A little about Vietnam

When the right wing even bothers to talk about Vietnam, they tend to blame "the dirty hippies", a "lack of will", and various "Communist influences" within the Government.

Rarely is the fact our Army, Navy, and Marines were refusing to fight mentioned.

Rarely is the massive unpopularity of the war mentioned.

It's always seen as a plot by some "Liberal/Commie Cabal", aided by the "Liberal Media". The one that does not exist.

Here is a small excerpt from an article on "Alternet" titled, "Beyond Occupy Wall Street: 11 American Uprisings You've Never Heard of That Changed the World"

(please follow link to original)

"Serviceman Resistance to the Vietnam War

While American popular memory enshrines the student protestors as the cause of the Vietnam War’s end, the movement really played a tertiary role in ending the war. Far more important was the defeat of the American military on the battlefield. This would have been impossible without a massive assist from American servicemen.

According to military figures, over half a million soldiers deserted or defected during the Vietnam War. Protest newspapers sprung up like mushrooms after rain and “FTA” (fuck the army) became an unofficial slogan. Short stints in military prison became a badge of honor. The military definitely noticed the movement. Editors and organizers or protest newspapers received stiff prison sentences. The movement’s crowning moment was arguably the 1968 Long Bihn Jail (“LBJ Ranch”). The number of refused orders, either because soldiers felt imperiled or because the orders given were illegal, would be impossible to count. By the Nixon era, company after company refused to fight. The aircraft carrier Constellation cast a ballot refusing deployment to Vietnam.

The movement made continued involvement in the Vietnam War literally impossible. The resistance movement further acted as an inspiration to current-day servicemen organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War."

Unsaid there is the fact that our MILITARY experience in Vietnam (soldiers actually thinking and acting like Americans) led to our "new" (just like every dictatorship) "all volunteer Army, Navy, and Marines". Our military does not want conscription -- it's too potentially "messy".