To an open-minded observer, the Artemis II spacecraft crew is a portrait of diversity and accomplishment. A Black man (Victor Glover). A woman (Christina Koch). A Caucasian American (Reid Wiseman). A Caucasian foreigner (Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian).
How proud we should all feel about their combined achievements, present and past.
But I wonder what Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth must truly feel about the composition of the crew? Trump and Hegseth have made it their mission to retire military leaders who are Black or female. Sometimes those dismissed have been both Black and female. Sometimes gay. Do they see any heroism in the crewman from up north, from a country Trump has disparaged?
I’m not particularly excited about lunar travel, or the far-out idea of space colonies. I was 20 years old when Neil Armstrong took those first memorable steps on the moon at 10:56 pm Eastern Daylight Time, July 20, 1969. I was a division head in summer camp, Kfar Masada in Rensselaerville, NY, near Albany.
Normally, the rest of the counselor staff and I would have been preparing to go to sleep in our bunks, but this night we all gathered around a TV screen in one of the common rooms to watch history in the making. We were all so proud, so filled with America-can-do-spirit. So relieved, a few days later, when Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins made it back to Earth safely.
The euphoria of the first in history event soon dissipated. The Vietnam War was still snuffing out lives, American and Vietnamese, as well as assorted soldiers from our allies. How different from today’s war with Iran that is fought without Allied support.
Vietnam and Iran have at least one thing in common—both American commanders in chief have been reviled for their actions during their respective wars.
Under a suspicious pretext, Lyndon Baines Johnson pushed through Congress the Gulf of Tonkin resolution extending to the president (LBJ, then Richard Nixon) unfettered war powers. Trump never bothered to bamboozle Congress. He simply ordered an attack and a compliant military bombed away with just a smattering of congressional dissent.
But like in Vietnam, Iran has shown that air power cannot subdue a tenacious foe. In South Vietnam more than half a million U.S. ground soldiers could not defeat the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. Bombing North Vietnam and its supply routes through Laos and Cambodia didn’t thwart Hanoi’s determination. Massive bombing has not cowered Iran.
Johnson was a Navy veteran of World War II, albeit with limited exposure to combat. Nixon, as well, served in the Navy in World War II, again not on front line duties. Though he was of prime age to be drafted during the Vietnam War, Donald Trump evaded conscription several times, the last time from a medical deferment for what his doctor advised were bone spurs in his heels.
Vance At a Crossroads: Go back 58 years to observe how a vice president opposed to a never ending war could not unsaddle himself from his commander in chief and thus became a political casualty of an unpopular war.
Selected by President Johnson as his 1964 running mate, Hubert H. Humphrey kept his misgivings mostly to himself about the escalation of America’s involvement in Vietnam. By the end of 1964 U.S. troops in Vietnam numbered 23,300. The number kept growing—184,300 (1965); 385,300 (1966); 485,600 (1967); 536,100 (1968).
As troop counts escalated so did opposition to the war, on the streets, college campuses, the halls of Congress and presidential primary states. After Johnson dropped out of the race in March, Humphrey became the front-runner of establishment Democrats.
But his candidacy did not galvanize anti-war voters, forcing Humphrey to issue a September call for a halt to bombing North Vietnam. He called it a “risk for peace.” Johnson, according to reports, considered Humphrey’s position “treasonous.”
Humphrey narrowly lost the election to Richard Nixon who, though promising he had a secret plan to end the war, kept it going for another four years.
Our current vice president, JD Vance, reportedly opposed Trump’s plan to attack Iran. He has been a long-time voice of restraint on foreign involvements. But like most vice presidents, his private counsel is not part of his public comments.
Trump cannot legally run again for president in 2028. Vance is thought to have the inside track for the nomination. A more military-minded Marco Rubio, secretary of state, is thought to be his primary challenger.
How Vance publicly handles the continuing conflict, now that he has been unable to secure a negotiated truce with Iran during talks in Pakistan over the weekend, may well determine his future.
Here’s an interesting coincidence: JD Vance shares the same last name of another former American statesman, Cyrus Vance, secretary of state during the Carter administration. They are not related.
During the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1980, Cyrus Vance opposed a military rescue mission to free the 52 hostages approved by President Jimmy Carter. After the attempt failed, Vance resigned in protest.
No rational person expects JD Vance to resign.
(Editor’s note: I believe the war with Iran was necessary. I believe, however, the war has been ill-planned, with unrealistic objectives, and has resulted in enormous cost to America’s standing in the world, economies throughout the world, the integrity of our armed services, and our supply of armaments. This war really should have had one and only one objective to be realized at all costs—the successful removal of enriched uranium from Iran.)
