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DE NADA
Thank you for the review of Vietnam Nurses in the
November/December issue. The program was the second highest
rated premiere special in the history of WE tv. So not only
was it a critical success, it was a ratings success. Thank
you for adding the website for ordering the DVD since there
is a large audience out there who wants to see it and missed
the cable airing. Also, a part of the proceeds will benefit
the Vietnam Women’s
Memorial Foundation.
Diane Carlson Evans
Washington, D.C.
FORGET THE PAST?
In regard to the letter by Gregory Smith
in the November/December issue: I disagree completely, forcefully,
and loudly. We must always be aware of the likes of Ho Chi
Minh and Chairman Mao among the world community. The more
we know about their—and
our—past, the better prepared our country will be.
This view does not count politicians, since many of them
are willing to sell their souls to stay in office, as evidenced
by the Iraq War.
As a Vietnam veteran, I feel that the lessons
from that war must have been lost because there are so many
similarities of intent, escalation, and probable outcome.
It’s always
amazing to me that politicians and world leaders attempt
to re-invent the wheel, expecting a different outcome. Keep
the history lessons coming. I’m using them to educate
my grandchildren.
John Grogg
Via e-mail
THE CHINA QUESTION
This is written in response to your excellent
article on the Chinese role in the Vietnam War in the September/October
issue. At that time we were told, among other things, that
we had to fight them there or else we would be fighting them
here. We were told again and again that there was a light
at the end of the tunnel. In essence, we had to stay and
die for the good of our country.
China was among those responsible
for the deaths of over 58,000 of my brothers. And now the
current administration and those before are handing our economy,
our technology, and our futures over to the still-communist,
atheist Chinese government. Will we, in one generation, see
our former enemies as valued trade partners, like the Chinese,
who use virtual slave labor to further undermine our economy?
I
urge you, for the sake of our deceased heroes, from both
Vietnam and Iraq, not to surrender to the propaganda of those
who care nothing for the American people, but only for further
enriching their already obscene estates.
By the way, I would serve voluntarily again, as I did almost
40 years ago, because my brothers and sisters deserve my
support. In that, I am unlike the current leaders of our
country with a few notable exceptions who, when our nation
called, said no.
Bob Branton
Barnwell, South Carolina
LET US FORGIVE
Diane Carlson Evans should be given a medal
for being such a forgiving person. I was so proud of her
statement concerning Dusty (Dana Shuster) on her being a
fraud, giving her compassion. If only the world could be
a quarter that nice. I hope the veterans community will see
it the same way.
How did we get treated when our time was up in Vietnam? Really
badly. It made us bitter. So, after all these years, I hope
we have learned something: be compassionate and forgiving.
I say, “Don’t condemn, forgive.” It has
taken me many years to do this completely.
C.H. Boss, Jr.
Via e-mail
WORD CHOICE
Regarding the President’s Message in the
September/October issue of The VVA Veteran, I think President
John Rowan’s
title, “Summer Camp,” was a poor choice of words.
And I’m not the only one to question his words.
Calling
a very important part of VVA’s training program “summer
camp” is very misleading for those who have not been
to a VVA Leadership Conference. We are not a bunch of Boy
Scouts or Girl Scouts at a camping trip. Nothing against
either group.
I have nothing against Mr. Rowan as president.
I think he has done a good job so far this year. His message
was very informative. I read it every time The VVA Veteran
comes in the mail.
Larry B. Jury
Frederick, Maryland
DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
Reading the September/October issue,
one might come to the conclusion that the media may have
been right all along. The tone of the entire issue lends
credence to the image of whiners, losers, and baby killers
that the media have always portrayed us to be.
A celebration
of Doonesbury and Oliver Stone in a veterans’ publication?
Only to be followed by a letter to the editor from a felon
complaining that his incarceration was due to PTSD, not just
his own, but he must have been genetically predisposed since
his father, a Vietnam veteran, suffered from PTSD as well.
And if that wasn’t enough, there was an incredible
plea to extend Agent Orange benefits to men who were never
in country. Each frivolous Agent Orange claim hurts those
few veterans who may have been actually afflicted.
But the
hardest to take was reporting on the Keynote Speech at the
Leadership Conference. A Medal of Honor recipient is passionately
calling for the harassment of legislators for more and greater,
if unspecified, benefits. He relates an incident when he
was in China recently and asserts that his president “lied” about
the Iraq conflict. A Medal of Honor recipient has earned
the right to think and say whatever he believes, and certainly
each of us has varied opinions as to the wisdom of current
military actions. But he ain’t no Dixie Chick. The
man was Infantry and a company commander at that. He knows
that you may have whatever opinion you want, but don’t
say those kinds of things on foreign soil while a conflict
is in progress.
Vietnam veterans should quit blaming the government
for everything that doesn’t go right in their lives.
It is beyond time for a major attitude adjustment. If you
want to be a victim, get yourself on Oprah. If you want to
be a veteran, follow the example of World War II and Korean
War veterans, and stand proudly for duty, honor, and country.
L.R.
Harvey
Davenport, Iowa
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2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
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