It should come as no surprise to any one of us over the age of 40 that the US Government would suddenly decide- 50 YEARS later that it was a good time to begin talking about the Vietnam war, those who served, those who died, those who volunteered. As if we had all lapsed into premature dementia and forgotten. The truth is that we have not forgotten!
A tremendous push is on to gussy up a war that divided a nation for over ten years, that caused the deaths of (at least) 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese. Three million Americans served. Eventually millions of us would protest against the war including many, many of those who returned and created Vietnam Veterans Against the War http://www.vvaw.org The collective amnesia suffered by us all has now morphed, thanks to the current Administration into a sinister campaign to finally address the American War in Vietnam. But not in truth, rather, in some fantasy land that people inhabit. The land of intentional forgetfulness. Well folks, we cannot and will not abide by it. And apparently, we're not alone- thank goodness! Please take a minute to read the following article from OP-ED NEWS by author David Swanson.
From OpEd News- David Swanson (link)
Too many have died, far too many have suffered and are still suffering themselves from wounds and exposure to defoliants and other toxic substances dumped on American military, civilian volunteers and Vietnamese civilians. The offspring of Americans* and Vietnamese exposed to toxins are suffering from catastrophic birth defects such as cancers, scoliosis, respiratory diseases, blindness, deformities and a multitude of other conditions. We just can't walk away from this. As a generation that was lied to, used and mistreated, thrown against one another- we can no longer go along with the myths.
The truth is- the US was "involved" in events in Indochina well before 1961. Records exist showing Americans engaged since shortly after WW II during what was known as the First Indochina War involving the French.
Beginning of American Involvement in Indochina (link)
Beginning of American Involvement in Indochina (link)
They Also Served
*It is important for us to note that Americans and Vietnamese were not the only people involved in this conflict...there were 3,000 Australians who served (500 KIA), soldiers from New Zealand, South Korea and a medical team from Spain. During November 2013 we will take a closer look at these people and share their stories. They are not dissimilar to "ours". Many Australian veterans and their children have been afflicted by the exposure of soldiers to defoliants and herbicides.
