58,000 American soldiers died in Vietnam in the only conflict that the United States was definitively the loser. We killed countless more Vietnamese, but the numbers we put up never seemed to sway the battle. The Vietnamese were in it for the long haul. They had nowhere to run.

We don't fight wars like Vietnam anymore. Our country won't tolerate another draft in the name of solving disputes abroad. If we can't accomplish what we want with the military we have, it doesn't seem a wise enough investment. The United States has taken to bombs from above in lieu of ground troops at every opportunity. We took a page from the Vietnamese. The enemy can't shoot you if they don't know where you are.

I have heard of military operations that were clumsy but swift, but I have never seen one that was skillful and lasted a long time. It is never beneficial to a nation to have a military operation continue for a long time.
Sun Tzu
The Art of War

The Vietnam Conflict began during JFK's administration and stretched over a decade and two other presidents. After a certain number of years, we had invested so much money and man power that pulling out failed to be a viable option. We fought for the sake of not losing even though it became obvious we could not win.

The American public will tolerate a war for a few months without too much complaint. There will be protesters from the beginning, and the longer an engagement continues, the more people will be inclined to side with protesters.

The goal is to solve the situation with the least amount of time and bloodshed. So far, so good. Every skirmish the United States has involved itself in has been over and done before the public could get truly frustrated. Grenada, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo. Active fighting complete in the matter of months not years.

It could be said that Vietnam has made us a more peaceful nation. Watching the horrors of war on television, pictures of public executions and the naked girl running down the road to flee a napalm attack. We don't attack the general public of nations anymore. We target military installations. While we still blow up a random hospital or Chinese Embassy, the president is always quick to apologize. Apologizing for the random destruction of war? That's the way the game is played now.

Some people ask if the 58,000 soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam died in vain, but I don't think they did. We learned much by losing that war. Twenty-five years after the last helicopter left Saigon, we have yet to enter another lengthy conflict. Aside from a brief personal contemplation at 17 during Desert Storm, I haven't had to worry about a draft. The youth of America have been the recipients of the greatest prosperity this country has ever had. We look to the future as an opportunity to bring the world together instead of tearing it apart. These revelations wouldn't have occurred to us without the lessons of the past.

I used to look at the Vietnam War with romantic flair, pondering on what can be gained by experiencing humanity at its ugliest. For a time during my teenage years, I thought I might be the reincarnation of one of those 58,000. That was all just youthful speculation, but what do expect from a guy who comes from a generation that has been blessed to live in a fairly peaceful time in the world?

Here's hoping I'll be saying the same thing in another twenty-five years.

Chris Jungle prefers watching war movies to performing military service.