Vietnam: The War
that Killed Trust
The legacy of the war still shapes America,
even if most of us are too young to remember it.
[Vietnam '67]
Karl Marlantes
VIETNAM '67 JAN. 7, 2017
In the early spring of 1967, I was in the middle of a heated 2 a.m. hallway discussion with fellow students at Yale about the Vietnam War. I was from a small town in Oregon, and I had already joined the Marine Corps Reserve. My friends were mostly from East Coast prep schools. One said that Lyndon B. Johnson was lying to us about the war. I blurted out, “But … but an American president wouldn’t lie to Americans!” They all burst out laughing.
When I told that story to my children, they all burst out laughing, too. Of course presidents lie. All politicians lie. God, Dad, what planet are you from?
Before the Vietnam War, most Americans were like me. After the Vietnam War, most Americans are like my children.
more
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/opinion/sunday/vietnam-the-war-that-killed-trust.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
