Vietnam Compared To Afghanistan

KOSCIUSKO, Miss. (WCBI) – As the year long observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War continues, patriotic citizens and military veterans can only reflect on the present war thats winding down but is still being waged in Afghanistan.

Five decades later at a patriotic ceremony for forgotten soldiers of the Vietnam War, old wounds and emotions have surfaced once again.

“A lot of lives were lost and I know a lot of my buddies that didn’t make it back,” said David Thornton, Vietnam Veteran.

Multiple thousands lost their lives in that war between North and South Vietnam.

Randy Reeves, Executive Director of Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board is a veteran of the present war in Afghanistan.

A war where US troops are training the Afghan military to stand on their own after our 2014 departure from that region.

“And as I talk to my brothers in arms who are veterans of the Vietnam War, I can truly personally see the similarities,” said Randy Reeves, Executive Director.

In Southeast Asia, it was hard for US troops to digest north from south when it came to war combatants.

“Many times where our young men and women are serving today you don’t know who the enemy is. Many times even when you know who the enemy is, its so hard to identify who they are. The same happened in Vietnam,” said Reeves.

“You couldn’t tell north from south in Vietnam. There was no line. They only called it a DMZ but it wasn’t no line or red line on the dirt nowhere. I mean you know it was just yo might get it or you might not,” said Thornton.

So while there is growing concern for recent insider attacks on our troops in Afghanistan, there is also a reflection, a sort of dejaveux on what was as we focus on the now.

“But the important thing we need to remember, just like with our young men and women today. Our Vietnam veterans answered the call when others would not. They sacrificed themselves when others would not,” addes Reeves.

US troops are preparing to hand over their job to the Afghan military in 2014.