A mate of mine who spent his life in the Merchant Navy, is a communist. He was selected , then spent the rest of his time trying to openly recruit soldiers to the communist party. He was asked to leave. Laughed all the way out the door. I don't agree with his politics, but he is one of the best people I know.
An American historian has stated and published his opinion the the Vietnam war was a war of poor white trash and blacks. The ones who couldn't avoid the draft.
You have to be full as a tick , in a bar in Olongopo city, or Vung tau. I will try to find the words. The essence of the song is " I aint no fortunate son, I aint no millioner's son."Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbjorn
Pretty close to the truth. And during the war the white trash and blacks killed each other. And they wondered why they lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbjorn
- Fortunate Son
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no
Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no
Admiral Elmo J Zumwalt Jr. He managed to stop the racial violence in the USN, got them working together, apparently. However he will always be remembered as the man that introduced agent orange into the conflict.
YouTube
I emphasised "Conscription" because I wasn't Forced into signing up I Volunteered for 6 years service, I was a couple of weeks away from finishing my Infantry training at Singleton when Bob Hawk pulled us out of Vietnam So I didn't have to fight in Indo China after all.Quote:
Originally Posted by bob10
I do NOT agree with conscription at all, If people don't want to fight then they shouldn't be forced into it
Bob Hawk pulled you out of Vietnam?
It was not Bob Hawke but rather G Whitlam who pulled them out. I joined the DRU (Draft Resisters Union) and did not register. My date was not called out at the time, but still I was opposed to fighting someone elses war (and still are). The reason why many rich family sons were not called up was because if you were studying at the time, then you could defer, if your number came up. Remember in these times (pre 1972) tertiary education was not "free". Ie if you were smart enough you got a Commonwealth Scholarship, or your parents paid for your education. There was no loan system or HECS. So if your parents could not pay you generally went out and worked. As such other than a health issue you could not avoid conscription if your date came up. When Whitlam came to power he immediately ceased conscription, pardoned all who had not entered the draft, and withdrew most of our troops from Vietnam. I have seen what this war did to my older brother and I am just glad I had the strength at the time, and a lucky General Election to save my skin. I feel for every conscript as it was never their intention to enter the forces, needless to say possibly kill someone. Those that join voluntarily should know that this is a strong possibility and make the choice accordingly. I do admire our forces, but I do feel we stick our troops into wars which are none of our business, except it looks good for people in power. (sorry if thats political) Rant over!!!
‘‘Tis an unusually common misconception Trout old son . Biggin is quite right to query,
The redoubtable Mr Gorton instigated the winding down of the commitment , Mr McMahon carried on ......by the time Mr Whitlam took office in Dec 1972 ,only a handful where in country ,in Saigon actually .
What the Labor party did do ,was promise to stop conscription.
I was in the Old Parliament House yesterday ,listening to ex PM s eulogising about each other(on video), and Hawke said one of Whitlam’s achievements was to bring the troops home ,so even Rhodes Scholars can be mistaken .
Dave