Transcripts For CSPAN3 Vietnam War - Lessons Learned Ignore

This 90 minute conversation. Now i ask all Vietnam Veterans or any United States veterans that served anytime between november 1, 1955 and may 15, 1975, the vietnam era, to stand and be recognized. [applause] veterans, as you exit the theater, National Archives staff and volunteers will treat each of you with a lapel pin. On the back of the pan is embossed, a grateful nation thanks you. United states of america vietnam war commemoration is a national initiative, the lapel pin is the nations lasting memento of thanks. Tonights program is one in a series of conventions we are presenting in conjunction with our new exhibit, remembering vietnam, which just opened upstairs. A media rich exhibition of the vietnam war, featuring analysis and interviews with american and and newly veterans discovered iconic original film footage and artifacts that illuminate 12 critical episodes in the war that divided the peoples of the United States and vietnam. Remembering vietnam draws on National Archives records from all parts of our agency. Federal and civilian military records, president ial library, still photography, motion pictures, sound recordings, electronic records. The title of the exhibit, remembering vietnam was inspired by a quote, all wars are fought twice, the first on a battlefield, the second time in memory. Documents and artifacts we display help us sort through the lessons of the war, but those lessons are also formed by memory. I look forward to a stimulating discussion. Its my pleasure to welcome peter white line to the stage. In 2003, he served as the officer of the former members of congress. To reconnect citizens with their representative government. He plans and directs all policies and initiatives for the association, represents them in the community, and serves as its spokesperson to the public, in media, and the public. He holds two degrees from Pennsylvania State university, he attended law school at the Free University in berlin and completed his studies his legal studies in washington, d. C. , at the Catholic University of america. [applause] peter thank you for the introduction, and thank you all for joining us tonight for this discussion. I realize i am the only thing standing between you and the outstanding panel we have assembled. In that spirit i will be brief. To spend a quick word on the association and the work we do. We bring together, under the fmc umbrella, a Bipartisan Group of former senators and representatives who Work Together on a wide variety of projects. Our mission includes strengthening the work of the Current Congress by promoting a collaborative approach to policymaking as well as deepening the understanding of our democratic system by focusing on Civic Education and encouraging public service. You can find much more information on our website, usafmc. Org. Tonights panel is an example of fmcs work on issues that affect our nation and democracy. The vietnam era profoundly impacted our nations psyche. Like hardly any other period in americas history. The tremendous exhibit that opened a week ago here at the National Archives as well as the 10 part ken burns documentary that aired last month, made that abundantly clear. Tonight, we want to explore some of the impacts the vietnam era had on those who lived through it. We want to take a look at lessons we have learned, lessons we should have learned. We also want to compare the challenges we faced as a nation in the 1960s and 1970s, and compare that to america 50 years later. We have recruited an exceptional panel. I now invite them to join me. Unfortunately, secretary chuck hagels schedule changed lastminute but kirk bauer rearranged his calendar so he could join us tonight. We are appreciative of him doing so. Please welcome our panel and please hold your applause until all of them have joined me on stage. Moderating this important conversation will be leonard steinhorn, professor of communications and history at american university, a political analyst for cbs news radio, as well as a political commentator for several news outlets. He has authored books and articles examining american politics and culture with a focus on the 1960s and Race Relations in the United States. Jim jones is a former member of congress from oklahoma and the former ambassador to mexico during the clinton administration. He now serves as chairman of monarch global strategies. Kirk bauer focuses on using sports to help wounded veterans in their rehab. I have known him for over a decade. He is he is a friend, a mentor, and in survey should and an inspiration. Harry robinson is an awardwinning architect that has served for many years on the director of the memorial fund, which develops and maintains the incredibly moving and powerful Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on the national mall. Last, but certainly not least, bob carr, a former member of congress from michigan who came to congress in the watergate class, and who was named to the House Armed Services committee as our involvement in Southeast Asia was beginning to wind down. He served in congress until 1995 and now teaches politics and government at George Washington university. With that, lets welcome a great panel with a round of applause. [applause] leonard thank you all for being here tonight. I appreciate the involvement in the community of ideas, the opportunity to speak about something important and many of our lives and also our history. A special thanks to the National Archives for hosting such an important conversation and doing what we need more of in our society, which is conversations about the past and how they translate to the present, how we make sense of our lives years ago and how they connect to today. As you know, our topic is the vietnam war. Anyone who lived in the 1960s knows that this is a topic that reverberates. Its a flashpoint in every one of our lives. Its a war that divided our country, it is a war that eroded trust in institutions and individuals. Its a war that arguably germinated culture wars and set apart some of the populism we see today. It is a war that magnified some of the racial issues in our country. It is a war that arguably undercut Lyndon Johnsons Great Society and helped us split apart new deal liberalism, which had been the postwar consensus of that era. Its a war that sort of magnified the role of the media. For some, the media became a hero and for others, the media became a villain. In a lot of ways, it shook up americas image in the world. Perhaps more important than the issues it raises for the people who lived through that era are the issues it raises for the next generation who are trying to figure out how the vietnam war shaped who we are today. In many ways, i am hoping that this conversation can answer questions for the next generation. I teach a course on the 1960s. Theres a former student from that course in the audience today. He is sort of a testimony to the questions that this generation wants to ask about the war and how it influenced us. They want to know how so many young men in particular, their parents and grandparents, were sent off to war, that our leaders could barely justify. They want to know about that. They want to know how the personal wounds, cultural wounds, political wounds reverberate in our society today. I am hoping that we will be able to answer some of those questions for all of you and for the audience. Im going to kick it off and sort of ask each of you to say, in some ways, how this war changed you personally. To magnify it in terms of a sense of how it sort of reshaped and changed our country. Ambassador jim jones had a very special place in the war. He served in basic training. After that, he didnt go to vietnam he went to another place some might call a war zone, which is the Johnson White house. First, he served as an Army Intelligence officer, then on the staff of Lyndon Johnson, and ultimately in the position of appointment secretary, which we now know as chief of staff. Ambassador jones. Jim summary things came out of vietnam, from my perspective so many things came out of vietnam from my perspective. One of the things, i was the son of a world war i veteran. We had a great sense of volunteering. That was the thing to do in those days. You had a sense of trust in your government. I think the thing that disturbed me more thanrbed anything else is how information from the front lines could get so distorted by the time it got to the president of the United States that it was not even recognizable. I still havent figured out how that happened, but it did. The other thing, for me personally, it made me much more questioning and much less willing to just take anybodys word for it. When i left the white house, went back to my home state of oklahoma, and ran for congress four years later, it turns out that, in those days, you could be bipartisan, you could have friends on both sides of the aisle and Work Together. One of the things i found out after getting elected and coming to congress was that democrats and republicans alike heard from their constituency when they were getting elected how government had become estranged from them and they didnt feel any kinship with the government. Among the things we did was to pass the war powers act, which was designed to clip the wings of a president and make him come to congress, the peoples body, to get approval for the introduction of military personnel on foreign land. That worked for a while. It never worked as intended. Now, i think we do need to rediscover that and perhaps put some sort of program like that in. Leonard thank you. Kirk bauer, in 1969 you were in vietnam. You received two bronze stars for heroism and a purple heart. Obviously, the vietnam war had a deeply personal impact on your life. Please say how, in sort of a larger sense, how it changed who you are. Kirk first of all, my perspective is going to be a little less elevated. I was a noncommissioned officer, one of the grunts on the ground in the ninth infantry division. Slogging through the swamps of the mekong delta. Actually, even now, still very much ground level because one of the things that when i got hit and lost my leg, my life changed personally and physically forever. I became a person with a disability. I did not know what that meant. I was a young recruit. I was a young recruit and suddenly i was flat on my back and had tubes coming out of me, pins in me. It was a devastating experience. Personally, it affected me, but one of the things it did do was to get me focused on what really helped turn my life around and save my life. It was the sports programs that the v. A. And the military offered to get us back into life again. We now focus on health care, physical activity, the war fighters sports program, on serving the warriors with the sports rehabilitation program. We do see now, one of the Lessons Learned, is there is much more of a focus on the complete care for the wounded and health and wellness activities that are going on. Education is the key to getting the jobs. Fourtion is the end point for everything we are doing for our wounded and those transitioning out of the military. It changed the course of my life. Leonard we have a sense of our relationship with government, we have a sense of our relationship with veterans. Harry robinson, you went straight to vietnam out of Army Ranger School in 1967. You were a platoon leader. You were stationed in a very dangerous area in vietnam close to the cambodian border. Harry i think it is important to give you context. The notion of patriotism and listen to the government ran very strong in my family. Since the first world war, all the males in my family joined the military. My uncle was the highest ranked negro when he retired from the service in 1954. His grandson had two sons that both graduated from west point. When he was in the white house, he was johnsons military aid. And i try tonam get an assignment that he did not want me to have because he said it was too dangerous. I wrote him letters and i called him. He said, go to the first division, that would be a safe place to be. That wasnt quite true. The change to my life runs that i did ranger school, vietnam, then grad school. Walter reed for a long time, and then grad school. When i went to grad school, i was a very difficult graduate student because i wasnt afraid of anything. My position was, what are they going to do, send me to vietnam if i dont finish this paper . Its not going to work that way. The notion of personal confidence that came out of the experience at a very high price. Its a gamble that i took. I took that gamble because i decided, when i was in my 40s and 50s and 60s, i wanted to be among those men in the country that are running the country. That plan worked out exactly as worked out exactly well for me. Weve had some opportunities to do some things that we would not have done had it not been for the war. The difference between vietnam, soldiers, military, and whats going on now is that it took to the end of the war unite us. And to save the country from itself. Now, the military has honors as they are in a war. I think that is important as to where this country is now. Leonard obviously, it is the question of how vietnam divided us and how people have tried to knit us back together. That is an important story we have to discuss. Bob carr, former member of congress who ran for congress because of vietnam. And civil rights. You were an undergraduate, i think in law school, at the university of wisconsin, which was really one of the hotbed areas of protest at the moment. What has driven your political career and activism is your experience from those years. Bob my story isnt that remarkable. I was a scrawny kid from janesville, wisconsin, growing up thinking i would be a nuclear physicist. I was very good in science. I went to the university and signed up for all the science courses, but they made me take a well, they didnt make me. It was required to take a Political Science course. I took my very first Political Science course. I can recall that it was a turning point because, with my Nuclear Physics interest and the book that they required us to read, it was kissingers second book, his Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy book. I read that and i thought, oh my goodness, the war is just percolating along. It was not reaching a fever pitch at this point. Like most americans, i had a sense of patriotism. I said the pledge of allegiance, saluted the flag, and believed what my leaders were telling me. We were fighting communism. The kissinger book sort of slowed me down and caused me to think about some things in ways that i had not thought about them before. My moderate republican upbringing my father didnt like joe mccarthy. It started to get me to rethink some of the things i was taught at home. Things progressed and i was going to vote for Barry Goldwater the first time i could vote for president. In may of the election year, he started talking about, well, maybe we ought to use Nuclear Weapons in vietnam. I thought that was crazy and i couldnt vote for him. The protests started percolating at the university of wisconsin. They had a protest over dow chemical, which was the very first violent protest. There were many protests of the vietnam war, but this one went violent. The whole campus was in a state of shock. Upon graduation, you had to think about the draft. The draft was very present in our daily lives, what is going to happen next, what is the draft board going to say, what do we do . It just so happened that there were graduate deferments thence i went to law school and continued to get a draft deferment. I wrote my law school thesis, if you will, it was on the selective services. I had this connection with the draft, those who were drafted. After leaving wisconsin, i went to michigan. Again, influenced by, among others, participatory democracy, an engine for civil rights and the Antiwar Movement and those kinds of things. I get to michigan and im appointed by a federal judge, defending people who are claiming conscientious objection. We do not know that today, but if you were a conscientious objector, the only way you could appeal a draft board decision wasng we do not believe you to do it as a defendant in a federal criminal case. I ended up defending a lot of these people and all but one i was successful. It ended up motivating me to run for congress. Tocongress, i was privileged put the period at the end of the sentence. On march 12, 1975, it was my resolution to cut off funding for the war in vietnam. Leonard that really just turbocharged your life in so many ways. Thanks for sharing. Im wondering if you think we, as a country, have learned lessons from the vietnam war. What does the philosopher george santa ana say, that those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it . Do you think we have learned lessons and what lessons might those be, coming out of that war . Does anyone want to take a crack at that . Ill take a crack at it from a groundlevel. Im going to accuse pete of a bait and switch. You were supposed to get chuck hagel. Instead of the defense secretary you got a jock who love sports. I think one of the things that impressed me the most is the public reaction to these current wars versus vietnam and to those who served in vietnam. In vietnam, because there was such a division in our country about the war and a real violent hatred for the war, that translated over to some of those guys who served. We were all tainted. It really did affect our psyche in terms of how we felt about ourselves and how we felt about our service to the country. Now, i think the country has learned, whether you are for or against the