[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Rausch

I can understand it the way one argument does: we made the Commies spend. They died at about 20-1 and we forced them to spend in a war we didn't "care" about.

I can blow up each and every one of these, easily.

"They" died at 20-1? Great. But "they" were nearly all peasant farmers in Vietnam. They weren't our enemy, and were never going to be our enemy, until we forced them to be our enemy. This isn't like WWII or even the war on terrorism, where arguably these nutjobs would go somewhere and attack "the west" in some fashion if they could. These people would mostly have worked their damn rice paddies if it wasn't for us forcing them to be soldiers.

Some argue it helped to end the cold war.

I would argue that assessment is correct.

Yeah, no. The fall of the Soviet Union was not caused to any signifciant degree by Vietnam. I have never seen any argument that suggests anywhere near that type of causation/correlation.

I've also been witness to the results. My "uncle" who was honored and (today would be a MENSA member) blew his head off in his bedroom. His wife was forever ****ed and she later changed her and her kid's names.

My dad died of a "strange" form of brain cancer tied to agent orange.
The VA does not recognize this form of brain cancer as related to service. They agreed to treat him for free until it progressed and then told him "Sorry, we can't do anything. You're going to die."

I'm very sorry for the price your family paid. I'm also sorry that I don't think they paid that awful price for anything of significant value to our country. It's not remotely their fault that a combination of bad luck, bad leadership, paranoia and stupidity caused untold suffering here and abroad.