Dear Editor:
Regarding the article “City Director goes back to Vietnam” on August 10, Jaime Vasquez, says “We lost that war because the Vietnamese were a people defending their own country while we (USA) invaded them.” He claims we owe Vietnam for what we did to them. Hellooo…we now know from KGB archives there were Soviet advisors in Vietnam! Also Jaime, who were those thousands of Vietnamese Boat People?! They fled from Vietnam when the North Vietnamese army toppled the Saigon government. Does North Vietnam owe them? I understand Mr. Vasquez’s viewpoint that we should never have sent troops into a civil war situation. U.S. troops did commit atrocities. Napalm and free fire zones killed thousands of innocent civilians. But what about the V.C. atrocities?! There were 3000 Vietnamese civilians murdered at Hue in 1968 by the V.C. The biggest U.S. atrocity was My Lai, where 400 civilians were murdered. Why does the peace movement pick only on the U.S. concerning the Vietnam war? I think Mr. Vasquez should learn we were not the only bad guys in Vietnam. The V.C. were not a princely bunch.
I feel Mr. Vasquez suffers from unnecessary guilt from things he was forced to do in Vietnam. Free yourself Jaime, forgive youself, forgive your country. I believe the right and the left are out of touch with reality. That is why I moved to the political center. And we in the center support the Vietnam Human Rights Bill (as does the N.A.A.C.P. )
Jaime do you know you side with a lot of big businesses who don’t give a damn about human rights and just want to make money trading with the Stalinist Vietnamese government? I protested U.S. support of fascist governments in Central America in the 80s. I oppose dictatorships of the right and the left. I call on Mr. Vasquez to do the same.
Signed the raging moderate, Gil Corby