Do you remember Vietnam on TV?

Rossuk

Rookie
Jan 9, 2013
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Dear All

I am trying to find out if anyone clearly remembers the television footage from The Vietnam War as the event was unfolding? Did any TV footage stick in peoples minds or have photographs now taken over our memory of the war?


All your comments are welcome

Thanks Ross
 
Hi Katzndogz

Thanks for your response, I am studying Photojournalism in London and I am currently writing about memories of the Vietnam war.

I was just wondering if you think Cronkite was lying at the time or only after other information came to light? What can you remember him saying or are the images of him on tv a more vivid memory?

Thanks
Ross
 
Believe it or not, but VietNam was actually fought in black and white

I remember each newscast (there were only three and they lasted a half hour) would have footage. Most was guys getting off a helicopter, some patrol type stuff....not a lot of "look at the dead bodies"

A lot of the really gross stuff was in still photographs

In spite of right wing revisionist history, Cronkite was great
 
I remember sitting in the living room of my parents home as a young teenager and watching the war on the evening news in black and white.

But it didn't affect me because I had a hot rod 57 Chevy and was too busy going to dances at the teen club and chasing girls.

Then one day I got a letter from the President in the mail...........
 
Watching it daily for so long turned me against the war. It's not so much what correspondents said, but the realization that I'd been watching it longer than it had taken us to win WW II with no end in sight. I got the feeling that there was something terribly wrong going on and we needed to get out. Then I went to college and that took away any remaining support I had.
 
My brother didnt come home in a box thankfully.

I know he likely would have if he had gone to veitnam.


He instead when drafted did EVERYTHING that they demanded he do except one little thing.


He refused to hold a gun.


He did EVERYTHING they wanted him to do to punish him and taunt him into carrying the gun.


He refused.


the drill sargent would throw the gun at him and he would imediately throw it back at the guy.


He refused to hold a gun.



Needless to say after the drill sargent realised he COULD NOT BREAK my brothers will he advised he be dishonorably discharged.


That discharge was changed to a honorable one after the war was realised for what it was.


My brother never even petitioned for it to be changed.


Thankfully I only spent a few months wondering if my brother would end up coming home in a box.


Many little sisters fears were realised in that horrible fucking mess that was the Veitnam war.
 
Watching it daily for so long turned me against the war. It's not so much what correspondents said, but the realization that I'd been watching it longer than it had taken us to win WW II with no end in sight. I got the feeling that there was something terribly wrong going on and we needed to get out. Then I went to college and that took away any remaining support I had.

I agree

It was the talking heads with stars on their shoulders that turned the tide.
1965 "We need a few more troops"
1966 "We just need a few more troops and this will be wrapped up"
1967 "One last surge and this war will be over"
1968 " Give us 100,000 more troops and we can win this thing"

America just grew tired. It became obvious that there was no master plan, no exit stragedy, no path to victory

Johnson and the Generals just refused to admit it
 
My brother didnt come home in a box thankfully.

I know he likely would have if he had gone to veitnam.


He instead when drafted did EVERYTHING that they demanded he do except one little thing.


He refused to hold a gun.


He did EVERYTHING they wanted him to do to punish him and taunt him into carrying the gun.


He refused.


the drill sargent would throw the gun at him and he would imediately throw it back at the guy.


He refused to hold a gun.



Needless to say after the drill sargent realised he COULD NOT BREAK my brothers will he advised he be dishonorably discharged.


That discharge was changed to a honorable one after the war was realised for what it was.


My brother never even petitioned for it to be changed.


Thankfully I only spent a few months wondering if my brother would end up coming home in a box.


Many little sisters fears were realised in that horrible fucking mess that was the Veitnam war.

Yeah sure....
 
I dont care what you believe or not.

truth doesnt seem to like being in your brain
 
My brother didnt come home in a box thankfully.
I know he likely would have if he had gone to veitnam.
He instead when drafted did EVERYTHING that they demanded he do except one little thing.
He refused to hold a gun.
He did EVERYTHING they wanted him to do to punish him and taunt him into carrying the gun.
He refused.
the drill sargent would throw the gun at him and he would imediately throw it back at the guy.
He refused to hold a gun.
Needless to say after the drill sargent realised he COULD NOT BREAK my brothers will he advised he be dishonorably discharged.
That discharge was changed to a honorable one after the war was realised for what it was.
My brother never even petitioned for it to be changed.
STFU you lying vodka soaked ****........:mad:

In those days if you threw your weapon at a D.I.

3 OR 4 of them would have beat the crap out of you and said you slipped in the shower.


And Dishonorable discharges are not automatically changed to Honorable you freakin nitwit.


We had a couple of drafted guys in our unit during basic training who didn't want hold a weapon in combat. (thinking this would exempt them from going to Vietnam)

They still had to complete the weapons portion of basic training. Then were given "Conscientious Objector" status and sent to Ft. Sam Houston for training to be Medics. (medics do not carry weapons)

But the joke was on the them. Because immediately after graduration from Medics school they were sent straight to Vietnam. :cool:

True. Today's Boot Camp the recruit holds up a "red card" when he/she is getting stressed out. Back in the good old days, the DI's did indeed take care of business - usually physically. Some of that was still going on when I joined in the mid 70s.
 
My brother didnt come home in a box thankfully.
I know he likely would have if he had gone to veitnam.
He instead when drafted did EVERYTHING that they demanded he do except one little thing.
He refused to hold a gun.
He did EVERYTHING they wanted him to do to punish him and taunt him into carrying the gun.
He refused.
the drill sargent would throw the gun at him and he would imediately throw it back at the guy.
He refused to hold a gun.
Needless to say after the drill sargent realised he COULD NOT BREAK my brothers will he advised he be dishonorably discharged.
That discharge was changed to a honorable one after the war was realised for what it was.
My brother never even petitioned for it to be changed.
STFU you lying vodka soaked ****........:mad:

In those days if you threw your weapon at a D.I.

3 OR 4 of them would have beat the crap out of you and said you slipped in the shower.

And Dishonorable discharges are not automatically changed to Honorable you freakin nitwit.


We had a couple of drafted guys in our unit during basic training who didn't want hold a weapon in combat. (thinking this would exempt them from going to Vietnam)

They still had to complete the weapons portion of basic training. Then were given "Conscientious Objector" status and sent to Ft. Sam Houston for training to be Medics. (medics do not carry weapons)

But the joke was on the them. Because immediately after graduation from Medics school they were sent straight to Vietnam. :cool:

he didnt refuse to hold it in combat.

He refused to hold it at all.


He would throw it to the gound or back at the drill sargent.

He was too tuff for them to break at 18 fucking years old.

They could not break him.

He said he could tell the Drilly was awed by him in the end.
 
I remember the TV coverage quite well, especially something entitled "The Anderson Platoon," where a French camera crew was embedded with an American rifle platoon for several weeks. It was stunning journalism.

Then....I finally got to Vietnam and found how the coverage didn't reflect the reality I found there on the ground.
 
My brother didnt come home in a box thankfully.
I know he likely would have if he had gone to veitnam.
He instead when drafted did EVERYTHING that they demanded he do except one little thing.
He refused to hold a gun.
He did EVERYTHING they wanted him to do to punish him and taunt him into carrying the gun.
He refused.
the drill sargent would throw the gun at him and he would imediately throw it back at the guy.
He refused to hold a gun.
Needless to say after the drill sargent realised he COULD NOT BREAK my brothers will he advised he be dishonorably discharged.
That discharge was changed to a honorable one after the war was realised for what it was.
My brother never even petitioned for it to be changed.
STFU you lying vodka soaked ****........:mad:

In those days if you threw your weapon at a D.I.

3 OR 4 of them would have beat the crap out of you and said you slipped in the shower.

And Dishonorable discharges are not automatically changed to Honorable you freakin nitwit.


We had a couple of drafted guys in our unit during basic training who didn't want hold a weapon in combat. (thinking this would exempt them from going to Vietnam)

They still had to complete the weapons portion of basic training. Then were given "Conscientious Objector" status and sent to Ft. Sam Houston for training to be Medics. (medics do not carry weapons)

But the joke was on the them. Because immediately after graduation from Medics school they were sent straight to Vietnam. :cool:

he didnt refuse to hold it in combat.

He refused to hold it at all.


He would throw it to the gound or back at the drill sargent.


He was too tuff for them to break at 18 fucking years old.

They could not break him.

He said he could tell the Drilly was awed by him in the end.

You've been watching too many episodes of Gomer Pyle, meathead.
 
I remember Walter Cronkite lying his ass off.

Well..

Be clear.

When did Cronkite lie?

His biggest lie was that we lost the Tet offensive. We won, decisively. That was the lie that turned the war. General Vo Nguyen Giap said in his memoirs that he was preparing for surrender when he realized that the American media was doing for him what he could not do for himself. All he had to do was hold out until the American media gained him victory. That's exactly what happened.
 
I remember Walter Cronkite lying his ass off.

Well..

Be clear.

When did Cronkite lie?

His biggest lie was that we lost the Tet offensive. We won, decisively. That was the lie that turned the war. General Vo Nguyen Giap said in his memoirs that he was preparing for surrender when he realized that the American media was doing for him what he could not do for himself. All he had to do was hold out until the American media gained him victory. That's exactly what happened.

snopes.com: General Vo Nguyen Giap on Vietnam
 

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