DOCUMENT 29–1: President Kennedy Explains Why We Are in Vietnam

Reading the American Past: Printed Page 273

DOCUMENT 29–1

President Kennedy Explains Why We Are in Vietnam

Many Americans wondered why the United States had soldiers in Vietnam, and the question became more pointed as more and more soldiers were killed and wounded in the line of duty. The following correspondence between the sister of an American helicopter pilot killed in Vietnam and President John F. Kennedy illustrates the questions asked by many ordinary Americans and the responses of government officials. The correspondence highlights the very personal costs of the conflict in Vietnam that had to be weighed against the abstract and long-term rewards that officials claimed would result from American involvement.

Bobbie Lou Pendergrass

Letter to President John F. Kennedy, February 18, 1963

Dear President Kennedy,

My brother, Specialist James Delmas McAndrew, was one of the seven crew members killed on January 11 in a Viet Nam helicopter crash.

The Army reports at first said that communist gunfire was suspected. Later, it said that the helicopter tragedy was due to malfunction of aircraft controls. I've wondered if the “malfunction of aircraft controls” wasn't due to “communist gunfire.” However, that's neither important now, nor do I even care to know.

My two older brothers entered the Navy and the Marine Corps in 1941 immediately after the war started. They served all during the war and in some very important battles. Then Jim went into the Marines as soon as he was old enough and was overseas for a long time. During those war years and even all during the Korean conflict we worried about all of them — but that was all very different. They were wars that our country were fighting, and everyone here knew that our sons and brothers were giving their lives for their country.

I can't help but feel that giving one's life for one's country is one thing, but being sent to a country where half our country never even heard of and being shot at without even a chance to shoot back is another thing altogether!

Please, I'm only a housewife who doesn't even claim to know all about the international situation — but we have felt so bitter over this — can the small number of our boys over in Vietnam possibly be doing enough good to justify the awful number of casualties? It seems to me that if we are going to have our boys over there, that we should send enough to have a chance — or else stay home. Those fellows are just sitting ducks in those darn helicopters. If a war is worth fighting — isn't it worth fighting to win?

Please answer this and help me and my family to reconcile ourselves to our loss and to feel that even though Jim died in Viet Nam — and it isn't our war — it wasn't in vain.

I am a good Democrat — and I'm not criticizing. I think you are doing a wonderful job — and God Bless You —

Very sincerely,

Bobbie Lou Pendergrass

President John F. Kennedy

Letter to Bobbie Lou Pendergrass, March 6, 1963

Dear Mrs. Pendergrass,

I would like to express to you my deep and sincere sympathy in the loss of your brother. I can, of course, well understand your bereavement and the feelings which prompted you to write.

The questions which you posed in your letter can, I believe, best be answered by realizing why your brother — and other American men — went to Viet Nam in the first place. When this is understood, I am sure that the other related questions will be answered.

Americans are in Viet Nam because we have determined that this country must not fall under Communist domination. Ever since Viet Nam was divided, the Viet Namese have fought valiantly to maintain their independence in the face of the continuing threat from the North. Shortly after the division eight years ago it became apparent that they could not be successful in their defense without extensive assistance from other nations of the Free World community.

In the late summer of 1955, with the approval of President Eisenhower, an Advisory group was established in Viet Nam to provide them with adequate weapons and equipment and training in basic military skills which are essential to survival in the battlefield. Even with this help, the situation grew steadily worse under the pressure of the Viet Cong. By 1961 it became apparent that the troubles in Laos and the troubles in Viet Nam could easily expand. It is also apparent that the Communist attempt to take over Viet Nam is only part of a larger plan for bringing the entire area of Southeast Asia under their domination. Though it is only a small part of the area geographically, Viet Nam is the most crucial.

If Viet Nam should fall, it will indicate to the people of Southeast Asia that complete Communist domination of their part of the world is almost inevitable. Your brother was in Viet Nam because the threat to the Viet Namese people is, in the long run, a threat to the Free World community, and ultimately a threat to us also. For when freedom is destroyed in one country, it is threatened throughout the world.

I have written to you at length because I know that it is important to you to understand why we are in Viet Nam. James McAndrew must have foreseen that his service could take him into a war like this; a war in which he took part not as a combatant but as an advisor. I am sure that he understood the necessity of such a situation, and I know that as a soldier, he knew full scale war in Viet Nam is at the moment unthinkable.

I believe if you can see this as he must have seen it, you will believe as he must have believed, that he did not die in vain. Forty-five American soldiers, including your brother, have given their lives in Viet Nam. In their sacrifice, they have earned the eternal gratitude of this Nation and other free men throughout the world.

Again, I would like to express to you and the members of your family my deepest personal sympathy.

Sincerely,

John F. Kennedy

From Andrew Carroll, ed., War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (New York: Washington Square Press, 2001), 391–93.

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