By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield
Foreign Correspondent Joe Galloway says the Vietnam War shaped his life as it did for many men of his generation. He arrived in Vietnam in 1965 when America’s optimism for a speedy end to this war was high.
“During the entire war, the United States would fly three million sorties and dropped nearly eight million tons of bombs, four times the tonnage dropped during World War II…” (Home of Heroes, Vietnam War, Galloway, see below.)
The North Vietnamese planned to slowly grind down the United States’ commitment to the war. In an interview with Galloway, Major General Phuong stated how the Communist Party infiltrated American culture with their propaganda (We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, pg. 50).
By the late 1960s, the anti-war protest intensified, and popular news anchors like Walter Cronkite enjoyed emphasizing his viewpoint, “The war in Vietnam was unwinnable.” The Communist propaganda efforts infiltrated strong inroads into America’s homes.
The Communist leaders studied the news better than most Americans. General Giap and other Communist generals listened to President Lyndon Johnson on television, saying, “We were not there to defeat North Vietnam, only to protect and preserve the South Vietnamese government.” Giap said, “Our goal was to win” (We Are Soldiers Still, pg. 32).
American newscasters and the movie industry loved to spout out the negative regarding the Vietnam War. The Communist Party was exhilarated!
What a great morale boost for our fighting G.I.s who were bleeding and dying on the battlefields—and their families (We Were Soldiers Once…And Young pg. 334). In a journal entry dated November 20, 1965 Westmorland wrote: “I had my monthly background session with the press…I read a wire that I received from the Secretary of Defense quoting headlines from the Washington Post and Star implying the retreat and withdrawal of the 1st Calvary Division.”
In my February 19th article, I wrote about this victory by the 1st Calvary Division; an estimated 3,561 North Vietnamese estimated killed versus 305 Americans (We were Soldiers Once, pg. 368).
This reminds me of what David wrote, “A thousand may fall at your side…but it shall not come near you” (Psalm 90:7 NKJV and all subsequent verses).
However, President Johnson forbids the American forces from following the retreating army into Cambodia. “We wanted to follow the enemy in hot pursuit…General Kinnard said, “I was always taught as an officer that in a pursuit situation you continue to pursue until you either kill the enemy or he surrenders.” (We Were Soldiers Once… Pg. 370)
Westmorland continues regarding his press briefing, explaining to the reporters, “Stories such as those in the Washington newspapers were having the following effect: 1. Distorting the picture at home and lowering the morale of people who are emotionally concerned (wives). 2. Lowering morale of troops.” (We Were Soldiers Once pg. 334)
Westmorland did hold a few important facts from the news. “During Captain Matt Dillon’s portion of the briefing he mentioned a report by our men that they had seen the body of an enemy soldier they suspected was Chinese—he was large and was dressed in a uniform different from that of the NVA…Westmoreland reacted angrily and forcefully, telling us all. ‘You will never mention anything about Chinese soldiers in South Vietnam! Never!” (We Were Soldiers Once… pg. 335)
Galloway stated in an interview with Gary Lillie of the Veteran Radio Broadcast in 2009, “Many Vietnam veterans came home to NO welcome, no respect; the media, the movies portrayed Vietnam veterans as losers and Lieutenant Dan and a lot of bullshit like that, and it’s just wrong,”.
An agreement was formally signed on January 27, 1973, by Dr. Henry Kissinger on behalf of the United States and Special Adviser Le Duc Thoi on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the International Conference Center in Paris, ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam.
The people of South Vietnam were guaranteed the right to determine their future without outside interference.
“Within 60 days from this Saturday, all Americans held prisoners of war throughout Indochina will be released. There will be the fullest possible accounting for all of those who are missing in action. During the same 60-day period, all American forces will be withdrawn from South Vietnam.” President Nixon said in his Address to the Nation Announcing an Agreement on Ending the War in Vietnam.
Throughout the negotiations, President Thieu and other representatives of the Republic of Vietnam were closely consulted. The settlement met the goals and full support of President Thieu and the Government of the Republic of Vietnam, and all other allies affected.
Then in March 1975 the North Vietnamese launched offensives in the Central Highland and Northern South Vietnam.
Congress refused President Ford’s request to send military aid to South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese soldiers fought bravely; however, when counterattacks failed, soldiers started to desert to protect their families.
The North Vietnamese had no intention of honoring the Paris Peace Agreement. This was a ploy to get the Americans out of Vietnam. After all, the Americans had fought so bravely that they took for every American life twelve North Vietnamese with them! There was no way Communist North Vietnamese could win, playing fair.
More than 10,000 South Vietnamese scrambled for a seat on US helicopters. Desperate, some tried to flee on already-crowded boats on the Saigon River.
Years later, General Vo Nguyen Gia, one of the North Vietnamese commanders, said, “I would send five million or ten million to their deaths in this war. We would have fought on for ten, twenty years, fifty years if that’s what it took to get the foreigners out of our country.”
General Giap said, “America was the invader, the aggressor, while the North Vietnamese fought a ‘people’s war, waged by the entire people.’”
What Generals Vo Nguyen Gia and General Giap wanted was accomplished by the Paris Peace Accord. Americans had left. So why did North Vietnam attack peaceful South Vietnam?
You would think Generals Vo Nguyen Gia and Giap must love their countrymen. Not true. As stated in We Were Soldiers Still (pg 148), “Highway 21 in 1975 was dubbed, ‘the Trail of Tears’ as a large, panicked horde of some 200,000 Vietnamese civilian refugees and South Vietnamese soldiers attempting to flee the Central Highlands was ambushed, harassed, and chopped to pieces by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces before they could reach the coast in a scene that would be played out all over the country in the coming weeks.”
Numerous young Americans have been taught to think communism, Nazism, and socialism are perfectly fine. The North Vietnamese civilians knew differently. Many fled to South Vietnam (as told in The Boat People) to escape the Communist regime. Now, it was the North and South Vietnamese who fled by boats to escape the fangs of communism. These Vietnamese proved through their actions the truth about the heart of the American soldier.
After all the propaganda inflicted upon our soldiers, all the negative reporting, all the negative movies, and all the accusations—the truth exploded onto our television sets as seen by the South Vietnamese actions.
The Vietnamese civilians took to the open seas by rafts, boats, or anything else that floats.
Our Navy and other American boats scooped many up. The Vietnamese were confident if they were seen by the American ships, they knew they would be received with food, blankets, and medical help—not the guns of the Communist.
In those ten years, our American soldiers had given the Vietnamese a reprieve, ten years from the icy fingers and the prison walls of communism.
Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese took dangerous journeys by boat to escape the regime oftentimes facing pirates, and starvation.
The terror of the Communist forcing them into reeducation internment camps was the constant horror that faced them. They left by boats and throughout the weeks and months following, thousands of Vietnamese died at sea. By the grace of God, many were rescued by American ships. Samaritan’s Purse was one of these ships who helped in this relief effort. Stateside, churches found homes for these boat families yearning for the freedom to choose their destiny.
“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).
“Over the next 20 years, with growing oppressiveness and violence, the Communist government began conflict with Cambodia, leaving (the remaining) Vietnamese citizens fearful for their lives. From 1972 to 1992, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese took extremely dangerous journeys by boat in efforts to escape the regime.” The Vietnamese Boat People, see below.
The American public was blinded by the lies of godless communism. Jesus was quick to call someone who acts without conscience and who has a deceitful heart what they are. “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and father of it” (John 8:44 emphasis added).
Our soldiers are enjoying the fruits of their labors with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in paradise. But their blood cries out to us from the very earth, saying, “The American public was lied to. The Communist Party is alive and well in America. Their propaganda took our moral rights throughout the American household and lied about and crucified the accomplishments of my comrades.”
Check this out yourself; allow your college or high school student to tell you what their liberal professor is teaching about the Vietnam War. Tell them America did not lose the war, that the Communist North Vietnamese lied and signed a peace agreement they NEVER planned to keep and then murdered their people a year later in a bloody massacre.
Remember, someday your student will be voting. Will the United States of America be around to fight for the oppressed or to house the next persecuted civilians of the Communist Party?
Galloway explained it best to Lillie in 2009, “It’s not so much about the war they fought but about the lives that they have lived and the good that they have done for their communities and our country since that war. They came home and did some good stuff and there are some famous people and successful and they are all giving individuals. And there ain’t a loser among them.”
The only losers are the American people blindsided by Communist propaganda, which is still alive to this day. We have done our great Vietnam serviceman and woman a terrible injustice.
“Lance’s body arrived by plane…He had fought in an action that was not termed a war; he had died thousands of miles from his beloved country; his blood and the blood of his men, whom he had loved so much, had now become part of the soil of Vietnam, and there were no bands, no parades, no anything—just three desolate people standing beside his coffin” (We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, pg. 363).
God blessed Americans with unlimited freedoms. We can’t imagine a world where we are prohibited from worshiping, working, and voicing our viewpoints. Paul says the truth most eloquently in Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Our All-American G.I.s gave more to those Vietnamese than their time. Some gave their lives, and others gave them the heart to hope.
“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
That hope for a better tomorrow kept the Vietnamese going. They bravely faced starvation, and depravity to attain the opportunity for freedom to worship and choose their professions and their destiny. They would never have known this without knowing our American soldiers—It Is a Matter of the Heart.
“Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Through my factual historical romances, you can learn how God led America to greatness throughout the years. Here’s a sneak preview.
The Destiny Series: Get whisked into the lives of the McConnell women in this historical Christian fiction series. Follow these strong women from the days of the Civil War through the epic battle with Hitler. Discover what has inspired readers worldwide as these four books are brought together as a set for the first time. "The message of the Destiny series is even more applicable today than when it first released. Praying for America’s repentance and to embrace God like never before." Debra B.
Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted
Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny, and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, and Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-two years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, three dogs, three cats, and six chickens. See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com
References:
https://homeofheroes.com/heroes-stories/vietnam-war/joseph-l-galloway/
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/ending-vietnam
https://adst.org/2014/07/the-vietnamese-boat-people/
We Were Soldiers Once…And Young by Lt. Gen Harold G. Moore (Ret) and Joseph L. Galloway Ballantine Books. New York, October 1992
We Are Soldiers Still by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret) and Joseph L. Galloway. Harper Collins New York, 2008
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/197496/operation-homecoming/
Newsweek Magazine The New Americans, May 12, 1975
.jpg)
