1970 Documentary by Australian journalist John Pilger with interviews with disillusioned Vietnam conscript soldiers - part 2 part 1 - • The Quiet Mutiny (1970... part 2 - • The Quiet Mutiny (1970... part 3 - • The Quiet Mutiny (1970...
The world would have looked much bleaker if the U.S. hadn't tied up the Soviet and Chinese machine into backing north vietnam. More countries would have fallen to communist insurgencies, because the soviet/Chinese were funding cells all across the globe.
The man at the start was right about that being the last generation of drafted American soldier. Imagine the riots and insurrection if they tried to institute a draft now.
Think the Americans ended doing televised draft lotteries by 71 or 72. Imagine watching telly seeing your name come up for this needless shit when the troops were a lot less and the war clearly could never be won.
Victor T haaaaaaa, such insights say more about you than they do me snowflake. If you like most of these poor pawns cant ask "why" "what for" and come up with a reasonable answer (unlike yours) then like i said, i will visit your overgrown grave in Arlington and say, hey ho, oh well, stupid kids and move on with my "life". Enjoy yours whilst you have it clown.
I was a grunt 1971 Vietnam. We also would go just into the wood line out of sight from the CO and say we were checking out the area. In truth we were just sitting there. We didn't want contact.
I don't blame you one bit sir- Thank you for service, because just being "in-country" was dangerous at that time. I've met people who had all kinds of MOSs that were injured.
You go and sit then come back wwith a report of no contact. Command then sends troops into that area and those men get ambushed. No disrespect but in my unit you would have been shot.
To me, it sounds like the US Army in 1970 was filled with a bunch of chick shit druggies who shamed the very memory of their brave fathers who won WW2. Such a disgrace. Losers. No wonder the public spit on them when they arrived back stateside. They wanted a parade back home for hiding from their sworn duty? Liberal shit bags!
i was a teenager when i read robert mason's chickenhawk and it moved me. it gave me a glimpse of what that hell and craziness of vietnam was like. all of the guys who were out in the shit deserve our respect. there was so much bullshit going on in that war, and the whole time these guys were out there surviving. those of us who weren't there can't criticize, thankfully we didn't have to go through the hell and horror that they went through. maximum respect to the vets of 'NAM.
My Dad served two tours. He came home, but never left Vietnam. Such a needless war...took my dad before I ever had a chance. He died in 2015 from exposure to Agent Orange. IMO they killed him twice. It never needed to be that way...the Gulf Of Tonkin was A LIE!!! They never shouldve been there to begin with!!
I had just gotten to know a Vietnam vet here in Indiana and within two or three years Agent Orange got him too. And since then, several others. May they Rest In Peace. RIP for your father. 🙏
@Kevin he came home to Walter Reed to a close Neuropsychiatric ward and then discharge early from service. My Mom divorced him and took me away when I was 2. He became a recluse after the VA denied him SC benefits....so he suffered IMMENSELY from age 21 until he died at 65. I never had him except to watch him die inside of 17 days. Diagnosis to death was 18 days. He told no one he was sick physically until he got scared enough to dial 911. Thought he was having a heart attack. That day at the ER they found he had stage 4 Lung Cancer....by that time it had spread head to toe. Innumerable tumors....he was given 4-6 months....we got 17 days. And it wasn't even the Cancer that got him! He'd had 8 other Heart attacks at home and told NO ONE. The day he died, when the EMS got to him he was in full STEMI, and died hours later in CCU.. he had an episode of Torsades de Pointes. He died within seconds....even though he made it home, I never had him as a Dad...he was too mentally ill, and untreated....he hated the VA and after all his denials he NEVER WENT BACK after 1978. Never saw a Dr. Again. All I can say is what my family told me all my life to be true about my Dad....was not. After I got his records it was even more confirmation. My Family was lied to since 1971. No one realized IMO that they could've and should've gotten a copy of all his records. They just went by what they were told by the VA..... completely BS. If only I knew then what I know now.....I'll carry that til the day I die.
My Dad was USARV/ DISCOM His patrol team name was GOLD. While with the 4th ID, Camp Enari, Pleiku. May 69-May 1970. His only MOS on record is 76x20 Supply Specialist. That's BS too. USARV is a direct subordinate of MACV. He was at the very least a LRRP. DISCOM PATROLS are similar I believe but DISCOM PATROL teams are rarely recognized at all, as in not too many seemed to know of their existence...which means what? I don't know yet, still digging.
I was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1968, graduated highschool at 17 years old, turned 18 during USMC boot camp, was honorably discharged and currently live in Ha Noi. All the men I knew who served in this country said it's beautiful. I consider the circumstances they experienced when they were here and they ALL (except one) said they love Viet Nam. Now that I'm here, I understand. The people are humble, kind, generous amazing human beings. My friend from South Africa was travelling on his motorbike, blew a tire and had an accident in December 2018. A local citizen took him to a hospital, paid his bill and paid to have his bike repaired. I cannot imagine that happening anywhere else. I love Viet Nam!
Everybody griped, some smoked dope, some drank booze. We all wanted to make it out alive. I did not see or hear too many talk about fighting for flag or country. You worried about protecting yourself and your buddies. You did what had to be done! You had to do 365 days and each day was I might make it or I might not. If you made that day you were one day shorter. God bless the ones that served. They should be proud of that service. Vietnam is in my memory every day. 70, 71, and 72
One of the worst things was the way the battalion commanders and higher flew over the battlefield in their helicopters and tried to tell the people on the ground how to fight a battle. The senior officers in Vietnam were corrupt.
I knew more than a few guys that came home from Nam, mostly the older brothers of my friends. I missed it by about 2 years because of my age. Not ONE of those guys ever mentioned fighting for "God", "Country", or "The Flag". Every single one of them said they fought for themselves and for their buddies, protecting each other just so they could make it home alive, and hopefully, uninjured...though every one of them had been wounded in some way, either physically or mentally. Most - not all but most - of the brass stayed in the rear, and sent young men into combat. In contrast, during WW2, there were Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Seamen of ALL ranks fighting. Every rank from PFC's to Generals hit the beaches at Normandy under heavy enemy fire; and during Naval battles in the South Pacific, every rank of Naval personel were in combat conditions. There were definitive goals and objectives in WW2; if the Marines took a hill or won ground in The South Pacific, they kept it...but in Nam, our men would take a hill, suffer terrible casualties doing it, and then the brass in the rear would order them back, thus giving it back to the NVA or VC. No wonder these guys were tired and suffered from such low morale by 1970. They were dying and losing their buddies for nothing. Over 58,000 young men killed during the war in Vietnam, over 300,000 wounded, and in the end, we gained nothing. These brave guys did their duty, and sacrificed, and in the end, The U.S. government let them down...the U.S. pulled out in '75, North Vietnam rolled into Saigon, and it was all over.
There's alot to unpack there bud. I was born in 73 and have tried for decades to understand the Vietnam war. I've spent countless hours researching, reading, talking to vets and pouring over video footage from the battle fields. So from my limited viewpoint, a casual observer let's say, it seems to me a few things should always be kept in mind when discussing the war as a whole. 1.The U.S. military wasn't ready for that kind of warfare as such changes to tactics had to be made and just as with WW1 the top brass changes their minds at a very costly snail's pace. 2. The way in which the military deployed troops isolated dam near everyone from one another. Very few units trained together and shipped out together. This aids in producing really shitty moral and worked like a fuckin charm if that's what they were going for? Also the rotation back home was even worse when the citizens shamefully turned on their own soldiers and disgracefully placed fault upon their shoulders. This to me seems to be the worst tragedy suffered by any American service men in our history. It is without a doubt the most disgraceful act American citizens have ever taken part in. History will not be kind to the generation who disgraced our country and our soldiers so terribly, it may have been "cool man" back then but as time has passed the level of disdain for such dishonorable conduct has only intensified. 3. Television, the Vietnam war was plastered all over the nightly news to a civilian population. What fucking retard thought that was a good idea????? The journey from a peaceful existence amongst friends, neighbors and the community to the reality of what this world is really like is a long one and for good reason. Human beings have always strived to shelter most from Death and destruction. It sure as hell isn't a good idea to introduce it during dinner conversation with the family. And lastly in my humble opinion the only character during the Vietnam war who rose to the top with shining honors and carried themselves with dignity were the combat forces who volunteered to serve as it wasn't the most popular thing one could do back then. That to me says these courageous, dedicated men and women stood up and answered the call when this nation needed them. Those soldiers all serves something higher than self regardless of the atmosphere. They endured the war, the down right despicable treatment from lower than whale shit spoiled brats upon their return and yet they still endured on to become beneficial members of our American society. My hats off to them all and I thank God for these true American heroes who served especially at the time they did. GOD BLESS each and every Vietnam Veteran. Welcome home soldiers! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your honor, integrity and devotion to our great nation. As Americans we are extremely blessed to have men and women of such great character amongst us.
@@warrenchambers4819 The war was doomed to failure from day one because most "South Vietnamese" despised the government the US installed, and were avid supporters of Ho Chi Minh. South Vietnam was a completely artificial construct created against the will of the people it supposedly governed. And I mean no disrespect here to the thousands of servicemen who fought and died there. My father served there with the Australian Army, and his best mate died there - the only time I ever saw my dad cry.
About 5 minutes into this vid they talk about "unpopular" officers. Sometimes you will care so much for your buddy's life that you will die for him. To think that you wouldn't KILL for him is nuts. An inept officer is just as dangerous to YOU as a competent enemy officer is to you. Survival is paramount and in the field, "shit happens"...
I was there in 1968-69...I watched the wheels come off. Drugs were rampant; racial hatred was everywhere....I finished my enlistment October 31, 1969. American Military was very close to being an anarchy.
There's a YT vid i just discovered, Racial Tensions 1971. I was only a baby when you were there. Just to say i always thought Vietnam did a lot to dispel racism. I've a lot more to learn than i assumed.
Was Born Oct, 27th 1969. I can't help to wonder. I've always loved the Huey's, Military stuff, Soldiers, playing war, you know, growing up & shit... I swear I died there or something. I can fly those beautiful Birds. Every simulator I play. It's in my blood. Or Consciousness I guess. Weird. Our family lost two over there in Nam. Sutt & Winters. ...Anyways, Seen your time, had to say something. Glad you made it. Thanks for your service.
That was heartwrenching, as one who had two brothers and many neighbors there. when I have asked vets I know about Cambodia, where one of my brothers was, they say, "Officially, we were not in Cambodia". But, I remember writing to my brother there.
Let's take a look at this film and think about it, this is in 1970. Officially first troops landed there in 1965, but we know they were there b4 that. Anyway these kids get drafted say in 1970 so you would think these guys would figure out that we have been here 5 years and we haven't won this yet? Shit I guess we are not going to so why the fuck should I be here. That is what the US did to our generation. I was in in 1969 shit I was no genius but I knew we were not winning in 1967. I was lucky and got a medical out of AIT. Now at 69 yo I would have went to jail 2. That was the thing to do. The unfairness of this war broke the US and it has never been the same. Got that off my chest.
Robert Tiscione I respect those of you who were sent by the government and stoically went to the jungles so your neighbour perhaps did not have to go. You did not get the respect you deserved always by the more lucky kids.
I can tell by some of the facial expressions that some of these guys are not enjoying the show. Great interview of the Officer at the end being asked the difficult questions and trying to evade and not answer!.
Unfortunately the grunts of society do not understand too clearly and only in time and retrospect do they understand the big picture, some never understand . Like today Americans are in the Middle east not to bring freedom or protect America . IT is all about what it always was about. Best understood and stated by one of America's biggest heroes of all time. "War is a Racket " S Butler . John Pilger always where the action is ,a real reporter and man of conscience.
I worked with a Vietnam Vet who did two tours as a non-com leading a squad and later as a platoon sgt.: One tour in 1965 and again in 1970. He said the real reason we left when we did, is that the enlisted men stopped following orders. I mean, look at the guys in this documentary: The Army let them grow long hair, appear totally un-uniform, etc. and they still couldn't pacify them. The system of discipline was seriously eroded, and the Army itself wanted to get the hell out.
@mlovmo its hot as fuck in Vietnam, the reason you wear your uniform how you want is because its combat. Only reason you grow your hair long in hot weather is to protect it from insects. You ever felt a beard? No bug wants that mess and you don't want the bugs. Smoking weed and drinking is for the boredom, drinking makes you tipsy and incompetent... but weed is just a euphoric feeling that you can still reason and judgement better on balance.
Thats not a US Army Problem, troop quali of German and dutch forces were also low during this time but they dont fought a war like the Americans . I remember that i have seen German and Dutch Army units during manouvre in 1970, nearly all had long hairs and many refused to take orders, i was so ashamed, only the Brits Army had good Soldiers at this time because they had no draft/conscripts 9 years later i volunteered for Service and the things were different then, they drilled us , no long haircut and harsh penalitys for refusing to take orders. Today european Armys are a joke, 70 or 80% of the Forces dont worth the money they were paid, exeception the turkish army
Sturminfantrist. The strangely conducted draft in the US was a problem by that time, but another reason for the low quality of incoming troops was Project 100,000 which accepted mentally deficient people into the US Army. This lasted for a few years. Things didn't improve much for 15 years, by the mid 70s the armed forces were a haven for drug using troublemakers. Nowadays all combat is conducted by small specially armed forces and conscription won't be needed again
I JOINED IN 68 AND IN JUST A COUPLE OF YEARS BY 1970 I SEEMED TO HAVE SEEN A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFERENCE IN THE ATTITUDE OF A LOT OF MEN. I MYSELF DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TIME TO NOTICE THE PAPERS WITH SUCH THINGS GOING ON SUCH AS KENT STATE , TO ME IT WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY LAUNCHING FIGHTERS INTO THE SKY. IT WASN'T TELL LATER I GOT A LOOK AT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE CAMPUS'S AND OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
officers were careerist pigs, one volunteered for Nam because he said with one year in Nam he could make Major, without it he would spend 20 years as a captain.
Interesting point. I'm guessing that from a Vietnamese viewpoint that wouldn't have been so unfair because it was a civil war, after all. However, I don't think that Vietnamese attacking an opposing government elsewhere in Vietnam could be said to be "invading". I personally don't think that any Vietnamese could be seen as "invading" their own country, no matter where in Vietnam they're from. The 17th parallel was not respected much by either side, and Vietnam was going to be united. Period
+scumgod13 I found this on a website “ Those who refused called to server Vietnam” DRAFT LAW VIOLATORS: 209,517 men were formally accused of violating draft laws. 360,000 more are estimated to have also violated the law, but were never formally accused 25,000 indictments were handed down 8,750 were convicted < 4000 served jail time
+scumgod13 3 yrs in jail vs. 2 yrs in Viet Nam is a distortion. Nobody who was drafted went for two years in Viet Nam unless they voluntarily extended. After training, you might have gone for one year and then spent your final 8 or 9 months in Germany or stateside or someplace else. The other option was to enlist before your date to report for induction. You could enlist in the Army and choose which school you wanted to go to, or enlist in the Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard, all 4 years I believe.. You might go to Viet Nam, but you wouldn't be a grunt. And then if your Daddy had connections, you might get to spend the war patrolling the Mexican border for Viet Cong, but that's another story. As we know, many of our future "leaders" found other ways around the draft. If you chose to go to Canada or Sweden or someplace else, there was no telling at that time that you would ever be able to return to the US. It was a time that few Millennials can relate to, and most Boomers choose to forget.
We need to remember. This is 1970. The war has become very unpopular at this point. I don’t think many, if any new recruits were very optimistic about going over there.
Thats totalBS. I was drafted and never did anything like this or don't know anyone who did. We were a proud lot and at my time were the best unit in the Army. Just because you got drafted doesn't make you less of a man, and unfortunately to the ney sayers only 25% of the Army were draftees. In WW II it was closer to 70%. MOST of us were proud of what we did, and if asked to do it again would. Ron Cu Chi 68-69
Its an interesting point to ponder. How did the U.S. army higher ups and Pentagon think of this almost mutinous behaviour from the ranks, in the latter stages of the war?
While true for some...this was not the case for all. I was trained as an advisor to the RVN Navy in 1969 and arrived in Saigon in Dec ˋ69. Then to Naval advisory group on the VAn Co Dong river. While we did have a beer or 6 for breakfast after a night patrol, there was NO dope or drugs. There were 100 or so RVN sailors and 20 USN advisors. The only access to the ˋbase‘ was by water..no roads, no clubs no px...no nothing. Upon return to the states and regular east coast Naval duty I was struck by the overwhelming lack of understanding of the war by the people who were in the military but only knew what they saw on TV. I was an E-6 in submarine school and was repeatedly questioned about my drug use. The assholes who ran the school actually convened a special board of inquiry... they read my service record and continued an interrogation. I must have answered correctly, because I was allowed to finish the school andgo on to a nuclear submarine. The bad taste of this never left me...I did serve 21 years total (not in submarines after the first) so I get the last laugh... a pension check every month. I owe my survival to luck and a little help from a WW2 submarine vet I met along the way....so no everybody did not rebel..or smoke weed...some actually fought with little support...and some died. But few actually understood. The smell of Over rich diesel exhaust on a humid morning will send me right back there! Farfetch 19 out.
One more thing. To the reporter making this video. You only talked to the low life cowards. You should have interviewed someone from the 173rd Airborne. They were all men. And proud men. God Speed!!!
I wonder who the man at the start is and what ever happened to him? I'm guessing he'd be around 70 now? Wonder if he made it out and was ok? Any information anyone? Brill documentary and it really hits home the difference between the WW2 generation and the Vietnam era. Strange thing is that many of the lads there probably had fathers who fought in the war. Korea I believe was somewhere between the 2 as in the rotation scheme in 51 was similar to Nam but a lot of the guys who fought in Korea were WW2 vets
Hitchens said Vietnam was a war against the two global powers. It just took place in poor Vietnam. The Chinese won. But the Americans inflicted ten times more casualties. Nice job, humanity. Sarcasm
America and its allies undoubtedly also saved many lives around the globe, as by the end of the vietnam war both China and Russia couldn't really afford to fund further insurrections with their other communist cells around the globe. Look at other asian nations and see how many of them had/have communist cells in them going back to the 50's. If vietnam had fallen then they would have targeted thailand, philippines, ect. Next and so on until we probably would have ended up in WW3, instead of a cold war with proxy conflicts.
Nobody should be exempt, if acolllege boy could be an officer, everyone should have the same opportunity,rich or poor too, sounds like communism don’t it! Maybe we should do it like Israel does , both male AND female automatically, bet femanists would love that
whats funny you have people like that even when they volunteer. I remember having people like that in the army when we were over in Iraq during Desert Storm. Their bad for morale as a whole. You have people who joined up not knowing what they were getting theirself into, they get into trouble and get a bad attitude, constantly getting into trouble. I remember seeing a few guys like, one of them went AWOL.
Katmandoo The draft ended in 1972. You were signing up for Selective Service, as all young men in the U.S. are still required to if they want a Student Loan, or Drivers License in many States.
Suffice to say, the guys who stormed Normandy and Iwo Jima, etc would've been shocked to see the decline of the American soldier, looking at these guys. Drugs, mutiny, lack of discipline and fraggings… Not exactly an army's proudest members.
What's amazing is how distant the American populace feels from the government now. Nothing made sense in Vietnam, everything was unjust, nobody could influence anyone. And now, in 2022, it's just assumed we can't do anything to reign in the government. Things are completely out of control.
In reality there were never more than 78 000 soldiers classified as "combat troops". And actually when less than 2/3 of them could be sent to ground force front line combat duties we can clearly see the big picture: US forces could never sent more than 40 000 soldiers to real combat. More than 90% of American forces were never real combat forces.
bandwagon22 the rest of them were just money makers for the m i c pure gravy cash in the pocket... Cost Plus the beginnings of Halliburton Brown and root KBR...
bandwagon22 I recently saw that in a documentary too. I was like, how do you win then? But then again we weren't holding land either, rather, body count...smh
bandwagon22 Many soldiers were killed or injured outside of combat. It also took lots of non-combat soldiers to support the infantry, Navy, Air Force, etc. Those men that took their jobs seriously are to be commended for doing so.
One of the most appalling things to come out of Vietnam was "fragging".....the intentional use of grenades to murder US officers...basically an act of mutiny. I heard about this during the latter part of the war. I am a Vietnam/Draft resistor. I have read that 78 US officers were actually documented to be murdered by US soldiers. My mind cannot entertain for a minute what it would have been like to be a parent with a son in Vietnam and learn that he was murdered intentionally by his own men.
You’re assuming that it was all officers - not. Idiots who thought they got screwed by being drafted, or whatever, and didn’t take the time or pay attention to what was being taught to them in Infantry training…. Enlisted potheads, or drunks but unlikely since booze is heavy and cumbersome , or just plain stupid with attitude ( most likely case) - if they didn’t “play” and didn’t do right with their fellow infantrymen ….who were dangerous to their tm, squad, platoon,,,, Stuff happens. Been like that for a long time and a lot of wars.
2 friends of mine, one shot by his own man and lived, one shot and died from his own man. Anthony Florez was his name from Sugar City, Colorado. NO PURPLE HEART WHEN ITS YOUR OWN PEOPLE!!
+HistoryBuff75 I found this on a website “ Those who refused called to server Vietnam” DRAFT LAW VIOLATORS: 209,517 men were formally accused of violating draft laws. 360,000 more are estimated to have also violated the law, but were never formally accused 25,000 indictments were handed down 8,750 were convicted < 4000 served jail time
Strange attitudes have these men, as if the army is some kind of democracy and some of the soldiers can freely make up their mind if they wanna follow an order or not ...
I don't know about it being designed to lose. It could be that not enough THOUGHT, on the part of our president and/or reps was done. Could be, like in Iraq, we thought we would be greeted with gratitude and seen as a mighty force? I honestly still don;t comprehend WHY we went there (or Korea), in the first place.. You?
I joined the US Air Force in 1974. There were many, many thousands of junior NCO's that joined the Air Force between 1970 and 1973, when the draft ended. They joined the Air Force to avoid the Army, and Vietnam. I HATED working for these bastards, as a young Airman. Finally, from 1975 to 1979, they all bailed, and got out. The All-Volunteer force kicked in, and morale, training, and productivity got massively better. I made SSgt (E-5) at age 20. Remarkably fast...In fact, I may have been the youngest SSgt in the Air Force at one time. I shudder to think what draftees would do to a modern Army.
WWII, 18% of the population was in uniform. Korea, Vietnam and the 1st Gulf War, 8% was in uniform. From the post Cold War drawdown to now, 0.42% of the population in uniform. Even with our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is easy to have wars that last 15 years, when only a tiny fraction of the population is doing the heavy lifting, and the wars are not even second page news. Basically, America is not at war, Americas military is at war. The rest of America is at the mall. So maybe we need a draft. Because I bet these wars wouldn't last this long if 18% of the population had some skin in the game.
I flew as a door gunner and a crew chief. There was a lot of complaining because it was hot or cold, dry or wet, dust or mud, sweating, freezing and always uncomfortable situations. But the guys did their jobs. I didn't see anyone being gung-ho but I never saw anyone refuse to fight either. I heard of behavior like what is reported in the video but I never saw it. Of course, I was in aviation not infantry. Yeah, we lost young men to helicopter crashed, missiles misfiring, rifle accidents (friendly fire) but still we did our jobs in spite of the dangers. I guess it depended on where you were at. I was stationed at Chu Lai from August 1969 to August 1970. I fault the military for not educating their people about communism, especially the Viet Cong and NVA regulars who waged war against us Americans. When I came back after surviving a year of combat, I began reading about Russian Communists. Also, read a lot about Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese Communists. Then I knew why we were fighting in Vietnam. It was not a civil war. It was a war of terrorism against the people of South Vietnam who fled North Vietnam in 1954 and again in 1975 after the fall of Saigon. I am ashamed of how the politicians dragged out the war and how the anti-war protesters encouraged the Communists to keep killing our young soldiers. As General MacArthur put it, In war there is no substitute for victory. President Nixon watered down the American war effort to keep China from joining the war and the American soldiers paid the price in a war of attrition.