Thoughts About Vietnam and Iraq

Remembering Albert Koon

My heart is troubled. I am working at home and on the wall is a rubbing from the Vietnam Memorial with the name "Albert L. Koon". He was a friend of mine lost in Vietnam while piloting an AH-1G Cobra helicopter. We were both 22, both pilots and were members of the 1^st Cavalry Division in the same unit. He was one of more than a dozen lost that year from our small air cavalry troop of about 140 young men. I think of Albert often these days. Probably because I have reached 60, raised a family and enjoyed the fruits of America. Albert did not have that opportunity.

Those days in Vietnam were often filled with fear and a yearning to be close to loved ones. We did not dwell on those thoughts often because it would have probably hastened our demise. Instead, one had to concentrate on the activities of the day, the hour and even the minute as we sought to do our best and complete the mission. We were aware of protests against the war in America and sought to erase that knowledge, because it would only serve to be a discouragement and distract one from the full concentration necessary to survive. Those that became distracted or devoted less than their full measure to tasks at hand subjected themselves and others to even greater danger. No doubt, some died from lack of commitment and an emboldened enemy.

I completed my tour of duty and subsequently taught US History in high school. I taught about the Vietnam War and remember clearly the lessons learned that I tried to inculcate in my students. We won every major battle, but lost the war. We lost because we were defeated psychologically, failed to understand the political difficulties in South Vietnam and because the American public withdrew their support. The psychological defeat caused by the Tet Offensive destroyed the resolve of America to continue. The war had taken too long and the American characteristic of desiring to "get in there, get it done and get out" had failed to materialize. Anti-war protests gained momentum, the enemy became more brazen and over 55,000 were sacrificed as the war came to a close.