The Generals didn't know squat!


A recent Facebook Post by me stirred the “Dead End Canal yacht Club” pot for sure. I came across an article, U.S. Combat Advisers in Vietnam Knew the Score and Got Ignored; American officers advising the South Vietnamese Army repeatedly warned Washington that the war was misguided. This, they quickly learned, was the fast track to career suicide.

The article, first posted on the Daily Beast, caused much debate among our 'DECYC' members. I belong to the half who served. Opinions were further divided because some agreed with the idea that we lost in Vietnam even before the French surrendered.

Here is the link to the complete piece. https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-combat-advisers-in-vietnam-knew-the-score-and-got-ignored-3?source=facebook&via=desktop but if you don't know how to copy and paste into your browser, forget it! In addition there is a link to a book and a movie about a Lt. Colonel Vann who got it right, right in the neck for speaking up!

Many of the 'DECYC” members are reliving those times because of this article. A few were draft dodgers, a few served in Nam and many avoided the opportunity in one fashion or another like our current President.
I am the odd ball! I spent the majority of my overseas duty driving around Europe (mostly Germany) and France but then I was picked for a secret mission to a South East Asia nation. Sadly, since it was TDY I was never recorded on the 'books'!

In my neck of Germany, we got way too many Korean G I's who carried rank into our units and then were immediately busted. Those soldiers had become Korean-ized which we didn't understand but saw the undisciplined outcome. There was rank lying around for anyone with time and grade. I was an 'acting Jack (temp Sargent) but had to re-up to make the stripes permanent. No thanks!

Cap'n Crunch was a 'Swift Boat' navigator who claimed to know that 'coward', John Kerry (his words not mine) but his timing never matched up. It has been revealed that he navigated a desk in Saigon and got his purple heart from falling off a bar stool. In a even more recent version from his Cousin, he fell off an 'on-base' bar stool not his revised version of a VC bombed bar.

In true Army fashion, I was dragged along on several short visits to 'rice paddy' land by a Lt. Colonel who always got off the transports in Thailand. Not me, I got a tour of the bush while the modified weapons were tested by real troops in the field. Most Commanders didn't want or need a security detail so I was free to roam around on my own. As you might suspect, I quickly discover that wasn't the best plan.

Then it was back to General Depot Kaiserslautern so the brainiac's could do more modification. I made sure I didn't miss that flight! A few weeks later we went back for more field testing. Then Congress made it's decision; Never mind Europe had a million excess unmodified weapons, they would buy a bunch more M-16s.

The Grunts guarding the rice paddies loved to grumble that the Generals didn't know shit and I guess they were right? So why do we keep turning out WWII style Generals and electing draft dodgers as Presidents? You tell me! A squad of Vietcong irregulars often pinned down several companies of ARVN troops or a company of our soldiers with just unmodified AK47s.



The Generals used time honored 'Ambush Intelligence'! They sent the American troops walking through the jungle until they were ambushed and that is how they knew where the enemy was. The ARVN troops hid in compounds, never pursued and staged victory selfies!

The most technologically advanced military in the world beaten by rice farmers? Read the article! https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-combat-advisers-in-vietnam-knew-the-score-and-got-ignored-3?source=facebook&via=desktop

This blog/column is meant for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All images are merely for humor and not meant to comment on subject. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Do not read while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery. Keep sending those great questions and comments! (Contact) boatguied@aol.com

Comments

boatguy Ed said…
How easily we forget!!!
February 9, 2018 at 1:52 PM
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