Bluestars....48th AHC and Lam Son 719

[SASless]

Ran across this documentary....pretty well shows what combat helicopter flying in the US Army during Vietnam was all about.


Battlefield Diaries 1/6 - Lam Son 719 [Legendado] - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-56zGDVgdFQ&feature=youtu.be)

[hanoijane]

And you had your bottoms thoroughly spanked for your troubles, didn't you?

Sneaky Orientals 1. Brave and Courageous Yankees 0.

A victory for the home team! Yay!

[Two's in]

A victory for the home team! Yay!

I feel you may have missed the salient point by a country mile. The clip simply demonstrates that in any war, despite the moral bankruptcy and ineptitude of politicians and senior officers, it is the troops in battle that consistently demonstrate courage and fortitude. The North Vietnamese soldiers being interviewed went through the same cycle of fear and uncertainty as any of those serving with the ARVN or US forces. War is war, whichever side you are on. Most soldiers do not choose to fight, they choose to serve their country. Do not confuse the bravery of soldiers with the cowardice of politicians or the stupidity of Generals.

[SASless]

I find it amazing that at a Military Aircrew Forum there would be anyone who would denigrate another's military service in combat.

One might argue about the reasons a War was fought but why would anyone remotely connected to a military organization attempt to demean others?

It makes one wonder about the motives of the one doing the slanging.

Is it pure envy, perhaps a knowledge one was tested and failed, some deeply held feeling of inferiority that has to be compensated for?

As HJ has been assigned to my Peanut Gallery for past transgressions I can only assume the usual drivel is coming forth as I read Two's response to HJ.

Arm chair Soldiering is a very different thing than doing the real thing during a real live shooting War. HJ should know that as he certainly knows nothing of War.

[hanoijane]

Two's:

I didn't watch the clip. For some strange reason I don't feel the need to watch a country and its people being pounded by unguided rockets.

'The bravery of soldiers with the cowardice of...'

I beg your pardon?

Brave American soldiers wouldn't have been in that war once they'd seen what was happening on the ground.

Brave American soldiers would have quit, and taken whatever sanctions their country applied against them.

Brave American soldiers wouldn't then have had to spend the remainder of their lives wracked with guilt for what they did or what they permitted to happen.

Brave American soldiers? Yes, I guess they were some. It's a shame you don't venerate those, rather than claim courage as an attribute of those foolish enough to follow orders they knew to be wrong.

SAS:

I have been in wars, but not as a participant, though that didn't dissuade people from shooting at me. And I'm quite happy to denigrate anyone's military 'service' if that 'service' is based on values I consider repulsive, conduct I consider reprehensible or ethics I consider questionable.

Now, please return to your stereotypical American Viet Nam Vet Mode. Oh, what's that? You've never left it?

[Dysonsphere]

I didn't watch the clip. For some strange reason I don't feel the need to watch a country and its people being pounded by unguided rockets.

If you didnt watch how are you so sure what it shows.

[hanoijane]

Duh! I watched the first minute.

I thought you might have been able to do the math on that yourself.

[barnstormer1968]

SASless wrote

I find it amazing that at a Military Aircrew Forum there would be anyone who would denigrate another's military service in combat.

Are you serious?

I am more than happy to do this. Think of some SS actions during WW2 or Japanese treatment of POWs. Surely we can argue that they weren't 'nice chaps'.

[SASless]

Can you not draw the distinction between those German and Japanese soldiers who fought bravely and with honor as compared to those who did not?

I can as I can do that with my own Army as in the case of My Lai in Vietnam where a Company of Infantry murdered over three hundred people. There were Soldiers in that unit that did not take part in the murders and there were other Soldiers who put a stop to the killing and reported the event.

I respect any soldier who fights and does so honorably.

Perhaps you would classify the Para's involved in Bloody Sunday the same way you would those at Arnhem if you are willing to lump them all into the same category?