Jim, my friend, you have no idea the depth of bitterness I keep to this day. Memorial Day is not the day to talk about politics but to honor the memory of our brave men and women who fought and died for their country. But were it not for those gutless, spineless politicians who interfered with the conduct of our Armed Forces during their battles, the number of slain American soldiers would be a whole lot less. There may be some argument on this but in my opinion, because of the way politicians meddled with the military, America has not won a war since we defeated Germany and Japan in WWII. The only exception was the brief invasion of Grenada in 1983.
The Politicians in Washington sent American troops to Vietnam and forced our soldiers to fight with one arm tied behind their backs. They were prevented from invading the enemy's territory and our political leaders even apologized for bombing the ships belonging to some of our so-called friends that were bringing supplies to North Vietnam in Hanoi. This war cost America 58,267 killed in action, 303,644 wounded in action, and 1,711 MIA's.
From Captain Jim Mulligan, former POW and author of The Hanoi Commitment: "Lord, save me from the politicians who have the nerve to engage me in war but who don't have the guts to let me win it."
The problem, said General Ira C. Eaker at the time, was that "in all our past wars we had professional military leaders and amateur soldiers. Vietnam is our first war where we have professional soldiers and amateur leaders." General Curtis LeMay, the first head of the Strategic Air Command, put it this way: "It is a war in which we are attempting to win without winning, trying to destroy without destroying. It is an Alice-in-Wonderland war."