david f just said about the Vietnam War:

"Of course had the US pursued the war with all the resources at its command they could have won."

I don't think so. The reason the US withdrew its troops from Vietnam was because it came to the conclusion that the war was unwinnable.

The US gave up trying to fight an enemy that would not take to the field and engage in a conventional war that the US was used to fighting.

Hi (again) DAVID F...

I do agree with you, we, the US and her allies should never have been in South Vietnam in the first place.

One of my enduring memories I'll take to my grave, we set an ambush using Claymores and took out five Cong on this track through the bush. As was our orders the bodies are searched, and the guy I searched, had a tiny black & white photo of his wife, sister, or girlfriend smiling back at the camera, never knowing she'll never see him again? I was 22 years and he was probably younger. He was younger than me, Viet Cong, not an NVA regular, just defending his homeland I guess?

o sung wu,

You were in Vietnam to stop the Vietnamese people from creating a nation-state.

How does that make you feel? Do you think it was the right thing to do?

Hi there Mr OPINION...

I was in the ARA (a regular) and 22 years of age. Not being all that bright, or politically worldly, I didn't understand all the various arguments or nuances associated with our presence in S.V. When we're repatriated home, we arrived at Perth in the middle of the night in a chartered TAA DC 6B Prop. driven A/C. We were told to dress in civvies, preparatory to landing in Mascot Airport in Sydney later. There was a large crowd to greet us together with a substantial number of demonstrators, it's only then, most of us realised the depth of resentment some people felt over our involvement in the war.

What none of us appreciated were assertions we were baby killers and rapists. We were soldiers, under very strict controls by our Officers, nothing more.

It's nigh impossible to assert what's right & more-so, morally right at the time of engaging/doing the things we do or are asked to do.
However, I'm certain that what the so-called progressives are doing & advocating lately & now is wrong & will be proven to be wrong not all that far down the track.
The wrongs of the Whitlam years are a perfect example. The most striking are the removal of National Service & willy nilly education which has resulted in the over-supply of irresponsible common sense devoid hangers-on over the past 35-40 years !

o sung wu,

I'm not picking on you because I know that the soldiers who were sent to Vietnam had been misled by the politicians, bureaucrats and business people who are the ones who should be held account for Australia's involvement in a war aimed at preventing the rise of a Vietnamese nation-state.

I think it was wrong to try to prevent Vietnam from creating a nation-state. Would you agree?