James Fortune ~Vietnam
17 Jan 1961 (Tues) President Eisenhower speaks to the nation warning against a Military-Industrial Complex.
20 Jan. 1961 (Fri) President Eisenhower and President Kennedy ~ Changing of the Guard
President Dwight David Eisenhower talks to the American public, days before turning the 'keys' to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He warns of the Military-Industrial Complex.
The stage is being set to go into South Vietnam to fight a war against North Vietnam, in one a War that will see nearly 60,000 Americans lose their lives.
But in 1961 we are at peace, and Vietnam is but an unknown area somewhere out of mind, out of existence. That would soon change.
As I continue to research James Fortune SP/4 in Vietnam and follow his troop into the the year 1970, a tumultious era both at home and abroad.
Many of you were not born yet, but your parents were. You wonder your dad doesn't talk about his service in Vietnam or your parents talk about the demonstrations going on. This is what I hope to tell with Jim's continuing story. I don't yet know Jim's path he takes in 1970, but I have put some of the puzzle pieces together and I think his tour of duty is very much a teachable moment in this terrible time in our history. If I get more people of this era, including myself to be able to open up and talk about what really happened in the 1960s-1970s I think we will all benefit and be a better society.
I am going to continue with a little more history into Vietnam, especially it's early 20th Century history. I think you will find it eye-opening when you find that we today in our Internet connected society today, we owe much of what we have today to what happened in South East Asia.