Comments on: History of Vietnam War As Controversial As Ever

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 15:52:00 +0000

Incendiary – perhaps. But there is nothing irrational about opposing mass murder. In fact some old religion used to claim that the end result of murdering innocent people was very “incendiary”

By: Michael Patrick Brewer

Michael Patrick Brewer — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 01:27:00 +0000

True, his barbs are pretty incendiary and so positional that rationality floats out to sea.

By: Michael Patrick Brewer

Michael Patrick Brewer — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 01:25:00 +0000

Grunts are always welcome at historical conferences. Ask Phil Caputo.

By: Fraser007

Fraser007 — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:50:00 +0000

I agreed with JimB about his comment referring to Truman. We could have done a lot of good in the world at the end of WW2. FDR was not a colonialist. He would have kept the French etc. from screwing up the world again with their colonialism.
As a conservative I wonder about John McCain sometimes. The Immigration issue especially. His trigger finger is itching to get us into Syria and that worries me. Not sure if its worthwhile at all. (that’s another topic),
You know that I know you. And you know me and my background and what I did. That’s why I don’t go “one on one” with the likes of TipOneill. (He is not nearly as fun as Uncle Karl! LOL).
Take care Mike.

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:36:00 +0000

Actually “all historians” know that the war was an unjustified, unnecessary carnage in which we lost many men and treasure and the Vietnamese lost much much more.

Everyone would have been much better off if we had not fought it.

Propaganda trying to justify our militarism is not “history” which is why you are unlikely to be represented at historical conferences.

P.S. Jesus did NOT say “Blessed are the Warmakers – hooo haah”.

By: Michael Patrick Brewer

Michael Patrick Brewer — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:17:00 +0000

Hang inTip, you bring the best out of the pack, and probably screw up supper for a few. Marines are here to uphold the Constitution,and that includes you. I can handle it and do not need to devolve to adjectival adolescence to make a point, that most of the time is never made by many, as the penchant to clutch to identity and ego, trumps all content.Neither do I write to justify my medals. They remind me of why I write. To dispel the kind of lies that were perpetrated during the Vietnam War. All historians know this to be true. All of them.

By: Michael Patrick Brewer

Michael Patrick Brewer — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:09:00 +0000

Yup, it is maddening. I often write in Office Word and move it over, so as to never lose the stuff. At my age, losing is easy! Please give it another shot Jim.

By: Michael Patrick Brewer

Michael Patrick Brewer — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Well Fraser, it was once said that the Vietnam war divided the nation. It looks like the chasm has widened and the division is hard at work. I wonder who benefits from that? We must always remember, that there are nation-states out there watching us and using our polarities to their own ends. The 50-60 readers that know me well, know fully that I am neither a Hawk or a Dove. Ironically, the author of the above essay, is not even remotely a Hawk. He was a platoon leader with the 1st Air Cavalry in Vietnam. They actually came to rescue us Marines at Khe Sanh. He is a real live Military Historian and runs the Military Historical Museum on McDowell Rd. in Phoenix. I knew this narrative would draw some ire and fire in the belly, but then the value of the content it surfaces is what makes blogging worthwhile. Its almost like archaeology, in that you never know in advance what you will find. The Vietnam War cannot have a simplistic two sided viewpoint, It is too complicated for that, and their were too many mistakes that were not admitted to have an accurate historical framing.See McNamaras’s book “In Retrospect” or the writings of Joe Galloway. On October 5th. “The 5oth Anniversary of the Vietnam War” will be commemorated in Scottsdale, with retired Marine General Anthony Zinni as the keynote speaker; (he opposed the tactics of the Iraq War). Events like this are going on in nearly every state in the nation. Be assured the Blog farms are packed with controversial views and charged opinions,and it is Free Speech that we vociferously defend that makes this so. Attacking Tiponelll, does not further our cause. it may challenge us to transcend identity politics and offer dialogues that enlighten, ( we have already lost most young adults because of the food fight mentality). and create a new brand of leadership that can incorporate the polarities and enmity that rules. I see “Twilledge” has returned. I am not fond of this poster, but will leave the post there. He has been insulting to the bone of both my commuting, (how many homes does John McCain own, out of state?),the office we maintain in Tucson, and even questioned my service in the Marine Corps and the nature of my disability. I will give him/her one more chance, as my libertarian leanings mostly have me leave people alone. However, insulting a Marine is not well advised.

PS, the disallowing of links was advised by my mentor. Veterans sites are one of the most frequently hacked and sending someone to a link, will crash the whole program.

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:54:00 +0000

Other than name calling, do you have any contributions to make ? Or just the right wing usual ?

By: Twilledge

Twilledge — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 13:57:00 +0000

This IS my last comment to you. I can’t help but respond, when I get off the floor from laughing. You definitely belong on Comedy Central. You are so easy to set-up, it’s amazing. I said you would make some lame/name excuse. Dude, I misspelled O’Neill and Reagan on purpose. Shows how narrow minded and immature you are. Uneducated also.

The 13 colonies were put on the flag in a circle. You must have gotten the scrambled idea from the Huffington Post in support of gay marriage. The scrambled stars represent your scrambled brain. You are not too well like by many here. Even Mark Evans told you that you don’t even read before you post. Write on your cave walls first. Spare us from your evolution, please. Have a nice day…good luck with that one.