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Re: Vietnam War Anniversary



I don't believe that any study of history can be considered Monday morning
quarterbacking.  Otherwise why would we study it at all.  It is important
to continually look at Vietnam from many points of view: political,
historical, military and,  importantly, the affects it had on American
society for so many years (and, apparently, still has).  It continues to be
a divisive subject, but one of which I'd like to know more.

I suspect the Vietnam War had a similar affect on Australian society, too,
and on any nation, on either side, that was involved in it.

Thank you all for your comments.

Ronnie Cunningham

-----Original Message-----
From:   Howard [SMTP:heritage@HALCYON.COM]
Sent:   Tuesday, May 02, 2000 11:40 AM
To:     ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject:        Re: Vietnam War Anniversary

To all who responded to my original post, thank you for your comments and
concerns.  I simply responded to Mr. Scott's message in an open forum, and
didn't intend to offend anyone's political sensibilities. I've read with
interest the various posts to this forum, and I'd assumed that the
discussion of history was of interest to the keepers of the historical
record.  In the future, I'll try to keep my comments light and on topic.
Perhaps I'll even weight in on the always enlightening and decidedly on
topic Friday Humor segments next time around.

Thanks for reading,
Howard

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Jaeger <markj@OMNI.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 7:43 AM
Subject: Re: Vietnam War Anniversary


> Howard,
>
> First of all, this is all OFF-TOPIC.  If you wish to re-fight the Vietnam
> War then you might want to join a Vietnam discussion list.  I happen to
> think you are engaging in Monday-morning quarterbacking but, to
paraphrase
> that North Vietnamese officer at the Paris Peace Talks, "What you say may
> be true; however, it is also irrelevant."
>
> Cordially,
>
> Mark D. Jaeger
> Purdue University Libraries
> Special Collections
>
> On Mon, 1 May 2000, Howard wrote:
>
> > Had the United States allowed elections to be held in Vietnam after the
> > defeat of the French in 1954 as called for in the Geneva accords, the
war
> > would never have taken place.  But instead, American diplomats, lead by
John
> > Foster Dulles,  scuttled the elections (which Ho Chi Minh would have
easily
> > won, by every account) and then maneuvered to install a series of
corrupt
> > buffoons (Bao Dai, Diem, and various generals and political strongmen)
in
> > the newly created state of South Vietnam to do our bidding.
  Therefore,
the
> > resulting carnage was a direct result of American Cold War political
> > strategizing. And please site your source for the claim that more
Vietnamese
> > died after the fall of Saigon in 1975 than had died during the war.
I've
> > seen that figure tossed around for years, and no one has ever provided
me
> > with a source for that claim.
> >
> > Here is an interesting fact-at  the end of WWII, during a ceremony in
Hanoi,
> > Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam to be a Republic.  In attendance were
various
> > American dignitaries, and American aircraft flew overhead.  Ho also
quoted
> > from the Declaration of Independence during his speech.  Talk about
missed
> > opportunities.
> >
> > Howard
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Scott, Paul (FPM) <paul_scott@FPM.CO.HARRIS.TX.US>
> > To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
> > Sent: Monday, May 01, 2000 3:51 PM
> > Subject: Re: Vietnam War Anniversary
> >
> >
> > > While that "crazy Asian war" may have ended with the fall of Saigon,
the
> > > killing did not.
> > >
> > > The Stalinist and Maoist of North Vietnam and Cambodia killed more
people
> > > consolidating their victory than died during the war.
> > >
> > > Not everyone on this lists thinks that this is something that we
should be
> > > celebrating.
> > > Paul R. Scott
> > > Records Manager (and former Capt. USMCR)
> > > Harris County, Texas
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: J. Frank Cook [SMTP:fcook@LIBRARY.WISC.EDU]
> > > > Sent: Monday, May 01, 2000 1:38 PM
> > > > To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> > > > Subject:      Re: Vietnam War Anniversary
> > > >
> > > > Patrick J. Prior
> > > >
> > > > I am sending this response to the list instead of just to you only
> > because
> > > > you did.
> > > >
> > > > No, he was a major figure in the anti-war movement here in Madison
and I
> > > > was just sharing the story about a good friend of mine -- mostly
with
> > > > Midwest Archives Conference members for whom I don't have a
separate
> > > > list.  He was never in the military to the best of my knowledge,
just
> > > > celebrating an end to "that crazy Asian War" as the popular song
had
> > it --
> > > > and as a lot of us did 25 years ago.
> > > >
> > > > Frank.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > At 12:27 PM 5/1/00 -0500, you wrote:
> > > > >Frank,
> > > > >
> > > > >I am having a hard time understanding this post.  Was Quinn
somehow
> > > > >involved in the final mad rush from Saigon in 1975?  Or was he an
> > > > anti-war
> > > > >protester?  Or both?  And what was he celebrating?
> > > > >
> > > > >Yours in Haste,
> > > > >Patrick J. Prior
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >On the 25th anniversary of the end of the war -- and also May
Day -- it
> > > > is
> > > > >fitting to remember the contributions of one of our own to that
effort.
> > > > >
> > > > >Patrick M. Quinn, formerly of this shop and now archivist of
> > Northwestern
> > > > >University, was interviewed by the Madison evening newspaper, The
> > Capital
> > > > >Times, on Saturday, April 29th for their article on "The Fall of
> > > > >Saigon."  The front page article concluded with:
> > > > >
> > > > >         "Patrick Quinn had been gone from Madison for a year, but
the
> > > > > calls from
> > > > >UW friends from around the country flooded in as images of a
helicopter
> > > > >pulling away from the US. Embassy in Saigon flashed on the TV
screen.
> > > > >         Quinn, a key organizer in Madison's anti-war movement and
the
> > > > > assistant
> > > > >archivist at the State Historical Society, moved on to
Northwestern
> > > > >University in 1974 [Patrick worked at the SHSW before coming to
the
> > > > >University Archives], where he became the head archivist.  He said
he
> > > > >'banged back that Old Style' beer in a private celebration with
his
> > > > family,
> > > > >but said there weren't any public celebrations to join down there.
> > > > >         The war, he noted, had been fading for years, but there
had
> > been
> > > > > no real
> > > > >conclusion until that moment."
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > >
> > > A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
> > >
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> >
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> >
>
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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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