Chicago 10 - Remember

I just watched this movie. It's a documentary chronicling the real-life events surrounding the anti-war protest of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Its the story of the events leading to the trial of Abby Hoffman, Bobby Seale, et al.

This is what will happen to our country again should we allow the war in the middle east to continue. Police state, very scary experience.

For those of you to young to remember, you should watch this film. Those of you old enough to remember....remember? It was Vietnam. 20,000 young men were dead. They were about to call the draft of 30,000 more. And despite all the protests and violence, the war still lasted for 5 more years.

58, 169 Americans killed (11, 465 were teenagers).
304,000 Americans wounded.
444, 000 North Vietnamese killed.
220, 557 South Vietnamese (this is not precise as the Vietnamese took away their dead.
587, 00 civilians killed.
2, 590, 000 Americans served
59, 520 Australians served
6,72,084 ton of bombs dropped (3x the amount of the WW1 and WW2 combined)
3,750 fixed wing aircraft and 4,865 helicopters were lost.
Australia lost 2 fixed wing aircraft and 10 helicopters
3,500,000 acres of Vietnam were sprayed with defoliant, the effect lasts more than 100 years.
Agent orange caused cancer in the people affected and mutations in the third generation.

Remember....always remember. We too felt the need to support the young men overseas, but we also felt the great need to bring them home, and heal America.

More than any U.S. war since the Civil War, Vietnam divided America and made us reevaluate our society. By any standard, the American effort in Southeast Asia was a major conflict. Money, bombs and men were fed into a meat grinder whose purpose seemed to change at every Presidential press conference. Questions about the history and lessons of the war in Vietnam continue to be raised again and again in the face of current events. The events of 9-11 brought the violence that is part of the daily life of so many of the world's peoples into the lives of Americans in a way that has never been paralleled. A "War on Terrorism" has been declared that has no end in sight. U.S. military personnel have been put at risk in not only Afghanistan, but in increased presence in the Philippines and Colombia. Popular culture offers Mel Gibson's portrayal of Vietnam back when the issues were simpler in We Were Soldiers. Blackhawk Down shows the value of U.S. combat deaths regardless of the settings and the goals. We feel that it is important to remember the lessons of the U.S. War in Vietnam as we knew and lived it.

U.S. involvement in Vietnam did not begin in the 1960's or even the 1940's, but in 1845. That's right -- 1845. In that year the people of Da Nang arrested a French missionary bishop for breaking local laws. The U.S. commander of "Old Ironsides" (the U.S.S. Constitution) landed U.S. Navy and Marines in support of French efforts to reclaim their missionary. Mad Jack Percival, the ship's captain, fired into the city of Da Nang, killing 3 dozen Vietnamese, wounding more, and taking the local mandarins hostage. He then demanded that the Catholic Bishop be freed in exchange for his hostages. The Vietnamese were unimpressed. They refused his demand and waited. "Mad Jack" got tired of waiting, released his hostages, and sailed away leaving the Bishop behind. One hundred and thirty years later, Americans would again become tired of their involvement and leave Vietnam. Unfortunately we would leave behind far more than 3 dozen dead.

Remember.

We are fighting an ancient war. In Yugoslavia we were fighting an ancient war. The US is young, far younger than the years of hatred involved in these conflicts. There is no win. There is no defeat. And there will be no "victory". Many of our young men are dead, and will die. We must stop this war at all costs.

McCain. Be afraid, very afraid.