(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



50 Years Ago U.S. Combat Troops left Vietnam Honor our Vets, and Celebrate Daniel Ellsberg. [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-03-27

March 29th is Vietnam Veterans Day. It is a day most Americans are not aware of. It’s not a day off from school or work. There are no retail sales honoring this specific group of soldiers. Yet every Vietnam Vet deserves our honor, our respect, and our thanks. March 29, 1973, was the day American forces officially deactivated the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam which had guided the American war effort in Vietnam since 1962. On this day, the last Vietnam Combat Troops left Vietnam.

One can only imagine how a Governor like Ron DeSantis who won’t allow children to read Anne Frank’s Diary, or to learn about American involvement in the slave trade, will handle the teaching of our involvement in Vietnam in Florida classrooms. It’s bound to make people uncomfortable.

Peter Dewey was the first American to die in Vietnam. His name belongs in more history books. If your father or grandfather served in WWII, in Europe, and survived, you might want to thank Peter Dewey for his extraordinary service during that time. And Peter warned his military and politically appointed superiors that America would not, could not, win in Vietnam. How will Ron DeSantis handle Peter Dewey?

From teaching how Richard Nixon sabotaged the 1968 peace talks to improve his election chances, to the My Lai Massacre, activities so un-American, DeSantis has some tough choices to make. So do Vietnam Veterans. The death of 21,000 Americans between 1968 and 1975 lay squarely at the feet of Republican President Richard Nixon.

Yet a majority of Vietnam Vets vote Republican and support Trump: Despite the disrespect and contempt he offered to John McCain. It is my hope that some Vietnam Vets will read this and think twice about whomever they support for public office. If the sixties taught me one thing, it was to question authority.

And I understand why Trump sought to evade military service during Vietnam. Many in my generation also sought to avoid serving in Vietnam.

As a child growing up in the shadows of WWII and the Korean War, I like just about every other boy played war games. Every one of us expected to serve our country somewhere on this globe. We relished the opportunity to be heroes like our “Greatest Generation.” Instead, the sixties turned out to be something completely different.

But we had heroes. One of them was Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg had been a Platoon Leader for the Second Marine Division during the Korean War. He was no coward. As a military advisor he was in active combat situations during Vietnam. He had a wife and children, and he was wiling to separate himself from them, to serve a lifetime prison sentence for the actions he would take in exposing America’s fraud.

Daniel Ellsberg let all of America know what Peter Dewey said back in 1955 was true, and American leaders from Eisenhower, to Kennedy, to Johnson, and Nixon all knew the United States had no plan for Victory in Vietnam, that we could not have a plan for victory in Vietnam, that we would not win in Vietnam. Johnson and Nixon sacrificed American lives, made fathers, mothers, fellow soldiers, brothers, sisters, friends mourn for a reason only they know. Ellsberg exposed this. Daniel Ellsberg provided the “Pentagon Papers” to the New York Times and Washington Post. On the last day of June 1971 the Supreme Court ruled the New York Times and Washington Post could print this “top secret” information. In August 1971, Nixon publicly presented an eight-point peace plan for Vietnam.

Ellsberg was arrested under the Espionage Act and faced life imprisonment. Charges against Ellsberg were dismissed in May 1973, shortly after the Vietnam Veterans returned home. Gross government misconduct, spying on Ellsberg, illegally wiretapping his conversations, and breaking into his psychiatrist’s office saved Ellsberg from trial and the life sentence he had been prepared to serve.

We don’t know how much longer Vietnam would have gone on without Daniel Ellsberg; how many more American lives would have been lost, how many more American families and soldiers would go into mourning over lost loved ones, but we do know Daniel Ellsberg risked his life to save American soldiers.

Sean Hannity who has proclaimed so many to be “Great Americans” will not recognize the greatness of Daniel Ellsberg. But this March 29th, will be Daniel Ellsberg’s last March 29th. He was recently diagnosed with inoperable Pancreatic Cancer. It would be right if on this March 29th, a day we should actively honor the men and women who served in Vietnam, who believed in what they were doing, and fought for a government they trusted, we can also offer a salute to Daniel Ellsberg.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/27/2160435/-50-Years-Ago-Combat-Troops-left-Vietnam

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.