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“Our purpose in Vietnam is to prevent the success of aggression. It is not conquest, it is not empire, it is not foreign bases, it is not domination. It is, simply put, just to prevent the forceful conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam.”
Lyndon B. Johnson“In the emergency of growing up, we all need heroes. But the father I grew up with was no hero to me, not then. He was too wounded in the head, too endlessly and terribly sad. Too funny, too explosive, too confusing. Heroes are uncomplicated. *This* makes them do *that*… But the war does not make sense. War senselessly wounds everyone right down the line. A body bag fits more than just its intended corpse. Take the 58,000 American soldiers lost in Vietnam and multiply by four, five, six—and only then does one begin to realize the damage this war has done… War when necessary, is unspeakable. When unnecessary, it is unforgivable. It is not an occasion for heroism. It is an occasion only for survival and death. To regard war in any other way only guarantees its inevitable reappearance.”
Tom Bissell, The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam“They tell me the letters I write to you and leave here at this memorial are waking others up to the fact that there is still much pain left, after all these years, from the Vietnam War. But this I know. I would rather to have had you for 21 years, and all the pain that goes with losing you, than never to have had you at all.”
Bernard Edelman, Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam“When the soldiers came home from Vietnam, there were no parades, no celebrations. So they built the Vietnam Memorial for themselves.”
William Westmoreland“'Matterhorn' is my metaphor of the Vietnam War - we built it, we abandoned it, we assaulted it, we lost, and then we abandoned it again.”
Karl Marlantes“Senator Albert Gore Sr. was one of the first outspoken critics of the Vietnam War.”
Peter Jennings“There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all of us have felt deeply.”
Thom Gunn“I thought, Dad.Could I go to Vietnam for you?Dad, I could do it. I could do it for you. I could go to the places you fought. I could find the bits and pieces of your heart and soul left behind. If I bring them back, would it heal your pain?Dad, you gave me life. You made possible every good thing in my life. Why do you insist on fighting your nightmares and memories and monsters alone?You don’t have to do it alone, Dad. I could help you fight.Dad, you know what?I’ll be back before you find out so you don’t have to be afraid. I’m going to Vietnam.”
Tucker Elliot, The Rainy Season“Vietnam was a country where America was trying to make people stop being communists by dropping things on them from airplanes.”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Breakfast of Champions“Standing there shuffling the memories on the counter, I remember what I sometimes forget. Forgiveness. Compassion. Gratitude. Three roads leading to being here now, where we can give the next moment a chance to exist without prejudice, so we can love what’s here, while it’s still here: each other, ourselves, our freedom." - excerpt from FOR THE SENDER: Love Letters from Vietnam”
Alex Woodard, For The Sender: Love Letters From Vietnam