One thing that made me fell proud about serving in Vietnam was people escaping to America.

[pwb]

All my buddies who died and were wounded there at least gave some people a chance to be free and live a better life. Now commander bone spurs wants to take the little bit we can feel good about away from us. This is a very sad day for me as a Nam veteran, very sad.

[Botany]

1. Thank you for your service

n/t

[pwb]

2. This is a big no thank you from trump.

What a fucking asshole he is.

[Botany]

4. It was the summer after 5th grade when my friend's big brother was killed in Vietnam

We lived in a small town and that awful day is burned into my memory. Matter of fact
when he was killed were horseback riding but the news took a few days to get back to
his family .... poor guy did't make 19.

BTW Trump's move today on the Vietnamese might be pure gas lighting.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211544292

[pwb]

6. This really took the wind out of my sails.

I had two small town friends killed in action. Both Marines.

[Botany]

19. So was my friend's brother .... USMC too

But the fighting spirit of the marines still lives on Bob Mueller.

[democrank]

3. I'm so sorry, pwb.

Thank you for your service. I wish you peace.

[applegrove]

5. Thank for your service. I suspect policy like this is because Stephen Miller

has to eat.

[pwb]

8. It has trump written all over it too.

They are both awful human beings.

[Mr.Bill]

25. In a few weeks Trump and those around him will be eating

each other.

[lunasun]

31. Or get off . What a sick fuck imo got to be Miller's idea aka usual suspect and trump approves 100%

[applegrove]

32. Yes. That is what I meant. You say it clear.

[TEB]

7. Don't let these pigs

Ruin it for you piss on trump it is probably his way of trying to change the news just pure evil we all know that

[TEB]

9. All those men you served with

And you fine human beings thank you

[pwb]

10. Think I will go to bed early.

Peace and love to you all.

[Victor_c3]

11. I'm sure was similar for you, but the local nationals I worked with in Iraq risked everything

The guys who worked with us in Iraq risked everything. They were often seen as traitors to their country for even accepting a shitty job from us. We owe it to these people to let them live in our country.

I can’t believe that we could turn any of these people away - let alone people who’ve moved and integrated themselves into our nation for decades. This fills me with disgust.

Absolutely unbelievable.

[msongs]

12. one suspects there are many vietnam-heritage ppl in texas and lousiana and other

red states. Orange County CA has a quite large vietnam-heritage group. look how that turned out for trump and co.

[TygrBright]

13. Yes. He is dishonoring every soldier, airman, sailor and marine who served there.

They fought beside our troops, sheltered downed airmen, rescued stranded Swift Boat sailors, put their lives and homes and land on the line for US promises.

This was a real gut punch for me today.

I hope he gets many, many earfuls from military personnel who understand the meaning of honor and the role of being trustworthy in military success.

sadly,
Bright

[fierywoman]

14. Too bad tiny mushroom never discovered Pho!

[MaryMagdaline]

15. So sorry you have to see this dishonor

[UTUSN]

16. K&R double

[bhikkhu]

17. I learned a good part of my trade from a Vietnamese refugee

As a mechanic starting out, one of my first serious jobs was as a rebuilder for and auto-electric shop. I had the basics but really I was in way over my head. The one other guy in the back shop with me was a Vietnamese man who'd come over on the refugee program. He knew the job top to bottom (his specialty when he was in the military) and was an excellent teacher, cheerful and encouraging and generous with his time. One of the best people I've ever worked with, even now 30 years later. What i learned from him put me on a solid footing, gave me confidence in my abilities, and has put bread on my table for much of my working life.


That this country would deport a man like him just boggles the mind, its just wrong.

[firstwife]

18. My immediate thought was - this is unnecessarily cruel

pwb, I feel so badly about this. I never thought of it from that perspective but you are right - for ALL the vilification the Vietnam Vets took after returning, it must have made them at least able to feel good that people were allowed to escape to freedom. They helped make that possible. It was the Right thing to do then, and for however long it continued. Hopefully the people, through the courts, will fight this new aberration. We will stand with the Vets and fight to keep this from happening.

[calimary]

33. Welcome to DU, firstwife.

Such touching stories here. Stories of honor and gratitude, courage, resourcefulness, and sacrifice. So much to the good and the inspirational and the uplifting.

And The Asset just wants to take a baseball bat to it all.

[onetexan]

23. Exactly - first the muslims, then mexicans

Now the asians. Who next?

[mainer]

21. In any future foreign wars, forget any locals ever helping us

They will know they can't trust the U.S. to honor any of its promises to them.

[Mc Mike]

46. Agreed. +1000.

He's destroying the US's ability to gain local allies, in any international hot spot where our military is fighting.

Putin must be pleased.

[hibbing]

22. Powerful post n/t

[ZeroSomeBrains]

24. I dont know what to say other than I'm sorry

Our president never served in that war because of bone spurs and now he is trying to take away one of the few things you can take pride in from that war. You should feel pride in the fact that you helped those people escape to freedom. You should know that this millennial is very proud of you for your service. Your friends did not die in vein.

Hopefully he will not be successful in throwing these people out. I'm sure the new Democratic house will try to keep these souls from being deported. It breaks my heart to know that this is causing you great pain. Stay strong.

[Mr.Bill]

26. I woked with many of these people in Silicon Valley

in the 70s and 80s. They are good people, overall.

[Augiedog]

27. I was part of the "Vietnamization" of the war. I helped train ARVN troops in base defense. These

people, including Montagnards I interacted with while I was there were integral to the efforts, that failed ultimately, there. These people daily risked their lives. I’m am not trying to justify the war. But when you are 19 or 20 years old and in an impossible situation, some things always stand out. It wasn’t just the soldiers, their families were there with them in many cases. They too suffered.

Now trump would make them suffer again. So what was his rank while he served in Vietnam? What branch of the service was in ? Perhaps he served with the Russian troops there...hmmm.

[orangecrush]

28. Asshole is driving the U.S. off a cliff.

[summer_in_TX]

29. So Trump's once again going to violate treaty obligations?

No one who arrived from Vietnam before the U.S. and Vietnam re-established diplomatic relations is supposed to be subject to removal. Vietnamese citizens in the U.S. who came after that but committed a crime can be subject to deportation procedures.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/donald-trump-deport-vietnam-war-refugees/577993/]



As Esquire puts it, "the cruelty is the point" with anything this president does.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a25563859/trump-administration-deport-vietnam-war-refugees/


So sorry pwb. Sorry and ashamed.

[TxVietVet]

30. This action is a DISGRACE.

Not only does the orange-faced shitgibbon humiliate the US worldwide with his public antics, he destroys the lives of those that were our ALLIES in the War on Communism in Vietnam.

The RAT BASTARD trump dodged the draft. He's a chronic LIAR. He's bought and paid for by the Russians. You wonder, what more can this TRAITOR get away with.

The Vietnamese, who fought by our side, are offered a glimpse of hope by immigrating to the US and creating a life for themselves here. They come here and against the odds, they struggle and make it. The Vietnamese Americans that I've talked to have all been extremely grateful for the service my two brothers and I gave in Vietnam.

Then, the premier piece of SHIT conservanazi does this.

I could not look at myself in the mirror if I supported the asshole trump.

WHAT A POS he is!

I hope he and his family pay dearly for the crimes they have committed .

As a Vietnam veteran, I am sick over this. Sick.

I don't hate the lowlife conservanazi. I pray that GOD gives the tRumps what they deserve.

tRump is a shit stain on the United States. Putin is laughing his ass off for what he's done to our country.

I pray KARMA is a real bitch to the tRumps.

[pwb]

43. Good to hear i am not alone.

People are so much nicer than this Disadministration thinks of them. Peace Brother !

[Cracklin Charlie]

34. I lived next door to a 4 generation Vietnamese refugee family in the 1970's.

They were sponsored by our local Catholic Church. I was very proud that my very small Arkansas town took in several families and individuals from Fort Chaffee.

It was very hard on my dad at first...he had spent two years in a Japanese prison during World War II, and although my parents were quite progressive for southerners, the fact that there were Asians next door must have been a bit unnerving.

But, Daddy came through like a trooper. By the next summer, Daddy and the grandad were gardening together, loaning/borrowing tools, and helping each other with chores. It was wonderful!

Several years later, my mom called and told me that one of the younger kids had graduated medical school, and invited them to his graduation. They went. They were great people.

[grantcart]

35. I spent 8 years resettling refugees in SE Asia and want to vomit at this news

This is going to be laughed out of court

The second remarkable thing is that the GOP will never return to power in Orange County that houses our largest Vietnames communities.

[pwb]

36. Good morning and thank you all for your thoughts.

Its a new day. We all can only guess what our presidential embarrassment will let go from his fat ass today?

[ProfessorGAC]

37. The Thing That Baffles Me The Most Is. . .

. . .what possible good to this create for the United States.

Whether one is part of the anti-immigration thing, or oppose those types, what benefit is derived for anybody by doing this?

This is just a dick move for the sake of performing a dick move.

[Hortensis]

38. Incredibly despicable. Think of this as one more nail

the Republicans are driving into their own coffin. It MUST be, because if these white nationalists get the power they intend, they will target American citizens.

Going after foreign-born and other vulnerable residents is one of many standard totalitarian moves to "normalize" persecution and suspension of rights ("just theirs" ) and get the population used to accepting it, step by step.

[GusBob]

39. Maybe those folks would be better off escaping FROM America now

Trumps America.

I have been reading that they have buried the hatchet in country from the VN wars. The country is actually a tourist destination and a very beautiful place. All the old animosities have been set behind from what I understand

I don't agree that these folks should be deported, but maybe for some of them it would be an opportunity

[pwb]

40. Right, not much great about us anymore.

The world is passing us by.

[TwistOneUp]

41. Thank you for your sacrifice! nt

[rsdsharp]

42. I'm from Iowa. We have thousands of people who came to this state as refugees from Vietnam.

After the US pulled out of Vietnam in 1975 there was an humanitarian crisis as thousands tried to flee the communist regime. Iowa governor Robert D. Ray, a moderate Republican, decided that Iowa should take in many of those refugees. He was warned it would hurt him politically, but he just shrugged and said if he lost he'd make more money in the private sector anyway, and plowed ahead. (He didn't lose -- as a liberal Democrat I'm proud to say I voted for Bob Ray).

That was more than 40 years ago. The vast majority of those refugees went on to become very productive workers and business owners, built new lives and raised their families, and many became US citizens. This whole thing just screams Steven Miller.

[INdemo]

44. Perhaps his comrad Putin ordered him to do this?

[The Wizard]

45. Even today

the punk Trump wants to avoid Vietnam. Like many, I didn't want to be there, but I was young and poor without many options.

[murielm99]

47. I worked as a literacy volunteer after the war was over.

I was glad to use the skills I had to teach Vietnamese people to read and to navigate our various bureaucracies.

I was a 27-year-old widow. My husband was a veteran. I hope he would have approved of the volunteer work I was doing.

In my small town, we lost two young men to the war. One of them played the trumpet in our high school orchestra. I remember him from that. The other one was just a nice boy who was a year older than me. He took some time off from college and was drafted. It was tragic. All of it was such a waste of life.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

48. The messages Trump is giving is incomprehensible to me

He is saying, "If you support us, we won't necessarily support you" and "The US government's word means nothing".