Balzar on Service in Vietnam

John Balzar writes in “The Haunting Side of Vietnam” (Commentary, May 6) that a moral pall hangs over those Americans who fought in Vietnam. I think it is a reflection of the state of American civilization that a moral pall does not hang over all of us. As a nation we have not yet come to terms with our collective guilt for the biggest atrocity of U.S. foreign policy. There have been other horrible wrongs committed in the name of American values, in places such as Guatemala, Chile and East Timor, but Vietnam is most representative of our arrogance.

The wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of man indiscriminately slaughtered millions of poor people halfway around the globe, including 1 million civilians (at least) in Cambodia and Laos, two countries we were not even at war against. It should be sufficient indication of the magnitude of the war crimes that the attacks against Cambodia and Laos had to be kept secret--but only from the American public, which paid the bills.

Myles Sussman

Pasadena

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As one who served three combat tours as a pilot in Vietnam, from 1968 to 1973, I feel qualified to offer my opinion. The greatest atrocity was the decision by the U.S. Congress to cut off aid promised to the government of South Vietnam (through the Paris peace accords) by President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. This act of infamy and cowardice forced millions of free citizens of South Vietnam into slavery under a brutal Communist dictatorship administered by Marxist warlords in Hanoi.

Atrocities committed by U.S. personnel in Vietnam (far fewer than those committed by North Vietnamese regulars and their Viet Cong allies) cannot and should not be excused. They pale in significance, however, to the act of perfidy committed by Congress when it threw the free citizens of South Vietnam to the wolves.

Charles Haigh

Redondo Beach

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Balzar’s commentary really hit home with me. I was also one of the 90% who were there, in a war zone but not in a war-fighting position. I was a volunteer, but disqualified for combat because of my eyesight. Coming out of the Army in 1971, I was very surprised to find how many people wanted to hold me personally responsible for everything wrong with the war. I was a clerk, and I got a certificate of achievement for the superior quality of my paperwork. Hardly a war crime.

Nevertheless, I was actively prevented from following my chosen profession and was once denied service in a Veterans of Foreign Wars bar because of my Vietnam War service. Balzar has hit it on the head. We are all suspect and always will be, and like life itself, that is very unfair. But we put up with it all and get on with our lives as best we can. There is a party of people in this country who still seek some kind of retribution for what happened during the war. However, my own feeling is that I and my fellow veterans did only what was asked by the nation, did the best we could and have not just the right, but the duty, to be proud of our service.

Francis Hamit

North Hollywood