This is a point of view that's hard for me to understand

I grew up in the US during the Vietnam war

When I was in grade school, every night on the TV news we saw body bags. My parents talked about protesting. The music they listen to was about the absurdity and the horrificness of the war

And once a week, we got an episode of MASH. People treating the awful injuries, talking about the pointlessness of the war, the waste of money and human lives, showing empathy for the people of Vietnam

This edit gives you a pretty good idea of the context. Here's what we were seeing on TV, backed with what we were listening to

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

(www.youtube.com)

"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien had a huge influence on me as a writer. I studied it in 11th grade English and again for my degree. He's written some other stuff but that's his most famous one.

"Achilles in Vietnam" and "Odysseus in America" by Jonathan Shay, a VA psychiatrist who works almost exclusively with Vietnam vets. These address political and bureaucratic factors besides combat

Regional destabilization had lost the name, but the policy was developed starting in Vietnam, codified in Central America, and weaponized in the 1st Gulf War.

Once a developmental pattern can be described, it is easy to see how the US was going to proceed in the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, and even the Persian Gulf today.

Just one element from the Vietnam war that became everything in 🧵.

Teachers with a set history curricula and a loyalty oath are not going to address this.

7/🧵

Regional destabilization was coined by Ronald Reagan in a press conference in the 80s. It described a policy in which the US funds the Contras to oppose communism by sponsoring activities that force neighboring states into conflict against one another.

This may not seem related to Vietnam, but the whole process that became a policy of regional destabilization was kicked off by groups like SOG operating across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Patterns in Vietnam repeat.

6/🧵

The airline that was SAT became rebranded later on and was used under another administration for "extraordinary rendition". The model for managing all of this that was declassed under Clinton became "fusion centers" in the US and abroad. The new "worst drug ever" became opioids and allies of the US in Afghanistan and the Middle East forced farmers to grow poppies.

The usual public works projects crept up in the Middle East. But let's talk about regional destabilization.

5/🧵

Back to projects and programs, the US has also tied creation of airstrips in target conflict nations with humanitarian efforts. Programs that build roads (often wide short roads in the middle of nowhere) and orphanages (and other buildings in the middle of nowhere), along with agricultural programs (which can be flipped to show farmers how to grow increased drug crop yields) are part of nearly every conflict where drugs, guns, money and planes are involved.

5/🧵

If you notice, there is a pattern of which drug is prosecuted more fervently internal to the US during these conflicts. Heroin during the Vietnam war, and crack cocaine during the Latin American conflicts. This is Congressional record.

I've spoken with former Coast Guard officers who were specifically enjoined to avoid inspecting certain boats. The one who did also recorded one of the largest cocaine busts by the Coast Guard at that time.

4/🧵

People previously assigned to SOG ended up overseeing Central American operations in Hondauras in the 80s. Again, you will see the same game played out with money, drugs, guns and airlines in Central America as well. The new airline name was Southern Air Transport.

Players involved in both become a handful of people, and identification isn't hard, they are in the historical record.

Also, what started in Vietnam is now becoming a model (later declassified by Clinton).

3/🧵

There are some elements of the Vietnam war that blended into other conflicts and actions by the US govt.

SOG was a group of "special forces" whose job was to "repatriate" US soldiers behind enemy lines. This is govspeak for a team of assassins hunting down and murdering US deserters living on the communist side of the line.

The elements tied to SOG may have also been involved in moving money, guns and drugs via Air America. This model will show up again and again.

2/🧵

Even AP classes had a requirement to teach the accepted curricula (propaganda). Teachers in CA had to swear an oath they were not commies. So, probably self-selecting for being non-critical about state propaganda. Even open minded teachers I knew shied away from criticizing parts of the curricula.

FYI, the Vietnamese refer to that war as "the American War". There are probably history books written by Vietnamese authors in English that cover that perspective.

1/🧵

I look forward to reading these.

@futurebird

@futurebird

I really appreciate this; I know it's not easy to talk about 🫂

@futurebird

Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dang Thuy Tram - this is the actual diary of a North Vietnamese doctor. Dang Thuy Tram, was killed at age 27.

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip - This is a memoir. Le Ly grew up in a village near Da Nang & she was suspected by both Viet Cong & South Vietnamese/US. Both sides tortured her in their prisons.

A Vietcong Memoir: An Inside Account of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath by Truong Nhu Tang - This book helps folks to understand the disillusionment, post war. Truong Nhu was a founder of the NLF & was Minister of Justice in the Provisional Revolutionary Government.

The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse by Vinh Nguyen. This is a poignant tour of disappeared refugee camps, abandoned family homes & reimagined lives from one survivor's family experience.

Surviving The Vietnam War & It's Aftermath - shares the perspectives of two Vietnamese war correspondents.
https://survivingvietnam.com/

@futurebird

- being shown an uncensored video of a public execution where blood gushed from a headwound into the street with each pump of the dying heart

- this video record and presence of journalists not censoring what they see was a major factor in why the usa public turned against the war. reality of it came thru their screens every night

I learnt significantly more about the Irish famine on one trip around a museum in Dublin than I learnt in school. It was never mentioned to me in school.

See also the British in India, the British in... etc, etc, etc