Sad Vietnam facts confirmed
In response to Mr. John Moore’s letter regarding “distortions” in the article “We owe huge debt to Vietnam vets:”
I am the author of the report and I can assure you there are no “distortions” of the cases presented. The cases came directly from: a) more than 135 Documented Vietnam Veteran interviews, b) an “Agent Orange” Vietnam Veteran Survey conducted in June 2012, c) more than four years of research, and d) Admiral Zumwalt’s Agent Orange Report delivered to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) on May 6, 1990.
I will first address Mr. Moore’s condemnation for not including women in the report. It is reported that approximately 11,000 women served in Southeast Asia. Of these 90 percent were nurses. The remaining 10 percent worked as communications specialists, intelligence officers and personnel in military headquarters. The value of these women to the war effort commands the highest praises. Apparently five (5) died during the course of the war, one from a stroke. Another nurse died later from injuries she received when the hospital in which she was serving was hit. Some, most likely, have died of exposure to Agent Orange. Fifty-nine civilian women were killed. They were associated with the press, USO, Peace Corps, American Red Cross and Special Services that substantially boosted the moral of the fighting troops. Their value in helping our troops was outstanding.
Not one woman Vietnam veteran responded to the Coeur d’Alene newspaper’s multiple announcements of the study in June 2012. Consequently, to my disappointment, there were no women veterans’ cases included in the research that I could reference. I am sure this is a direct result of the fact that there were no female combat veterans and the percent of female veterans out of the total Vietnam veteran population was approximately 0.25 percent. Had any responded an example of their case(s) would have been included.
There is only one place where “gender” is identified — that is the statement “4,200,000 ‘Young men’ answered the call to duty and signed blank checks.” This relates to draft as well as volunteers. No women were drafted and those who volunteered were not assigned to any combat positions (according to available records), although they were in combat areas.
Now for the Medivac flights disagreement. By the time you were injured, fortunately, the wounded were not transported until they were stable. That was not the case reported in the interviews. For the Vietnam veteran (a highly decorated Army Tech Sergeant) who provided his experience as a wounded soldier, there were approximately 150 wounded men on “stretchers” stacked four high in at least three to four rows in the Cargo Aircraft. Yes, according to him some were still bleeding. There were also ambulatory wounded — some in wheelchairs.
The ambulatory wounded were loaded into buses and transported to the hospital and various other destinations. The wounded on stretchers were loaded onto dollies (the veteran thought they could have been some kind of a Bomb Dolly), two to a dolly. The dollies were then connected together and a tractor towed them to the hospital along a road that went under a footbridge. The footbridge connected a parking lot that was on the other side of the road to the hospital. There was no security on the footbridge. (There was security when they got to the hospital.) People were lined up on the footbridge. As the wounded went under the footbridge, he and the soldier on the stretcher beside him were spit on and harassed.
I was absolutely stunned by the stories told by these Vietnam veterans and their wives. Some veterans had rocks thrown at them. There never can be any excuse for treating wounded soldiers, any soldiers, with such disgusting disrespect. Let’s hope it never happens again.
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Richard E. Phenneger of Post Falls is a veteran and president of Veteran Services Transparency, Inc.