Tom Glenn's Blog, page 188

The Tet Offensive

28 January is the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive. When it happened, I was in the Bien Hoa area, just north of Saigon. I had been in the highlands until the previous December, supporting U.S. troops during the battle of Dak To—see my New York Times article about that at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opinion/vietnam-tet-offensive.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

As an employee of the National Security Agency (NSA), my job during my thirteen years on and off in Vietnam was the intercept and exploitation of the communications of the invading North Vietnamese. When I arrived in the Saigon area in December 1967, I was surprised to see the same patterns in communist communications that I’d seen in the highlands that winter—the establishment of forward command posts and watch nets (staying in contact twenty-four hours a day), movements of forces toward tactical targets, reconnaissance units activated. The same activity was going on all over South Vietnam. North Vietnamese units throughout the country were preparing for battle.

At my behest, NSA pulled together the data and warned that a country-wide offensive was about to begin.

But MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, the senior U.S. military command in South Vietnam) didn’t believe the warning and didn’t prepare. The country-wide attacks came as a surprise.

According to Wikipedia, “the offensive was countrywide and well coordinated; eventually more than 80,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops struck more than 100 towns and cities, including 36 of 44 provincial capitals, five of the six autonomous cities, 72 of 245 district towns, and the southern capital. The offensive was the largest military operation conducted by either side up to that point in the war.”

The superiority of the U.S. military meant that not one of the North Vietnamese attacks was successful in the long term. All were eventually defeated, and North Vietnamese losses were enormous. The uprising by the South Vietnamese populace against the U.S forces, expected by the North Vietnamese, never materialized.

Despite the U.S. military victory, the American people turned against the war. The force of the Tet Offensive belied U.S. government assertions that the Vietnamese Communists were about to be defeated. The war in Vietnam became so unpopular that the U.S. withdrew its forces in 1973. I stayed on in Vietnam, heading the covert signals intelligence operation and escaped under fire when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese two years later.

PTSI: A Chaplain at Khe Sanh

The 22 January 2018 edition of the Washington Post featured a full-page story (page A12) on a Navy chaplain who lived through the 1968 North Vietnamese siege of Khe Sanh. Ray Stubbe survived while many of the Marines he ministered to did not. As reported earlier in this blog, the Marine Corps depends on the Navy to supply it with corpsmen, medical aids, to help the wounded on the battlefield. The Corps also looks to the Navy to provide chaplains. Stubbe was one.

The horrors of the battle of Khe Sanh are legion, and Stubbe endured them. To the Marines he cared for, he often recited Psalm 91, which reads in part:

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

 they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

And yet, so many of the Marine at Khe Sanh died grisly deaths. Stubbe’s faith was unshaken, but he developed a severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI), from which he still suffers today. His words are instructive:

“These were mainly nineteen-year-olds . . . [who] had that genuine sense of caring for each other. I’ve really been enriched. I think we’re enriched by the difficulties we pass through as long as they don’t crumble us. For those of us that were there, it isn’t fifty years ago. It was last night.”

Two of Stubbe’s observations move me the most: that men in war care the most for each other, and that the ghastly events of combat are always with us even if they occurred long ago. Yes, those on the battlefield don’t fight for God or country or patriotism. They fight for each other. And the scars to the memory are as fresh today as they were the day they were formed.

Trumpery

I laughed aloud when Donald Trump first emerged as a possible presidential candidate because I was familiar with the term, “trumpery.” It’s even funnier now.

Trumpery is defined as 1. Something showy but worthless; 2. Nonsense or rubbish; 3. Deceit; fraud; trickery. The word, derived from the French, tromper (to deceive), originated the fifteenth century, so it’s not a play on Trump’s name.

According to the Washington Post, President Trump made 2,140 demonstrably false or misleading statements in his first year in office. Other news organizations report the same thing. And reports of his extravagant behavior fill the daily news report. Nonsense abounds.

If this isn’t trumpery, I don’t know what is.

Commemoration of the Vietnam War (4)

Continuing from yesterday: the final entry on President Obama’s 2012 proclamation entitled “COMMEMORATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR”:

Here’s the end of the proclamation:

“Throughout this Commemoration, let us strive to live up to their example by showing our Vietnam veterans, their families, and all who have served the fullest respect and support of a grateful Nation. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 28, 2012, through November 11, 2025, as the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to honor our Vietnam veterans, our fallen, our wounded, those unaccounted for, our former prisoners of war, their families, and all who served with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

“IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.”

The parallel between the time span of the proclamation and the number of years I spent trundling between Vietnam and the U.S. is ironic—both thirteen years. I’m the only person I know of who was there, on and off, for the entire war, from 1962 to 1975, when I escaped under fire as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. During those years, I was in Vietnam at least four months every year. I had one complete three-year tour and another three-year tour interrupted by the conquest of South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese. In between I had so many shorter trips I lost count.

But I was not military. I was a civilian under cover as military, sometimes army, sometimes Marine. After the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam in 1973, I was under double cover. If the enemy penetrated my disguise as a diplomat, they’d learn I was really a CIA operative. As far as I know, no one unauthorized ever discovered that I was really an employee of the National Security Agency.

And again, I’m so struck by the worlds of difference between the tone of the president’s words and the reaction we received when we returned to the world from Vietnam. We were insulted and shamed for our time in combat. For decades many of us never spoke of Vietnam. I sensed a change in the attitude of the American public around 2012, when the president signed his proclamation. It must have been in 2012 when I first heard the words, “Thank you. And welcome home.” Those words still bring tears to my eyes.

Commemoration of the Vietnam War (3)

More on President Obama’s 2012 proclamation entitled “COMMEMORATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR”:

Here’s the third paragraph:

“In recognition of a chapter in our Nation’s history that must never be forgotten, let us renew our sacred commitment to those who answered our country’s call in Vietnam and those who awaited their safe return. Beginning on Memorial Day 2012, the Federal Government will partner with local governments, private organizations, and communities across America to participate in the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War——a 13-year program to honor and give thanks to a generation of proud Americans who saw our country through one of the most challenging missions we have ever faced. While no words will ever be fully worthy of their service, nor any honor truly befitting their sacrifice, let us remember that it is never too late to pay tribute to the men and women who answered the call of duty with courage and valor. Let us renew our commitment to the fullest possible accounting for those who have not returned.”

The president says it all. I have nothing to add.

Vietnam Veterans Celebrations

Fran Minakowski of Maryland Public Television graciously sent me announcements of two upcoming celebrations for Vietnam veterans:

On Thursday, March 29, the Hospice of the Chesapeake will hold its fourth annual “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration.”  Doors open at 4 pm, and the event begins at 5 pm at the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport Hotel, 1736 W. Nursery Rd., Linthicum.  Please register by email at veterans@hospicechesapeake.org or by phone at 443-837-1513.

On Friday, March 30, Gilchrist, a nonprofit organization that provides hospice and elder medical care, will host its first “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration.” Doors open at 9 am, and the event begins at 10 am at Martin’s West, 6817 Dogwood Rd., Windsor Mill. This free event features breakfast, music and camaraderie in celebration of Vietnam veterans and their families. For additional information, email WeHonorVeterans@gilchristcares.org or call 443-849-8210.

I’ll be attending both. Hope to see you there.

Commemoration of the Vietnam War (2)

Continuing my blogs about President Obama’s 2012 proclamation entitled “COMMEMORATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR”:

Here’s the second paragraph:

“As a grateful Nation, we honor more than 58,000 patriots—their names etched in black granite—who sacrificed all they had and all they would ever know. We draw inspiration from the heroes who suffered unspeakably as prisoners of war, yet who returned home with their heads held high. We pledge to keep faith with those who were wounded and still carry the scars of war, seen and unseen. With more than 1,600 of our service members still among the missing, we pledge as a Nation to do everything in our power to bring these patriots home. In the reflection of The Wall, we see the military family members and veterans who carry a pain that may never fade. May they find peace in knowing their loved ones endure, not only in medals and memories, but in the hearts of all Americans, who are forever grateful for their service, valor, and sacrifice.”

Here, the president invites out attention to the losses combatants suffered—their health, their freedom, their very lives. I’ve dwelt on these issues before; I don’t need to repeat. What’s urgently important is for Americans to understand and appreciate that our fighting men in Vietnam offered everything a human being has in defense of our country. And yet—how do you thank someone who has died for you?

More tomorrow.

Commemoration of the Vietnam War

A few months ago, I learned of President Obama’s 2012 proclamation entitled “COMMEMORATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR.” I framed a copy, and it now hangs on my office wall. I want to devote a series of blogs to this document. It reflects my my uneasiness about the war being forgotten.

The first paragraph reads:

“As we observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, we reflect with solemn reverence upon the valor of a generation that served with honor. We pay tribute to the more than 3 million servicemen and women who left their families to serve bravely, a world away from everything they knew and everyone they loved. From Ia Drang to Khe Sanh, from Hue to Saigon and countless villages in between, they pushed through jungles and rice paddies, heat and monsoon, fighting heroically to protect the ideals we hold dear as Americans. Through more than a decade of combat, over air, land, and sea, these proud Americans upheld the highest traditions of our Armed Forces.”

In earlier blog posts, I’ve described the brotherhood of Vietnam veterans and the grisly realities of combat. I’ve recounted being cursed and spat upon by crowds when we returned to the U.S. I’ve talked about our decades of silence from shame for ourselves and our nation.

Now it’s time to talk about our honor. President Obama’s words quoted above finally paid tribute to those who risked their lives for their country. Closure is at last ours.

More tomorrow.

Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Day

I want to alert my fellow veterans to the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day on 30 March 2018. I expect that there will a number of different celebrations that day. The first I’ve learned of is the one sponsored by Gilchrist. It will be from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Martin’s West, 6817 Dogwood Road, Baltimore, MD 21244. You can learn more about it at https://www.gilchristcares.org/event/welcome-home-vietnam-veterans-day-celebration/

As I hear of other events, I’ll post information about them here

The Ghastliness of Combat

A reader reacted to my blogs of the last two days asking just what memories we Vietnam veterans share. The answer is all the things we experienced. But the worst is combat.

No one who hasn’t lived through it can appreciate the grisliness of combat. Men doing all they can to kill one another is more ghastly than I have words for. I still have memories as vivid today as they were fifty years ago that I can’t talk about. Anyone who has survived combat is permanently changed by the experience. I’m persuaded that all suffer to some degree from Post-Traumatic Stress Injury.

I’ve talked before about why I call it “injury” and not “disorder.” My point is that the condition is a wound to the psyche inflicted from without, not an internal mental malady. The writers I most respect call it a wound to the soul. It’s permanent. It never fades. It’s with us always.

I’m grimly vindicated to note that contemporary writers are willing to describe in detail the horrors of the battlefield. They no longer avoid depicting broken bodies, severed limbs, and men engulfed in flame. The almost universal preference for emphasis on the glory and honor of the fighting man to the detriment of dealing with his physical suffering is more and more a thing of the past. Writers like Doug Stanton and Lucia Viti don’t hesitate to tell us what really happens. I’ve just begun Grossman’s On Combat (Warrior Science Publications, 2004) in hopes that it will help me come to terms with my own memories.

Why do I care? Because I want people to know. I want my fellow Americans to understand what we veterans have gone through, just as I want the facts about the Vietnam war to be public knowledge. When the truth is before us, we Americans can make informed decisions about avoiding or engaging in warfare.