Thursday, October 20, 2005
Two Days in October
I saw an extremely interesting program on PBS a couple of nights ago, called "Two Days in October". It recounts two fascinating incidents which occurred on the same day (October 17-18, 1967) which vividly illustrate how polarizing the war in Vietnam was in the U.S. at that time.
One incident occurs in the jungles of Vietnam where 140-some members of the renowned Black Lions of the U.S. army are led into battle, intent on increasing their body count of Viet Cong. Tragically, they are ambushed by a VC force of more than 1400; the VC troops annihilate the U.S. troops, killing about 1/2 the group and injuring just about everyone else. In the aftermath, the U.S. government deceitfully portrays the ambush, as a great setback for the enemy.
The other incident happens on the same day at the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. Students protesting the war stage a sit-in at a campus building and the nervous chancellor calls in the Wisconsin police to break up the protest. The students are unhappy that Dow Chemical, the company producing napalm for the U.S. government, is coming to recruit on-campus. The 30 police officers proceed to brutally attack the unarmed students with clubs and physical beating, along with using tear gas. One student onlooker described the incident as the most brutal and violent she had ever witnessed in her life. Subsequently, the university creates the impression that the incident was totally the fault of the students.
The entire story is told through interviews with the participants of these incidents (no narrator). What I found very compelling were the deep emotions engendered in Americans by the war, both for those at home and in Southeast Asia. Even after almost 40 years, the survivors/participants choke up when recalling what happened. The U.S. soldiers felt they were fulfilling their duty by serving in Vietnam -- the result of the incident was that they became much more cynical about the war and its purpose. The students also felt that they were fulfilling their duty as citizens in a democracy to protest what they perceived to be an unjust war. They felt betrayed by University officials and students who were originally neutral or supportive of the war became anti-war.
I found the entire program gripping and it increased my appreciation of those tumultuous times.
One incident occurs in the jungles of Vietnam where 140-some members of the renowned Black Lions of the U.S. army are led into battle, intent on increasing their body count of Viet Cong. Tragically, they are ambushed by a VC force of more than 1400; the VC troops annihilate the U.S. troops, killing about 1/2 the group and injuring just about everyone else. In the aftermath, the U.S. government deceitfully portrays the ambush, as a great setback for the enemy.
The other incident happens on the same day at the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. Students protesting the war stage a sit-in at a campus building and the nervous chancellor calls in the Wisconsin police to break up the protest. The students are unhappy that Dow Chemical, the company producing napalm for the U.S. government, is coming to recruit on-campus. The 30 police officers proceed to brutally attack the unarmed students with clubs and physical beating, along with using tear gas. One student onlooker described the incident as the most brutal and violent she had ever witnessed in her life. Subsequently, the university creates the impression that the incident was totally the fault of the students.
The entire story is told through interviews with the participants of these incidents (no narrator). What I found very compelling were the deep emotions engendered in Americans by the war, both for those at home and in Southeast Asia. Even after almost 40 years, the survivors/participants choke up when recalling what happened. The U.S. soldiers felt they were fulfilling their duty by serving in Vietnam -- the result of the incident was that they became much more cynical about the war and its purpose. The students also felt that they were fulfilling their duty as citizens in a democracy to protest what they perceived to be an unjust war. They felt betrayed by University officials and students who were originally neutral or supportive of the war became anti-war.
I found the entire program gripping and it increased my appreciation of those tumultuous times.
# posted by BeachLover @ 11:39 AM 
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I was growing up then. Several students died at Kent State, here in Ohio, at the hands of the National Guard. It was a sad time.
As is today. We have buried quite a few young Ohio boys, since the start of the war in Iraq.
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As is today. We have buried quite a few young Ohio boys, since the start of the war in Iraq.
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