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A Bright Shining Lie, Revisited, Again

By Dale Hoefer

I graduated from high school in 1974, so my entire childhood was spent in the shadow of the Cold War and the Vietnam War. It never made any sense when I watched Walter Cronkite. When I read Neil Sheehan's book, "A Bright Shining Lie," and John Paul Vann's "America in Vietnam," it put a rational veneer on non-sense.

I joined the Navy in 1974, after high school, so I am a Vietnam era veteran, who opposed the Vietnam War, the Iraq war and though tepidly supported the first Gulf War and the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, despite the obvious problem of not having an exit strategy.

By the time I made it to Vietnam the fighting had long since stopped. I went to Saigon in the late 1990s on a business trip. I was struck by the usual things tourists notice like the large number of motorcycles and that everyone I saw seemed to be under the age of 30. I went to an antique market looking for a souvenir and found myself overwhelmed with an emotionally crushing sense of waste when I saw hundreds of old Zippo lighters and little personal items that clearly had been owned by American GIs. I wondered about the story of each one as I held it.

The wasted sacrifices, the horror of such a flawed policy and implementation that took place mixed with the hope that we will never forget the lessons learned here. It was very similar to the choking feeling that overcomes me every time I visit the Vietnam War memorial in Washington DC. Each step the urge to cry growing stronger as I approach the bottom of the V, hoping no one will say a word to me. Again praying that we learned.

To realize that we could not only forget the lessons we paid for and learned in less than a generation, but jump right into a similar situation in Iraq with no end-game and flawed tactics along the way really hurts. Who thought to "de-Bath" Iraq?

I hope we as Vietnam Veterans Against the War, can remain united and focused on retaining and sharing these hard lessons to combat the perpetual state of fear, state of undeclared war reality that pervades our country now. We must be wise with our military resources and have some compulsory service. The day may come when we have to fight, or at least be strong enough to make a potential enemy think a hundred times before moving against our interests. So let's choose our House, Senate and President very carefully this time.

Dale Hoefer was in the USN 1974-1976 and discharged after nearly breaking his neck and temporary paralysis. The VA made everything possible with their rehabilitation program.