Kenn Miller |
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What is the most misunderstood thing about the Vietnam War?
There are two conflicting narratives among Americans about the Vietnam war, one of which is that we were there fighting for democracy and freedom. And, that’s pretty much what most of the troops that I know saw. I mean we were somewhat idealistic about it and somewhat cynical about it. The other one was that it was some horrible brutal genocidal war, which it wasn’t. I think the United States went in with some very stupid but very good motives. But it was very stupid. I think that the idea that it was a glorious something, I think that that’s wrong. It was a horrible evil thing. It’s far from our most evil war, in American history, by far, the one I was in was Vietnam’s Civil war. The idea that it was an American war, entirely, I mean, most of the fighting was done by Vietnamese not by Americans.
And another thing that I have to say that is a misconception that people have is that it was just the Americans fighting the enemy. No, it was the South Vietnamese fighting too. And that the South Vietnamese didn’t do anything and the Americans did it all for them, and that is total bullshit. That infuriates me. Because all these people suffered so much, the families died, and we pretend that they weren’t even involved, in their own Civil War. There’s a kind of arrogance and chauvinism in the way we look at that war, and you know, I don’t hold anything against anybody, except their own personal behavior. If you were in My Lai and you throw all these people in the ditch and you were hosing them down with your MK16, you know, OK your unit went crazy you went crazy you broke, but you should be in prison the rest of your life…the lieutenant should have been hung.
If you’re on the North Vietnamese side, doing all sorts of horrible stuff. If you personally, your conduct was honest and decent, you don’t have anything…you know, however bad the party you were fighting for was, however corrupt the government in Saigon might have been that you were fighting for, all of that doesn’t mean anything. Somebody who honestly served as a soldier on our side or on the other side, I feel from them all.
Object Description
| Profile of | Kenn Miller |
| Title | I Feel For Them All |
| Profile bio | Kenn Miller (b. 1948) is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. From 1967 through 1969, he served three voluntary extensions of his combat tours in an Airborne Ranger company in Vietnam. He was a Long Range Patrol team member and team leader in LRRP Detachment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division; F Company 58th Infantry (LRP); and L Company 75th Ranger. After his military service, Miller returned briefly to the United States, then moved to Taiwan. After marrying and returning again to America, he studied history and English at the University of Michigan. He then worked as a physical education teacher, auto worker, ghostwriter, and part-time editor and “book doctor” for Ballantine Books, Ivy Books, and the Naval Institute Press. Miller now lives in San Gabriel, California. |
| Profiler bio | Curren Mehta is from Seattle, Washington, majoring in applied and computational mathematics and minoring in computer science. John Wang is from Taipei, Taiwan, majoring in architecture. Shabina Rayan is from Seattle, Washington, majoring in computer science and business administration. An Vo is from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, majoring in economics. |
| Subject |
Vietnam Vietnam war Infantry Airborne Ranger Vietnam Civil War anti-war movement recon mission |
| Profiled by | Rayan, Shabina; Wang, John; Mehta, Curren; Vo, An |
| Profile date | 2016-04-07 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | San Gabriel; Huế; Hue |
| Geographic subject (county) | Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | Vietnam; USA; North Korea; China; Russia; Chekloslovakia; Czech Republic |
| Coverage date | 1967 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/kenn-miller/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 9 video files (00:15:27); 9 transcripts |
| Language | English |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
| Filename | millerkenn |
Description
| Profile of | Kenn Miller |
| Title | What is the most misunderstood thing about the Vietnam War? |
| Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
| Filename | millerkenn-vid9_tr9.pdf |
| Full text | What is the most misunderstood thing about the Vietnam War? There are two conflicting narratives among Americans about the Vietnam war, one of which is that we were there fighting for democracy and freedom. And, that’s pretty much what most of the troops that I know saw. I mean we were somewhat idealistic about it and somewhat cynical about it. The other one was that it was some horrible brutal genocidal war, which it wasn’t. I think the United States went in with some very stupid but very good motives. But it was very stupid. I think that the idea that it was a glorious something, I think that that’s wrong. It was a horrible evil thing. It’s far from our most evil war, in American history, by far, the one I was in was Vietnam’s Civil war. The idea that it was an American war, entirely, I mean, most of the fighting was done by Vietnamese not by Americans. And another thing that I have to say that is a misconception that people have is that it was just the Americans fighting the enemy. No, it was the South Vietnamese fighting too. And that the South Vietnamese didn’t do anything and the Americans did it all for them, and that is total bullshit. That infuriates me. Because all these people suffered so much, the families died, and we pretend that they weren’t even involved, in their own Civil War. There’s a kind of arrogance and chauvinism in the way we look at that war, and you know, I don’t hold anything against anybody, except their own personal behavior. If you were in My Lai and you throw all these people in the ditch and you were hosing them down with your MK16, you know, OK your unit went crazy you went crazy you broke, but you should be in prison the rest of your life…the lieutenant should have been hung. If you’re on the North Vietnamese side, doing all sorts of horrible stuff. If you personally, your conduct was honest and decent, you don’t have anything…you know, however bad the party you were fighting for was, however corrupt the government in Saigon might have been that you were fighting for, all of that doesn’t mean anything. Somebody who honestly served as a soldier on our side or on the other side, I feel from them all. |
| Archival file | Volume3/millerkenn-vid9_tr9.pdf |
