I have no idea why America went to war in Vietnam. No doubt it was some obscure treaty that legitimised the war as it often is.   So as the facts are unknown to me, I can only form my own opinions. Personally I think you were there simply because of the American fear and paranoia of a communist state. Often during the cold war it was the fear of communism that was responsible for the actions taken. Speaking personally I do not share this fear of the Russian state.. In fact I fear it more today as communism has collapsed within the Russian boundaries & now we are dealing with an uncontrolled unknown situation…More of that later.

The great might of the American war machine was thrown into Vietnam…This is not a case of being wise after the event. American military leaders and politicians should have been wise before the event after all there was 20 years of French history to educate then. I would imagine the politicians in America scorning little Vietnam and thinking this will be a quick pushover. Americans always make one mistake, They fail to respect and study the enemy. This brash military ego brands them as "Gooks or Geeks" as if they were something less than human. This silly American attitude costs lives as well we discovered. The British were not directly involved in Vietnam…This was an American war aided by the Australians. British interest was simply to look after its own citizens.

The Australians were fierce professional fighters and took a heavy loss of casualties. On a percentage basis their losses were the greatest. Australia conscripted men in a very unusual way… They were subject to an IQ test and only the bright ones were in Uniform. This made the Australian soldier a force to be reckoned with. However it made Australian society lose a very large proportion of its most intelligent men, which I believe destroyed the population balance at that time and for another generations lifetime.

The American War Machine stepped up to maximum at this time. I was at Okinawa and was amazed to see B52 operations around the clock 7 days a week, as they took off every 5 minutes on bombing raids. The resources Americans used in this war was beyond normal comprehension. It is recognised that in just six short months in the defence of just one hill in Vietnam that American forces dropped more tonnage of bombs than was used by all sides in the full 5 years of WW2. A staggering statistic which I would not have believed had I not seen it for myself.

The resources used were staggering & I believe at the latter part of the war the American war machine was consuming more oil than the world could produce. Oil reserves were being used, so for the very first time world resources could not keep pace with demand. Ultimately this massive effort would need to be stepped down.

American Society objected to this war and many noisy demonstrations took place. Whilst I agree with the objectors, I do not believe they were correct to object at this time and in such a public way. Television beams these pictures around the world within seconds & the Vietnamese would view this as American weakness. These objectors on American soil were responsible for the deaths of many servicemen on Vietnamese soil. Objectors should have made there presence felt more privately with their congressmen and senators. You must never allow TV to expose your weaknesses to an enemy whilst ever the fighting continues. There are times to object, and there are times to show a united front at least on the world's public stage. These public demonstrations were counter productive as far as the serviceman was concerned and turned public opinions against returning veterans. These men would have felt very isolated on their return to your shores. This was a disgraceful period in American Civil history.

I met many American Servicemen in South East Asia, and read many stories as to how badly damaged they were after what often was only a short tour in Vietnam. I must admit at the time I could never understand why the impact was so big on these individuals. My recent vacation to the states has now provided me with much understanding about this aspect. Small town America is in fact much smaller than I could ever have imagined. In the UK our smallest villages are often ten times the population of your small towns. I saw many towns with populations in the order of 130 people. Here the child goes to the same school all his life with the same group of class mates. In the town he would know every one by their Christian name and is therefore in a very protective environment.

To be wrenched from this environment into the Marine Corps and then become a number, for some basic training and then shipped to the Vietnam jungle with its 100 % relative humidity. The average young American was never equipped for such a culture shock, to say nothing of the fact that people were now trying to kill him. I can fully understand the damage such would create in the young mans mind. This would explain why I always felt safer with the Black American Serviceman who previously lived in some "Run Down" suburb of a major city. These men started as street wise and could handle the culture shock better than most. My own upbringing with the aftermath of the war years & the fact that I attended more schools than I care to count, certainly equipped me much better than the average American for service overseas

Vietnam casualties ( very small compared to WW2 statistics) became politically unacceptable as the pressure continued to end this war. No amount of resources would succeed against a race who's whole life time had been fighting for independence & it is wise never to underestimate the power of the man fighting on home ground. Vietnam ended in defeat for the western world who hopefully will not embark on such a situation again. Vietnam re-builds slowly and will eventually emerge as a reasonably civilised country as it expands it's horizons to trade with the world. Having seen this place in peacetime, it really is a very pretty country.

Towards the end of the Vietnam War many mistakes were to be made and I can think of 2 incidents involving Australian Warships. There was never a war at Sea & Australia was America's partner in this conflict. And yet two Australian warships were almost destroyed by American air strikes to my certain knowledge as I saw then limp back into Sydney harbour. Frightened young men at the controls of sophisticated aircraft just shooting at anything that moved.

Simply Steve