By Karen Parrish
DoD News, Defense Media
Activity
WASHINGTON, July 8,
2015 – As the United States and Vietnam mend and strengthen relations, a
congressional ceremony here today commemorated a time 50 years ago when the two
nations parted ways.
Defense Secretary
Ash Carter spoke during the event at Emancipation Hall, addressing
congressional leaders and members from both sides of the House and Senate
aisles.
Carter’s remarks
credited Vietnam veterans with helping the nation recognize and learn the
lessons that divisive war taught.
“We honor our 7.2
million living Vietnam-era veterans, their fallen comrades-in-arms, and the
families of all who served,” he said. Some of the surviving veterans bear the
wounds of war or the wear of age, he added.
While many of those
veterans and many families still carry the memories of brothers, sisters,
fathers and others who never came home, Carter said, their service has helped
to strengthen the nation and its military.
“One of the reasons
the United States has excelled is that, as a nation, we learn and innovate,”
the secretary said. “And one reason why we have the finest fighting force the
world has ever known is that our military is a learning organization.”
Important Lessons
Learned
Carter told those
assembled that while some of the lessons the Vietnam War taught America were
“difficult to swallow,” all have resulted in a better country and a better
military.
Two of those
lessons, he said, are particularly important.
“First, we leave no
one behind,” Carter said, noting other nations share that ethos.
“But there are few
that have such a steadfast and sustained commitment. … Thanks in part to
Vietnam-era veterans, the Department of Defense has over 650 people devoted to
accounting for the missing and searching for, recovering and identifying their
remains, including the more than 1,627 still missing from the Vietnam War,” the
secretary added.
The second lesson is
that the nation must support its warriors, he said, “regardless of our feelings
about the war.”
“Unfortunately,”
Carter told the audience, “that was a lesson some learned the hard way in the
Vietnam era.”
The secretary noted
that Vietnam veterans have shown distinctive honor and comradeship to their
fellow service members fighting more recent wars.
“I am pleased by …
the support for today’s veterans and service members, including the post-9/11
GI Bill, and how our troops today are welcomed home,” he said. “And I want to
take this opportunity to thank you, our Vietnam-era veterans, for that lesson,
and to again welcome all of you home.”
Carter also spoke
about Chuck Hagel, his predecessor as defense secretary, who followed him in
remarks at today’s ceremony.
“Chuck Hagel was a
soldier, he’s been a senator and a distinguished secretary of defense, and he
remains one of our most thoughtful statesmen,” Carter said. “And I’m proud to
have been able to call him a friend for many years.”
As a sergeant in
Vietnam, Carter related, Hagel led an infantry squad in fighting that followed
the Tet Offensive.
“Stories of his
bravery and sacrifice there are well known,” the secretary said. “And
throughout the rest of his life in public service, Chuck dedicated himself to
those who served, to normalizing and improving relations with Vietnam, to
bringing home those still missing, and to ensuring we remember the Vietnam
War’s lessons.”
2015: Year of
Anniversaries, New Agreements
Carter noted that
while today’s ceremony honored the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Service
Ribbon, created by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 11231, this
year also marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, the 70th
anniversary of the end of World War II and the 65th anniversary of the start of
the Korean War.
Carter visited
Vietnam for official meetings on his latest Asia-Pacific tour in May and June.
On June 1 in Hanoi, he and Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phung Quang Thanh
signed a joint vision statement for the two nations’ bilateral defense
relationship.
Defense officials
said at the time that during his visit, Carter “reaffirmed the U.S. commitment
to Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific region, reiterating the United States' support
for a regional architecture that allows all countries in the Asia-Pacific to rise
and prosper.”
State-Level
Agreement
President Barack
Obama and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong met yesterday at the
White House and adopted a national-level joint vision statement.
That document noted
“positive and substantive developments in many areas of cooperation over the
past 20 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.”
The statement
acknowledges growth in economic and trade efforts; addressing war legacy
issues; and cooperation in science and technology, education, health care,
environment and response to climate change, defense, security, human rights,
“and increasing regional and international cooperation on issues of mutual
concern.”
The statement notes
“continued rapid growth in bilateral trade and investment; the entry into force
of the ‘123’ Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear
Energy; Vietnam’s endorsement of the Proliferation Security Initiative’s
Statement of Interdiction Principles; the easing of U.S. restriction of arms
sales; the signing of the Joint Vision Statement on Defense Relations; and
increased cooperation on regional and multilateral issues.”
U.S. Role in
Vietnam: War on Many Fronts
In American history,
“Vietnam War” and “Age of Protest” are two enduring phrases about an era of
stark social unrest: political, generational, racial and philosophical tides
divided along lines etched by changing attitudes toward civil rights, love and
marriage, civic duty and economic systems.
America’s
involvement in the war peaked from 1965 to 1975. U.S. troops sent to fight in
Vietnam in those years often found themselves on the front lines of not only
Southeast Asia, but also the ideological struggle back home.
More than 2 million
American service members assigned worldwide during that era were conscripted,
or enlisted without choice, under the then-active draft system, which applied
to men 18 to 26. The draft offered various exemptions for education and other
factors, which partially fueled the era’s rising tensions between “haves” and “have-nots.”
Meanwhile, many
American citizens who opposed the war turned against service members returning
from Vietnam -- who were frequently shunned, openly insulted or even physically
attacked.
Long, Drawn-Out
Conflict
The conflict in
Vietnam, beginning in the 1940s, involved many nations and may be viewed
historically as an outgrowth of World War II. U.S. participation in the war is
dated variously, but official sources set America’s role as occurring primarily
between 1954 and 1975, involving five separate presidential administrations.
More than 58,000
U.S. troops died in the Vietnam War. U.S. troop commitments to the conflict
increased sharply after 1964, peaking at more than a half million in 1968.
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