Category: Politics & Leaders
New Zealand government apologizes to Vietnam War veterans for mistreatment, neglect
The New Zealand government made an apology to the Vietnam War veterans for mistreatment. 3,900 NZ troops were sent to Vietnam, 37 were killed and 187 wounded. Since the war ended, hundreds have suffered from or died of illnesses, especially cancers linked to the Agent Orange. Some veterans, their children and grandchildren who have suffered from Agent Orange have been given special payments. The commander of NZ's last troops to serve in Vietnam, Colonel John Masters, said the apology was "very sincere," adding that the treatment of the returned soldiers had been a "disgrace to the country."
by iht :: 2008-05-31 :: Politics & Leaders
Released 1968 LBJ tapes show him fretting over the Vietnam war
Politically crippled by the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson still sounded like a candidate for re-election in 1968 telephone conversations just before pulling out of the race. Laced throughout the talks were his statements about the Vietnam War and the criticism he faced both from hawks and doves. "It's a hell of a calculation to know what is enough and what is too much." With Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, he discussed Army General William Westmoreland's call for 6 more battalions that would have taken the troop level beyond the 525,000 ceiling. Johnson said he didn't have time to oversee the Vietnam War while "chasing through primaries..."
by ap :: 2008-05-09 :: Politics & Leaders
Diplomat Kim Chang-keun recites 11th hour escape from Vietnam
South Korean diplomat Kim Chang-keun's memoir recites how he took some of his countrymen to safety in a dramatic escape in the last moments of the Vietnam War in 1975. The document was declassified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the 30-year rule. It relates how, on April 28, the Korean Embassy to South Vietnam set up an agreement with the U.S. Embassy for evacuation. On April 29, diplomats manoeuvred for the U.S. Embassy, having been told they would be provided with an aircraft. But the U.S. Embassy gave priority to evacuating American citizens in helicopters, and Korean nationals were pushed to the end of the queue.
by chosun :: 2008-01-16 :: Politics & Leaders
Nixon, Kissinger Found Vietnam War Unwinnable
A book on U.S. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the two men thought the Vietnam War was "impossible" to win. But while admitting to each other that the war was not possible to win, they also agreed to label the Democrats "the party of surrender" for wanting to pull out of Vietnam, said historian Robert Dallek in "Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power." "In Saigon the tendency is to fight the war to victory, but you and I know it won't happen - it is impossible," Nixon told Kissinger as early as 1969.
by postchronicle :: 2007-04-07 :: Politics & Leaders
Ngo Quang Truong; South Vietnamese Army General
Ngo Quang Truong who was one of the most capable generals of the South Vietnamese army during the long Vietnam War, died Jan. 22. General Creighton Abrams, who commanded American military operations in Vietnam 1968-1972, told that Gen. Truong was capable of commanding an American division. General Norman Schwarzkopf said in "It Doesn't Take a Hero" that General Truong was "the most brilliant tactical commander I'd ever known. Simply by visualizing the terrain and drawing on his experience fighting the enemy for 15 years, Truong showed an uncanny ability to predict what they were going to do."
by washingtonpost :: 2007-01-26 :: Politics & Leaders
A Winnable War - argument against the orthodox history of Vietnam
In 1963, President John Kennedy dispatched two observers to South Vietnam. Their mission was to provide an assessment of the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem. Major General Victor Krulak, visited 10 locations in all 4 Corps areas of Vietnam. Based on interviews with U.S. advisers to the South Vietnamese army, he concluded that the war was going well. Joseph Mendenhall visited 3 cities where he spoke to opponents of Diem. He concluded that if Diem remained in power, the government was certain to fall to the Viet Cong. They both briefed Kennedy on Sept 10. So opposed were their conclusions that JFK quipped, "The two of you did visit the same country, didn't you?"
by weeklystandard :: 2007-01-07 :: Politics & Leaders
Ford in 1975: war in Vietnam finished as far as U.S. is concerned
Three decades ago at Tulane University's field house, far from the venues where such momentous announcements are made, President Ford declared an end to America's involvement in Vietnam. Ford spoke on April 23, 1975, exactly one week before Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, prompting desperate people to squeeze onto helicopters taking off from rooftops. When he proclaimed that the bitterly divisive conflict was "finished as far as America is concerned," the 5,300 people who had crowded into the arena burst into sustained applause.
by nola :: 2006-12-28 :: Politics & Leaders
Lyndon Johnson talks of Vietnam War on newly released tapes
As American involvement in Vietnam War deepened, President Lyndon Johnson criticized the "bunch of commies" running The New York Times and complained about the newspaper's criticism of the war, according to newly released recordings of phone conversations. The recordings, released by the LBJ Library, covered August to December 1966. Johnson had many of his calls from the Oval Office and his Texas ranch recorded. In a discussion about the war with Dwight Eisenhower, Johnson said he was "trying to win it just as fast as I can in every way that I know how. I need all the help I can get."
by iht :: 2006-11-20 :: Politics & Leaders
General Vo Nguyen Giap's birthday - Photo exhibition
A photo exhibition featuring the life of General Vo Nguyen Giap was opened on the occasion of his 95th birthday. On show are 95 documentary photos about his life. He was the first officer to be appointed to the rank of General in the Vietnam People's Army. He built up the Vietnam People's Army, which was formed in Dec 1944 with only 34 soldiers, into a force of more than 1 million troops by 1975. The name of General Giap has always been connected with the victory of the Vietnam People's Army at the battle of Dien Bien Phu - the first time that the army of an Asian colonial country had defeated the troops of a European country.
by nhandan :: 2006-08-22 :: Politics & Leaders
Nixon Wanted to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam War
President Nixon, eager to end an unpopular war that killed tens of thousands of U.S. troops, considered using nuclear weapons against the North Vietnamese, recently declassified documents reveal. National security adviser Henry Kissinger began developing contingency military plans under the code name of "Duck Hook." He also created a committee within the National Security Council to evaluate secret plans prepared by Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington and military planners in Saigon. A pair of documents raised the question of nuclear weapons use in connection with the military operation.
by -- :: 2006-08-03 :: Politics & Leaders
Vietnam War Haunts America
George Herring, author of Vietnam: America's Longest War, says Vietnam continues to affect decisions about war, peace, and politics in the U.S. By 1964, after Lyndon Johnson had taken office, fewer than 150 Americans soldiers had died in Vietnam. But in 1964, he won Congressional support for greater involvement in Vietnam. He started bombing North Vietnam and committed U.S. combat troops. Historian Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A History, points out that Johnson had deep misgivings even as he escalated the conflict, but "He did not want to be the first president to lose a war, he did not want to be a president to lose a war to communism."
by militaryconnections :: 2006-06-17 :: Politics & Leaders
US Betrayal of Troops Who Died In Vietnam
Newly-released documents have suggested the US was willing to accept a communist Vietnam - even at the height of its bloody war to prevent a Red takeover. Henry Kissinger acknowledged to China in 1972 that Washington could accept a communist takeover of South Vietnam if it happened after a withdrawal of US troops. At the time of his comments the war to drive back the North Vietnamese communists was resulting in mounting deaths for US forces and their Vietnamese allies. The increasing casualties were seeing increasing opposition to the war from the American public.
by y :: 2006-05-27 :: Politics & Leaders