[speaker002:] uh I have uh I guess a lot of thoughts about the Vietnam War um I I guess I feel like I was pretty young while it was going on and so there's probably a lot of things I remember and a lot of things that I really didn't have a clue as to what was happening
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] um looking back like maybe some of the things that I know now I I'm not sure I do believe it was worth the cost in dollars and lives that was one of the questions that she asked us to think about because I because we never went to war I don't think we were committed to winning it and getting out and I I feel like it went on and on
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and I I guess I see such a contrast like as opposed to the Middle East War we just had where President Bush went out and got worldwide support for for what was happening
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] you know I just feel like maybe we went in to be policeman and I'm not sure that's our role but
[speaker001:] yeah I I agree with that I was I was fairly young at the time too I I really don't have very many memories about it at all in fact and uh my husband is a Vietnam veteran and I you know he in looking at the Persian Gulf war that just went on he I it frustrates him because of the support that they have and the support that the Vietnam vets did not have from the people or the administration either one
[speaker002:] don't you think that maybe that's why we had it this time I mean I do think that I I it's been too long in coming but I feel like maybe the American people and and and the government are aware of the things that we did wrong that we didn't support that that those so many people were opposed to the war what it translated into was they were opposed to the folks that were there fighting it and those guys were there doing their duty
[speaker001:] right that's right I mean they weren't there by choice and and I think
[speaker002:] yeah and I I think that we learned from that and I think it it's one of those things that you learn the hard way it was a tragic mistake the way that they have been treated over the years and I believe that's just now turning around
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] turning around Just now you know trying to be rectified and I'm and I'm not sure you can undo the damage that was done emotionally on so many of the people
[speaker001:] right no I don't think you can and I I agree with you that I I think that the the time difference between the two wars has allowed a lot of people to see the mistakes that were made in in in every aspect of it and I I agree with you also that I feel like it was not worth the money spent or the lives lost to fight that war I mean they're still not settled over there
[speaker002:] no they're not
[speaker001:] and I have a feeling that the Persian Gulf crisis is going to be the same way
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I think we're going to end up back there in a few years or if if not sooner
[speaker002:] well I I appreciate the feel I feel like President Bush is in a hard spot he went over there to get them out of Kuwait which he did and then he has backed out he has pulled out and I realize they're still saying well here you're encouraging us to get rid of Saddam Hussein so why aren't you helping us and you see I think him going in and doing that would be putting us in another Vietnam situation
[speaker001:] I think it would too
[speaker002:] and I don't think the US will stand for it I don't think he would do that uh I think we learned too much
[speaker001:] no yeah I agree with that
[speaker002:] of the effects uh you know whether it was justified or not I know that they probably felt like we were going in for a good cause I I feel like maybe they felt like we were doing the right thing to try and help maintain the democracy over there and and beat the communism but
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] but I think somewhere that got lost you know in the long term effects of the of the war and
[speaker001:] yeah yeah well you have to I you know you have to give Bush a lot of credit for he he said that's what we were going there to do and he did what what he said and he did pull out before it got any further than that where where it would have turned into more of a police action
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] uh or more of a political action I guess you getting into their governmental affairs which you really can't do as as another country
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I mean that my my biggest problem with all of these wars is we spend all of that money on all these other countries and we have so many problems here at home that we don't address
[speaker002:] that we don't get fixed
[speaker001:] that's right and and that's that's what frustrates me more than anything
[speaker002:] I know and I I believe that we have to have a military and I believe that we have to have a defense to keep anybody else from walking in and doing it to us
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] but I also believe that we need to turn so much of that inward
[speaker001:] I think there's a lot of waste and and they don't I if they could just cut out all the fat and and get it lean and start addressing some of the other issues I think we could take care of everything and quit taking care of all these other countries all across the world you know who just end up using things against us later on anyway
[speaker002:] I know I do think that in the Middle East war um I think that maybe a lot of the Arab countries that were so hateful towards the United States have come away with uh kind of a different attitude
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh I think that maybe we're not their big bad enemy any more
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and uh and I think that's good you know I think that's a good
[speaker001:] yeah yeah a lot of good has come from this one
[speaker002:] I think so too
[speaker001:] and I think I guess in in uh ironic way a lot of good came from the Vietnam war toward this war because like we we said earlier that you know the a lot of eyes were opened after years and years of of that war and and
[speaker002:] and perhaps the reason that good came out of the Mid East war is because we had the experience of Vietnam
[speaker001:] right exactly
[speaker002:] so I I I do think that we've learned from it
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] you know I I I wish there weren't war
[speaker001:] yeah no kidding
[speaker002:] but uh I do think we learned
[speaker001:] and I just I just hate the emotional price a lot of the Vietnam people paid
[speaker002:] yes
[speaker001:] for you know uh nothing I mean it was they're they still don't know what they were there for
[speaker002:] no there was no feeling of accomplishment no goal no
[speaker001:] no
[speaker002:] we went in but what did we do we lost lives and and what were we trying to do who knows
[speaker001:] yeah that's true
[speaker002:] and I I think you're right uh I think you're right there um I do remember when it was over I remember when they were coming home uh but I remember the feeling back then you know like I feel like right now I feel like this country has been behind this war
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh yeah there's a lot of people that aren't for war I'm not for war
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] but I believe that the way that it was done and the way that was handled were right I don't remember that feeling back in Vietnam
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] I just remember oh yeah our guys are over there and it's sad and we shouldn't be fighting a war but there was no let's support them you know
[speaker001:] right well the when this war broke out it frustrated me all this the antiwar people and
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you know their all the demonstrations that were going on I felt like they got way too much media coverage and publicity because those kind of people I mean you know they're the kind of people who are w ho've always got to have a cause whether it's good bad of indifferent they've got to have a cause and
[speaker002:] that's right
[speaker001:] and I you know nobody says because you're supporting the troops that you're you're supporting the war you you have to support the people that are there
[speaker002:] that's right that's right
[speaker001:] and some for some reason those people don't see that
[speaker002:] they don't see it as supporting the folks the people
[speaker001:] no no they don't and you know they're just real shallow people
[speaker002:] I would agree with you there
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] I I agree um and I and I recall when President Bush said that you know he said look I you know I'm sorry that you're opposed to the war there's a lot of us that are opposed to war but uh you're not helping the people that are over there by what you're doing and I remember a lot of it kind of stopped after that
[speaker001:] yeah I mean they're not helping anybody that's the that's the whole point they're not doing anything for anybody except themselves
[speaker002:] but their not that's true
[speaker001:] and I don't even know what they're doing for themselves you know
[speaker002:] uh giving a soapbox to stand on
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] but well I just I I'm glad we've learned I'm sorry we had the experience of Vietnam
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] and uh and I'm I'm I'm especially sorry for the people that are you know have spent all these years trying to deal with it emotionally because you know until the last past four or five years nobody ever really worried about that for them
[speaker001:] that's true yeah
[speaker002:] and and I think that's where we as American people really failed you know failed them
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] so I don't know well do you have anything else you want to say on this
[speaker001:] no I guess not
[speaker002:] I think this is the first time that I haven't been cut off by the computer
[speaker001:] I know we get cut off all the time too
[speaker002:] usually I can talk all day but this is something to me that's sad
[speaker001:] yeah it is
[speaker002:] so well have a good day and I appreciate the conversation
[speaker001:] thanks same here
[speaker002:] bye-bye
[speaker001:] bye-bye