consideration for your views, I would have to say this was not true.

OK. I was drafted in 1969, at the age of 19, and because I
didn't want to kill anyone, or lose a leg to a mine, I enlisted to get an M.O.S.
that was not in the infantry, but then volunteered to go back for a second tour
in Vietnam, due to my confusion, naiveté, PTSD, youth, and a whole bunch of
other factors. So when I disagree with you, it is only because I have spent a
lot of time thinking about this.

In my high school graduating class of 750
seniors in 1968, 65% of students went off to college, which meant that most of
them were not drafted.

The draft was ended and replaced by a
lottery draft the next year, and with troop draw downs, many of the people who
would have been drafted did not have to serve. Then, of course, the draft was
actually ended, but males had to, and still have to, by law, register for the
selective service list, which is inactive, and many young people just ignore the
law today.

Secondly, the woman's movement came of
age as I as serving in Vietnam, and NOT ONE WOMAN WAS DRAFTED. Although most
want equal rights, or perhaps I am wrong about that? To this day, women still do
not have to register for the selective service list (which would be used in an
emergency if a draft was needed).

So more than one half of the population
was exempt from the draft, and if a woman wanted to, she could join the WOMAN'S
ARMY CORPS (W.A.C.), but only about ten enlisted women from the WACs were
allowed to serve IN-COUNTRY, the term the military used to hazardous duty in
Vietnam, and off the coast in the Navy, etc..

True, there were many thousands of brave
W.A.C. nurses (and nurses from other service organizations, like the WAVEs,
etc..), who served in Vietnam. But they were officer volunteers, not drafted,
and when the troops lined up to get on a plane, it was WOMEN FIRST, then
OFFICERS, and then enlisted men (assuming the boarding was an orderly boarding,
and not under fire, etc..).

So although most nurses who served in Nam
were volunteer officers, with a special skill, who often had to beat the men
away from their hutch as they attempted to do their duty (most enlisted men had
to use whores, or just write lonely letters home and use Playboy as a stand-in
for their imaginary lover....LOL...LOL), these nurses, as officers, did have
special privileges, in that they were women officers, and treated as
such.

Although if you read the books written by
nurses (and Red Cross) and other women who served in Nam, they have a lot of
PTSD, and served heroically. SO I AM NOT ADDRESSING THE HEROISM OF FEMALES IN
VIETNAM, but JUST THE DRAFT, etc., and whatever fairness that term may
imply.

Even a famous Vietnam Vet like Vice
President Al Gore, who allowed himself to be drafted after finishing college,
got an assignment as a combat photographer, something I could have tried for if
I wanted to, that allowed him to do what I did, and that was to serve in combat,
but not as a part of an infantry platoon.

And when Al Gore’s father died, who was a
US Senator, Al Gore was allowed to come home for his funeral after only five
months IN-COUNTRY, but unlike many average draftees, he was allowed to be
reassigned, and not have to finish his tour of duty in Vietnam, unlike someone
with no political clout. Once again, as with women, I am not making fun of Al
Gore, as I may have made the same decision in his place, but merely addressing
the idea that the draft had some fairness to it (a concept which makes me laugh,
not at anyone in particular, but George Carlin made hay of many such
jokes...LOL).

Obviously, George W. Bush had pull,
because his father had been a combat vet in WW II, and was a former congressman
and a Director of the CIA. So he was allowed to get in to the Texas Air
National Guard, something which many other people without pull couldn’t have
done.

I am not an expert on this, but in many
areas of the country, by 1969, the waiting list for the National Guard was a
very long one, as most national guard units were not sent to Vietnam (except for
a few, here and there).

The same was true with the waiting list
for the Navy (Coast Guard, etc.), which my Mother, a former US Navy WAVE, wanted
me to join, because it seemed obvious to most folks that most of the dying and
losing of limbs was happening on land with the Marines and Army, although I know
of many Navy vets who served on ships or in Nam who have severe PTSD, and severe
physical wounds, so joining the Navy was not a guarantee that you would escape
the war.

One of the things I didn’t like about the
Navy was it was a four year commitment, and thinking like a young man, I thought
I could get through with this stuff in three years of Army enlistment, whereas
in reality, it lasted with me for a lifetime, as well as for many others, and I
am one of the lucky ones who is still alive at age 62 to write about it on the
web.

I guess the draft did nothing to promote
fairness, or involve the country, but it offered many loopholes for those with
guile, like Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton, who did not prefer to be involved in
the war.

I had a recent knee operation, but demonstrated to the medical officer just how well my knee had healed in recent months, and was drafted...LOL A good friend lied about his minor knee pain, and with a medical certificate from a doctor, spent my Vietnam years learning to play a good game of tennis...LOL Later, he would tell me to shut up, as I had only given up two years of my life (which his brother had done by being drafted in to the Marines for a 2 year stretch, so I assume this was what he told his brother back then....LOL). My friend was a Nixon supporter and thought the war was a good idea, but not for him. LOL

Our current wars did not require the huge
troop buildups that we had in Vietnam, and we were allowed to outsource a lot of
our troop requirements through the low cost hiring of Filipinos, Indians,
Iraqis, and other people to serve food at the mess hall, do the laundry, and
many other chores which were handled by soldiers in Vietnam (although there was
a lot of outsourcing there, also).

Basically, we only used over 2 million
troops in Afghan/Iraq, because we used many more who we hired from other
countries to do the common chores of driving tanker trucks, providing food, and
other basic services, which troops were used for in Vietnam. Therefore, no
need for a draft in our current wars overseas.

I remember watching the draftees (as I
had enlisted for 3 years after getting my draft notice) at our swearing in
ceremony in Newark, NJ, count off from one to seven, and number seven was
drafted in to the Marines, as by that time, the Marines had to depend upon the
draft to keep their numbers up.

IF I HAVE MADE GROSS ERRORS, OR LEFT
THINGS OUT IN THIS DIATRIBE OF MINE...LOL.. YOU WILL PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I just
think the draft was used in Vietnam because they needed more people than they
could get to join at the draftee wages and draftee treatment of military at that
time, BUT I GUESS I DON’T SEE WHERE THE DRAFT INVOLVED THE NATION, as the war
went on for years, more US military died in Vietnam than our current wars, and I
think the draft was used because they couldn’t get enough people to serve as
professional military, and had nothing to do with INVOLVING THE WHOLE NATION, or
ANY SORT OF FAIRNESS OR SHARING OF THE DUTY OF WAR.

I’m sure that many others have other
points of view, and perhaps I am infused with bitterness and sorrow in my older
age, so I apologize for that. And where my view is incorrect, or incomplete,
please correct me, and good luck and well wishes to all of our military
personnel, as war makes me so sad. Roger Stavitz in Danforth, Maine.

PS And finally, to address your last
point, we ended our Vietnam involvement in great debt, because President Lyndon
Johnson chose a policy that was called war and butter, meaning that he made huge
expenditures for the war, as well as making huge expenditures on civilian
programs to support the poor and the middle class (as the wealthy are always
taken care of). So, unlike WW II, where most people rationed food, gasoline,
and other products, the home front during Vietnam was full of luxury and
financial hubris, and just like today, the bill did not cone due until after the
war wound down.

SEE National Security Action Memorandum #63 (NSAM#63 & 65)

for proof of your assertion, it's the one that LBJ "modified" to suit his agenda...which was not JFK's of "breaking the CIA into a million pieces".

h4abworld,your comment is right on the money.Kennedy, frome what I heard, had a piece treaty allready made up.I was there in "68" and also lost a friend in a chopper crash.