dhight Loc: Marysville, Ca

As to being a war, it all depends, if you were in country it was a war!

Huey Driver Loc: Texas

Tell some of the folks that came home missing limbs, etc. it wasn't a war. And the families that lost loved ones. Bye the way tell me, what branch of service did you serve in and what did you do and where were you stationed? Just curious.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Interesting. I had no idea there were that many used, either. My uncle Robert Coyle was a Bell Helicopter repairman in the 1960s and early '70s. He had plenty to do.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Agreed! Those who were there, served with dignity. Lots of them didn't come home. Maybe it was, in part, "an exercise in support of the military-industrial complex," as one historian called it (ALL wars are), but to those involved, it was definitely war, and war is hell.

I wasn't there, but have friends who were. Some of them saw or did things no one should have to see or do. Most of them would rather not talk about it. A lot of them need to.

When I fly, and see an armed forces member on a plane, I always smile, and say, "Thank-you for serving." Freedom isn't free.

Declared or not, they really did fight a war! Ken Burns did a helluva good job documenting it. Anyone who watched that series on PBS from beginning to end can't help but understand that it was truly awful, and that the politics around it were quite complex.