Current Military, and Vets, how do you feel if your missions in war are not completed?

Question

I am guessing that Vietnam was not a completed mission in the minds of Vets of that war, and now some people want Troops pulled out of Iraq, and I know quite a few Military in every branch, and they say to me, they're not finished with their mission there, and it seems important to them that they stay until it's done.

Personally not being a Soldier myself, but loving you all just the same, I don't know what being done with a mission is exactly, but I get the point of finishing it.

Can you help me understand what you feel?

Military, and those who know only please?

Thanks bunches!

Answer 1

My brother was more than ready to get the h**l out of Vietnam - where we never belonged in the first place.  And as far as Iraq goes, have you ever heard of the saying, "Throwing good money after bad?"

It would be stupid and foolhardy to stay somewhere ONLY because we went there to begin with (which was a mistake) instead of being mature enough to admit that going in Iraq was a mistake.

How many lives will it take to convince some people that Iraq is a lost cause?

And always was.

Answer 2

In Vietnam, the general feeling among the troops was that we were winning the battles but losing the war.

The military command would order an assault on an area, and after we fought and won the battle, we would withdraw and give the area back to the Viet Cong and NVA.

The "job wasn't done" because we left good men behind.

Answer 3

Still MIAs / POWs in NAM whether or not still alive the mission is still not finished. My buddies what to go back and finish.

Vet-USAF

Answer 4

We didn't lose the war in 'Nam we lost it here-in congress.May God Forbid the same thing happens again.

Answer 5

What is the mission in Iraq?  What is victory?  It isn't something that Bush or McCain have clearly defined.  Nobody even knows why we're over there in the first place.  Victory in Iraq is much like the horizon- an imaginary line that recedes as one walks toward it- and even worse, many people have to die in a country's journey to discover it was only a figment of their imagination to begin with.

If you define victory as having deposed Saddam's regime, than we've already achieved that victory, and it is time for Iraq to start taking care of itself.

Some people say that if we leave Iraq, the terrorists will use Iraq as a "base of operation", demonstrating their ignorance to the fact that the tribes in Iraq hate al-qaeda more than Americans do.  In fact, what allowed al-qaeda to sustain itself there, was that America was considered a common enemy.  When we leave, what's left of al-qaeda will be destroyed completely.

We're not the solution to their problem kid, we're part of the problem.  As for the "mission", any man or woman in uniform will tell you that they're fighting for their brothers and sisters over there, and they consider that more important than fighting for their country.

Answer 6

More good answers from Law Dog, Chief Scout, The Voice, and others.

When soldiers are committed to a battle, of course we want to see the job done. We have already paid the price for these eventual victories in our blood, and the blood of our friends. Soldiering on the battlefield forms a special kind of brotherhood that is much deeper than politics.

When people join the military, it is for a great many different reasons. Perhaps it is for a good, strong, altruistic belief in the support of other people far away, in their struggle for peace and the establishment of new democratic nations.

Maybe you just want a job.

Maybe it is for a sense of risk and adventure.

Perhaps it is family tradition and patriotism.

Whatever the reason is originally, those who pass basic training, get posted to their units, and serve, change their way of thinking, through a thing called "Esprit de Corps". A unit with high morale still has soldiers with their individual reasons to serve, but the main reason becomes the feeling of supporting each other.

Unlike some people who believe that the Iraq War cannot be won, it already IS being won.

The goals have changed, since the beginning, as the situation on the ground developed.

The first goal was to remove Saddam.

The next goal was to control lawlessness and terrorism, and prevent the breakup of the country.(the occupation period).

The next goal was to conduct and assist free and fair elections, to elect a representative government that all Iraqis would respect and follow.

The next was the stabilization period, where we were no longer occupiers, but allies assisting a democratically elected government as it grows and matures. This is to give "breathing time" so that the Iraqi Army and police have the time they need to gradually become competent. Great progress has been made here, but as any soldier who has served in Iraq can tell you, most of them are still incompetent, to put it mildly.

In the period we are in now, the General Petraeus period, we are taking control of the last lawless areas, assisting local councils and other groups to chase out Al Quaeda, and enlisting ex-insurgents as new local militia units, thus giving most of them what they wanted in the first place, their jobs back.

Al Quaeda has already been recorded as announcing to themselves that they have lost in Iraq. 4,100 American soldiers and more than 200 British, Canadian, and Dutch soldiers have already paid for that victory.

We would be throwing it all away, if we withdraw before the job is done. The final task is at hand.

The Iraqi security forces must be able to gradually, and competently, replace each withdrawing unit, as they become available. Numbers don't mean anything. They must be able to do the job.

Answer 7

If you walked the tall grass, you will always have a piece of yourself

still there. No matter what your MOS, AFSC, You were a member

in a valiant effort of survival. Once the DOD, proved they were going

to micro manage the campaign. And once they proved they had no

resolve. The American fighting man, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine,

developed a grunt mentality. Were going to dog this fight out no matter

what.  You kill or wound one of ours, yours are down 5 times that

number. The American fighting man did not lose a Major battle in

that theater. I will state this without any forethought or reservation,

we kicked there ***. And our own government tied our hands and

kicked ours. Until Craighton Abrams took over as the Commanding

general of the ground forces in Viet Nam, did we start getting the

support and help we needed. No troop from that fight should ever

hold there head down and feel remorse. Stand with your head held

high. Reach out to your brother, tell him welcome home. and thanks

for a job well done. To the memory of those fallen and not returned,

I stand with you everyday of my life. You are missed and will never

be forgotten. De Oppresso Liber.

Answer 8

Not Military.

Just want to say thank you, and God Bless You.

Answer 9

We volunteer with deployed troops, and in February one of our adopted soldiers was seriously injured and had to be sent to Germany and then back to the U.S. for treatment.  He is still unable to walk and has a head injury, but since day one of his ordeal all he's talked about is going back.  Our troops are devoted to our country, our freedom, to each other and to the work they're doing.  They see a lot of positive results and find their work extremely rewarding, but you don't hear about this in the media.  Unless you're a military person I think it's impossible to understand how they feel, but in the words of our beloved soldier, "I have to go back to Iraq.  I have to go back to work.  I have work to do."  

God bless America, and God bless our troops.  They are giving up their present for our future.

Answer 10

In my own personal opinion...  If we were to abandon the war in Iraq all 4,200+ of the people that have paid the ultimate cost in Iraq would be disrespected.  Not to mention that Iraq would surely turn back into a terrorists playground.  The Iraqi government isn't ready to fully govern their own nation by themselves yet.  

The American public will never truly know what each and every servicemember has given up by serving in Iraq.  It would absolutely be a direct slap in all of our faces.