I was in the last draft for Vietnam, which took the form of a lottery, in 1971 or 1972. Fortunately, I was number 128 and they were drafting all those below 100. I had made a conscious decision at the time to go to Canada and finish my education if I was called.
I made this decision partly based on my own analysis at the time. I knew that The United States' main concern was to stop the spread of Communism. One theory about the threat of Communism was the Domino Theory, which said that if one country fell to Communism, the surrounding countries would also fall to Communism. The United States based part of their actions in Vietnam on this theory, even though the theory had never been proven to have any validity. I wasn't going to put my life at risk for an unproven theory (at best) because Big Daddy Government thought I should. Better to leave if need be.
Moreover, the reputation of the United States government was also a motivation for their involvement in Vietnam. The administrations during the Vietnam Era saw Vietnam as an opportunity to strengthen their reputation after their disappointing failure in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs incident.
The United States determination to win this war became more important than the effects the war had on the Vietnamese people and their land. Due to the United States' focus on the fight against Communism and upholding its reputation, the military tactics used did not take into account the Vietnamese tactics, namely guerrilla warfare. This is a major reason why the Vietnamese were so successful. The United States was accustomed to fighting an organized war with a declared front line, unlike guerrilla warfare, which had no boundaries and allowed the Vietnamese to attack from all sides. The United States military was unprepared for this type of war. I knew all about Guerilla warfare because I was trained as a youngster in this tactic when we had moved overseas.
I also had the opportunity to educate myself by talking to a few Vets who came back from Vietnam as Paraplegics. Not only did I know that this war had no sound theoretical principle to stand on, but I had heard from the men on the battlefield that the US Government was sending its citizens on a suicidal mission.
As a native born American, I am proud to say with courage and pride that I did everything in my human power to oppose the Vietnam war. |
