The War over the Vietnam War
The War over the Vietnam War
May 5, 2015
Exclusive: The Pentagon has retreated somewhat from its recent campaign to rewrite the Vietnam War history to push the discredited theory that the military strategy was sound, just undercut by disloyal war reporters and a misled public, a modest victory for truth, as war correspondent Don North describes.
By Don North
Wars are fought twice, once on the battlefield and later in the remembering. In that way, the Vietnam War though it ended on the battlefield four decades ago continues as a battle of memory, history and truth. And the stakes are still high. Honest narratives about important past events can shape our destinies, helping to determine whether there will be more wars or maybe peace.
A few years ago, I was pleased to hear that the Pentagon would be funding a committee for the commemoration of the Vietnam War. I thought maybe, finally, well get the record straight. But I didnt have to read further than the keynote quote at the top of the new website to realize it was not to be.
Quoting President Richard Nixon, it read: No event in history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam war. It was misreported then and is misunderstood now.
I belong to the dwindling ranks of journalists who covered the war. We call ourselves the Vietnam old hacks and we got pretty exercised about this quote since it perpetuates the myth that the war would have worked out just fine if not for the discouraging words of some reporters. I wrote a letter to the chief of the commemoration committee, retired Lieutenant General Claude Kicklighter, protesting this slur on the thousands of journalists who tried to honestly cover the war, a slur coming from a U.S. president who was one of the most responsible for misleading the public about the war.
More:
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/05/05/the-war-over-the-vietnam-war/