I served in Vietnam in 1967-68, in personnel management. I processed assignments for new arrivals in country. Curious how Mr Hagel explains his service next to his brother in Vietnam. I know for certain there were hard and fast regulations in place in 1968 prohibiting members of immediate family from serving together at the same time in a hostile fire zone. Except for General officers and their offspring, there was never, ever any waiver of these regulations for any soldier, volunteer or conscript, for any reason. Also serving in the same infantry company with his brother seems a bit more than coincidence...”a mystery indeed”. I do not at all discount Mr Hagel’s service in the military, he served in a time and place when others were clamoring to avoid such service. While I believe his service as Secretary of Defense was wanting and the circumstances of his assignments are questionable, he answered the call and is an American patriot.
1
Sec. Hagel is wrong to say we emerged better from Vietnam. We treated its veterans shabbily blaming them for our own failures to stop the madness. We never learn or are improved by our wars (maybe WWII was an exception) but we
are still fighting the Civil War (the South is winning) and we have learned nothing from our defeat in Vietnam because if we had we wouldn't have done the same thing in Iraq--invade a country we didn't have to and didn't understand the first thing about.
1
This series is great but it misses on central point. We were a mess. My M-16 jammed the first time I needed it. An M-14 would have fired. WE were constant replacements without a plan or cohesion. We were beaten by the best army in the world. I was what the ken Burns show calls an elite paratrooper and I had no clue and neither did my plt sgt or CO. Aside from Nukes we could not have won in a thousand years.
1
War teaches lessons of: Truth; Right; Wrong; Sacrifice -- learning comes only to those willing to listen.
1. Essay would have been much better with comments about what the brother has been up to -- post Vietnam.
2. This statement was so wrong ad to be laughable:
"The Vietnam War changed every institution in this country. It was the first time the nation began to question its government and its leaders."
The first time?! People have been questioning the government and its leaders since colonial times! That's one reason why the Articles of Confederation were replaced by the Constitution; why early political parties formed; why most presidential campaigns in the first century featured vitriol; etc.
Let's not forget Shay's Rebellion; secession; anti-was protests over the misguided Mexican-American War; Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus; Emancipation; women's suffrage; dissent during WWI and the jailing of anti war protesters; etc.
No, Mr. Hagel, this nation was founded on dissent and questioning its leaders; doing so is patriotic, it's in our life blood; and needs to be respected not just linked simply to a half century old imperialist, world policeman, anti-Communist military adventure begun with a lie and characterized by lies!
That pattern of malfeasance preceded Vietnam and continues full-blown, blatantly in the current administration.
2
I think this is a very inspirational essay. Still, I was dismayed by the fact that in all of the description of suffering there's not a word about what horrors the Vietnamese people themselves endured - horrors which, by any measure, were magnitudes greater than anything the Americans had to endure. The US lost 58,000 soldiers. Vietnam, depending on the estimate, lost between 1 and 2 million people. But somehow that unimaginable suffering - much of it perpetrated by us - is sadly discounted, which in turn really undermines the claim that we Americans cared so much about the Vietnamese.
1
58000 service personnel, of all branches. Not just soldiers.
As I suggest to all fellow Viet Nam vets; quit picking at it, it'll never heal.
1
Thank you Chuck for your experiences. It had to be comforting and terrifying serving with a brother. After Tet many of us adjusted to the idea we wouldn’t make it through. I’m happy I didn’t have a family member to worry about. As a Marine sergeant I always worried about those under me.
I learned competence matters, to keep focused in chaos, take risks, rely on others, to lead. Good skills for later. I had to unlearn being on the alert, reacting to sounds, and feeling guilty that I did come back.
I was at UCLA months later and most males had no real knowledge or conscientious objections to what was happening, they were just terrified of dying.
Our government’s actions lurched back and forth with the political aspirations of those running for or clinging onto an elected position. Not much has changed.
The military can’t solve the social, religious or economic issues of other countries. It kills our enemy and can rescue our countrymen.
I’m comforted the President’s Chief of staff, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are all Marine combat Generals. They provide a line of defense against irrational actions and bring rational thinking to defining who our enemies are and how to deal with them.
To those who hate our military either openly or covertly, you never mattered to us we’re proud we served and would do it again.
Teddy Roosevelt was right, for those who have been in battle life has a flavor the protected never know.
I was in an Army orthopaedic residency while Chuck Hagel was in Vietnam; altogether was on active duty 1965-73, helping to care for the great number of casualties that peaked in 1968. I was very familiar with the ease with which the rich and privilged could avoid the draft, leaving the hard stuff to the underpriviliged and/or patriotic. By the end of 1968 i had grave doubts that the suffering i witnessed was justified by the goals of the war, and by 1971 was convinced that suffering was not. I had great respect for those who "did their duty", also great respect for those who were willing to pay the price of openly following their conscience, like Muhamad Ali. It is hard to fathom that one of the priviliged who used his privilge to avoid serving is now the commander in chief, and uses the flag for his political gain. His conduct with minority or immigrant gold star families desicrates what this country stands for; he has no idea what is behind those veterans who are inspired to "help make a better world".
28
I can click "Recommend" only one time, Doc. Were it allowed, I would still be banging away on the left mouse button...
9
As a veteran who grew up in a low income neighborhood in Queens, who is decidedly not a Trump supporter if only for his ham fisted ways and early campaign pandering, I don't see what the point is about his lack of military service. It makes no sense for someone with a Fordham and Wharton education and all the cost that entails to end up in a job that pays a pittance. Likewise, while I fully support a draft for every 18 year old male attending public school (even heavily taxed Jericho), it would be absurd to apply such a rule to students at expensive schools like LI's own Chaminade ($10,000 ) and Friends Academy ($30,000).
1
Sorry but your logic escapes me. You want to draft all males except those in private schools because .....?
7
We went to Vietnam believing in America. We came back believing in each other.
10
Senator Hagel,
When you write that we must hold our leaders accountable, are you referring directly to the current President?
Bravery here would be appreciated.
Thank you
11
Is this an opening salvo for the 2020 presidential race? Too bad the dems jettisoned Jim Webb, one of very few Democrats I would ever vote for.
3
Does this mean you voted for Trump?
1
I voted for Trump or against Hillary. You choose.
1
Please don't be cavalier about this. If the former senator wanted to run for any position people would be thrilled. I doubt that's what on his mind. I think what he writes is what he thinks and means. But, if this man did run for office in US it would be a Godsend.
5
Thank You for this article. Now is the time for all Americans to come together in repudiation of the Disgrace inhabiting the Oval Office. He has soiled our national repudiation in the world and has turned our citizens into warring factions. All of this out of the malevolence of his heart and, most likely, mental illness.
7
"Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues."
Amen.
15
Where are the current Hagel's in office today??? Funny how so many War Hawks today didn't carry a rifle when they had the opportunity.
17
Great article, Chuck. Now we need to get don jon to buy into it.
Tough job. I have no contacts there, but I would help in any way I could. GHC jmt
1
This article starts by mentioning Otis Redding's immortal "Dock of the Bay". How poetic. Readers do not know that Otis Redding and too many of Hagel's Army privates enjoying Redding's song share a tragic circumstance: They all died unnaturally, way too young, before seeing their potential realized. Redding had composed his song while hanging out with Bill Graham in the SF Bay area and died in a plane crash before he could see his creation catch and rise to the top.
6
traveling wilbury, (yes, I own the album/cassette), there was a reed-thin, gangly black man in my company in basic training, name of Goolsby. I can't for the life of me remember his first name. The man could sing.
During our last week of Basic, in the middle of August, 1968, after another of the interminably boring lectures/films that Army trainees endure, and with 10 minutes or so of time to kill, our platoon sergeant called out Goolsby's name and ordered him to front of the sweltering classroom building at Ft. Cambell, KY.
"Goolsby," he said, grim-faced, "Sing 'Dock of the Bay.'"
When Goolsby finished, a-capella and note perfect, a dropped pin would have sounded like a bomb exploding. I don't know if there was a dry eye in the room; I only know that mine weren't.
7
Interestingly, Mr. Hagel write: "I learned much about myself. I learned all I would ever need to know about bravery that would anchor me the rest of my life. Machines don’t fight wars. People do."
How does this square with lobbying done and campaign contributions given by General Dynamics, Boeing, Raytheon, CACI, Lockheed Martin, etc. to support the warfighter as their PR often inserts on their sponsorship on PBS or advertisements in the major newspapers and journals? Is he referring to people that on some military base in Florida or California controlling drones?
I disagree with him! To the contrary, I think unquestioning commitments to areas about which we know little opens us up for being exploited by both our industry and our government.
7
Amen!
2
Ken Burns’s documentary, “Vietnam”, compels us to revisit the horrors of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, – countries that never threatened the US. These three countries suffered a staggering 3.8 million deaths. A large number of civilians continue to suffer horrific birth defects from exposure to US chemicals.
The long tortuous history of Vietnam and Agent Orange should shame all Americans. Fifty years ago, the US sprayed more than 20 million gallons of various herbicides over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1961 to 1971. Agent Orange, which contained the deadly chemical, dioxin, was the most commonly used herbicide. It was later proven to cause serious health issues—including cancer, birth defects, rashes and severe psychological and neurological problems—among the “Vietnamese” people as well as among returning U.S. servicemen and their families. Oblivious of the dangers, US serviceman used the empty 55-gallon drums for makeshift showers.
The Pentagon denied such health hazards fearful of the huge liabilities that would have to be paid to the victims. Chemical companies were well aware of the birth-deformity hazards of their products but chose to remain silent. It took approximately 30 years for the Pentagon to finally admit the health hazards of Agent Orange. In 1979, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 2.4 million veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. We should offer massive repeartions to to the Vietnamese for the war crimes we committed.
15
Very well spoken thank you. To go further, Ken Burns - in spite of his years of research and with 18 hours to tell - by no means went far enough. I was mesmerized watching it. I admit. But when I put on some other videos made, "Hearts and Minds" being one, I realized that Ken Burns somehow held back from revealing the real horror, the real shame. Maybe it was the intoxication of the music "background". But when you consider, why do you think he had Bank of America's backing anyway. No, they weren't a bunch of honorable men making honest mistakes. Not really!
1
Mr. Chuck Hagel, I hope that along with this article you are also speaking privately to the military officers around Trump and in other important positions in the current administration. It is extremely important that they hold to the standards and values which you write about here, especially since they are working with a president who doesn't.
22
Perhaps my memory is fading, and not to diminish the piece, but I recall Westmoreland being at MACV in Saigon, not at USARV in Long Binh, during (and before and after) Tet 68.
(Five o'clock Follies, anyone?)
*Even the headquarters of Gen. William Westmoreland, the commander of American forces in Vietnam, located at Long Binh — the largest ammo dump in the world —were under attack. My mechanized unit was ordered to engage the enemy at a place called Widow’s Village, across from Westmoreland’s headquarters.
2
Chuck Hagel, thank you for the real heroes who fought for a war that they did not understand. They fought with bravery for causes which they could not understand, many of them paying with their lives. They obeyed Generals who knew exactly the reasons but still pushed innocent boys to the front lines taking advantage of their blind zeal, moral honesty and patriotism. Shame on all these Commanders. Shame on all the Leaders of the times showed no remorse for the sons coming back as bodybags. Those who were lucky enough to get back alive, were scarred for life, to a life bereft of any life. Worse they were not even welcomed as patriots and heroes. Their agony is still omnipresent. The martyrs at least got their names on the black Wall, really a Wall of American hypocrisy. But what about the others who die everyday lost in the world of PTSD, alcoholism and drugs? Where do they get their tribute? At least a modicum of healing is provided by Veterans' Affairs but it's always on the verge of a chopping block by present day leaders and their brethren, cowards all of them, who avoided the draft ( bone spurs!! ) and are trying to take away from the veterans what little they. It's our collective shame, we voted for these greedy, selfish, cowards who treat real heroes like Sen. McCain with contempt and disdain. Shame on us for allowing these men to push our young into new wars to enrich themselves keeping the war juggernaut well-oiled, diplomacy being a dirty word now.
13
I'm not an American, so maybe I'm missing something here, but why does Hagels' article get such commendations, and yet Merrill McPeaks 'Bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail' received so much scorn?
2
Men and women like Senator Hagel need to continue to step forward and serve our country. His bravery, commitment, loyalty, and intelligence are the type of traits that make our country a leader in world and just as important, an ideal we all can respond to and respect. Please Senator Hagel come back to the fight. You are sorely missed. And we thank you for your service past, present and in the future.
4
Secretary Hagel wisely councils that Viet Nam taught us that "we must always hold our leaders accountable".
Americans must also wonder why we don't.
After the "terrible price" of 58,000 dead noted by Sec. Hagel, no president should be able to wage war without approval on a congressional vote for war and a universal draft for all, including the sons of CEOs and senators.
Then we might actually have "leaders accountable".
17
Thank you for this article.
I am one of those who was in the Army as an enlisted man at the time but did not go to Viet Nam. In retrospect, the folly and waste of the war seems even more grotesque than it did at the time. But I appreciate your sacrifice and your brother's, and the sacrifice and service of all who did serve in Viet Nam, and especially those most at risk in a senseless effort. Military service can bring out the worst but also the best of us.
I don't think I will ever be able to reconcile my conflicting feelings about this war.
5
Thanks for your comments, Mr. Hagel. I wish to God you were still in government.
UASAF 1959-63
10
"Their commitment to one another and their individual common decency and belief in their country sustained them."
My memories of the months following Tet were that we fought, and sacrificed, for one another and all that that implies...
USN 1967 - 71
Viet Nam 1968
4
Thanks, Mr. Hagel.
In 20 years as an active duty Marine, starting as a private and mortarman and finishing as a captain and data systems officer, the most important thing I learned is that good leadership has to be by example and it has to be based on inspiration. You don't ask your people to do anything you wouldn't do, and you share their hardships; and you act in such a way that your people do what you ask because they look up to you and want you to respect them the same way.
Most of our current leaders in both major parties and in the upper strata of American society fail both tests. They are asking the rest of us to make sacrifices they've never been willing to make, from military service to paying their share of taxes; their actions aren't respectable or admirable, let alone inspiring.
I don't know what the solution is, but perhaps having rendered some kind of voluntary service to society - not necessarily military - should be a prerequisite to running for office and for holding a seat as a CEO or other board member of a corporation.
27
Just like Ali, Vietnam veterans were malaigned, yet eventually we honor them for an unjust war fought by the poorest and least politically connected. Donald Trump's excuse was a bone spur and should had served. Nobody wants to hear that. Ali and Trump avoided serving, guess who paid the bigger price? History and time will be the great judge.
8
What was that war all about?
Now, Vietnam is a major trading partner, who manufacture Nikes among other things for our insatiable amusement.
Trust funder Millenials now snap selfies while standing on the white sand beaches of DaNang.
58,000 brave Americans and a million or more brave Vietnamese died in the conflict.
Birth defects from Agent Orange are still affective.
Maybe next time, we will learn the lessons of history and not rush to war when the jingoistic trumpets sound, like the trumpets did for Iraq.
BTW, 100 Green Berets on horseback with their Afghan allies and with USAF sir cover defeated the Taliban in less than 60 days. They were welcomed as liberators because they weren't seen as invaders. Afterwards the politicos, generals and the CIA invaded and we have been quagmired there for 16 years. The same thing happened in Vietnam. Body counts broadcast on the nightly news is no way to win a war.
3
Thank you Chuck for your wonderful reminder of just how important Truth and Valor is. Your remarks couldn’t come at a better time for all of us. God Bless and continue to inspire you my friend,
Eric
9
Senator Hagel, as a fellow veteran let's not forget those lies that got us to believe Vietnam was winnable when the early 60's Rand Studies, based on interviews of captured NVA and Viet Cong revealed how their moral vision for a unified Vietnam would overwhelm America's superior firepower. Nor let us not forget the lies the 911 Commission has still yet to fully reveal as to why the CIA knowingly let the hijackers into the United States and refused to tell the FBI of Al Qaeda's presence in the United States. I might add those are huge whoppers that you could have been more strident about uncovering. Yes, America clearly deserves better for it is this very lack of transparency in our ongoing wars and acceptance of Pakistan's sanctuaries to our enemy both the Taliban and Al Qaeda that remains unchanged and unchallenged. What is our end state in Afghanistan? I hope that you and your former Senate colleagues can help shape that reality.
3
Thank you for sharing your story with America. The military holds a very special and sacred place, in the lives of all Americans, because of the unique and self-less sacrifice, that veterans endure, to protect, all of us, from the unspeakable horrors, they have experienced, front row, center.
With every brave article, with takes of wounds that little can speak of, it sheds light on the forgotten and sadly neglected, Americans who truly make America “The Home of the Brave”.
I appreciate and respect you for your service and sacrifice, and most importantly, for standing up for the freedom of those who cannot stand up for themselves.
4
I'm just wondering if you ever traveled outside of the US, even as far as Mexico, and spoke to people on the "receiving end" of United States generosity and virtue. Don't even need to go as far back as the annexation of Mexican lands of Texas, CA, etc. etc.
This moving letter speaks for itself. We were fortunate to have Hagel serve in government. There's no need to chastise Presidents who didn't serve in wars. It's about the decisions they made and the integrity they displayed. If they fell short, the problem is with the values of those who elected them.
5
No, that would be too easy.
We are country that owes its freedoms to people who risked life and limb in combat for the greater good not personal pecuniary benefit as the senator reminds us. The article falls short for failing to mention we are being lead by elected Republicans who won't risk a Twitter attack from Trump or a primary challenge from someone crazier than they are to defend the constitution and rule of law from a corruptPresident and a hostile foreign power. I wish those who made the ultimate sacrifice listed on the wall could have limited their risk to having to rejoin the private sector earlier than planned in lucrative lobbying gigs - everyone who sacrificed for this country deserves better than the corruption and cowardice dominating DC today. I'm reminded end of another Republican Vietnam vet of Hagel's era, winner of the bronze star back then and still courageously serving the country against threats to democracy greater than anything Southeast Asian communism ever posed.
6
BTW, last line is referring to Robert Mueller!
4
Secretary Hagel,
One necessary edit to your otherwise brilliant reminder of who we were - when times were at their darkest - and who we can be again:
"Vietnam veterans did serve as role models. They are now the senior statesmen of the veterans community..."
You have earned a "We", not a "They", sir. You have far more than earned it.
Our thanks for your ongoing service and leadership.
13
The comments some comments here miss the point of Sen. Hagel’s message. He is not arguing the rightness of the war or the need to build up our military.
He is writing about leadership qualities he saw during his military service. Character, honestly and principles are what matters in our leaders, he writes.
It is obvious that our current leaders in the White House and in Congress lack those qualities. Our country is lost unless we get back to having people who represent the best in us, not the worst, as we have now.
38
Amen! Thank you.
1
"Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues." Perhaps idealistically that's true, but at the chirp of a tweet the current Commander In Chief is challenging the strength of these virtues on a daily basis.
6
We broke with longstanding tradition of electing Presidents with military experience when we elected Clinton, and have followed that with a string of men who did not have military experience (Trump, Obama) or stayed away from combat (W).
This has been a truly bipartisan decision, not a Republican one or Democratic one.
A mistake.
3
Yes Jonny we have the same problem in Australia no Prime Minister with War Time experience, and not enough Politicians with Military service, our Department of Veterans Affairs is makeing it so difficult for our young Veterans to get help, you would have thought they had learnt from us Vietnam Veterans all the heartache and suicide which we went through is happening again. They say they are spending more money on helping the Vets but they still put obstacles in the way.
1
There was no "longstanding tradition" - John Adams, our second President and John Quincy Adams, the 4th, did not serve. From then on, the number of Presidents who did not serve continues, including Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, ...
Secondly, Trump also is in the "stayed away from" category.
Anyway, the problem is not that our Presidents do not have military service, many a nation has gone to ruin under military leadership, the problem is we do not have a coherent vision for our nation anymore. We are smug, self-satisfied fatties, shoveling cheap food into our faces and cheap entertainment into our minds while gestating in our cheaply built homes with our cheap Chinese trinkets, all bought with cheap Chinese credit. We are not bad people really, but regardless, when someone lives in such a phony manner reality soon catches up. It is catching up with us right now, and it remains to be seen how well we deal with it. Hopefully by not making up fake facts and fake news :-).
11
Thank you for stipulating that from Truman till Bush 41, presidents had military service, as well as TR, McKinley, Harrison, Grant, Hayes, Etc.
JQ Adams was the 6th president, not the 4th.
1
"But we became a better country through it all." No, Senator, we did not. The sacrifices made all those years ago were for naught. Lives were thrown away. Yet we still allowed ourselves to be conned into another endless war with no discernable goals or perceivable end. We have learned nothing.
13
Did we make our country better by electing the current president? Make it better for the the ill, the damaged, those in poverty or inadequate housing? Are our racial relations better, voting rights fairer? Are our police dealing equitably with people? Ultimately, do we have reason to think our nation and its government better than before?
If not, perhaps we need more war and more veterans.
2
I understand your point, but I hesitated on my recommend. Let's try something else; realizing what we share in common goals as humans, not this feeding frenzy that endangers our democracy and threatens to erase the memory of how we got here.
3
Hagel is a Republican. He served as DoD under Obama, who repeatedly "reached across the aisle." Despite serving two terms as a Republican senator from Nebraska, the Republican controlled Senate still filibustered his nomination process out of spite for one of the Kenyan Muslim's appointments. Eventually he was confirmed. Obama's efforts at bipartisanship by nominating qualified Republicans to important posts in his administration were for naught, witness Gorsuch and the refusal of McConnell to consider Obama's SCOTUS nominee during his last year in office.
More to the point, Hagel has made a lot of money with his company Election Systems and Software that makes machines that count the votes. His firm is the largest of such. Many election results have confounded the pollsters and the trustworthiness of the machines have been called into question. I read his resume and am flabbergasted how Mr. Hagel was able to be appointed to corporate boards, start an investment bank, and start his ES&S company. The educational achievements and resume building that would support such career accomplishments just ain't there. Insider trading in the DC GOP swamp that Trump promised to drain?
Hagel is part of the problem, not the solution. The NYT keeps giving editorial space to such types while the right wing media and Trump himself continue to malign the NYT as left leaning liberal "fake news." Sad!
9
I think that a person who has served as the Secretary of Defense for the United States of America should be able to handle a position on a corporate board of directors. As far as starting and running a company, it isn't much different. You get an opportunity, know key people to fill positions and have capital to get it off the ground. Starting a business isn't rocket science. Making it successful is another story.
Hagel put a team together to oversee the defense of the United States or America. I think that is a powerful thing to have on your resume.
6
How do explain the fact that the Republicant Senate didn't filibuster Robert Gates' nomination for SecDef? He was a card carrying Republicant just like Hagel, and he was an Obama nominee. If you were informed, you would know that it was John McCain who single handedly savaged Hagel in the committee hearings. Why? Because Hagel endorsed Obama in 2008 rather than McCain. That was rank insubordination (Hagel was a mere NCO) tantamount to treason in Capt. McCain's UCMJ. McCain exacted his fury. The rest of your comment has as much credibility as your understanding of current history.
2
Most "powerful" and in fact patriotic and honorable for anyone in Hagel's position would have been to transfer the priority and funding of Defense (Pentagon) to actual human needs, and that which promotes peace. Can you tell me why we need to keep and build our nuclear arsenal?
Your service and message are much appreciated!
6
I believe that we should pass new laws and/or maybe even a constitutional amendment promising US military service men and women that the USA will never again send any US service person (who is some US citizen's son, husband, brother, daughter, etc.) on patrol in some foreign country as a target to be shot, bombed, killed, maimed, and/or otherwise harmed by those foreigner s without the US government punishing inflicting death or other consequences onto all of those foreigners that are inflicting harm or are suspected of inflicting harm onto our troops.
The USA needs to either win any new war or just not start any new war unless protecting the lives of US servicemen has the very highest priority over any political correctness, civilian casualties, political campaign contributions, PAC desires, or any other elected official's concern.
1
You can’t “win”wars anymore. To think it’s possible only gets out American men and women killed for no reason. Why are we still in Afghanistan attempting to wean Afghans off of growing poppy ?
2
Deserve better, how so? Don't all Americans deserve better? Don't all Americans deserve heath care for instance, not just those who enlist in the Armed Services. I'm sick and tired of all this patriotism aimed at one thing: doping more for the military. It's time we focused on all Americans and their needs as human beings and citizens.
7
I take it you've never served?
5
In an age that demands metrics of progress,
how will we know when a culture of service
has taken root? . . . I’ll know when a soldier
stops a teacher in a train station and says,
“Thank you for your service.” -General
Stanley A. McChrystal, Newsweek, 1/23/11
9
Mr. Macdonald misses Mr. Hagel's point; presumably because he didn't serve. The point isn't patriotism. The point is that those of us who did serve (at least those of us who saw combat in southeast Asia), learned about poor leadership (both military and civilian), dishonesty and the price of those two failings. We learned about it in our bones. We bled for it. 50,000 plus of us died for it (and I refer only to the Americans). All Americans pay the price for poor (and dishonest) leadership. Our generation of servicemen paid a personally higher price than most.
1
US foreign policy since WWII has been created by the professional State Department bureaucrat career employees who are directed by the elite “DONOR CLASS” plus the various PAC (foreign and domestic) members who made campaign contributions sufficient to elect our “Established Mainstream Republican” and “Established Mainstream Democrat” officials, who created all of this “Politically Correct” US foreign policy and those limited wars since WWII that the USA fought to benefit the foreign nation PACs, MICs, and the other campaign contributors where the USA then tied or lost those wars.
These wars that the USA tied or lost since WWII have cost the USA thousands of US lives and created thousands of disabled veterans due to “Politically Correct” US military “Rules of Engagement,” and spent trillions of US taxpayer dollars which the US government borrowed to spend on these wars that BENEFITED NATIONS OTHER THAN THE USA, but did create MIC jobs for US citizens.
3
Words like "serve" do not apply. You were used to invade Vietnam and still seek to justify it. The US not only lied, it committed many war crimes and crimes against humanity. That is the example we, and especially you, follow in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world.
Your so called "service" absent an apology should disqualify you for government service. The kind of heroes we need in government were draft resisters. They are the heroes.
5
A veteran like Mr, Hagel is far more of a hero than those who spit at returning veterans, hoisted the NLF flag, etc. I have far more respect for those who have worn the uniform than I do for those people like yourself who disparage them. We did a number of things wrong in Vietnam, but we did not "invade" the country.
2
Wow, what do you call it when 500,000 troops are sent into your country for no reason that you can understand? What do call it when a foreign power comes with the most advanced air force in history and drops more bombs than were dropped in all of WWII by both sides killing untold hundreds of thousands of innocent people? Do you call it justice and democracy or invasion?
Spare me the spit at veterans myth. I suppose you believe in the war on Christmas nonsense as well.
6
ck, if draft resisters were the only heroes allowed in government, that would eliminate 52% of the US population from consideration for government service. I don't recall anyone marching in the streets demanding gender equality when it comes to registering with Selective Service. I don't recall any draft boards being burned because they were endorsing unconstitutional sexism. I don't recall any feminists apologizing for not having draft cards to burn.
2
Thank you Senator Hagel for your service, both in uniform and afterwards. You are an example to the crass and cynical present leaders who view power as something to be exploited.
6
While your selfless service is appreciated the whole war was frankly a crime against humanity. You regret the loss of American lives, how about the approximately one million Vietnamese killed? The whole thing was insane from start to finish. And we have learned nothing since then. We will reap what we have sown. Americans voted the liar trump into the presidency because they want to continue to hear the lies they grew up on, they refuse to face the truth, we are bankrupting ourselves and killing untold numbers of innocent people for no purpose other than perpetuating the military industrial complex economy.
8
America is the most violent country in the world. We have the highest murder rate in the world. We have been at war on and off for 70 years, killing our young men and the young men of foreign countries. We haven't won a war since 1945. What a waste! In my opinion we are in serious decline and it ain't fixable. I'm 88 years old , an ex-Marine and been here for 6 generations so I have some ownership. The Senator is in denial and just making himself feel good.
9
Please think hard about running for the Presidency.
Yes, Mr. Hagel, thank you for your service to your country both as a Marine and as a U.S. senator and Defense secretary.
Moreover, "character, honesty and principles" do matter immensely.
Your veiled point is that we have a so-called "leader" who is President of the United States of America -- yet he's so lacking he'd be washed out as a junior grade officer in any branch of our military. Fundamentally, it's impossible to lead ANY size team when one's a habitual liar and incapable of accepting responsibility.
So, Mr. Hagel, my question to you -- along with respected individuals of similar background such as John McCain and Colin Powell -- how do you all intend to step up and lead your country to prevent our present drift to fascism ?
Writing to op-eds in the NYT or WP is merely preaching to the choir.
What say you gentlemen ? Mr. Hagel ? Mr. McCain ? Mr. Powell ?
Yes, Sen. McCain, you're on death's door. Why not depart stating how you feel about such a weak, venal, little man as POTUS ? Your U.S. Senate colleague, Lindsay Graham has been bought and paid for . . . utterly shameful.
Let's be clear : Trump is a traitor to the United States. His entire adult behavior is an insult to all those important values of duty, integrity, honor, responsibility, honesty and justice.
Throw the shoe. This sad and dangerous chapter must end sooner than later.
16
This comment strikes the right, balanced, note. It does not belittle the service of those who served for the US even though they were lied to, as we all were then, to induce them to serve. It honors their service while recognizing that they unwittingly perpetuated grievous harm on the Vietnamese. And it asks for still more sacrifice and service from those who have already served. With great power comes great responsibility, I guess. And it is now all the more important because--admit it--now we --along with the rest of the world -- are now very likely in the path of terrible harm from the current administration and its enablers.
4
"Vietnam veterans did the job their country asked them to do. Their commitment to one another and their individual common decency and belief in their country sustained them."
Sustained some, anyway--the deluded ones--failing to see what's now painfully obvious. The war was based a decade of bipartisan systemic lies; it was genocide for millions of Vietnamese (rivaling Nazis), contempt for poorer Americans unable to dodge the draft--like Bush and Trump.
"Belief in their country"-- like god story belief--is belief in alternate facts, alternate reality.
"America ...became a better country through it all." You need reality therapy.
Unless you are running for office--then you may not be crazy; just a typical hypocrite liar.
7
"genocide....rivaling Nazi"? Who needs reality therapy, Mike?
And, you should know. It was easy to dodge the draft. Lots did.
1
Said very well, thank you. Yes, "genocide". C'mon folks, try to get used to it. If you must, stretch your meaning of "genocide" from whatever you had going. Yes. And it did also apply to the native peoples of America. But of course, if you deny what we did to the original "Americans", deny the violence and crimes of slavery and torture and all that - even though it's not technically "genocide" - it becomes a little easier to pretend the US is not capable of perpetrating the "g" word.
Had I, or a large number of other people been President, not a single American soldier would have died in Vietnam. And hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese would have had their lives spared also. I've always liked Chuck Hagel and continue to wish he were serving in our government.
4
---"It was the first time the nation began to question its government and its leaders. The lies and deceit practiced during that volatile time in our country also brought to light social injustice and a system that had ignored it for too long...One of the primary lessons learned during those years of war and national unrest was that we must always hold our leaders accountable. Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues. If we fail to stay true to that governing North Star of leadership, as we did during the Vietnam War years, we will again fail our country."
Thank you, Mr. Hagel! Damned history trying to repeat itself, again. Prescient words to remember, and...try to hold our leader(ugh) to.
6
Certainly am incredibly grateful to be able to buy cheap shoes and garments. No doubt the somewhat less than human "natives" are so grateful our job creators discovered their need to provide cheap labor. Slope, zipperhead etc.
I'm with Bruce Rozenblit on this one.
1
War brings out the best in some, the worst in others. Those who come back, and continue to want to serve our country, bring the best of what they learned about themselves and others, greater majority anyway. Most bring a sense of loyalty, a depth of strength, of leadership and sense of right/wrong. I thank Chuck Hagel, Tom Hagel, John McCain, Richard Blumenthal, Tom Cotton, all who have served our nation. I may not always agree with them, but I know most of them are coming from a good place, that they care as much about my country as I do, and want the best for the country, putting the needs of the country above themselves. I don't believe a Senator, a Congress person, a President needs to have served in the forces to serve their country well - but I do believe they need to possess the same qualities, the leadership, the shared values, morals, ethics, love of country. I don't believe we are lucky enough to have that today, I believe we have the opposite in place, and we need to find our way back to a better place so we can pick better leadership no matter what party they're with. American Dream was never rule by Koch Bros-like Plutocracy or Putin-like Authoritarian where they decide how they want 99% of America to live, think, exist. People died for this country, for this dream of America - let's not forget that, let's honor them and move forward with that dream. Stand up and be counted, every single one of us.
6
This is timely --
I was recently reading about Chuck Hagel's experience in James Wright's book, Enduring Vietnam. Chuck is quoted, "We were out in the field and sweating," and "breaking jungle for 16 hours a day with a machete and always thinking that you might be in the gun sights of a sniper up in a tree or always knowing that there was a grenade hanging on that tree or always knowing that you could be walking right into an ambush, which we did." He stressed the "mental pressure" as much as the "blood and gore that you see..."
This mental pressure is tough even if you feel you are serving in a just war and working for wise and principled leadership. It is something else altogether if the converse is true.
When it comes to declaration of war or conduct of armed conflict, we should diligently seek out and listen to the voices of those who have previously served.
"Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues."
Spot on.
7
This essay has little to do with Donald Trump----it is about a series of missteps and miscalculations beginning with a WW2 hero called ike through a string of people who history must hold responsible for their decisions and actions. And, the obvious principal is LBJ, the ultimate hero of the civil rights movement and social programs, a man who inherited a mess and made it worse with the best of intentions and plans.
"America learned a painful national lesson. But we became a better country through it all."
The words of the man who voted for the Iraq and Afghanistan war are drenched in irony. The only thing that the Vietnam war taught our leaders is just how lucrative war can be.
5
Draft #21 would have made me a soldier after college in 1971, but for my conscious objector status which allowed me to work 24 months in a NYC hospital.
I'm most proud of my grandpa, who joined with others to lobby to get the legal exemption after WWI.
I also honor Hagel, and have read his recent bio., agree with his conclusions in this op-ed piece, but am sceptical that our nation can change its warlike nature, which is now a war against nature. I pray for the destiny of mankind.
3
Secretary Hagel, thank you for your service and for this column. I remember you as one of the public servants who would work across the aisle and who called it like you saw it, with the courage to let the chips fall where they may. I sorely miss those qualities in what I see in most of Washington today.
8
"It is the belief that we each can make the world a little better in our own way, one person at a time."
Senator Hagel is effusive in his praise of those who showed "uncommon courage" in battle in Vietnam and makes reference to the thousands of Americans who died during the American war in Vietnam. Do not forget that millions of Asians died in that conflict. It would have been much better if thousands and millions of humans had engaged courageously prior to the war in efforts to prevent it by addressing the needs of the people in SE Asia.
Climate change has set the table for wars in the Middle East and is creating fertile ground for conflict in Africa. Meanwhile cynics are profiting from policies that exacerbate climate change while pretending that they do not know what is happening. These people are indeed providing the causes of the coming climate wars in which 19 year old soldiers from Nebraska will fight and die.
Old men like Secretary Hagel would better serve their grandchildren by focusing on the causes of the next war rather than on the bravery of those killed in the last one.
14
In “Riding the Tiger”—episode two of the Ken Burns Vietnam War documentary—President John F. Kennedy confides to a friend in April 1963 that, “Those people hate us. They are going to throw our asses out of there at any point. But I can’t give up that territory to the communists and get the American people to re-elect me.” This confirms what I thought as a soldier serving with 101st Airborne Division in the triple-canopy jungle and mountains of South Vietnam’s northernmost province. American presidents and congressmen sent us to fight and die in a faraway land to improve their chances of being elected or reelected. Both Democrats and Republicans feared looking “soft” on communism. The soldiers whose names are inscribed on the Vietnam War Memorial were victims of the political war between Democrats and Republicans, not the war between capitalists and communists. In his farewell address, George Washington warned us against political parties. He said: “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
52
This was a good read. I appreciate the perspective. I was never called up. I drew number 336 for the draft. In '68, I was marching against the war. Stories of personal heroics aside, 58,220 Americans gave their lives for a lie. Mr. Hagel, I'm glad you weren't one of them and returned home.
4
I'm afraid America didn't learn a painful lesson. We are getting into ever broader, more senseless wars. We aren't holding our leaders accountable -- who cares if George W.'s lies started a bad war? Character, honesty and principles? Where?
Painful as the Vietnam War was for Americans, it was much, much, much more painful for the Vietnamese. We haven't yet wrapped our minds around the primary tragedy of Vietnam.
Little brown people are real, intelligent, feeling human beings - not artifacts of our politics or our imaginations. We haven't learned to think outside our bubble. A lot of them are being killed even today. Be assured that America is doing itself in just as surely as it is doing "them" in.
10
I would go even further. I've know quite a few Cambodian and Viet Namese and I know they surely have as much, probably more, to teach us than we them. How strange and how "unbelievable" it is that they actually don't hate us. My friends, who came to the US in 1985, who I met at that time, already held no resentment toward us. These same people - I'm generalizing here - suffer a lot as do most people of color in this country, because of being "not white". And still they go on to become US citizens and people of character, the kind Mr. Hagel would uphold.
1
"One of the primary lessons learned during those years of war and national unrest was that we must always hold our leaders accountable. Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues"
Our current president lacks character, honesty and is unprincipled. Vietnam taught us a key virtue, resist evil and stupidity whenever it appears. Secretary Hagel, please join us and help end the reign of "Bone Spurs" Trump and his parasitic cronies.
30
"Machines don’t fight wars. People do."
But machines are needed for war and those who build them make money, lots of money. Eisenhower warned us about this, but we still aren't listening. Instead, our taxes continue to pay for machines that have no other purpose than to be used in war.
16
PAY TO PLAY is the name of the game for our MIC getting US Government contracts!
2
My college career was interrupted by a three year sabbatical in the army, one of which was spent in Nam. I agree with Mr. Hagel that the experience has informed my life since. I left school in the spring of 1966 and did not return until the fall of 1969. It's hard to imagine, even harder to explain how much this country changed in the interim, from frat rats to tie-dyed flower children. I endured no end of 'how could you...' as I finished my education. I can't say that, as a nation, we've improved ourselves since, but I can say that I can look in the mirror and see a man who didn't shirk his duty as he understood it.
24
James I appreciate your point of view. That said, most who chose not to serve were not "shirking their duty," as you claim. They were living their truth-- that the War was an unnecessary, futile and expensive mistake of which they wanted no part. Often they paid terrible prices for their courage.
5
Throughout the years of the Vietnam war our national leaders, from the top and across their whole echelon, failed their mission.
The foot soldiers on the ground carried out their mission honorably, and they still bear the wounds of that unjust war.
Those who instigated and profited from “their” wars in Iraq and beyond have failed their mission for honorable service to our country.
And, horribly, we see signs that our current echelon of national leaders may continue what may be a perpetual failure to perform their mission.
7
Thank you for your service to our country and thank you for pointing out that one of the primary lessons learned during those years of war and national unrest was that WE MUST hold our leaders accountable - especially the ones who do not display character and honesty....
11
Secretary / Senator Hagel - I have always had a deep respect for you - and -
I am a Paul Wellstone Liberal Democrat.
I will always remember your speech on the floor of the senate - standing 'alone' against your Republican party - adamantly opposed to voting to go to war in Iraq.
Your aides always took the time to truly listen and have an honest conversation with me whenever I would call your Senate DC office voicing my objections to something the Republicans were pushing to enact. To my amazement - you always took the time to write me a signed letter thanking me for calling your office and voicing my concerns.
I wish you were still in the Senate - even though - I would not agree with many of your positions - the Senate needs your honest, fair-mindedness and how you always worked together with both sides of the aisle for ALL AMERICAN PEOPLE.
I believe - right now - your words are saying to the American People - Hold Trump - his White House staff and all people in Congress Responsible for their words, actions and deeds.
I believe, sir - you are speaking in loud and clear opposition of what you are seeing transpiring in your country right now - that many soldiers, FBI, CIA, Diplomats are fighting for and have died for --
I have heard your message - loud and clear in your written words: Serving in Vietnam- with My Brother -- Thank you for stepping forward and once again serving our country - with your life - and - your honest candor.
47
individuals might've learning something, but i'm not sure the people running government learned much about attacking countries that had done no harm to the usa.
9
Please, you're not supposed to notice these little adventures. Too "ironic" and too "unAmerican". That word patriot needs to be properly redefined. It does not mean "obedient" to "my" country "right" or "wrong".
I guess we need to deeply understand the meaning of the word "learn". Parrots also "learn" don't they?
Robert....i think al franken said in one of his books that the right wing loved America like a child loves his parents. the left loves America like an adult.....i ain't American, but it's like watching roller derby.
1
No doubt Hagel’s a good man, and the recent Vietnam series by Burns and Novick gave me an even greater appreciation for the devotion to duty, the comradeship and the loyalty of the grunts who fought that senseless war. But time and again, vets like McCain and Hagel choose party over country when facing the despots in their own party. I wonder if their own disillusionment about the war, the shabby treatment they received on their return home, has made them cynical about the values that prompted them to enlist in the first place. One thing for sure, though, is that their fealty to party condemned soldiers like themselves to slaughter in another senseless war in Iraq.
6
Were you aware that Hagel endorsed Barack Obama for President in 2008? Not McCain. Obama. I didn't think so.
2
He voted for S.R. 46 in 2002, and thereby gave the Bush administration the authority to go to war.
U.S. policy from the late 1700's to today has been imperialistic. First to counter British, French and Spanish imperialism and then quickly to establish the right to steal other peoples' lands, livelihoods and lives. Much of the west was stolen from Mexico. Hawaii was stolen from the Hawaiians. Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Cuba were stolen from their inhabitants. The 20th century is one of overthrows of governments, leader assassinations and outright wars. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, Honduras and on and on into the 21st century. American exceptionalism means that the US is above the law. When a president like Nixon, or Trump, or Obama acts above the law he does so in good old North American tradition. Martin Luther King, Jr., hit the nail on the head: the U.S. is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.
4
Such blanket assertions are misplaced, as America’s been historically isolationist when it comes to foreign intervention. If Pearl Harbor were not bombed, we may never have entered the war. There was widespread opposition to us getting involved in Kosovo, even though it was clearly the right and humane thing to do.
Like every other country we operate out of self-interest. Some, like Iraq and Afghanistan, are debatable, while others are clear-cut. To paraphrase Von Clausewitz, there are alternative methods of influence. Unfortunately, the present administration is doing their utmost to dismantle those other levers.
1
I am in near total disagreement. But that's ok. Let's just try to comprehend the fact that we are divided now, on this question, as we were then, not to even guess how many on each side. This issue, sir, is still "tearing us apart". And it is hard to ignore the fact that this country finds it hard to stay out of war for any length of time, for whatever the reason.
This penchant for war, I would have to argue, is actually NOT in our self-interest. Not even for those who are enriched. Just take a look at this planet as a whole. Please.
I want to thank you for having the guts to say all this. I've been saying little pieces of it in my comments too. The whole American tapestry is so made up of myth, lies, distortion and omission it really takes a re-education to even begin to get past the nonsense we've been taught over and over. And so few are ready to even begin going down that road. (Here I think I'm speaking for mainly readers of this newspaper). We don't even (as a country) want to speak about who DID sponsor death of JFK, RFK, MLK and so many others.
There is no better word for all this than denial.
A very wise act of uncommon valor would have been not to send our troops there in the first place. Same with Iraq and many other places. If you want to support the troops, bring them home.
7
You are so right, and how daring it is to even speak those words! It's so close to "treason".
No mention of the millions of war protesters at home, while you and your brother received your war, "experience"? This piece sounds more like a treatise on military glorification then any kind of condemnation of the legitimacy of all the, so called, "wars," since WWII, including Vietnam.
"America learned a painful lesson." Huh, what lesson? We are fighting seven wars right now, not to mention, George W. Bush's folly in Iraq. (War on a lie.) The lesson, is to invest in Halliburton during conflicts?
Your service, to you and many others is an honorable action, deserving of praise and respect. If you had gone on a nice vacation in Canada during that time, I would feel far more praise for you. If everyone had done that, the war would have ended far sooner and tens of thousands of lives would not have been cut short.
5
Where were all of the millions of Viet Nam war protestors when the neocons ginned up WMD in Iraq? I guess you had already burned your draft cards in the 60s', so there wasn't anything to fuel your moral outrage. Or, maybe you are still on a nice vacation in Canada.
Yeah, I know. "Your service, to you and many others is an honorable action, deserving of praise and respect."
Hard to condemn anyone, esp. at the tender age of 19, 20, 21 - for risking life on behalf of great country esp. when all one has ever been taught is it's the heroic thing to do. And after all, it is such a far more glamorous thing to do than run off to Canada, fake some injury, or, as in my case, use the "teaching deferment".
I am so happy to hear you and others as well unafraid to call into question this impulse to "defend" one's country through military service. While condemning the "non violent" actions of those who chose to "defend" this country in what to me is actually a more noble way. Like not killing and destroying.
Hagel's column rings true to me, an infantry platoon leader in '69-70. Reminds me of the epilogue of “Dereliction of Duty” by H.R. McMasters. he lays it out in the book from public records made during the time.
"...The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or on the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C., even before Americans assumed sole responsibility for the fighting in 1965 and before they realized the country was at war; indeed, even before the first American units were deployed. The disaster in Vietnam was not the result of impersonal forces but a uniquely human failure, the responsibility for which was shared by President Johnson and his principal military and civilian advisers. The failings were many and reinforcing: arrogance, weakness, lying in the pursuit of self-interest, and, above all, the abdication of responsibility to the American people..."
5
The tragedy is compounded by the fact that a prescient warning had been provided a decade earlier by one of America’s greatest soldiers. Inn1954 as French soldiers huddled under siege by the Viet Minh, the Joint Chiefs considered intervening to break the siege. President Eisenhower, being skeptical of the proposal, asked General Matthew Ridgway, a trusted lieutenant in WWII and who had saved the American army from disaster in Korea, to investigate.
Ridgway assigned several subordinates to the task and reported to Eisenhower that it was a mar h of folly. The effort would require half a million troops and an exorbitant expenditure of resources to maintain a status quo. And after ten years or so of this effort, America would leave and the Viet Minh would complete their goal of unification.
How much sorrow and disruption could have been avoided if two American Presidents had paid heed?
2
Thank you for your personal story of your time in Vietnam, and most especially for pointing out the most important yet lost fact of that war as compared to what I saw in Iraq at 63 before I retired, though always as a civilian. I went on missions with them. I'll just let you speak again, sir.
"By 1967, soldiers were being sent to Vietnam as individuals to fill vacancies, not as units that had trained and lived together before they arrived in country. What struck me on the bus ride and our flight was how alone each individual was, as we were getting to know one another. I would come to realize how quickly that loneliness disappeared — because we each would soon become members of our new families in Army units spread across Vietnam."
Even under the volunteer army of today, so many soldiers are so alone even in the company of their units, where, as you say, they thankfully train together before being deployed. But, nevertheless, I could see it in many of their young eyes when I trained and supported them.
God bless you Chuck. You have done so well with your life, and I pray you continue to give America a better perspective of those wonderful men and women in our boomer generation who fought in Vietnam and lived such a formidably bittersweet part of their lives in that war.
6
Secretary Hagel, I respect you and enjoyed your story about your experience in Vietnam War. I was too old to be drafted during the Vietnam War. I wish I was able to do something during that period. The Vietnam War changed our trust to our leaders and our government. The two leading persons who committed the most mistakes were President Johnson and General William Westmoreland. I hope President Trump would help our nation to get out the endless wars with other nations and tribes. Lets rebuild our country now it is never too late. Maybe I am day dreaming?
2
Yes, unfortunately I believe you are, for Trump knows nothing of the brotherhood of leadership, ream, care/concern of others, responsibility for something/anything greater than himself. He is a narcissistic, misogynistic, bigoted man-child filled with ignorance, anger, greed, fear, who has shown no morals, no values, no ethics. He is utterly ignorant of our own history never mind the worlds, and is devoid of leadership qualities. All of this would have made him a most uncommonly bad soldier, you couldn't trust him to have your back, or even get up and fight.
7
Gosh, if you were looking to trump for any sort of moral leadership or wisdom, you bet on the wrong horse. Your day dream gave us our national nightmare.
1
I want to thank you for your bravery and dedication in the service to our country. The lessons your learned should always be remembered by all Americans who live in freedom to pursue their dreams. Those lessons are especially important in our times today when it seems human values are being questioned in a changing political climate.
10
Secretary Hagel appears to be living in an alternate universe populated by like minded people. We continue to slog through the pointless Bush/Cheney wars, created by lies. Then we go on to elect the most incautious, incompetent, lying leader in the history of our country. I would suggest that few lessons have been learned. Even Vietnam Vets like Colin Powell joined in the farce of blaming 9/11 on Saddam Hussein. John McCain never fully came out against torture during the Cheney "waterboarding" scandal. If those men on the plane with you knew the extent of the lies and corruption their service was based on, they would have stayed home instead of having their names on a wall. When Trump needs a war to push up his polling for the next election, I have no doubt that he'll start one.
60
An eloquent reminder that war is a Republican thing.
6
Trump's already setting up a potential war in the Middle East, one that could quickly become a World War, by encouraging the out-of-control, would-be-dictator Saudi Crown Prince's bellicosity against Iran. Qatar, Yemen, the attempt to kidnap and depose the Lebanese Prime Minister are all ominous first steps.
Iran is not Iraq. A divide-the populace-and-conquer strategy will not work in Iran. A Saudi-Iranian war would draw in too many other countries and would quickly become uncontrollable.
This is the stuff of nightmares for me.
12
I'm not so sure that "we became a better country through it all"as Mr. Hagel says. We would have been much better If our leaders had refused to support continued colonialism by France. We had the power to do so and instead used our power corruptly. One leader after aonother failed us.
It wasn't just our leaders who were wrong though. Most of our population was so gung ho and full of ourselves that we were easily coerced through petty patriotism. Einstein called nationalism "an infantile disease".
3
Many sacrificed .
Many gave their lives for this Country.
The most recent to start wars, Bush and Cheney never gave a thought to doing so.
Nor did our present 'Commander in Chief' who claimed heel spurs. That does not, however stop him from pretending to be a tough guy: does not give him pause to contemplate the risks of nuclear confrontation.
We, and by that I mean the 63 million Americans who voted for this monster, have learned nothing from the wars of the past 100 years.
43
Pretending? ISIS is disappearing throughout the Middle East. Under our last president it spread into every corner of it. There hasn't been much reporting on it from the MSM so you'll have to probably go to other sources.
Honorable men like Chuck Hagel were misused by dishonorable men in an impossible cause. We were propping up a corrupt government that had no credibility with its people. We took over a colonial war when the French finally stepped out. Ho Chi Minh was once an ardent admirer of the United States whom we alienated. You don't win hearts and minds by bombing entire villages and murdering their inhabitants. An Army is a killing machine, not appropriate for nation building. It's like doing heart surgery with a meat cleaver. Our national politics is too crude and stupid to take on "nation building." We believe our propaganda and ignore the facts. We are a clear and present danger to any nation on earth, especially those with oil.
34
A stroll through any of our National cemeteries illustrates the ultimate sacrifices made by fellow Americans throughout our history in protecting the country against both foreign and domestic enemies. Our efforts and sacrifices have preserved, protected, and supported our democratic form of government, providing a guiding light for nations throughout the world.
Sadly, some of the wars we fought were justified by motives having little if anything to do with the realities of conflict. "Remember the Maine" was effectively used to first accuse the Spanish of attacking that ship, and then resulted in attacking Cuba - eulogized by the charge up San Juan hill by a future American president (T.R. Roosevelt).
Our 'better late than never' involvement in World War 1 resulted in victory for the Allies, albeit at considerable cost to our country in lives and money. So too was our involvement in World War 2, which also resulted in an Allied victory. And in perhaps one of the greatest gestures this country has ever conducted, the Marshall Plan dramatically rebuilt many of these countries, including former enemies.
My parents are buried in Arlington National cemetery; Dad was a fighter pilot whose first combat was in North Africa. I hope to join my parents upon my demise, having spent 1968 in Vietnam as a combat platoon leader.
The legacy of American responsibility is found in our National cemeteries - please visit and reflect on these ultimate sacrifices.
11
We have had many men and women who have fought in just causes with courage and self-sacrifice. We should honor them. We have had other brave and selfless people who have fought in unjust wars - for example, I honestly cannot view Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan as being just wars. In Vietnam alone we are talking about the deaths of millions of Vietnamese- a war who's start was justified on lies and whose continuation was based on a continuous spiel of lies to the American people by government and military officials. Maybe for such conflicts we should also visit the cemeteries of those civilians that we killed. Maybe we should recompense those solders that we tortured for information and those civilians who were deliberately harmed by our troops. Or should we do nothing like we are?
3
I hope you get your wish, as you deserve.....but I also hope that you have to wait a long, long, long time before it is 'granted.'
1
Mr. Hagel thank you for your heartfelt piece. I recall when Pres. Obama chose you, a republican senator, and decorated Viet Nam veteran to be Secretary of Defense. The best man for the job from the other side of the aisle. I recall watching your confirmation hearings and seeing republican and democratic senators owned by AIPAC misplaced emphasis during those ugly hearings. Hopefully, they will be affected by your sincere plea for them to place their emphasis on "character, honesty and principle."
26
a good reminder to "give back" rings so very true today. Yes the abuse of power is so prevalent in so many areas of our lives today but remember in the end our lives will be measured not by what we "get" but by what we "give"
7
"The Vietnam War changed every institution in this country. It was the first time the nation began to question its government and its leaders." Right Chuck, unless you happened to read any history about the War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, or World War I, during which there were HUGE internal conflicts regarding the appropriateness of the wars themselves along with HUGE questions regarding the competency of the leaders pursuing those wars. Chuck, thanks for your service but not your historical analysis.
10
HaHaHa, though not really funny, but I needed to see it that way. I've been wondering this past 2 hours if anyone would pick up on that. QUESTION OUR LEADERS????
I know not everyone reads Howard Zinn or Noam Chomsky.
I think just the fact that we had that Civil War, our bloodiest, would be enough to disabuse Mr. Hagel of his notion that we've always been a country of sheep when it came to follow the leader. And how ironic it is that in so many ways we're still fighting this same Civil War, and disagreeing as to the correctness of those leaders, to the point of removing their statues.
There is such a difference between those who serve their country and those who enter public life to serve themselves. The demise of the values Americans fought for in WWII and subsequent wars make a mockery of everything the U.S. used to stand for. Eisenhower's warnings about the military-industrial complex unfortunately went unheeded and now we have the oligarchical-corporate complex that uses the military for its own ends, to preserve the power of the 1%. Makes one realize how precious and honorable men like Chuck Hagel and John McCain really are.
8
Too bad we didn't 'win' that war -- we could've had another north/south divided country, with a demilitarized zone, thousands of US troops stationed there forever, and a fun decades-long nuclear cat and mouse game. Mr Hagel, I honor your service, which I would have preferred to have never happened.
6
As so many already have, in this discussion, you've had the courage to say the "unspeakable" and point out the inconvenient in terms of what we'd so like to think. Just so happens wishing it were so doesn't make it so. Too bad.
1
Aside from situating the 11th Armored Cavalry a few hundred miles north of its actual AO (area of operations) along the border with Cambodia and not the East-West parallel of the line dividing North from South Vietnam, I thank Chuck Hagel not only for his service in Vietnam but his continued work for all Nebraskans and Americans in his roles as Senator and Sec. of Defense.
It is unusual in the extreme for an enlisted man to rise so high in political circles and levels of responsibility usually reserved (by tradition, not by any rule or regulation) for officers. With few exceptions (chopper pilots in Nam come immediately to mind) enlisted men are the "givers of their all" in far greater absolute numbers and percentages compared to officer corps.
You have done the country proud, Sen. Hagel. And you have done your fellow vets even prouder.
9
Glen,
In the Air Force, the majority of those that go into combat are officers.
It is different from the other services in that respect. But officer or enlisted, no matter which, those that go into combat deserve our total respect.
6
I was drafted in 1966, endured OCS and served as an Officer until discharge in 1969. I was lucky - just lucky - and served out my final year in Thailand, not Vietnam.
While I mean no insult to Hagel, this tribute to character and honor is formulaic and somewhat trite. The real situation was more complicated.
By 1967 the futility and immorality of the war were apparent to many. I struggled with the idea of refusing service, should my orders direct me to Vietnam. I never had to make the choice.
While many, many of my friends died or were permanently scarred, I did not see them as heroes. I saw them as victims. The heroes were those citizens who recognized the deception and refused to be complicit.
10
So well said, and needing to be said. Thank you.
Nebraskans were fortunate to have Chuck Hagel serve as our Senator. His actions in the Senate reflected his convictions of fairness, loyalty and compassion. We can only hope that more like Mr. Hagel will come forward to govern this country.
4
Excellent essay; thank you for your service to this country.
4
I have been reading this series on the Vietnam war and it is always from a very American perspective. I have just spent more than a month in Vietnam and I have met people who survived that war. I've seen many bomb craters, many birth defects from the rainbow of Dioxins we dumped on them and yet a will to survive. I can say with certainty that my one act of defiance in the Vietnam war, was to put up a draft dodger in Canada. I have never seen a bomb crater next to the Met Museum, but let's not forget who really suffered during the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese. And now we have in office the draft evader in chief, who is continuing wars that we have no business being in. We are cutting taxes for the wealthy, to build a bigger war machine that really only attacks the people who have sticks and stones to defend themselves. We have to ask ourselves, what will our national legacy be, other than bully.
27
"Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues. If we fail to stay true to that governing North Star of leadership, as we did during the Vietnam War years, we will again fail our country. The men and women who gave their lives for their country in Vietnam, and in all our wars, deserve better."
It seems clear to me who Mr. Hagel is targeting- and justly so. And it even goes beyond Trump- but also to members of his cabinet and the Republican party- who unfailingly place themselves above country. They will also not be forgotten.
51
Mr. Hagel. I honor you and the others who served in VN. I had some close friends who served in that misconceived war, and most of whom died there. You, and they, at least as far as I can tell from those who returned, missed some important lessons about society and democracy, though this does not take away from your valor or the importance of your intent to make a contribution to others.
I honor you, my friends who served and my daughter - who is a decorated combat veteran. I serve vets pro bono in my practice, and go above the routine practice of psychology to make sure I make a contribution to them.
I still think that nearly all vets I have met also pay a price in social awareness for having spent critical times in their lives facing death at a critical time in their lives, rather than having the experiences of serving others in a civilian capacity. Thanks for your service. You make a critical contribution to important parts of a society. Gather around you those who have not served, and listen to their ideas too. Only this way will the human race move forward in a positive direction.
7
Thank you for your service and to your brother as well. The service in the senate and in the cabinet is also to be thanked.
The example of country before party was practiced by Senator Hagel. There are only a few members of the senate and congress currently that have seen war since we have a volunteer army. Current members seem to be wealthy and do not participate in volunteering, leaving fighting to the poor. There are a few exceptions of course, and I salute them. Mr. Hagel would not have let a bone spur keep him from volunteering.
40
The last Congress I was able to research, the 114th, had 132 members, out of 535, who had served in the military.
80% of them were Republicans.
I agree that their votes, particularly on the Tax Bill, tend to serve the interests of the wealthy, not the poor.
But, empirically, I don't see what military service has to do with it.
3
Thanks, Senator Hagel. I was drafted in March of 1968 and left CONUS from Travis in June of 1969...fortunately for me, for Thailand. Years later, when you were in the Senate, I happened to sit beside you waiting for a plane to Chicago from National Airport in DC. Then later, I sat in the seat behind you in economy class on the flight to Ohare where you met a connecting flight. I've admired and respected you for many years and was thrilled to be in your presence. I don't recall why you retired, but I wish you hadn't.
18
Thank you Mr. Hagel for your service, honesty, leadership and moral character.
So much of all that have been lost.
18
Well state Mr. Secretary but you missed some of the issues that we are struggling with during the past year. Our lying president was not the first and he won't be the last. Johnson lied, his Secretary of Defense McNamara lied, Nixon lied, and goodness knows what the rest never dared tell us, and now we have another lair in the White House. Should we be surprised? No this has been our history, and in some way this is the way we will always be. But thanks for the uplifting words I wish they were true for our country.
9
Thank you Secretary Hagel for what I suspect w/b the concluding article in the NYT's series on 'Nam. Having served with the US Army in the Mekong Delta between July '66 and November '67, I shared many of your experiences and completely agree with your thoughts on how that service has influenced us. That experience shaped my life and I only regret 'bone spurs' deprived our current President of the opportunity to learn what you and I did.
62
Excellent piece Mr. Hagel. The last paragraph could stand alone. You conveyed your message eloquently and your experience serving our country during war and after war gives your article great weight. Thanks for your service indeed.
16
Yes, we veterans went through life-changing experiences that defined many of our later decisions in life, unlike those Americans with deferments and connections such as our alleged President..
Unfortunately, the lessons learned there have been subsumed by a government focused on corporations and profits, rather than the actual citizens of our Republic.
Where are the lobbyists for the Middle Class when legislators lower taxes and create loopholes for the wealthiest among us? When did corporations become "people" with more influence and rights than individual citizens?
Such things do not bode well for our Republic.
70
Well said. It seems to me that the Democrats should be the "lobbyists for the Middle Class". Why aren't they? Or, if they say they are, why aren't they having much effect?
3
I like the idea of having a lobbiest for the middle class. I wonder how we could organize and fund that!?
1
Vietnam was not an isolated incident, but part of a well established policy we developed in WWII od attacking the civilian population in high density locations and Terror bombing them, Next came Japan's Cities, and then Korea and Vietnam. And now the Middle East, with Bombs, Drones, and Rockets, trying to "kill them All. In so doing we have lost our soul, our moral authority, and our reputation, which are the only things that matter. The US is the World' Leading War Criminal and will pay the price as well it should.
27
I am in pretty full agreement. Many commenters seem fully of opposite view. That's my takeaway. We ARE still divided on this VNWar, (as on everything else?)
I would like to see more acknowledgement on the parts of people such as Mr. Hagel that he does not by any means speak for the majority, and nor does he have the last word on what constitutes character, integrity etc.
1
Chuck Hagel for President. A man of true integrity. Watch this speech regarding Iraq if you have a few minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIoa7WU2Dfc
11
I agree with Sen. Hagel. Too many congressmen do not want to speak the truth because they are afraid of losing their precious seats. There is no patriotism, just ambition.
Character, honesty, principles are notably absent in the Trump administration and the Republican politicians who support Trump. Our nation has been hijacked by rapacious, corrupt score-settlers. I hope we will soon find a way to eject Trump, but how long will it take to get rid of the Republican Party enablers?
18
Not only does the Current Resident of the Whie House show no character but only service to himself. However, recently congressmen and women and senatoirs whom I once respected--even though disagreeing with their policy positions--have abandoned any character or principles they may have had by falling willingly into the Trump camp: "best President I've ever served with."
I honor Senator Hagel's service. Perhaps our politicians should earn their character by serving in the military, even if that service is/was not in combat (like mine). At least that character might be reflected in their demeanor and empathy in their public lives.
Clearly Trump has not earned any character by any sort of public service--nor have any of his lackeys--except for General Mattis.
119
"Perhaps our politicians should earn their character by serving in the military"
Presidents Obama and Clinton?
5
Dear Mr. J. Schwartz:
Bill Clinton was against the war and not a fan of the military. I knew many like him in the Sixties. Why would he would join the military and serve in Vietnam? That would make him a hypocrite. The same applies to Barack Obama, though he was too young to face the Draft. Barack too was not a hypocrite.
Which brings us to a host of Republicans who absolutely adore the military, are willing to fund it no end, and are equally willing to send US Armed Forces all over the globe on a whim. Problem is most of them have never worn the uniform, never been in harm's way, never known what it means to be in combat. They are referred to as Chicken Hawks, and the leader of the pack resides in the White House. Trump, the man of five deferments from the Draft, could not serve because of "bone spurs" which somehow did not prevent him from playing sports, golf in particular. Trump is the poster man-child for height of hypocrisy. But it's obvious someone as yourself will use any attempt to attack two great Presidents while defending the worse president this nation has ever seen. That takes a lot of chutzpah.
DD
Manhattan
10
---Perhaps. I don't recall, however, President's Clinton or Obama starting and ending each and every day with demonstrable lies...like...we know who.
6
"Every important decision I made during my time in the Senate and as secretary of defense was influenced by my experiences in Vietnam."
Enough said.
Thank you for always remembering my brother and friends who needlessly died and gave their lives.
I'm sure it helped atentuate your decision making and bridled in our reckless war strategies.
Every day I think of my brother and how I loved him. RIP.
33
Thank you for your eloquent thoughts Mr. Secretary. This country will outlast the current bombast of idiocy. We are shaken and bruised as a nation right now. Many are afraid that a hapless idiot is going to put us at war again. Most don't recall what it was like to have a family member drafted to serve in Viet Nam. Trump was able to "defer" himself with bone spurs and college. You and your brother are true defenders of this nation. Character, honesty and principles absolutely do matter. You are right, they are not debatable virtues.
13
The Vietnam conflict could have, and should have, been settled by a vote of the peoples of North and South Vietnam as had been planned. Instead, due to the lies of government and military officials of our United States, millions of people died.
As evidenced by the war in Iraq,the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and the compulsive liar in the White House and the complicit acceptance of those lies by the Republicans in Congress we have learned nothing.
21
Yes. Unfortunately, just in a way too obvious to even consider or seriously look at. NO ONE WANTS TO ADMIT IT......Thanks for saying it.
This 'Nam vet says, simply, "Thank you for your service." And as important, for serving our country honorably in the years after that terrible--pointless--conflict.
8
Senator--Thank you, and thanks to your brother, from a fellow grunt.
13
If there were any justice in the world, G.W. Bush and cabal would be in prison for war crimes, not squatting in Texas, painting cats.
The MIC is replete with these same war criminals and life goes on, at least for those where the munitions aren't falling.
USA USA USA
8
Secretary Hagel writes, "One of the primary lessons learned during those years of war and national unrest was that we must always hold our leaders accountable."
Correct. Yet we have not held our leaders accountable. George Bush and his cronies lied us into yet another disastrous war, which cost us more than 4,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, and inflicted PTSD on hundreds of thousands of others. Like the war in Vietnam, the Iraq War was a horrible mistake initiated under false pretenses that wounded our country.
Now we must hold Donald Trump accountable for his treasonous actions with the Russians. And we must prevent him from pushing us into yet another horrible mistake, which would be war with North Korea or war with Iran.
We have not yet learned our national lessons from Vietnam. We are still being lied to by our leaders, leaders intent on starting wars for their own glory.
We need to heed the lessons of Vietnam and stop Donald Trump from wounding our troops and our country yet again.
187
I am fast reaching the point where war with N Korea seems to be inevitable. It seems that there are so many"leaders" out there who have never seen the horrors of the battlefield, and they now have the US military as their new toy. God help us.
"Now we must hold Donald Trump accountable for his treasonous actions with the Russians."
Are you ready condemn Barack Obama for his deal with Iran to not pursue Hezbollah drug dealing in the US?
steve, maybe we should revisit the deal with Iran regarding selling weapons systems that St Ronnie of Reagan in order to finance the arming of death squads in Central America. I wonder if some of those people who now cross the border illegally into the US are fleeing disrupted societies that Reagan helped destroy. Interesting one never hears conservatives condemn the illegality and moral depravity of this, as opposed to venerating Reagan as a modern savior.
Care to cite the evidence (not accusations) regarding Obama and the "deal" to which you refer??
1
Thank you Mr. Hagel,
Great insights. We need writing such as this in these turbulent and fractious times to remind us that much can be learned from history. I only wish that the current president had the same understanding and respect for facts and the lessons of the past.
12
Bravo, Mr. Secretary! Thank you for reminding us that we all have the responsibility of leaving the world better than we found it.
Now, more than ever, your service and that of your peers are a yardstick to measure our own efforts— and those of our elected leaders.
54
"Character, honesty and principles matter. They are not debatable virtues."
These are the qualities of leadership. They are absent from the Trump administration and many in Congress. All that matters to these people is that they get what they want and they don't care how they get it.
They destroy the process of government. In doing so, they destroy our nation.
After the horror of Vietnam, I never thought that, in my lifetime, my government would gin up another war based solely on lies and false pretenses. It did. This was the Iraq invasion of 2003.
I never thought that the institution that uncovered the lies of Vietnam and restored our government after Watergate, the press, would be demonized as causing America's downfall. I never thought that many would blame Walter Cronkite for telling us that we were being lied to was was the reason we lost the Vietnam war.
I never thought that those with the sole intent of generating profits would hijack the press under the banner of free speech and turn large segments of it into a propaganda machine not unlike those of authoritarian regimes. That would be Fox News and talk radio.
So yes Mr. Hagel, America did learn a painful lesson from Vietnam. But we quickly forgot it in our quest for profits and power. Like you said, it's all about character, honesty and principles. Try to find them at a Trump rally.
212
Bruce, Thank you for this comment. I've never read a more clear and cogent statement of the despicable history and current practice of mendacity our government practices.
26
I agree with Mr. Rozenblit. My husband is a combat veteran of Vietnam. He served with the Big Red One. His younger brother and he were drafted on the same day and went through basic training together at Ft. Jackson, SC. (Google Brother Draft - same day service) They did not request that they be drafted together. His brother became a cook and spent the rest of his 2 year service at Ft. Lewis, WA.
5
Thank you for strong and insightful comment.
6