In the first week of December, 1965, I was assigned to give the weekly Convocation address to the students, faculty, and staff of Elizabethtown College. I was a lowly Instructor in History in my third semester on the faculty. My topic was “The United States and Vietnam from an Historical Viewpoint.

I mentioned that we all have been told why we are fighting Vietnam, but why are they fighting us? They have no personnel carriers, no tanks, no helicopters, no bombers flying so high that they cannot be seen or heard. Why are they padding through the jungles on foot and bicycle fighting the most powerful country in the world? With very broad sketches the history of Vietnam being dominated by various foreigners, including China, France, and Japan was outlined. They now see the United States as other foreigners trying to dominate their country.

I mentioned that Ho Chi Minh had attended the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 and was enthusiastic about President Woodrow Wilson’s ideas of national self-determination of people. He eventually learned that this was only to apply to European nations. France continued her colonial control over Vietnam. The Vietnamese Communist party was formed in 1930 with the goal of ridding the country of foreigners who were capitalists and who were exploiting their country and people. Even after the Japanese wrestled control of Vietnam from the French during World War II, the French re-established their control in 1946.

Some of the faculty circulated and signed a petition to have me fired.

During French rule all manufacturing was in the hands of Europeans. There was considerable exploitation of native labor on the rubber, rice, and coffee plantations which had been established by taking the land from the peasants and then forcing them to work in their own fields, now not their own. In some areas the communists managed to return some land to the peasants and proclaimed that this was their goal for the entire country.

Vietnamese who opposed the French were called Viet Minh. Within a few years they had basic control of the countryside and villages, and the French controlled the cities and main roads. In 1954 the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu. The French surrendered and at the Geneva Peace Conference a cease-fire was declared, two temporary zones were established and a general election was scheduled for 1956 to achieve a united Vietnam.

During the War President Roosevelt had observed that the French had dominated the area for over a hundred years and had taken out ten dollars for every dollar put in. Nevertheless, by 1950 the United States was supplying 80 percent ($2 billion) of French costs to perpetuate their colonial policies. The Cold War was now in stride and the United States acquiesced to French and British demands to continue their colonial policies.

I also outlined the activities of political and religious leaders in the United States who supported and assisted Ngo Dinh Diem and his family to establish their control in Saigon. President Eisenhower was informed that about 80 percent of the Vietnamese would vote for Ho Chi Minh in the promised election. Fearing a communist takeover, the United States changed its policy and supported Diem in cancelling the promised election.

The gradual introduction of American troops and the terrible actions of warfare were then outlined. I then said that I agreed with some American leaders who were calling for

  • A general cease-fire. Stop the terrible destruction and loss of life.
  • Have the UN patrol and keep order while gradually withdrawing American troops.
  • Make a wholesale gratis distribution of land to the peasants. Give them full and clear title–no payments–each family with enough land for more than subsistence living. This would knock the props out from under the Communist appeal. (Who pays? It would be cheaper for us to pay off the landlords, if they must be paid, than for continued warfare–and look at what better results.)
  • Hold nationwide elections for them to elect their government; draw up a constitution, provide for electing a president, etc.
  • Treat that government with respect. Offer economic aid to rebuild their devastated country.

I said that this seemed to me to be a far superior policy than continuing the war. (Added in 2017: up to the end of 1965 the US had lost 2,344 lives; by the end of the war out losses totaled 58,220)

I ended my speech by saying that the harder we pound Vietnam

  • The more we force the Viet Cong into greater reliance on Communist North Vietnam.
  • The more we push Vietnam into reliance on China for aid against us.
  • The closer we drive Russia and China together – against us.

Our policy should be the opposite of all of these.

The speech caused an uproar on campus. My department chair said that the first five minutes were OK, but the rest was hogwash (I did not have tenure). Some of the faculty circulated and signed a petition to have me fired. The college chaplain and I were called to the president’s office. When the chaplain (who scheduled programs for Convocation) said that he was scheduling a colonel from the US Army War College in Carlisle to give the “other side” of the issue, the president slammed his fist on the desk and said, “No, we have had enough controversy on this campus.” When I came to campus the next day I saw a figure swinging from a limb of the tree in front of Alpha Hall. There was a sign attached to the Raggedy Andy-like figure: “Prof Kreider.” I am the only professor in the history of Elizabethtown College to have been hanged; fortunately, in effigy.

This occurred before Walter Cronkite and other notable Americans came out against the war.

Even though it was written and delivered over 50 years ago, I am not embarrassed to provide a copy for anyone interested in reading it.
-J. Kenneth Kreider