post v1.2-28-09
 
MILSPEAK MEMO V1.2-28-09  RECOLLECTIONS ON VIETNAM BY F.P. SIEDENTOPF MILSPEAK MEMO CONTRIBUTING COMPILER It would be presumptuous of me to address lessons learned and lessons ignored by this country during the Vietnam Conflict. Like all great Monday morning quarterbacks, I can look back on the totality of the era and address what I personally learned. I learned that the deepest and longest lasting friendships are forged in the crucible of combat. A life long bond can be born in a week, face a separation of years, and be renewed with as much intensity and love in the first second of reunion. I learned that all Marines are green. There is little difference when it comes to race, religion, politics, age, or even sexual preference when your life depends on those around you. You share your fear, you share your joy, you sometimes share your blood, and you never leave another Marine behind. You may walk into hell together, and you may have to carry each other home, but you go together.  I learned that fear of combat is universal, and that courage is ignoring that fear. You ignore fear of combat in the face of greater fears, the fear of failing your fellow Marines, and your fear of failing to live up to the standards of the Corps.  I learned that heroism is nothing more than doing your job, and in extraordinary circumstances that simple truth results in the performance of a heroic action. If you seek to become a hero, you risk your own death and the death of your fellow Marines to no avail. Everyone I served with was a hero, a hero who was unheralded perhaps, but only because chance didn’t place him in a starring role. I learned that peace is better than war. I also learned that war, or the threat of war, is the surest way to provide for peace. We must be willing to face threats to our way of life to maintain that way of life. It took many, many years for me to be able to articulate these lessons since it wasn’t something I really thought about. I stayed in the Marine Corps for 30 years, twenty years past my return from my last Vietnam tour. For me it was a case of continuing on with being a Marine and not reflecting on having been in the Corps. Sadly to say I’ve aged to the point where those old friends are beginning to succumb to age and old wounds. Attending funerals and rekindling old friendships with fellow mourners got me thinking about the past and what it means to me in the present. I was extremely lucky not having to integrate back into the civilian world after Vietnam. To a degree I was isolated from the derision and contempt which many Americans heaped upon returning Vietnam Veterans. My world consisted of my family, in which I include my fellow Marines. During the ensuing 20 years after my last tour, those who opposed the war and those who fought it both mellowed and confrontations became extremely isolated incidents. I don’t know if I could have assimilated back into society without coming apart emotionally had I not stayed on active duty. Those that made the change from firefights on Monday to strolling in the park on Friday, with no wind down period, suffered a great deal and still do. I do know that I adopted alcohol as a crutch for a goodly portion of those twenty years. What I can’t address is the decades old question as to whether we should have been involved in the continuation of a war that was fought and lost by the French, and which was a continuation of a centuries old revolution against China. That is a political question which requires a political answer. Or perhaps it’s a business question that requires a business answer. It may even be a moral question which requires a moral answer. I can say my country called and I answered, I’m proud that I did, and I’m even prouder that I didn’t fail my Country and my Corps. http://www.vietnamwar.com/http://www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org/index2.php
WOMEN WHO DIED SERVING IN VIETNAM LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANNIE RUTH GRAHAM, AGE 51, VETERAN OF WWII & KOREA  THE VIRTUAL WALL HOME PAGE FOR THE MOVING WALL WOMEN NURSES THROUGHOUT WAR HISTORY WOMEN IN THE MARINE CORPS BY TAMRA PARKER (Tapasco) “THE THINGS THEY CARRIED”: AN ANALYSIS BY KEVIN MARTIN TRAINING FOR WAR S.C. is ground zero for combat veterans to get recruits ready to fight BY RON MENCHACA || THE POST AND COURIER Sunday, November 30, 2008 REMEMBRANCE: REFLECTIONS, MEMORIES, AND IMAGES OF VIETNAM PAST THE WALL OUR VIETNAM MEMORIAL FOOTNOTE.COM FREE ACCESS TO 5,126 PHOTOS FROM VIETNAM WAR HELD IN NATIONAL ARCHIVE. YOU CAN ALSO ADD YOUR OWN PHOTOS. THANK YOU, FOOTNOTE!  AMERICAN TREASURES OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SEARCH RESULTS FOR VIETNAM WAR IN LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PHOTOGRAPHS  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS POW/MIA DATABASE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT BOOKS AND WEBSITES ABOUT VIETNAM WAR THE TENT FROM ALL POW-MIA.COM THE NORTH WALL CANADIAN VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL  REFLECTIONS ON THE WALL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION army medics and navy personnel listed on the wall VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL: UNIVERSAL SYMBOL BY FRANKLIN B. KROHN THE MOURNER’S SONG BY JAMES TATUM AUSTRALIAN VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL  Vung Tau, Vietnam: door-gunner from No. 9 Squadron RAAF using twin-mounted M60 machine-guns. AWM P01951.007 AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL WAR MEMORIALS IN VIETNAM A FRENCH ON-THE-GROUND VIEW OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER BY DORIAN DE WIND FOR THE MODERATE VOICE  YEAR IN PICTURES 2008 From Navy.Miil “IN THE DESERT” PHOTO TAKEN 2-27-09 BY A U.S. WARRIOR  SOS & TABASCO RECIPES FOR TROOPS COURTESY OF MARINE CORPS LEAGUE yellow footprints detachment plus “LAST CALL”  “NO, IT’S NEVER TOO LATE, TRIPLE M! NEXT WEEK WE’RE STARTING TO POST VOLUME 2: MILITARY TATTOOS. WE WANT TO LEARN ABOUT MILITARY TATTOOS. ANY ERA, ANY WAR, ANY COUNTRY - WE’LL POST STORIES, PHOTOS, LINKS AND MISCELLANY. SEND YOUR MATERIAL TO POSTMASTER@MILSPEAK.ORG” END OF POST http://www.VirtualWall.org/women.htmhttp://www.themovingwall.org/http://www.onlinenursingdegrees.org/nursingfacts/nurses-in-war.htmhttp://www.milspeak.org/womenincorps.htmlhttp://www.milspeak.org/things.htmlhttp://www.charleston.net/news/2008/nov/30/bootcamp63466/http://www.vietvet.org/thepast.htmhttp://www.vietvet.org/thewall.htmhttp://vmw.tanaya.net/http://www.footnote.com/documents/51218854/photos_vietnam_war_marine_corps/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm022.htmlhttp://search.loc.gov:8765/query.html?bqwidth=100%25&aqbkgrd=%23ffffff&locqclass=query&imo=0&col=loc&qt=%22VIETNAM+WAR%22&search_button=SEARCHhttp://memory.loc.gov/pow/powhome.htmlhttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/search?query=VIETNAM%2BWAR+http://www.loc.gov/vets/bib-vietnam.htmlhttp://www.aiipowmia.com/histories/histwall.htmlhttp://barneykin.com/northwall/http://photo2.si.edu/vvm/vvmhome.htmlhttp://www.1stcavmedic.com/Medic-Corpsman.htmhttp://www.articlearchives.com/trends-events/historical-events-vietnam-war/578261-1.htmlhttp://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/789934chap1.htmlhttp://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam.asphttp://cas.awm.gov.au/item/P01951.007http://www.tzg.com.au/projects/vietnam-war-memorialhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:War_memorials_in_Vietnamhttp://themoderatevoice.com/26565/a-french-on-the-ground-view-of-the-american-soldier/http://www.navy.mil/media/OtherMedia/YearInReview/yir08/start_here.htmlhttp://www.milspeak.org/SOS.htmlmailto:POSTMASTER@MILSPEAK.ORGhttp://www.VirtualWall.org/dg/GrahamAR01a.htmhttp://www.footnote.com/page/83001095_vietnam_war/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri202.htmlhttp://barneykin.com/northwall/http://cas.awm.gov.au/screen_img/P01951.007http://themoderatevoice.com/26565/a-french-on-the-ground-view-of-the-american-soldier/shapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3shapeimage_3_link_4shapeimage_3_link_5shapeimage_3_link_6shapeimage_3_link_7shapeimage_3_link_8shapeimage_3_link_9shapeimage_3_link_10shapeimage_3_link_11shapeimage_3_link_12shapeimage_3_link_13shapeimage_3_link_14shapeimage_3_link_15shapeimage_3_link_16shapeimage_3_link_17shapeimage_3_link_18shapeimage_3_link_19shapeimage_3_link_20shapeimage_3_link_21shapeimage_3_link_22shapeimage_3_link_23shapeimage_3_link_24shapeimage_3_link_25shapeimage_3_link_26shapeimage_3_link_27shapeimage_3_link_28