“Have you read the Washington Post’s article on the fiftieth anniversary of the Tet Offensive?” Stanley asked Yolanda.
His friend asked for a head start, not having read it yet.
“On this day in 1968,” he explained, “The Viet Cong launched a series of attacks on South Vietnam, that lasted until September 23rd.”
“It was one of the war’s largest military campaigns.”
“Yeah,” she admitted. “William Calley’s My Lai Massacre was on March 16th that year too.”
“That’s why I always give to organizations like the American Legion,” he reminded her. “Hey, you never know where these guys have been.”
Welcome to Friday Fictioneers, where Rochelle Wisoff~Fields leads us in our weekly attempt to write a story based upon a photo prompt. Rochelle supplied this week’s photo prompt.
eastelmhurst.a.go.go 
Dear Larry,
Not only did you give me an ear worm with your title you also gave me a smile with your story. My husband is a Vietnam era vet. He can remember being spat on by a protester back in the day. we can’t thank these service people enough. Too little too late perhaps.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yeah those putative peaceniks can be violent somehow. The kettle always calls the pot a hypocrite. Your husband should get a lot more credit
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/28/a-vietnam-war-photographer-captured-the-bloody-tet-offensive-fifty-years-later-he-bears-witness-again/?utm_term=.aa1ff3fb2bd0 Here’s the article I referred to
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Well done, Sir!
Just because you were against the war, doesn’t mean you should disrespect those who went and fought it – and lived it and saw what a horror it was…
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Thanks. We should always defend anybody who’s willing go through something like that
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I agree. So many of them didn’t believe they should be fighting – or realised it once they got there…
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So… the vets have been cutting down trees?
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Having thought about that, I got the idea that the characters were walking through a forest or park where the stumps represented the loss that comes by way of war.
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Fifty years. Oh my, has it been that long?
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Yes Sir it has. As of yesterday It’s been exactly a half~century since those days.
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I’d have been about thirteen.
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I turned nine in September of that year
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Nice pacing and an enjoyable message at the end. I know next to nothing about that period in America’s history, but I do know it was a time of profound change.
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Thanks. The 1960’s have always been quite a major obsession of mine.
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The sad fact is that where men and women are prepared to serve in the military, you will have wars. The Vietnam war achieved nothing. Muhammad Ali’s example shows that it was possible to understand what was happening and refuse to serve.
I do not wish to disrespect anyone; but neither do I respect them on the basis of their military service. I respect them because they’re human beings.
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We were caught up in it here as well and I remember the moratorium marches and protest rallies. It was so wrong that the angst felt was taken out on those that fought – they were just doing as ordered and have suffered (along with their families) ever since.
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Much happened in the 60’s – the good the bad and the ugly, very ugly. One year before the attacks the guys peering at us from your header sang All You Need is Love.
Click to read my FriFic!
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Yes It was a confused and overwhelming era
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Without doubt, Viet Nam was the most-hated war in our history. There is still so much confusion, and our vets are the victims in so many ways. A sad, confusing, and tumultuous time in our history.
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Blaming them is easy because they represent a tangible, available target. They only did what was legitimately required of them though
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I have just watched the amazing documentary “The Vietnam War”… it spilled into my growing up as well… though we called the My Lai the Song My. One of the strongest part is when the Vietnam Veterans hurled their medals into congress…
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Yes that must have been intense
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My father is also a Vietnam era vet. He never speaks of the horrors that he witnessed.
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I can believe that. War will always be overwhelmingly traumatic
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Thank you for linking to my post~
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thanks for the history lesson Larry! ❤
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That kind of thing has always interested me~
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