Saving Our Lives (in ‘Nam) – Reduxed yet again by ST

National Security/ Defense, on human suffering, Politically Correct, This too shall pass., winning the peace

I don’t know any men who served in VietNam. Because I had an intimate working-class friend, I did make the acquaintance of one or two of them briefly. But of the doctors and lawyers I know, my circle: no.


My title is a reference to a tag line from the immediate post VietNam era: “He saved my life in ‘Nam!” I don’t know it it’s from some movie; I only encountered it on Saturday Night Live. It was what a guy might say to explain loyalty to some other guy with whom he seemed to have nothing in common. It was like that wonderful poem ST quoted a few weeks ago, about having “drunk from the same canteen”. Except, in our relief that the war was finally over, it became a campy meme. We had literally dodged a bullet. We were kinda giddy.

I’d like to try to “save”, just meaning, remember, something of the way we lived then, we of the “youth culture”, just starting out in the world’s business of choosing mates, training for careers— in the shadow of The Draft. It was like an inexorable Deus Ex Machina that could—no, after 1968 would, swoop down and pluck you far, far away from all your dreams and aspirations, and deposit you in an alien jungle with swamps hiding needle-sharp bamboo spears and women’n’ children armed with grenades and land mines.

Nearly 60,000 American soldiers were killed in VietNam. And the encyclopedias will tell ya the the “war” went on since 1955.

I guess.

But of the total casualties, close to 38,000, well over half, were killed 1967-1971.

And killed in very public ways. We saw the VietNam war on TV every evening (although mercifully only like, 6:30 to 8PM, before the sitcoms, but, t’was enough, it served!) and we saw it frozen in still photos in our newspapers, every day.


Of course, I didn’t face the draft, being a woman. But our young lovers, our brothers, didn’t want to go, and we didn’t want them to go. Why? To what end?

If anybody ever explained to us why, I missed it. The feeling we had was like, “Because I said so! Your country is IN this , ok? so shut up and die! Empty your heart of its mortal dream”, as Yeats put it. There wasnt any great rallying cry, “The Luisitania!” or “Hitler! ” None of your Dulce et decorum est crap.

And we were so….fucking…. scared.

Now, very oddly, for some reason all of us, girls and boys, wore military surplus clothing during this period. Worn fatigues, pea coats, sailor pants( oh those were great!):army jackets, Air Force coats—whatever we could get at the Army-Navy stores. We put peace sign emblems and embroidered stylized flowers on ‘em. Some of those fashionably- weathered garments may have been actual shrouds . People weren’t so fastidious back then.

Was that to tame the idea of combat, of death, make it less terrifying?


Did people really spit on and revile veterans returning from ‘Nam? I don’t know. I traveled a lot during that period of time, and I never saw this. Nor do I know anyone who saw it. And remember: THE DRAFT. I actually can’t imagine any of my peers gratuitously abusing the men who had been unfortunate enough not to be able to avoid it.

There may also have been an element of …guilt. The reason I don’t have any friends who served is that, by 1970 or so, nobody of the professional classes did. ( Of course there are exceptions, like boys from military families.) They found some kinda disqualifying defect, like fallen arches. They got CO status. Their dads knew someone who could see to it that they were stationed stateside. Or, like GW Bush, they were in the National Guard. If they couldn’t do anything else, guys left their country, remember? They went to Canada, and they didn’t come back till Carter granted ‘em amnesty in 1977.

Peter Pansy is again trying to to make a thing about the fact that Trump didn’t serve in VietNam. So sorry, but, to anyone of Trump’s class who lived through that period, he’d seem like a stupid chump if he had. Doesn’t anybody remember: “Well, I’m only eighteen, got a ruptured spleen, and I always carry a purse—I got eyes like a bat, m’feet are flat, and my asthma’s gettin’ worse! “?

And BTW, all this points inexorably to the fact that even their “Greatest Generation” dads (like mine!) weren’t on board with the idea of their sons’ overseas deployment either. The VietNam war was fought by the working classes, and the urban poor, which is why we hear that a disproportionate number of black men died.

I’d hafta say, though, that as a survivor of that era, this thing about “we may oppose the war, but we support the troops” has always seemed to me kinda schizophrenic. I mean, if you think your country is fighting an unjust or unnecessary war, well, why not try to convince the fighting forces themselves to cease and desist? That’s certainly the most efficient and humane way to go about putting an end to the carnage. You might even save their lives.

The one and only civilian-on- military interaction I know of during that period was at my sister’s college in New London Ct, where the girls invited the ”Coasties” over for some beer and gentle conversation.

The VietNam war ended. (Did we lose? We weren’t told so at the time, but that’s what our kids are being taught today.)

The draft ended in 1973.

And, now, forgive me: this is in no way a slur on the members of our post 1973 volunteer army, in no way intended as impugning of their blessed bravery!

Still: when you choose your own fate, when you assume a risk of your own volition, you are more invested in your decision than if you had had no choice in the matter, as men before 1973 did not.

To any and all veterans of any of our country’s wars, including VietNam,who may be reading this, I say, THANK YOU! Please don’t hate me for this!

And yet,

I will tell our story, my peers’ story.

And I thank you, my masters and mistresses, for your kind attention.

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Published by Hypatia

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56 thoughts on “Saving Our Lives (in ‘Nam) – Reduxed yet again by ST”

      1. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

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    1. Great point ST and I think it’s no “accident” that dismantling the draft has helped to create a world class military because it wants to be there.

      The investment the country made in technology has also helped enormously. More drones used, less lives lost. Fortunately, our president understands this even though he did divert some change out of the military budget to fund the wall.

      That’s okay by me; MS-13 gangs are terrorists. Thanks to destructive Dem policies over the years, we now have a fight to address on our turf.

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  3. Thank you for this, Hypatia. I don’t remember the Vietnam War, I was born towards the end of it. At least one of my friends’ fathers served in it, probably more: I grew up in a working class Military town where it seemed like all of our fathers had served in at least one of the wars-WWII, or Korea, or Vietnam, and we didn’t even think about it-we, or at least I, pretty much took it as given that everybody’s Dad was a veteran. My friend’s father who served in Vietnam was not drafted: he was career military. As far as I know, I never knew anyone who was drafted into any war, though I could be wrong about that.

    When people say “We oppose the war, but support the troops” that probably means different things coming from different people. I disagree with you about this, though: In 99% of cases, I don’t believe that people who oppose a war should try to convince those in the military not to fight it. To me, the idea of opposing a war but supporting the troops relates to the fact that some of the troops may oppose the war as well: when people enlist in the military, they are signing up to fight in whatever war the U.S. government decides to get into, regardless of whether they agree with it or not. Without men who are willing to make that kind of commitment, it becomes impossible to maintain any kind of National defense. Sure, if we are attacked then some other men will sign up, but who will train them? Who will teach them? We absolutely need well trained men who are willing to fight wherever they are sent-a military force that consists only of enthusiastic green recruits who all support the war might sound ok, but somebody has to actually know what they are doing. Hopefully, when people say that they oppose the war but support the troops, they are giving a very respectful nod to those men and to that concept.

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    2. The troops only carry out the policy of the uber privileged elected officials in Washington. There are a few, but not enough veterans who serve in Congress. If we had a president who served he would know what many of our troops are going through. The US is an imperialistic nation bent on re claiming land, mineral, and resource rights in many unsuspecting countries we invade including Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is similar to what Putin is doing in the Ukraine. I even support the Russian soldiers, although I disapprove of what they do. The soldiers are merely the pawns of what the government is doing, which is completely wrong, and criminal. Putin should be charged with a war crime. The people on the ground, on both sides, are the realm losers of the Ukrainian conflict.

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      1. “The US is an imperialistic nation bent…”

        I keep hearing this and find it fascinating.
        How, Hope Glory, is the US an imperialistic nation?

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  4. The one and only civilian-on- military interaction I know of during that period was at my sister’s college in New London Ct, where the girls invited the ”Coasties” over for some beer and gentle conversation.

    I laughed out loud when I read ‘civilian-on-military interaction’ and howled with laughter at the euphemism: gentle conversation.

    You are wickedly clever, girlfriend!

    FYI: Some ‘military-on-civilian interaction’ although completely consensual is probably more properly described as coarse and rough conversation. Just sayen’

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  5. The VietNam war ended. (Did we lose? We weren’t told so at the time, but that’s what our kids are being taught today.)

    Viet Nam always seemed like a war looking for a raison d’être. I think we bailed out the French at their request and the military-industrial complex just took over ‘the fight’ from France, just because. Then Johnson and McNamara wanted to go down in history as the slayers of communism or something and ramped up the carnage to such a level that people started to wonder what the hell was going on…

    Books have been written about this, I think?

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    1. Yeah, they have been, but I never read any of ‘em.
      I just wanted to give our readers an idea of what it felt like from the inside.
      Because already, within living memory, history is being rewritten to cast anybody who avoided serving in VietNam as a traitor, a pariah.
      When I can tell ya, having been there: that was the norm.

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      1. You’re okay, dude. I was just sayen’ that I am not going to repeat every point and counterpoint that has been written in the millions of books about that (inexcusable?) war.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. “Books have been written about this, I think?”

      Yep books by people like James S. Robbins

      https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=books+tet%3A+this+time+we+win&ref=nb_sb_noss

      and Chpn. Kate’s Dad, Peter Braestrup

      https://smile.amazon.com/Big-Story-Television-Interpreted-Washington/dp/0300028075/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=peter+braestrup&qid=1581041297&sr=8-1

      Agree with your premise re: how we started this, I recall a movie: “The Quiet American”

      https://smile.amazon.com/Quiet-American-Do-Hai-Yen/dp/B0051HCVEU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=movies+the+quiet+american&qid=1581041632&sr=8-1

      and lots of discussion about Johnson, McNamara, Cronkite, Jennings, and others moving goal posts, ignoring victories, shaping perceptions, and molding/mobilizing public opinion to reach a certain conclusion. Does history rhyme in Iraq and Afghanistan? It almost seems to….

      But, at least, this time we don’t castigate the warrior for the machinations/miscalculations of politicians, career eggheads, and media megastars, at least I hope we don’t….

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  7. I am imagining the horror of the mothers and fathers of those boys when they saw them for the last time as they went off to boot camp, knowing their son(s) would almost certainly die in combat. Makes me want to cut somebody’s tires or cry or something!

    They really couldn’t fight. They were almost literally sent to die for their country.

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    1. Yeah,It reminds me of that awful thing you hear about Passchendaele: that the British generals knew so many of their troops would be killed,,they expected and almost wanted that, to strengthen their moral position. They called it “paying the butcher’s bill”.. o god!!!

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  9. Still: when you choose your own fate, when you assume a risk of your own volition, you are more invested in your decision than if you had had no choice in the matter, as men before 1973 did not.

    Yes it is and this is what set my blood to boiling during the run up to our first post-draft era war, Persian Gulf I. It seemed that all women in the military suddenly forgot to take the pill and were getting pregnant in the thousands. Men in the ROTC and such programs decided the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze after taking the taxpayers money for 1, 2, 3 and 4 years of college.

    They signed up, Haakon Dahl like, for the ‘gimmees’ only. When it was time to earn their keep, they bailed out.

    My unit lost a bunch of good Marines in Kuwait. Most of our KIA/WIA were due to one US Air Force friendly-fire event. We did everything right. The pilot fucked up. Shit happens.

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      2. I know being/feeling that way for very long doesn’t help much, but *dang* am I sick of stuck up and stupid making decisions…..

        Liked by 1 person

  10. For your information, I was due to get out of the Marines in September of 1990. I extended for one year to take my boys into combat. I was in a front line recon unit that was sure to see combat and take heavy casualties. We did both. We were the first unit into Kuwait City having the mission to take and hold the international airport. Big picture, our military needed to take that airport for operational purposes first, before beginning the recapture of Kuwait and Kuwait City.

    Now I sleep with pretty almond-coloured women half my age and try to forget.

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      2. Not true, ST! I made a leap of thought…”Trusted us” with the ‘friendly fire’/’blue on blue’ story….I think of that as a gift. That’s my story – an’ I’m stickin’ to it.

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  11. In other words, I was ~1 month from being discharged from Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children when Saddam Insane invaded Kuwait. I could have gotten out no problem and no questions asked. Me and one other guy who was about to get out both voluntarily extended for one year.

    After that year, I got out and moved to Costa Rica to relax and grow black pepper.

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  16. I have a funny story about that combines butter with a Russian lady. Might be beyond the ST Unleashed! CoC to tell it here. ¡Another story for the 1st Annual ST Unleashed! 2020 Hook-Up, Fish & Hush Puppy Fry!

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  17. CoC? Code of Chicanery? Just for us ‘chics’….LIKE! When do tickets go on sale for this ‘member-appreciation’ shindig, your graciously Unleashedness?

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  18. On that exquisite note of expectation, I’ll let Morpheus claim me for now and be back here for a cup of tea – house special blend, please? and conversation. ‘Til then, G’day/G’night /Chao for now; hasta entonces and: Peace!….Out.

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  19. Actually I’ve read that quite a few people weren’t willing. Not that they were Nazis, but just..they remembered WWI, then only, sheesh, 25 years back. I’ve readSome ”what-if” scenarios. Maybe the Cold War, if the US had stayed out and Germany won, woulda been between us and the Reich.

    I think the point ST has been making is,elimination of the draft DOESNT separate wheat and chaff. In peacetime, as my dad always said, the military is a soft berth. Under B. Hussein,, we had people enlisting just so they could get sex change surgery at taxpayer expense.

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