ElCid Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 March 29 is Vietnam War Veterans Day and there are no movies on TCM to commemorate it. I saw an Australian Vietnam War movie last week, Danger Close (2019?) Very good movie. Primarily an Australian Army infantry unit supported mostly by a New Zealand artillery unit. Some support from US Air Force. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 While I can't fathom why it took so many years for the U.S. military to afford the same rights and recognition to Viet Nam vets as they did the veterans of earlier wars, to grant them a "special" veterans day, without also designating a Korean war veterans day and with there still being some survivors, a WWII veteran's day is puzzling. I figured Viet Nam vets were already covered by Veteran's Day anyway. So no special day is really needed. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Sepiatone said: While I can't fathom why it took so many years for the U.S. military to afford the same rights and recognition to Viet Nam vets as they did the veterans of earlier wars, to grant them a "special" veterans day, without also designating a Korean war veterans day and with there still being some survivors, a WWII veteran's day is puzzling. I figured Viet Nam vets were already covered by Veteran's Day anyway. So no special day is really needed. Sepiatone Actually I have no idea why Vietnam War Veterans Day was created. Congress created it during the Trump administration in part because of the 50th Anniversary of the war recognitions. They picked March 29 as that is day last combat troops left Vietnam and the Military Assistance Command Vietnam was disestablished in 1973. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wim Grundy Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 As a combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict and a TCM watcher, I recommend ROGUE'S REGIMENT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGGerald Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 10 hours ago, Sepiatone said: While I can't fathom why it took so many years for the U.S. military to afford the same rights and recognition to Viet Nam vets as they did the veterans of earlier wars, to grant them a "special" veterans day, without also designating a Korean war veterans day and with there still being some survivors, a WWII veteran's day is puzzling. I figured Viet Nam vets were already covered by Veteran's Day anyway. So no special day is really needed. Sepiatone We didn't win. No way to use the propaganda to promote anything. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 2 hours ago, GGGGerald said: We didn't win. No way to use the propaganda to promote anything. Well actually Gerald, you may remember we DID end up having "Peace with Honor", according to Richard M. Nixon. OR in essence just another way of saying, "We finally pulled out of that quagmire without ever admitting what a damn mistake it was to be involved in it in the first place". (...the above description being one my father, a WWII veteran, would often call it...oh, and EVENTUALLY and a few decades later, the very SAME manner in which one of the key architects of that war, one Robert McNamara, would come to admit) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 13 hours ago, Wim Grundy said: As a combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict and a TCM watcher, I recommend ROGUE'S REGIMENT. The premise on Wikipedia sounds interesting. Where did you see it, as I have never heard of it? My favorite Vietnam War movie is Go Tell the Spartans (1978) with Burt Lancaster. Set in the early part of war with Lancaster and small detachment of advisors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 10 hours ago, Dargo said: Well actually Gerald, you may remember we DID end up having "Peace with Honor", according to Richard M. Nixon. OR in essence just another way of saying, "We finally pulled out of that quagmire without ever admitting what a damn mistake it was to be involved in it in the first place". (...the above description being one my father, a WWII veteran, would often call it...oh, and EVENTUALLY and a few decades later, the very SAME manner in which one of the key architects of that war, one Robert McNamara, would come to admit) I do remember back then when a few of us were griping about it and someone brought up(and he was a Nixon supporter by the way) , "Our president's great plan for face saving withdrawal from Viet Nam." To which another in the group quickly quipped, --- "Withdrawal was something Nixon's Father should have considered 60 years ago!" Sepiatone 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeHolman Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 during the Vietnam era returning vets were not, by and large, welcomed with open arms by the public when today they are routinely thanked for their service ... as they should be ... Vietnam War Facts, Stats and Myths https://www.uswings.com/about-us-wings/vietnam-war-facts/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Yeah, I never got into that "baby killer" and other dissing nonsense. Had to consider that roughly 90% or more of the guys fighting over there were drafted and really waned no part of anything going on. And that the My Lai incident was not a commonplace occurrence And not all soldiers serving there took place in anything like that. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 27 minutes ago, Sepiatone said: I do remember back then when a few of us were griping about it and someone brought up(and he was a Nixon supporter by the way) , "Our president's great plan for face saving withdrawal from Viet Nam." To which another in the group quickly quipped, --- "Withdrawal was something Nixon's Father should have considered 60 years ago!" Sepiatone LOL Yeah, I remember that funny joke too, Sepia. However, I think the thing to remember here is that ol' Tricky Dick inherited that war from a long line of former presidents, and starting with ol' "The Buck Stops Here" Harry. And of course, with the primary one responsible for its escalation being the Texan who preceeded Nixon. Of course it didn't hurt that so much of the American public had bought into the "Southeast Asia Domino Theory" at the time, also. And of course a prime reason why so many people like the OP of this thread Cid here and our latest newbie Wim (btw, welcome to the boards) were sent over there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Sepiatone said: Yeah, I never got into that "baby killer" and other dissing nonsense. Had to consider that roughly 90% or more of the guys fighting over there were drafted and really waned no part of anything going on. And that the My Lai incident was not a commonplace occurrence And not all soldiers serving there took place in anything like that. Sepiatone I've thought for years now that what seems to me to be this present trend to call all veterans "heroes" was a direct result and reaction to make up for what happened to the Vietnam War vets once they returned back to "The World". (...as my father, and once again a WWII vet who served in Patton's 3rd Armored Division in No.Africa, the Sicily and Italian boot invasions and then later in France and Germany after the D-Day invasion and after Patton's Army landed there, would have scoffed at anyone calling him a "hero") Edited March 31, 2021 by Dargo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinemaInternational Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Ironic then that I spent that day binging episodes of China Beach on DVD. That was such a great TV series.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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