Another example of American ignorance and arrogance happened when I served in Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, a US senator spoke out and what he said was quoted in the media. He was angry that women could be bought and sold in Thailand, a staunch US ally. Thailand told him to stuff it and that they would continue to live and run their country as they saw fit.
Vietnam Mural
Forty years later, Thailand hasn’t changed much. Women can still be bought and sold there even though Thailand is considered a democracy.
When I was in Vietnam, we fought alongside a South Korean division–great troops to have on your side. Brutal and tough. Another US senator complained about their brutal tactics with the Vietnamese, like the time they took a suspected Vietcong and hung him upside down from a tree branch and skinned him in front of an entire village to get villagers to reveal where the rest of the Vietcong were hiding.
The South Koreans got what they wanted and cleaned out that VC nest. When that US Senator complained, South Korea said “Shove It” (that’s not exactly the language they used but it means the same thing). The South Korean’s said, if you don’t like the way we fight, we will pull our division out and send our troops home.
That senator stopped protesting and the South Koreans stayed. I fought with the ROKs on an operation and was glad to have them by my side. At that time, The South Koreans hated communist due to North Korea, which made sense then.
Discover Why the Generals Laughed
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning novels My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart. He also Blogs at The Soulful Veteran and Crazy Normal.
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