2001 Soap Box Archives

VietNam Veterans

There has been an awful lot said in the media lately about the atrocities which went on in VietNam. Especially when Senator Bob Kerry got drawn into it. It should be exposed and the people who were responsible should be punished. The merciless killing of women, children and other civilian non combatants is simply not acceptable, and I would never defend anyone who has wantonly taken the life of innocents. But there is one thing we need to remember. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. For every Lieutenant Calley and Captain Medina there are thousands of military people who didn’t do the terrible things they did and who seem to get thrown into the mix when such things are discussed. Our Viet Nam veterans have suffered enough at the hands of a government which abandoned them and a generation of hippies and draft dodgers who insulted them when they came home. Enough already, how about some of you media people talking about the grunts who fought a war with their hands tied by a bunch of stumblebum politicians, about the brave young men who lost life and limb in the service of their country. How about reminding the American public that the military people didn’t start this war, they were just sent thousands of miles from home to fight it. How about talking about the fact that the Viet Nam war was different, that the civilian population was very much involved it it. That it was fought, not on some evacuated battle field but right among the rice paddies and villages. How about mentioning the fact that the Viet Cong were more cruel to the Vietnamese than the American troops ever were. I certainly think that the war was botched, but not by the military but by the politicians,who sat in Washington twiddling their thumbs and tabulating the body count. America lost a lot of her sons in Viet Nam, the cream of American youth, poured down a sinkhole a few at a time in a war that the politicians didn’t even have the nerve to call a war, a war that they made it impossible to win and oh, so painful to lose. In my book, anyone who fought in Viet Nam deserves just as much honor and just as much respect as anyone who ever fought a war for this nation. Their dedication was strong, their bravery exemplary and their sacrifice staggering. Sixty Minutes and the rest of you left leaning television shows should be thankful to God that we have a military which has defended this country for over two hundred years. Sure there were atrocities in VietNam. Atrocities I deplore, but to cast a shadow on all the brave men who fought in that unfortunate war just because of a handful of bad apples is equally deplorable. There’s one thing I’ve learned about the war in VietNam by talking to a lot of people who were there. If you weren’t there you just don’t know how it was. In fact, we can’t even imagine how it was. Being in a country where almost everybody hated you and where any woman or child could be carrying a bomb, Where you had to abide by a silly set of rules made up by a bunch of self serving politicians who had never been there either. My gratitude and my heart goes out to all the veterans and active service people who have so bravely answered their country’s call . Thank God for you my friend. You are America at her best.

What do you think?

God Bless America
Charlie Daniels