The possibility of going to war, or of surrendering for purely domestic political purposes, was unthought-of.
I believed Asian lives (and freedom) mattered. The Vietnamese were willing to defend themselves from attack (and later even more willing due to the Tet brutalities). They deserved our advisors. With them (South Vietnamese President) Diem was winning, until he was assassinated for his use of non-PC methods. I believed that “saving face” and preventing the dominos falling became strategically important—and both were ultimately proved so true.
I did not envisage the possibility of an NSA-faked incident (Gulf of Tonkin) to justify an expanded involvement as the CIA post-Diem plan began to fall apart. While Tet was a huge NVA military defeat, it was a huge propaganda victory for them in the US. But it became obvious that Tet was a huge cultural defeat in Vietnam, as the South Vietnam learned they did not want to live under terrorism and foreign oppression.
We had won militarily and in the “hearts and minds,” but frittered victory and many lives away for domestic politics. Thankfully we prevented the fall elsewhere, but tragically became a worldwide paper tiger with long-term strategically negative consequences.
At Bowdoin, I did not understand that meddling, incrementalism, and lack of oversight can get us involved in what can snowball into an unintended VNSSI situation.
I did/do not like hypocrites, so I joined ROTC to put my money where my mouth was. ROTC cadets were routinely harassed, but we were not snowflakes. I strongly believe that everyone should have freedom of speech and peaceful assembly rights. The ’68 protests were a foretaste of today’s violent lawlessness, riots, and the intolerance and bullying of conservatives. The anti-war protests were also the precursors of today’s resistance—that, for them, their ends justify their means and that laws are only for those with whom they disagree.
This reflection is part of a series written by members of the Class of 1968. Read more in For Conscience and Country
This story first appears in the Fall 2018 issue of Bowdoin Magazine.
Update your mailing and subscription information, and browse other features and profiles here.
