When Neil Armstrong took his small step for man in the lunar dust in July 1969, Americans saw it as proof there were no Earthly limits. Nothing then seemed beyond the reach of American power, prestige and know-how. It took Vietnam to expose the hubris in that sentiment.
The American Century was at its zenith. Unrivaled U.S. wealth and prosperity, predictable fruits of the postwar Pax Americana, lifted national influence to new heights globally.
Hollywood, rock music, blue jeans and hamburgers carried American culture, taste and values to the far corners of the world.
Yet with images of Apollo 11 fresh on the mind, Vietnam forced Americans to accept limits to U.S. power and to acknowledge their reach had exceeded their grasp. With apologies to Robert Browning, that troublesome realization was not what they believed a heaven was for.
Fifty years later, the Vietnam War remains an enigma. Its legacy distorted by folklore, myth, political spin, cloudy memories and the perverted history of feature films and popular fiction. Yet it remains clear the war changed America in profound ways still not understood.
It changed who we are and how we see ourselves. It fundamentally revised our view of the world and the world’s view of us. It reshaped our institutions, particularly the military. It altered not only how we fight wars, but when and why we choose to fight.
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What is so despicable about this is when the men and women returned from
ReplyDeleteVietnam, they were treated like dirt by hordes of Communists who ran and
hid like Bill Clinton and Senators sons from their responsibility while others
risked their lives, limbs, mental stability to serve. The Communists, if they
had any courage, would have gone after the ones who started the war, Washington
and corporations.