GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME
MY TRIBUTE TO OUR NATION: FULL PHOTO COVERAGE WITH LIMITED TEXT. AN EXTREMELY PATRIOTIC ARTICLE.

THE VIETNAM WALL (National Park Service)

The long conflict between France and Vietnam came to an abrupt end in July, 1954, when the French were soundly defeated at DIEN BIEN PHU. The U.S. although defeated in Korea, was eager to get involved in another war. The U.S. felt it was their duty to interfere in the Geneva accords to reunify the war torn country. President Eisenhower created a government of South Vietnam. Controversial from the start, the U.S. intervention accelerated when in 1961 President Kenedy sent "advisors" to straighten things out. The U.S. involvement was doomed from the start. Buddhist Monks staged massive protests, President Diem and his brother were assassinated, and President Kennedy himself was assassinated. At that time there were 16,000 "advisors" in Vietnam. With the bungled handling of the situation by President Johnson and Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara conditions continued to deteriorate. Next came the controversial Gulf of Tonkin incident. McNamara advised President Johnson that we could send 30,000 troops and the war would be over in 30 days. With no clearly defined objectives, in 1965 Johnson sent the first combat troops to Vietnam. This was the beginning of the end. American anti - war sentiment erupted with the entire country against our intervention in Vietnam. Eventually American troops were defeated badly in the Tet Offensive and a disgraced Lyndon Johnson declared he would press the communist to end the war. President Nixon actually expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia and increased the bombing. In the meantime campus protests over our staggering losses were having a terrible effect on our country. On April 30, 1975, communist forces captured the Presidential Palace in Saigon, and the war ended. In 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia defeating the Khmer Rouge. On Nov. 11,1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, "The Wall", was dedicated.

The war tore our nation apart. Was it worth losing 58,202 good men? Does anyone know what our policy was? Most Americans and 82% of Vietnam combat veterans strongly believe the war was lost because of lack of political will.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY - VIETNAM

The Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a National War Memorial located in Washington, D.C. that honors members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. "The Wall" was designed by MAYA LINN, a 21 year old Yale student. Her design was selected from over 1,421 entries.

STATUE OF LIBERTY (Wikipedia)

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal statue given to the United States by France in 1886. It stands on Liberty Island, in the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans. The copper statue commemorates the Centennial of the U.S. and is a gesture of friendship between the two countries.

TWIN TOWERS (Wikipedia)

The September 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist suicide attacks by Islamic extremist. 19 terrorist affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four jet airliners. They crashed two of the planes into the twin towers, one plane into each tower. A third plane was crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after the flight crew fought with the hijackers. 2,749 people were killed. 15 of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt, and one from Lebanon.

It should be pointed out that more people were killed in this attack than the Pearl Harbor attack. Immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack the U.S. declared war on the Japanese, who did the attack. In the Twin Towers attack the U.S. did absolutely nothing. Thought provoking !

STATUE OF LIBERTY AND THE TWIN TOWERS (Wikipedia)