BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Who has watched the Ken Burns Vietnam show?

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On Fri, 06 Oct 2017 10:33:37 -0400,
wrote:

On Thu, 05 Oct 2017 23:56:42 -0400, wrote:

It really reminds me why I do not trust the government.
In that period I went from a raving hawk, who actually tried to go
over there three times (once with the Navy, once with the CG and once
with IBM) to an anti war guy. In the process, I lost my faith in
politicians, the media and the government in general. I am not sure I
have seen the process defined as well as in watching that show and it
covers the same time frame.

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I've watched most of it. Over time I think that most of us realized
that what we were being told and the reality were two different
things. Seeing all of the misinformation and lies in one place, over
a short period of time, is deeply disturbing however. LBJ and Nixon
come off in a particulary bad light, Kennedy not much better.

They do point out how much JFK had to do with our involvement and that
gets glossed over in most telling of the tale. The oldest Vietnam
veteran I know was sent there during the JFK administration, coming
home after LBJ took over (Green Beret). The other 2 guys were marines.
None of them were actually hurt in the war, their injuries did not
show up until they got home. None of the 3 ever got over it. Like most
real combat veterans, they never actually talked much about what
happened. The guys with all of the stories were never there.

The show also points out something I have always said. It was Ford who
actually ended the war, perhaps his greatest achievement and a
significant one.

I also was impressed with how disillusioned the North Vietnamese
veterans were with their win. They fought for communism and when they
actually got it, they figured out right way that it really sucked. It
confirms what I have always said, left to their own devices, communism
will fall from it's own weight. It really points out the flaws in our
Cuba policy (another JFK legacy). Without the US as the enemy, the
Cubans will have time to look at their own flawed government and
demand change.