Vietnam vets Archives - R. Lawson Author

Kabul 2021 -A Saigon 1975 Redux?

R Lawson — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 21:07:45 +0000

Any surviving Vietnam veteran must be experiencing flashbacks of the hurried rooftop evacuations in Saigon as the North Vietnamese stormed that capitol city in 1975. Having served as USAF flight surgeon flying air evac’s in South Vietnam in the mid ‘60’s, I quickly saw the parallel, the significance of failed policy and strategic planning for […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited – Part XXVIII – The Ten Thousand Day War

R Lawson — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 22:51:58 +0000

The Vietnam War polarized American politics for many reasons, some warranted, others not. The rancor has persisted for three generations among the diehards, revisionist historians, and the actual veteran survivors. The conflict was poorly understood and reported back then and now. There was plenty of blame to go around including the lack of accurate accounts by the media. […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XXVI – It’s Not Over Yet

R Lawson — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:57:07 +0000

Just when you thought the Vietnam war was winding down following Nixon’s landslide reelection in November 1972, it was just getting started in regards to the magnitude and extent of the targeted bombing. Nixon released the ‘Dogs of War’ after exhaustive attempts for a settlement with North Vietnam failed. Here’s the background. By 1972, the […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XXV – Nixon Landslide

R Lawson — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 14:05:00 +0000

Despite the ongoing domestic chaos and anti-war activism, Richard Milhouse Nixon won the November, 1972 Presidential election in a landslide, carrying 49 of 50 States. Many issues contributed to his reelection. As with almost anything associated with the Vietnam War, the factors leading to his landslide victory involved complicated dynamics. Nixon’s Democrat opponent, George McGovern, […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XXIV – Upping the Ante

R Lawson — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 18:23:47 +0000

Nixon continued the phased drawdown of our combat troops on his timetable, not Congress’ recently proposed accelerated one-year withdrawal program. He ignored the anti-war riots, the background political noise, and intensified the air war to offset his Vietnamization Doctrine of fewer U.S. ground forces serving in combat roles. One of the most dramatic examples of […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XXIII – Widening the War

R Lawson — Tue, 19 May 2020 00:16:04 +0000

When the media exposed that Nixon had secretly extended the war effort into Cambodia, authorizing our combat troops to eradicate enemy sanctuaries, lawless outrage erupted in the U.S. The anti-war activism gained momentum in reaction to an invasion of a supposedly neutral country in Indochina. The public uproar, fanned by mostly negative press, accused Nixon […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XIX- Nixon’s Early Challenges

R Lawson — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 00:41:51 +0000

To say Nixon inherited a mess would be a masterful understatement. He soon found he could not persuade the enemy come to acceptable terms either, encountering LBJ’s dilemma. Kissinger’s and other envoys’ intense negotiations failed. Ho Chi Minh died in September, 1969, but his government maintained his recalcitrant policy and goal with tenacity and devotion. […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XVIII – More of the Same?

R Lawson — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:00:00 +0000

They don’t play beanball in Washington, D.C. Politics is a blood sport. LBJ was a political animal who recognized reality- Vietnam was a dead end for him, the war dividing the Nation, losing popular support, and threatening the demise of the Democratic party. Losing a reelection in November 1968 would be the ultimate humiliation. So, […]

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The Vietnam war Revisited- Part XVII – LBJ Out, Nixon In

R Lawson — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 19:52:25 +0000

To see all of the posts in this series, please scroll to the bottom of this post. In a nationally televised address attempting to quell growing public dissent by explaining his administration’s failed efforts at negotiating “peace” with North Vietnam, LBJ shocked the world by announcing he would not run for reelection in November, 1968. […]

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The Vietnam War Revisited- Part XV – No Way Out

R Lawson — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 15:30:31 +0000

Previous blogs discussed LBJ’s failed efforts to get the North Vietnamese to capitulate following Operation Rolling Thunder’s graduated bombing of targets in North Vietnam. Why did they fail? Our 7th Air Force pilots flying Wild Weasel missions quickly noted many vital targets were off-limits. They complained to command they were bombing the wrong targets, nonessential […]

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