Honor and Truth

2004-10-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

St. George

2004-09-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

He refuses to have his picture displayed - a common North Dakotan custom.

2004-09-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Photos taken by my native guide and interpreter, photographer and tech assistant, Pomp (aka Byron)

Little Wildflower in her native habitat or What I did on my summer vacation

2004-09-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is me in the Badlands of North Dakota - Sept 2004

Positive New Facts about the Vietnam War

2004-09-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Found this great looking new DVD/VHS on the Vietnam War providing a positive view of the war - (that should be a revelation to some people...won't mention any names....hee hee). It's called the Long Way Home Project...take a look: http://longwayhome.net

The Legacy of the Vietnam War: Part II

2004-08-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Or what I know now that I didn't know then...

Rejecting the Lie: Most of my adult life had contained anguish over the Vietnam war. I even feared going to the Memorial because I felt I would breakdown (but I know I could go now).

The despair I felt was very deep because I saw the war as a failure. I felt shame over our actions because I was told the war was wrong.

Yes, the war could have been managed much better - less troops, less lives lost. Having a clear purpose. LBJ did not have the goal of victory*. He was depressed by the war, and so was I.

Our withdrawal led to a disaster for South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. We bear the weight of responsibility for that failure. It should never have happened.

What Purpose - Protest? What I didn't know then is that the Communists supported the peace movement. KGB documents released from Russia, the former Soviet Union, prove that the Stasi (secret) Communist Police funneled money into the peace movement.*

Even today the Communist Party supports the peace rallies. How many terrorists operatives encourage or act to organize them? If the war fails, the enemy wins.

When I was young and others tried to tell me this I was too naive and idealistic to believe them.

Life is a Rude Awakening - Remember that? That's what happened to us with the Vietnam war, preceded by the assassinations of JFK, MLK Jr. and RFK. People dealt with the pain and confusion by protesting in the streets or by dropping out and doing drugs. We wanted to be isolated from the world just as many do today.

No One Talks About Psychological Warfare: Protest feeds the enemy cause because it gives the appearance that we do not have a united defense. It makes us look weak.

Talking to the enemy like Mr. Kerry and Ms. Fonda did by going to North Vietnam and Paris, wounds our cause and our soldiers deeply. I respect anyone's right to their opinion and to peacefully protest, but there is a point where it crosses the line (and Mr. Kerry and Ms. Fonda did just that) by giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Demonstrations are part of democratic life in America. The War protest is the war brought to our soil and it serves to disarm us!,

Little Wildflower

*Notes (some of this is from memory)

Peter Schweizer, Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism

David Frum and Richard Pearle, An End To Evil: How to Win the War on Terror

I recommend both of these books very much. They are historic and very interesting.

"There will be no more Vietnams. Regardless of price or promise--be it oil from Arabia or an ambassador sitting in Peking--there will be no more abandonment of friends by the United States of America." Ronald Reagan, March 17,1980 (p.115, Schweizer)

The Legacy of the Vietnam War: Part I

2004-08-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Wanted: Shame and Despair

Trade For: Honor and Hope

You, too, can change your mind about the Vietnam war.

(Yes, I was against the war, but I've changed my mind)

It was a moral war

Our soldiers did not die in vain!

Communism took Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam,

but not Thailand, the Phillipines or

the rest of SE Asia.

We were right to be there!

But we shouldn't have retreated, thereby

abandoning the Vietnamese and Cambodians.

Let the military soldiers fight the wars,

NOT politicians like LBJ!

(who micromanaged the war)

I was against the war but I know

now that this was wrong.

Support our troops in Iraq -

Protect our Freedom!

Don't take it for granted.

Re-elect President Bush!

More later....

Little Wildflower