Excellent book to read. I really thought that Spike Lee movie was going to be about it and I was let down.
Any Brothers on the Board here fight in Vietnam?
- Thread starter Tiger_Hood
- Start date
Excellent book to read. I really thought that Spike Lee movie was going to be about it and I was let down.
Sorry to hear that brother may he rest in power...Unfortunately, my Pops went to the crossroads two weeks ago and he was a Nam vet. He was 70 years old.
He was proud guy. Nam was a major part of who he became as a person. He always wore his dog tags.
I held on to them as a source of strength during his passing. He was honored with a military service. He would love you to known he was honored that way.
Black Nam vets have always been misunderstood. My father was part of a Veteran club for black Nam vets. They’ve been so great in helping my mom get paperwork in order. They also take up funding for the widows to help out.
Pops always wore a Vietnam hat and had Vietnam’s vet decals on his truck.
Man, I’m going to miss that dude. Rest In Peace old man.
Now, I done made myself sad this early morning.
Thanks, fam.
Spike Lee used that book as an inspiration for his movie. The movie 'Dead Presidents' also used Wallace Terry's book as well.
black+soldier+salutng&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&ghc=1&pq=black+soldier+salutng&sc=0-21&cvid=1B5EF7DB693C434897C8FCE451242C95&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover&ajf=100
I misspelled saluting but this is in my search history, so as soon as I type Black S, the rest pops up. I didn't search for gifs though.
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Remember Freda Payne received heavy criticism for making this song speaking out against the war and urging to bring the black soldiers home.
I served in the Army and the majority of the E6 and above were Nam vets!! Outta respect, we never brought it up.. But we're all ears when they talked!! All my 1st Sgt were nam vets and decent guys to work for!!! I had one 1st Sgt sit down with me oneday and talked me outta going into spec forces!!
My dad and uncles are all of that generation or literally just missed Nam. My dad was Army and I think he served before the war really started. I have/had a LOT of uncles and most served but only one of them that I know was in Vietnam. He was a Captain and medic with the Air Force. He's shared a few stories about how he and other Black soldiers would protest the war but didn't get to deep into it. He'll share but you have to ask him directly. I never knew he was Air Force much less a Vietnam vet until I was at his house and saw him posing next to a fighter jet. I think it was Christmas last year when I was telling his own grand kids that he was in Vietnam, they had no idea. 
It feels like that war was long ago but shit, my brothers and most of my cousins were alive when the war ended. I periodically wonder what the Black community would be like if Vietnam and Crack hadn't ravaged our community.
It feels like that war was long ago but shit, my brothers and most of my cousins were alive when the war ended. I periodically wonder what the Black community would be like if Vietnam and Crack hadn't ravaged our community.
No problem Brother. I know there was no malice involved.
Mine on his return from that year working over there, "trying to make up for the damage I done" apologised for the drinking and drugs. I told him there was no need. I'm good.
The best way I can describe it is something I heard about 12Step programs from a psychologist. It's like people's development halts or slows down trememndosly the moment they take their first drink or get abused. Get drunk at 10? Things on hold for you until you move on. Get abused at a young age? You will need help to grow up (and therefore too many pedos are stuck at the age where it happened to them). Too many people are stuck at that age.
Same thing for combat. I've read a lot about the war - to understand Pops, but it's like a line in Platoon: "Charlie's definitely got his shit together." And your average Harlemite or project kid needed to get it together too, and fast.
And I heard about Long Binh jail from an uncle. He begged to be sent to leavenworth.
that’s what I was thinking...I’m 51 and my pops and his older brothers fought in ‘Nam...
Funny, but Americans aren't taught much world history so the knowledge about "war" is limited. Does anyone even know that England fought what is called "The 100 Year War"?
Subsequent to World War II, the colonizers tried to move back into their former territories, with French Indochina being the subject.
FYI:
The Indochinese Federation (French Fédération indochinoise; Vietnamese: Liên đoàn Đông Dương) after 1947, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia until its demise in 1954. It consisted of three Vietnamese regions of Tonkin (north), Annam (centre), and Cochinchina (south), Cambodia, Laos (from 1899) and the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan (from 1898).
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu saw the end of French Colonial rule. Ho Chi Ming aligned with the communists and so we begat the First Indochina War.
America got involved in Vietnam based on the premise of the domino theory. (political theory; look it up). (Second Indochina War)
The Second Indochina War lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
A study of the politics of WWI and WWII will give an understanding of how and why the first and second Indochinese wars occurred.
What about this one, does anyone know what country fought the “100 Year War”. This is probably easy to find out but my point really is that these “skirmishes” that the US gets involved in from time-to-time are relatively minor.
For the record, the bulk of the US Vietnam vets are NOT in nursing homes. They are viable human beings.
Peace
Subsequent to World War II, the colonizers tried to move back into their former territories, with French Indochina being the subject.
FYI:
The Indochinese Federation (French Fédération indochinoise; Vietnamese: Liên đoàn Đông Dương) after 1947, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia until its demise in 1954. It consisted of three Vietnamese regions of Tonkin (north), Annam (centre), and Cochinchina (south), Cambodia, Laos (from 1899) and the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan (from 1898).
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu saw the end of French Colonial rule. Ho Chi Ming aligned with the communists and so we begat the First Indochina War.
America got involved in Vietnam based on the premise of the domino theory. (political theory; look it up). (Second Indochina War)
The Second Indochina War lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
A study of the politics of WWI and WWII will give an understanding of how and why the first and second Indochinese wars occurred.
What about this one, does anyone know what country fought the “100 Year War”. This is probably easy to find out but my point really is that these “skirmishes” that the US gets involved in from time-to-time are relatively minor.
For the record, the bulk of the US Vietnam vets are NOT in nursing homes. They are viable human beings.
Peace
Do not forget the effect of "The Forgotten War" - Korea. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon were afraid of "losing" Vietnam as Truman had lost Korea - or at least had lost 30,000+ men for only a few extra acres.
And not all of the Vietnamese were communist. Most aligned with the communist because they were not as craven as the South's leadership toward colonialism.
Bruh, when you lay out how many wars this country has been involved in vs. how many years of peacetime, you see why they smooth right over this shit. They don't want the general population to rise up against the M.I.C. like the DID for Vietnam..."What the Hell are WE fighting for?"
It was French Colonialism combined with the Soviet Red Scare and the fear of Communism growing larger that propelled the US into the quagmire. Once France got their asses handed to them the US bent over for a caning too...as it turned out.
Great breakdown on your part!
This...
Sister in law father swears he's a vet and want people to honor him and shit,even got into a big back and forth with my father about it
My father told him he wasn't a vet cause he went there shuffled around some papers in an office and they sent his faggit ass back to the ghetto,to add insult to injury he told him "Theeey didn't even give you a gun,a knife or a rock".They didn't,a lot of reported for the draft but never was shipped off and he was one of the He's not and was never a vet,I don't understand why lie about it
My father told him he wasn't a vet cause he went there shuffled around some papers in an office and they sent his faggit ass back to the ghetto,to add insult to injury he told him "Theeey didn't even give you a gun,a knife or a rock".They didn't,a lot of reported for the draft but never was shipped off and he was one of the He's not and was never a vet,I don't understand why lie about it
Another classic Vietnam song.
Simply because he went there for the drawdown doesn't mean he's not a Vietnam veteran...he's not a COMBAT VETERAN. He went overseas to fulfill the mission that he as assigned to do.
The distinction would show on the uniform. A Unit patch on BOTH shoulders would indicate combat service, however, your uncle would STILL have the Overseas Service stripes on his Dress Uniform.
I've known several men over the years who feel as though because they weren't in "The Shit" or "The Suck" that they feel unworthy and embarrassed. I knew one CAC who was absolutely bitter about it because he was labeled as a "Vietnam Era" soldier and he felt slighted by the Government.
I knew another who DID see combat tours and he always thought less of us in the military since the Gulf War because we have "modern amenities and equipment" and weren't making our way through jungle terrain and all of that.
Then once all of the IED strikes, car bombs, downed Choppers, and suicide strikes started to roll in over the internet...
"Holy Fuck! I don't know how you guys do that shit! I would NEVER want to have to suffer that kind of shit!"He found a whole new perspective to the Hell that was war in mountainous or desert terrain. It's still "The Suck," minus the jungle and leeches, etc.
Today, we now have the Combat Action Badge awarded to anyone who is not Infantry or a Medic to show that the soldier has seen combat.
Prior to that, there was only the Combat Infantryman's Badge and the Combat Medical Badge.
If you were a mechanic, clerk, cook, or anything else assigned to an Infantry unit that saw combat...you were shit outta luck with nothing more than stories to tell and nothing to show for it on your uniform to prove it.
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My uncle was arrested when he was 18 in 1964 for being drunk and on the streets after dark. The next day the judge told him he could stay in jail or enlist. He enlisted into the army. Dude was in Vietnam in less than a year. His helicopter got shot down, VC threw grenades at him and his boys. Dude next to him got shot with an RPG
Amen.Simply because he went there for the drawdown doesn't mean he's not a Vietnam veteran...he's not a COMBAT VETERAN. He went overseas to fulfill the mission that he as assigned to do.
The distinction would show on the uniform. A Unit patch on BOTH shoulders would indicate combat service, however, your uncle would STILL have the Overseas Service stripes on his Dress Uniform.
I've known several men over the years who feel as though because they weren't in "The Shit" or "The Suck" that they feel unworthy and embarrassed. I knew one CAC who was absolutely bitter about it because he was labeled as a "Vietnam Era" soldier and he felt slighted by the Government.
I knew another who DID see combat tours and he always thought less of us in the military since the Gulf War because we have "modern amenities and equipment" and weren't making our way through jungle terrain and all of that.
Then once all of the IED strikes, car bombs, downed Choppers, and suicide strikes started to roll in over the internet...
He found a whole new perspective to the Hell that was war in mountainous or desert terrain. It's still "The Suck," minus the jungle and leeches, etc.
Today, we now have the Combat Action Badge awarded to anyone who is not Infantry or a Medic to show that the soldier has seen combat.
Prior to that, there was only the Combat Infantryman's Badge and the Combat Medical Badge.
If you were a mechanic, clerk, cook, or anything else assigned to an Infantry unit that saw combat...you were shit outta luck with nothing more than stories to tell and nothing to show for it on your uniform to prove it.
Salute...RIP
Go downstairs on the 3rd flo
the US was in the war from around 1965 to 1973Nam was fought in the 50s if I'm not
mistaken. If you were in your 20s back
then, you'd would be in your 80s now.
Why you being so foul?
You all ever hear of a brother named Dwight Johnson. He was from Detroit and was awarded the MOH in Vietnam. Came back, and got fucked up on drugs, tried robbing a fast food store and was shot and killed.
Dwight H. Johnson - Wikipedia
That's my Pop's shit right here.
Shit.You all ever hear of a brother named Dwight Johnson. He was from Detroit and was awarded the MOH in Vietnam. Came back, and got fucked up on drugs, tried robbing a fast food store and was shot and killed.
Dwight H. Johnson - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Great drop
Brothers, fuck your Colin Powell pics:
The French arrived in Indochina in the 1860s. the natives resisted, in one form or another until April 1975. The French were able to subdue them by co-opting the elite and middle class, but there were still uprisings. From that French educated elite came a group of French speaking Soviet-style Communists, Communist dissenters (mostly Trotskyites), regular socialists, but the majority were plain nationalists - people who wanted independence and a Vietnamese way, independent of Europe, independent of China or any one else.
One of those educated elite from the middle class, who adopted the name Ho Chi Minh, travelled the world as a chef, working in France, West Africa (on a ship), Britain and the UNited States. Ho Chi Minh worked in Harlem and studied the US declaration of independence. He even tried to make a presentation to the Versailles negotiations at the end of WW1 to get self determination. when that failed, he is known to have gone to Moscow, where he became steeped in Marxism for the first time. By the late 1930s he was ready and after 30+ years, returned home. The people wanted to hear what he said, and with Chinese Communist help, he began to organize.
When WW2 started there were the usual debates just like the ones that happened all around the world among colonized people: join the Allies and their militaries or help the Axis powers or wait it out? Few Indochinese helped the Japanese conqeror. Uncle Ho's group, the Viet Minh was known for their rectitude - no corruption and no bowing, literally and figuratively - to any colonial power, white or Asian. When Horoshima and Nagasaki occurred, the French got the remaining Japanese troops to help them to put down Ho's first attempts at revolution. In the last year of the war, the US send a few spies and soldiers to help in the fight against the Japanese.
Ever heard of the Pentagon Papers? They detail the first reports about 1945 - Ho could quote the Declaration verbatim and wrote to Roosevelt (or Truman, I can't remember). that's how he saw the US, as the first country to throw off the colonial shackles. Within months, the French had got combat troops to Indochina and put down the revolution. It took nine years, and a lot of money from Moscow and Beijing (and conversly, Paris and Washington) but the Viet Minh prevailed. Viet Minh fighters in the South moved north - ostensibly to resettle, but Uncle Ho had no intentions.
The first US death in Viet Nam occurred on a street in Hanoi in like November or December 1945. The next one happened in like 1957. It started as a trickle, but former Viet Minh started to return within a year, and they started to orgganize. By 1964 the former Viet Minh had the upper hand agianst the corrupt government in the south and Johnson - fearing being blamed for losing that country to the Communists began to pour in troops beginning in 1965. But the US had already lost 1,000 men by then. Colinn Powell had already been injured as an advisor. By 1968 there were 550,000 US military there but Nixon started teh drawdown so that all combat troops were gone by the Spring of 1973. The embassy closed at he end of April 1975.
So to the Vietnamese, the war took 110 years, or 30 years and they then had to purge their people of collaborators or reeducate them. I know all this because I needed to understand how Wobble Wobble came to be - Pops Wobble Wobble, home from Basic met Mama Wobble Wobble (who happened to be in the US) a few days before he shipped out. My conclusion is the key to understand the Vietnam war is actually understanding the Korean War...
The French arrived in Indochina in the 1860s. the natives resisted, in one form or another until April 1975. The French were able to subdue them by co-opting the elite and middle class, but there were still uprisings. From that French educated elite came a group of French speaking Soviet-style Communists, Communist dissenters (mostly Trotskyites), regular socialists, but the majority were plain nationalists - people who wanted independence and a Vietnamese way, independent of Europe, independent of China or any one else.
One of those educated elite from the middle class, who adopted the name Ho Chi Minh, travelled the world as a chef, working in France, West Africa (on a ship), Britain and the UNited States. Ho Chi Minh worked in Harlem and studied the US declaration of independence. He even tried to make a presentation to the Versailles negotiations at the end of WW1 to get self determination. when that failed, he is known to have gone to Moscow, where he became steeped in Marxism for the first time. By the late 1930s he was ready and after 30+ years, returned home. The people wanted to hear what he said, and with Chinese Communist help, he began to organize.
When WW2 started there were the usual debates just like the ones that happened all around the world among colonized people: join the Allies and their militaries or help the Axis powers or wait it out? Few Indochinese helped the Japanese conqeror. Uncle Ho's group, the Viet Minh was known for their rectitude - no corruption and no bowing, literally and figuratively - to any colonial power, white or Asian. When Horoshima and Nagasaki occurred, the French got the remaining Japanese troops to help them to put down Ho's first attempts at revolution. In the last year of the war, the US send a few spies and soldiers to help in the fight against the Japanese.
Ever heard of the Pentagon Papers? They detail the first reports about 1945 - Ho could quote the Declaration verbatim and wrote to Roosevelt (or Truman, I can't remember). that's how he saw the US, as the first country to throw off the colonial shackles. Within months, the French had got combat troops to Indochina and put down the revolution. It took nine years, and a lot of money from Moscow and Beijing (and conversly, Paris and Washington) but the Viet Minh prevailed. Viet Minh fighters in the South moved north - ostensibly to resettle, but Uncle Ho had no intentions.
The first US death in Viet Nam occurred on a street in Hanoi in like November or December 1945. The next one happened in like 1957. It started as a trickle, but former Viet Minh started to return within a year, and they started to orgganize. By 1964 the former Viet Minh had the upper hand agianst the corrupt government in the south and Johnson - fearing being blamed for losing that country to the Communists began to pour in troops beginning in 1965. But the US had already lost 1,000 men by then. Colinn Powell had already been injured as an advisor. By 1968 there were 550,000 US military there but Nixon started teh drawdown so that all combat troops were gone by the Spring of 1973. The embassy closed at he end of April 1975.
So to the Vietnamese, the war took 110 years, or 30 years and they then had to purge their people of collaborators or reeducate them. I know all this because I needed to understand how Wobble Wobble came to be - Pops Wobble Wobble, home from Basic met Mama Wobble Wobble (who happened to be in the US) a few days before he shipped out. My conclusion is the key to understand the Vietnam war is actually understanding the Korean War...
I think the better questuin would be ,how many of us are sons of vietnam veterans or have relatives that served? My father and two if his cousins fought in 'nam
I see that this hits close to home for you Bruh. Thanks for dropping the knowledge and introspective.
That's a book/documentary right there: The Lucky Ones - After Nam.
The dichotomy of (1) the men who were able to "leave Vietnam there;" (2) the ones who couldn't get from under it; (3) the ones who drank and drugged to escape it and the effects of it on their families
I'm sure the stories from Black people vary greatly from those of white people. It would be very interesting to say the least
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