AS HIPPIES PARTIED
By RICHARD K. KOLB
NEWSWEEK described them as "a youthful, long-haired army, almost as large as the US force in Vietnam." One promoter saw what happened near Bethel (nearly 40 miles from Woodstock), NY, as an opportunity to "showcase" the drug culture as a "beautiful phenomenon." The newsmagazine wrote of "wounded hippies" sent to impromptu hospital tents. Some 400,000 of the "nation's affluent white young" attended the "electric pot dream." One sympathetic chronicler recently described them as "a veritable army of hippies and freaks."
Time gushed with admiration for the tribal gathering, declaring: "It may well rank as one of the significant political and sociological events of the age." It deplored the three deaths there -- "one from an overdose of drugs [heroin] and hundreds of youths freaked out on bad trips caused by low-grade LSD." Yet attendees exhibited a "mystical feeling for themselves as a special group," according to the magazine's glowing essay.
The same tribute mentioned the "meaningless war in the jungles of Southeast Asia" and quoted a commentator who said the young needed "more opportunities for authentic service."
Meanwhile, 8,429 miles around the other side of the world, 514,000 mostly young Americans were authentically serving the country that had raised them to place society over self. The casualties they sustained over those four days were genuine, yet none of the elite media outlets were praising their selflessness. So, 40 years later, let's finally look at those 109 Americans who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam on Aug. 15, 16, 17 and 18, 1969.
They mirrored the population of the time. A full 92 percent were white (seven of whom had Spanish surnames), and 8 percent black. Some 67 percent were Protestants, 28 percent Catholic. A disproportionate number -- more than one-third -- hailed from the South. More than two-thirds were single, nearly one-third married. Not surprising, the vast majority (91 percent) were under the age of 30, with 78 percent between the ages of 18 and 22.
Overwhelmingly (87 percent), they were in the Army. Marines and airmen accounted for 8 percent and 4 percent of the deaths, respectively, with sailors sustaining 1 percent. Again, not unexpectedly, two-thirds were infantrymen. That same proportion was lower-ranking enlisted men. Enemy action claimed 84 percent of their lives, nonhostile causes 16 percent. The preponderance (56 percent) had volUnteered, while 43 percent had been drafted. One was in the National Guard.
Of the four days, Aug. 18 (the last day of "peace and love" in the Catskills when the 50,000 diehards departed after the final act) was the worst for the men in Vietnam. Thirty-five of them died on that one miserable day.
Many perished in the Battle of Hiep Duc, fighting with the hard-luck Americal Division in the Que Son Mountains. In fact, 37 percent of all GIs lost in this period came from this one unit.
So when you hear talk of the glories of Woodstock -- the so-called "defining event of a generation" -- keep in mind those 109 GIs who served nobly yet are never lauded by the illustrious spokesmen for the "Sixties Generation."
Reprinted with permission from the August 2009 issue of VFW Magazine, where Richard K. Kolb is the editor
Letters from the New York Post
NO BANDS IN VIETNAM -- NO HEROES AT WOODSTOCK
August 21, 2009 --
I want to express my sincere appreciation for printing "As Hippies Partied," (Richard K. Kolb, PostOpinion, Aug. 17).
I served in Vietnam when I was 18 years old. I rarely speak about my service because of the lack of recognition and thanks when we returned and the hostilities we encountered from family members, friends and neighbors.
I had red paint thrown on me when I was in my uniform coming home from Vietnam by a group of folks who kept calling me a "baby killer" and "rapist" -- a reception I never expected or forgot.
Thomas Waring
Lyndhurst, NJ
***
My compliments for the article, "As Hippies Partied," which says what needs to be said.
While thousands of American youth partied, listened to music, got stoned and engaged in casual sex, thousands served their country fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. Many young men died.
The contrast is startling. Let's not forget those who served and sacrificed while others indulged in a hedonistic orgy.
T. Redmond
East Williston
***
Woodstock hippies partied while 109 GIs were killed in Vietnam, but most of the Democratic Party was reveling at how they "stopped the war."
Liberal icons, such as Jane Fonda, ignored our withdrawal's horrific aftermath. To this day, most Americans are unaware of that resulting bloodbath as the media focused more on Gerald Ford's airplane tumble.
Why were the South Vietnamese so desperate to get aboard our departing choppers? They knew that sticking daises in rifles would not sway tyrants. They were right, then and now.
D. Bergstein
Manhattan
***
What an amazing reflection on Woodstock. I wish that all young adults would read "As Hippies Partied."
My husband returned from a tour of Vietnam in 1967 with two Purple Hearts. I was disappointed when he came home not dressed in his Army uniform. He told me that when they landed in California, if you had your uniform on, people would insult you and spit on you.
The hippies knew you were in the "conflict" because you were the only one with a crew cut.
I cannot tell you how bad those times were. We lived only 22 miles away from Bethel, and we chose not to go to Woodstock.
Kolb, I really admire your article.
Linda M. Cosman
Marlboro
***
God bless you for printing Kolb's column, which reminds Americans that the real "defining event of a generation" was the Vietnam War and those who died and were maimed, physically and mentally, while serving their country.
God bless them and their loved ones, and God bless America.
S.P. Radacinski
Brooklyn
***
While Americans fought to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam, hippies got stoned with a unifying anti-America sentiment.
Now we see the results of the worst generation in US history. It produced today's middle-aged detached-from-reality generation, which, in turn, produced today's me-first teenage generation.
The utopian mindset of both generations is void of community responsibility and oblivious to the issues that plague America -- mainly, their obstructionism.
I would rather fight America's external enemy in the filth of Vietnam than party with America's internal enemy in the filth of Woodstock.
Elio Valenti
Brooklyn
