US/Va History Students Discuss Vietnam War

US/Va History students participated in a discussion of the Vietnam War with members of the Herndon High School staff. Participating over two days were (l-r) HHS Science teacher Max Johnson who was a commander of a firing battery as a member of the 3rd Corps. Mr. Johnson who attained the rank of Colonel, served two terms, from April, 1966 to April 1967 and from May of 1969 to May of 1970. HHS US History teacher Scott Mack was a Sergeant and Document Analyst for the Chief of Staff of the Army, serving in that capacity from 1968-1970. HHS Security Aide Peter Coles was a Infantry Company Commander with the 9th Infantry Division and Captain in the U. S. Army serving in Dong Tam and My Tho during 1967. HHS Guidance Counselor Eileen Roberts took part in anti-war protests as a high school student in Washington, D.C. HHS ROTC teacher Sgt-Major Green was Corporal W.A. Green serving aboard the USS Tarrawa in the South China Sea in 1972. All described their experiences which elicited many questions from the students.

You should not just accept whatever the government says to you. Be a critical observer of the way our nation works.

Based on the meetings that I observed with President Johnson and General Westmoreland, I firmly believe that their hearts were in the right place. They tried to do the right thing, but as it turned out, they did not.

We did not lose one battle in the Vietnam War. In the end though, President Ford made the right decision not to send bombers or troops back to Vietnam. We were done with that war by then.

I hated lies and I still hate lies. Ask any of my students that I counsel. I thought Lyndon Johnson lied to us. I thought Richard Nixon lied to us. And I thought Bill Clinton was a phony when he wrote the letter to the University of Arkansas pretending to be interested in the ROTC program.. As a passionate war protester it was not that I didn't love my country and what it stood for but because I loved it so much, I didn't want a useless, endless war to kill a single human being! And I still believe in "Make Love, Not War."

If the politicians had let us fight we would have won that war in five years. Every time we started to get close to winning there would be peace negotiations and they would hold the military back.

Mr. Coles and Sgt-Major Green demonstrate the "dap", one of the handshake rituals of "The Bloods of Nam."