Page 10 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2025 - Online Magazine
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by Larry A. Williams, USAF Veteran
pproximately 30,000 books number of U.S. advisors was America—quite a change from the
have been written about increased, and active combat units previous decade. The ‘50s enjoyed
AVietnam—each from its were sent in 1965. By 1969, over half a post-war boom, but America in
own perspective. I do not profess a million U.S. military personnel the ‘60s endured the civil rights
to be a scholar on the subject. were stationed in Vietnam. Two- movement, assassinations, anti-war
However, I did serve in the U.S. Air thirds of the U.S. military who movements, and a counterculture
Force during the latter years of that served during the Vietnam War revolution. Vietnam veterans
conflict (1970—1974) and spent 18 (and half of the names on The Wall) fought a military front abroad and
months in Misawa, Japan during were volunteers. a political front at home. Anti-war
that time. propaganda by both China and
The other one-third (approximately Russia turned many Americans
April 30, 2025 marked the 50 1.9 million) were drafted, mainly against the war. Protests occurred
th
anniversary of the end of the into the Army. Military conscription all over the country, especially on
Vietnam War. Whether they has been a part of our national college campuses and in major
enlisted or were drafted, the history since the Revolutionary cities.
veterans who served deserve our War. The Vietnam War has often
thanks and gratitude. been called “A Poor Man’s War” Even national broadcast news
because most draftees came from turned against the war. On
It’s important to know the history poor, working-class, rural, or February 27, 1968, CBS anchorman
of America’s involvement in that minority populations. Walter Cronkite, often cited as “the
war. North Vietnam wanted most trusted man in America”
to unify the country under a Between the years 1966 and 1970, said, “It is increasingly clear to this
communist regime modeled after 300,000 young men were sent reporter that the only rational way
Russia and China. Led by Ho to Southeast Asia. During 1968, out then will be to negotiate, not as
Chi Minh’s troops, they defeated the number of American troops victors, but as an honorable people
the French Colonials at the battle peaked at 536,100. The U.S. spent who lived up to their pledge to
of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954. approximately $168 billion on the defend democracy, and did the best
However, the South Vietnamese war effort. they could.”
government fought to preserve a
free Vietnam more closely aligned I remember seeing news about the While all this was going on in
with the West. Vietnam War on TV. Washington the states, the men who served in
would often declare that the war Vietnam survived unspeakable
During the 1950s, U.S. military was being won, but American horrors. Returning home resulted
advisors were present in Vietnam casualties continued to grow. The in even more trauma. Most
in small numbers. In 1961, the 1960s were a turbulent time in of the veterans came back by
10 Lubbock Senior Link
