Dereliction of Duty

The Lies That Led to Vietnam

Guns and Butter - 58,000 American Boys Killed

On this day in 1973, the last American troops left South Vietnam following the loss of 58,000 American boys, mostly my age, and most of whom had been drafted and forced to go to Vietnam to fight and die.  Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s current National Security Advisor, has written a necessary read about this sad episode in American history called Dereliction of Duty, subtitled “Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the lies that led to Vietnam.”  Gen. McMaster says Democrat President Johnson “disregarded the advice he did not want to hear in favor of a policy based on the pursuit of his own political fortunes and his beloved domestic programs."  "The administration’s lies to the American public grew in magnitude as the American military effort in Vietnam escalated,” initially without the public’s knowledge or consent.  Johnson’s “guns and butter” policies led to rampant inflation reaching 18%, political turmoil, and social shock waves felt for a generation.