I have just finished reading “In Retrospect” by Robert McNamara. There are few times in life when a person of such importance to our government admits mistakes and takes their share of blame when things go wrong–”terribly wrong”. I read the updated version which included various articles in response to McNamara’s book. I agreed with some of them but some responses I found sickening. Both of my grandfathers saw combat. One in WWII and the other in Korea. I am very proud of them for their dedication to serve in that capacity. My grandfather that saw combat in WWII would rarely talk of it. But the few things he would talk about were disturbing enough that we didn’t really want him to continue telling us. It was really hard for him. He had seen many war movies in his life but when he sat down to watch “Saving Private Ryan” he turned it off within minutes. It was too real for him. War leaves wounds that a medic cannot heal.
With all of that said, I personally am thankful for Robert McNamara’s book. While I agree that we probably should have pulled out with the fall of Diem and realizing that no stable government was going to be established, I can only say that 40 years after the fact. It is much easier to point out mistakes than prevent them, especially with 40 years of hindsight.
My education in public schools taught me very little about the sixties with the exception of Martin Luther King Jr. While I am thankful for that, there was more to the sixties than Dr. King. In, fact I have come to understand Dr. King much better after learning of the rest of the sixties and the vietnam war a big part of that.
If you want a look at the politics of vietnam from an insider’s perspective, this would be the book to read. As with all stories, there is probably another side and even disagreement between McNamara and those he served with over what actually happened when and how. But Robert McNamara was engaged in a political battle that would cause most of us to cower. He admits his failure. As a Christian, I understand that.
