And That's The Way It Is

[MTI]

So long Walter, it's been our pleasure.

[MTI]

"If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.

[Chas H]

Many Viet Nam vets hold Cronkite in less than high esteem for his comment about losing the war after the Tet Offensive of 1968. LBJ's lament that you have posted effectively sealed the fate of our involvement in SE Asia.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Chas H

Many Viet Nam vets hold Cronkite in less than high esteem for his comment about losing the war after the Tet Offensive of 1968. LBJ's lament that you have posted effectively sealed the fate of our involvement in SE Asia.

Misbegotten debacle from the git-go. Lord, I've have gone nuts if I'd been on the ground over there and was ordered to torch some village -- or many villages. Bizarre stuff. Cronkite was right.

[MTI]

I can see how some might see it that way, but it could also be viewed from the perspective that somebody had to say it.

[Chas H]

Originally Posted by MTI

I can see how some might see it that way, but it could also be viewed from the perspective that somebody had to say it.

The folks that were there, and that would include me, consider Cronkite to be wrong. Tet was a disasterous defeat for the Viet Cong and provided the North Viet Namese the opportunity to take over the fight against the Americans. There are some theories that the offensive was orchestrated by the NVN to wipe out the Viet Cong, who were more interested in ridding SVN from foreigners than installing a communist regime.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Chas H

The folks that were there, and that would include me, consider Cronkite to be wrong. Tet was a disasterous defeat for the Viet Cong and provided the North Viet Namese the opportunity to take over the fight against the Americans. There are some theories that the offensive was orchestrated by the NVN to wipe out the Viet Cong, who were more interested in ridding SVN from foreigners than installing a communist regime.

If we'd have "won" then what? Decades of being sniped at by nationalists? Don't look now, but we have the same scenario playing out in Iraq. Way too many people there are never going to sit still with us being there. Or our puppets.

[Chas H]

Originally Posted by cmac2012

If we'd have "won" then what? Decades of being sniped at by nationalists? Don't look now, but we have the same scenario playing out in Iraq. Way too many people there are never going to sit still with us being there. Or our puppets.

I dunno what if we had won, or even if we could win. I thought the issue in Viet Nam was a civil war. Outside the cities, in my observations, people were far more concerned about feeding their families than who ran the g'ment. On the other hand, if the communists had a brain cell or 2, they would have realized Viet Nam could be a vacation paradise. But dogma, and later land mines, got in the way-again.
My comment was directed to Cronkite's mis-characterization of the Tet offensive. The Tet offensive was a disaster for the Viet Cong.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Chas H

I dunno what if we had won, or even if we could win. I thought the issue in Viet Nam was a civil war. Outside the cities, in my observations, people were far more concerned about feeding their families than who ran the g'ment. On the other hand, if the communists had a brain cell or 2, they would have realized Viet Nam could be a vacation paradise. But dogma, and later land mines, got in the way-again.
My comment was directed to Cronkite's mis-characterization of the Tet offensive. The Tet offensive was a disaster for the Viet Cong.

It was but it was also an indication of their apparent willingness to continue regardless of the costs. I'm not sure they would have ever quit.

[450slcguy]

Originally Posted by MTI

So long Walter, it's been our pleasure.

I can still hear Walter's voice doing the commentary when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Man's(USA's) ultimate achievemnt and as of yet, unchallenged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNUMq9Sq8mc

[POS]

Way before my time.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by POS

Way before my time.

Same here! He retired over 6 years before I was even born!

[MS Fowler]

"Uncle Walter" was a fixture in most American homes in the turbulent 60s and 70s.
He was a liberal; but admitted freely that Journalism attracts more liberals than conservatives--unlike today's advocacy propagandists who swear to their "objectivity". I consider him the beginnings of the "advocacy Journalist". When he became convinced that Viet Nam was a losing proposition, he used all his journalistic skill to sell that idea to the American public. His mis-reporting of the Tet offensive probably did more to lose that war for this country that any other single thing. As the people who were there, on the ground, will tell you, Tet was a military disaster for the Viet Cong, but the impression here, at home, was that it was a disaster for the US forces. Cronkite had a reputation that allowed him to sincerely sell his version of the story.
He was the face of the US space program, dutifully reporting every launch,as well as the Apollo I tragedy. It is ironic that he died during the 40th anniversary of the moon landings.
He was the face of the Kennedy assassinations.
We will not likely see any of his statue for a long time-- A true celebrity who was not impressed by his own celebrity.
Good bye, Uncle Walter.

[t walgamuth]

With all due respect to the veterans who suffered and fought in 'Nam, I don't thing the man on the ground fighting is in any way able to objectively judge whether a war is winnable or not.

[MS Fowler]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

With all due respect to the veterans who suffered and fought in 'Nam, I don't thing the man on the ground fighting is in any way able to objectively judge whether a war is winnable or not.

My comments regarding Tet are different from whether or not the war was winnable.
Tet was a military disaster for the Viet Cong, but a huge propaganda win at the same time--due mostly to Uncle Walter's presentation. He turned the will of the American public against the was, and at that point, it became politically unwinable.
I am not debating the pros and cons of the Viet Nam war; only Cronkite's role in it.
This is a thread of tribute to an American icon; not a rehash of that war.