Perspective

Perspective is what makes us who we are, its how we analyze today, its how we look at history. I wanted to look at Vietnam from a different perspective, specifically the Vietnamese pro-communist. In their mind the French, then Americans, each were attempting at a colonial land grab. The US urges them to suspend elections due to the support of the communists within the country, and when the president of South Vietnam agrees to talk with Ho Chi Minh, the US stages a coup against him. To imagine what a common Vietnamese man, or woman must have felt at this. We waged a revolution over taxes, yet when their very government is usurped by the US, they must not be upset? Between 500,000 and 3 million Vietnamese lost their lives, compared to 58,000 U.S. Soldiers. Both sides numbers are upsetting, but the Vietnamese not only lost soldiers, but children and Women, who were shot with suspicion of being the enemy. The carnage felt on both sides is astounding. When we left and the North crushed the South, it was not because they had a great superior force, they held the keys of popular belief and opinion. Those same keys that the french and US abused in order to play their hand against the Soviets.

This is my point, we speak only of our loss, of our missions, of our victories. If we were to gain some perspective on situations we may not fall into this mess again, and again, and again.