What we haven't learned from the Vietnam War

So now even President Bush says there are similarities between Vietnam and Iraq.

As a Vietnam veteran, I am constantly amazed at how little we actually learned from that conflict that cost so many lives — far more lives than the 55,000 or so actual combat fatalities. There is a whole generation of Americans who know of someone who served or died there.

I was a 20-year-old Army volunteer, just out of tank-mechanics school, green inside and out. Having received a draft notice, I enlisted, to at least get something more out of the service than just the chance of being killed in Vietnam. I had a young wife, a career as a letter carrier, and I just wanted to put my time in and get out — alive.

I excelled at mechanics school and was asked to stay and teach. I accepted, watched my class depart for Korea, and three months later, I was in Vietnam.

We did more than just work in the mechanic shops. I pulled guard duty, did night patrols in jeeps, spent four nights a week for six months in a tower on the perimeter fence, to call in air support and artillery.

I drove a truck to Saigon a couple of times a month to the USO, so guys could call home; we weren't even allowed to carry weapons.

So here is what we haven't learned:

Even with a far-superior force, with the latest technology, you can't fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces. Especially when the other team is wearing civilian clothes and they all look the same. We had nearly half a million troops in South Vietnam for most of the war, and we couldn't defeat the enemy because they were hiding, in plain sight.

More troops won't solve the problem we have in Iraq, and we don't have the troops, anyway. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) aren't new. I spent a good amount of time doing estimated-cost-of-damages paperwork on vehicles that were ripped apart by our own munitions used by the enemy to blow us up.

Why would we ever send unarmored vehicles into Iraq? Although no vehicle can be made impervious to attack, at least we should have learned from the mistakes of the past. Many units in Vietnam also had to improvise armor for trucks, jeeps and light-tracked vehicles that were designed to a price instead of a purpose.

Repeat tours don't necessarily improve the quality of the force. There were many Vietnam vets who served more than one tour. I didn't, in spite of the significant bonus I would have been given.

Many went back, for the money, but that was all. Some went back for the fight, because they didn't fit well back in the "world" any more. Others made the military a career; some went back because their loved ones didn't know them anymore. I didn't know it until later, but my wife was one of those.

The war should not be waged by the Department of Defense. It should be managed by a War Department. If we are going to send men into battle, they should be led by those who have been there and done that. The war and the reconstruction should be managed separately. Money appropriated by Congress should go where it is intended, for the troops.

I was just a soldier, I did my time and I served proudly. I would fight for my country again if called. But I would not go blindly into a conflict with no hope of a decisive victory.

I don't know exactly what it will take to get out of Iraq with some dignity. But that is all we are ever going to get out of this war. Like Vietnam, for those who have served in Iraq, all we can say is, we tried.

Larry Bailly of Snohomish served in Vietnam from April 1969 to April 1970 as a motor sergeant and artillery spotter. His son served in Afghanistan from September 2005 to October 2006. E-mail: baillybusbarn@juno.com