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January 6, 2012
Comment of the Week: Callmelennnie in "The Boomers’ Buffet"
"I never bought into the boomer speil about Vietnam and how awful our fathers, who had to contend with a war ten times as lethal as Vietnam, were. Of course, that is where it all started.Boomers, who were the first generation in history to be spared the terrors of seeing brothers and sisters and friends dying in large numbers due to childhood diseases were finally subjected to a true trial of life, and half the generation panicked. And when they carried on about it in front of their own parents they were met with a stone wall of indifference and even hostility -- and were told to STFU and go do their duty for God and country or be labeled a coward. And so to resolve this horrible Hobbesian dilemma, a lot of these boomers simply trashed God and country and Mom And Dad and heroism and manliness and every other value that would compel them to either go to war or feel bad about themselves. -- The Boomers’ Buffet: Diet for a Smaller Nation @ AMERICAN DIGEST
Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 6, 2012 1:14 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
My Dad, who was in combat from Casablanca to north Italy, told me and my brother in spring '68 that "under no circumstances" were we to get drafted. We were "not going to be cannon fodder for the goddamn politicians." He was the battalion S2 and knew the score.
Posted by: Gary Ogletree at January 6, 2012 5:50 PM
Battalion S2 is a slot for some newly pinned brass bottlecap. The largest scope of 'war' they have is their immediate front. Since you made no mention of his outfit, one may wonder if it was Transportation or Special Services.
Regardless, he served. You ran away.
Posted by: Peccable at January 7, 2012 5:56 AM
Gary, if your Dad served in Northern Italy in late '44 or '45, he might have had good cause to be cynical. I thought those operations were pointless. What is the point of attacking Germans in fortified mountain position where your supremacy in the air is rendered meaningless
For example, Bob Dole was severely wounded on April 14, 1945 when his battalion was decimated in the strictest sense (100 killed out of 800 engaged)when it assaulted a fortified mountain outpost. Seeing as how the Russians were, at the time, 25 miles from Berlin, what was the point of that?
There were a few examples of this kind of pointless waste -- Pelielu and Hurtgen Forest come to mind -- but they were the exceptions. The US Army did not follow a policy of using draftees as cannon fodder. In the Pacific, the true bloodbath battles were fought by volunteers -- Marines. Moreover, the US Army lost some 155,000 ground troops fighting against Germans in WWII. By way of comparison, The Allies lost 2.3 million ground troops fighting this same country in the sane theater in WWI and the Russians lost NINE MILLION troops in WWII
Posted by: Callmelennie at January 7, 2012 6:56 AM
I was a Marine Infantry Officer, and I have a son who is a Marine Infantry Officer. I did everything reasonably in my power to talk him out of it, and he wouldn't listen to me. Today, we share a bond I'll never have with my other children.
Posted by: Casca at January 8, 2012 11:32 AM
No. Sgt. Ogletree said Kennedy was lying about Vietnam. He knew the score, said it was going to be bigger than Korea and the people would not be consulted first. He joined the 77th Field Arty. Btn. In 1935 at Fort D.A Russell, TX, somewhere in Italy it became the 631st. He was OP and nobody else wanted his job, he usually managed to find the Kraut guns before they found ours. He had a high clearance, carried nuke codes to Germany. As an Army brat I ran around with Nam vets at Fort Sill. They all said I'd be a fool to get drafted. At 16 Dad took me thru the Beach Pavillion at Fort Sam which was full of guys missing arms and legs. Just so I didn't have any illosions about war. I didn't run anywhere, I got 4F and the Sarge was pleased. To this day I'm glad I never killed any Viet farmers who were cannon fodder for the goddamn Hanoi Politboro. The flags at Fort Sill were at half staff for his funeral.
Posted by: Gary Ogletree at January 8, 2012 4:18 PM
Callmelennie: "the Pacific, the true bloodbath battles were fought by volunteers -- Marines."
Not really. By late '43, the Navy and the Marines were using draftees. That's how my father wound up in the Seabees, and one uncle into the Marines (and a Japanese POW camp).
There were guys drafted into the Marines in VN, too. The Navy never had to, then.
Posted by: bud at January 9, 2012 4:08 PM