I still care. Forty-nine years ago the United States government turned its back on every promise made to help the freedom loving South Vietnamese people defend against Soviet-backed communists. Our government also turned its back on the price service-members and their families paid because we thought we could trust our government. Turns out none of us could trust our government.
I grieve for the Vietnamese who were forced to flee their homeland because we were promise breakers. But I tell our Vietnamese-Americans that the United States benefited most in the end, because the Vietnamese communities in America are the best communities we have in the USA. Too bad that they had to lose their homeland in the exchange.
We all learned a lesson. Of course the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in his farewell speech on January 17, 1961, made a fortune off our sacrifices.
On April 30, 1975, 49 years ago, we rewarded the communists with South Vietnam. Today we are rewarding them with the United States of America. Too bad no one listened years ago.
To my South Vietnamese friends, thanks for making us all better. I still care.
Terry M. Hestilow
Captain, U.S. Army, Retired
Vietnam, 1971-1972
European Cold War, 1975-1991
Afghanistan, 2007-2008
April 30, 2024
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