A Howard Watson Intrigue

Lessons from Vietnam After I graduated from WestPoint Academy, my father George literally screamed at me when I volunteered for early duty in Vietnam.  He never let up on the notion that Vietnam was the wrong war at the wrong time against the wrong enemy.  I can recall his words like it was yesterday. “Howard, this ain’t our fight! This is the white man’s M-O getting into another country’s business when they’re fighting against themselves! You don’t need to be getting into the middle of this mess. Ain’t a Vietnamese alive who’s done us wrong. Enough is enough!" Of course I was too headstrong to agree. I listened, but I didn’t agree.    His objection to the war, at least in his view, was important and right but  Vietnam was just something I had to do. When I stepped off that transport plane in Vietnam the heat hit me like a blast furnace. The greenery was so glistening it almost hurt my eyes. The strange smell that hit my nostrils I later fou...