This is one of the protest tracks from my youth – as I was inspired by the Vietnamese people. Hardcastle’s track helped me understand the position from the American teenage victims of this hideous war. A private soldier served 12-months – but an officer served only 9-months (there were exceptions). This meant that US combat units were continuously changing and men that were just beginning to gain existence – left and returned home. New recruits – whom lacked experience – often died first. The North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese Viet Cong – led by Ho Chi Minh and General Giap – inflicted a psychological and physical military defeat upon the imperialist Americans. Around 6-million Vietnamese men, women, and children were killed, maimed or “disappeared” – compared to just 58 thousand dead US soldiers. Today, due to the use of the chemical Weapon – “Agent Orange” – Vietnamese people are continuously effected by genetic disorders and physical (psychological) disabilities. Agent Orange was both a “defoliant” (designed to kill and remove plants and vegetable matter) – whilst also turning a foetus gestating in a womb into a “cancer” that killed the mother and child. The reality was that many babies developed anyway – but with terrible malformations. This is how capitalism seeks to destroy Socialism.
