SAU holds fifth annual Geiger History lecture

by: adam hurlburt
Staff Writer

"Vietnam is the war that will never go away," stated guest lecturer George Herring in the fifth annual Geiger History Lecture held in the Rogalski Center on Nov. 8.

Herring, a world-renowned expert on the Vietnam War and author of the most widely used textbook in America on the war, "America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam 1950 - 1975," detailed all aspects of America’s long and storied involvement in the Vietnam War.

"Vietnam is America's longest war, starting in 1950 and ending in 1970," stated Herring. "American’s are impatient people, we want what we want, when we want it. We like a war that takes around four months, we can support that. Vietnam did not meet that criteria. "

By 1967, the U.S. government was spending $2 billion per month on the Vietnam War.

"With the exception of the civil war, this war created more division [among Americans] than ever," Herring said.

Herring said a lot of this had to do with the prevailing social upheaval and generational strife that was going on in the country at this time.

"There were a lot of protests and demonstrations against the war," Herring said. "Singer Joan Baez refused to pay the part of her taxes that would go to the war."

"Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted and gave up his title of heavyweight champion for it," Herring said. "People protested all over the country. The war seen as a betrayal of [America’s] ideals. This was reinforced by both LBJ’s and Nixon’s inability to justify the war in terms of national security."

The widespread protests were by no means a bad thing, or a new thing for that matter. According to Herring, "Dissent during wartime is as American as cherry pie."

Herring also spoke on the details of the war itself, painting a picture of demoralization, fear, intolerance and hatred spread over an inhospitable climate.

"A Vietnam vet once told me that ‘It was as if the sun and land itself were in league with the Viet Cong,’" Herring said.

"One fourth of all U.S. casualties in Vietnam were caused by mines or booby traps, which is very demoralizing," Herring said. "The nature of the battles, the way that they were fought made it very difficult if not impossible to find a victor. JFK once said ‘How can we tell if we are winning?’"

By the 1970’s, America wanted to get out of Vietnam at any cost. In 1975, the last helicopter left Vietnam on television, leaving American’s with a lingering disease that haunts us to this day, something that Herring calls ‘Vietnam syndrome.’

"Before Vietnam, [America] had an unparalleled record of success in war," Herring said. "Vietnam destroyed that record, challenged the idea of U.S. invincibility and left us with a lingering doubt that we would carry into any conflict."

"Vietnam syndrome was with us through the first gulf war, Somalia, the Balkans, and is back stronger than ever today in the second gulf war," Herring said.

"I have something I’d like to show you," Herring said, pulling a small yellow button out of his pocket. "I found this in 1991, it reads ‘Iraq – Arabic for Vietnam."

"After 9/11, some believed that Vietnam syndrome had disappeared," Herring said. "Bush got sweeping support for his war against Afghanistan. The New York Times even stated ‘this is the end of Vietnam Syndrome. "Then came the second gulf war."

Herring sees many similarities in Vietnam and the current war in Iraq. He believes Vietnam syndrome is back, and stronger than ever.

"The officials behind the war in Iraq believed it (the war and rebuilding Iraq) would be a cakewalk," Herring said. "No one who had been to Vietnam would have believed such tripe."

"We are now in a position where Iraq syndrome is supporting Vietnam syndrome," said Herring. "Four out of ten U.S. citizens believe that [Iraq] will end like Vietnam."

Herring believes that Vietnam is and will always be a reference point to evaluate future U.S. conflicts, and that the war in Vietnam should never be forgotten.

"Rightly or wrongly, for good or ill, 30 years after the war in Vietnam ended, we are still dealing with it," Herring said. "We should not be paralyzed by memory of fear, but on the other hand we should not ignore the cautions of Vietnam and Iraq. I believe that Vietnam is and will always be the war that never seems to go away."

Herring was formerly the alumni professor of history at the University of Kentucky. He is currently professor emeritus. He has taught at Ohio University, the University of Richmond, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.