Now that this has all played out and we see how the cards were played....I wonder what the real lessons are that should be applied.
Having served two tours in combat flying Chinooks in Vietnam and now having the benefit of time and revelations by the many involved in the decisions and policies ....political and military.....I have a much better understanding of that disastrous period....and what followed.
Some good....some not good happened.
One thing that did not change is the way our Senior Leaders are selected, groomed, and promoted.
We went to an all. volunteer military and other changes have been made due to social pressures....and I am not sure those have had a positive effect in our fielding a battle ready military.
We saw a very long involvement in Vietnam....followed by other misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan that lasted way too long each....extracting a terrible cost in Lives,Limbs, and national treasure.
Several Authors have provided us with excellent analysis of strategy and tactics from the Vietnam days that it seems our current Senior Military Leadership are loathe to endorse preferring to go the "Woke" route to gain favor by their Civilian Masters.
Westmoreland's strategy of attrition warfare stands out as one of those decisions that was patently stupid in my view.....trading American Lives for Vietnamese Lives in what was a War of Reunification of a divided nation just does not make sense today.
I came to that realization during my second tour when I attended a briefing at our Battalion HQ.....where behind the podium was a Ball Game looking Score Board....a "Them" and "US" accounting by KIA, WIA, MIA.
Dull as I was in those days....it dawned on me that if I kept coming back on more assignments at some point I was going to be one of the ciphers marked on that Tally Board.
One month later I was....and earned a ticket home to convalesce.
The folks running the show got promoted, were given Legions of Merit and other awards....and retired with nice pensions....despite all of their failuresl
Later, we had a new crop of generals that kept telling us we were winning in Iraq and Afghanistan.....and we know how those two Wars ended.
Yet....this latest crop are not having to own up to being incompetent and have to atone for the loss of so many on both sides.
I said it earlier in this thread.....the Colonel was right in what he said but wrong for the way he went about it....and as I forecast he paid a dear price for it.
We need more like the Colonel.
He is not the first Marine to speak out.....read up on General Smedley Butler USMC....and his views on War.
One quote"
“To summarize: Three steps must be taken to smash the war racket.
1. We must take the profit out of war.
2. We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decide whether or not there should be war.
3. We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes.”
― Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier