You didn't let him finish the job in Viet Nam

Some years ago my friend and me were watching one of those Hollywood movies showing US soldiers in the Vietnam War. Can't remember the title even what that movie was about exactly, it was just the type of those rather patriotic films where the Americans were the good ones while the Vietnamese people the bad ones, of course. After watching these movies you must have been sort of baffled whether the American won or their enemies. The friend of mine was much younger then me, she was born years after that war was over, and those movies really brainwashed her into thinking that it was Viet Nam that was beaten. (The truth is we just had more history lessons about the Soviet Union then the USA in those days.) So I had to explan to her that the history was different.

She wondered why such a big and powerful country had lost. I guess, it is no need to explain now, everyone knows, better say, everyone should know because it is eye-opening experience.

Brenda from Arkansas was writing about it in her latest entry, even though her main subject was about people who know all the facts about everything best, for instance why the Americans lost the war in Vietnam.

I was talking with an older lady, man, and my mother-in-law. We were mostly just making small talk but one of them mentioned something about the war in Iraq and how they sure hoped it wouldn't turn out to be another Viet Nam. IAA uncle, who hadn't been doing anything other than his usual staring into his coffee cup, suddenly jumped up from the table and shouted, "I was there! The Viet Nam war was what it was because of YOU people, YOU protested, YOU didn't let us finish the job over there, YOU are to blame for it!"

That remark 'YOU didn't let us finish the job over there' is forcing me into thinking of all the possible chains of events. Had the Americans won then today's world would have had two Vietnams. We would have probably had another two Koreas and I guess one North Korea is more then enough. Furthermore, the Vietnam War Memorial Wall is so huge. 58,253 names.