Legendary Voice of CBS News, Walter Cronkite, Dies at 92

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Ashoka January 9, 2013 11:59 am (Pacific time)

This just shows the depths to which chirnoc rightwingnuts have to sink... unfairly beating up on Walter Cronkite the day after he died.The Tet Offensive was a numerical victory for the U.S. but it was a turning point in the Vietnam War because it showed the average American, for the first time, what a quagmire we were in. Out of literally nowhere, the NVA and the Viet Cong simultaneously attacked almost every provincial capital in South Vietnam -- and we were totally clueless. These guerillas kicked the holy crap out of us before we could even blink, we were so unprepared. Once we got back up on our feet, yeah, we kicked back, and harder, but the Tet Offensive damaged (ifnot destroyed) the myth of American invincibiity. And Walter Cronkite was an American hero for standing up and telling America what was going on. His coverage wasn't "biased", his coverage told the truth. And Nixon -- like many rightwingnuts -- couldn't as easily manipulate Americans who knew the truth.You should be ashamed of even posting this slander against an important Ameerican figure less than 24 hours after his death."Christian", indeed.

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Mark Sichau July 22, 2009 6:34 am (Pacific time)

Daniel glad to hear you got involved in informing people about Agent Orange. When the Veterans Administration started their Agent Orange Registry List many of my fellow 'Nam veterans started contacting as many exposed Vets as we could. As I'm sure you know it was different national Veterans Organizations that led the way in this campaign and we have been able to continually enlarge the number of different medical ailments that get veterans automatic service connection, which means there is no big delay in getting the veterans paper work moving immediately in most cases. We constantly have to keep vigilant in this matter, while continually informing as many veterans as possible about their benefits. I do not know if you served in Vietnam but no doubt you have talked to many who have from the sounds of your posts. My initial point was about how many of us felt betrayed by Cronkite for his erroneous and highly inaccurate statements he made to his rather large viewing audience. Our betrayal I assure you, is based on actual events that we actually experienced. I was just a minor player in the war, as were most all of us, but we knew what was going on a lot better than those who received their info from secondary, even tertiary sources. To see a thumbnail sketch on Vietnam data see http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html. Many Vietnam veterans went on to become members of literally every profession you can think of, including history professors and authors of books dealing with this history. So second hand vs. first hand is a no contest. Keep up the good work with Agent Orange Daniel, there are so many vets out there who are sick and do not know they qualify for a VA disability. By the way we knew we were not battling street fighters, for example there were over 2200 of our fixed-wing aircraft shot down and over 5,000 rotary-wing aircraft shot down that killed thousands of our pilots. We lost nearly 60,000 killed total and we killed well over one million of the enemy. I know what war is about Daniel, and we won all the battles in Vietnam and all the empirical evidence shows that the enemy was defeated during TET 68. Thanks again for your Agent Orange activity.

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Daniel July 21, 2009 12:39 pm (Pacific time)

BTW Mark I did speak with the head doctor of viet nam in 1982 for a documentary on agent orange and its effects .I saw the hot spots in country that were poisoned by 245t orange and purple . I also saw the list and photos of birth defects caused by the mass poisioning of the country . I help bring the 245t issue forward for US veterans to receive money for their damage from this poision . My brother and friends were told it was just stress till it got worse .I am sorry for the personal damage you have experenced but it was US policy makers not CBS that sent you and so many other good people there . The north was supplied by the USSR , we were not just up against a few street fighters .

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Mark Sichau July 21, 2009 10:16 am (Pacific time)

I hope those of you who can, please stop by and visit the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall in Albany. For more info "from the NVA": North Vietnamese Gen. Giap planned and directed the military operations against the French that culminated in their defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. During the 1960's Giap controlled guerrilla operations against South Vietnam and the United States and planned the Tet Offensive of 1968. In his book, Giap clearly indicated that NVA troops were without sufficient supplies, and had been continually defeated time and again. By 1968, NVA morale was at it's lowest point ever. The plans for "Tet" '68 was their last desperate attempt to achieve a success, in an effort to boost the NVA morale. When it was over, General Giap and the NVA viewed the Tet '68 offensive as a failure, they were on their knees and had prepared to negotiate a surrender. The Vietnam War was about to end, as the NVA was prepared to accept their defeat. Then, they heard Walter Cronkite (former CBS News anchor and correspondent) on TV proclaiming the success of the Tet '68 offensive by the communist NVA. They were completely and totally amazed at hearing that the US Embassy had been overrun. In reality, The NVA had not gained access to the Embassy--there were some VC who had been killed on the grassy lawn, but they hadn't gained access. Further reports indicated the riots and protesting on the streets of America. According to Giap, these distorted reports were inspirational to the NVA. They changed their plans from a negotiated surrender and decided instead, they only needed to persevere for one more hour, day, week, month, eventually the protesters in America would help them to achieve a victory they knew they could not win on the battlefield. There are so many slants on what happened, then there is what actually happened. We Vietnam vets of this time period were betrayed.

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Daniel July 21, 2009 8:53 am (Pacific time)

Mark the US WON tet. It was CLARK CLIFFORD who told lbj adding more troups would make little diffrence in March 1968 , LBJ than confered with GEN's Taylor , Bradley , ridgeway and CIA director Helmes it was they who agreed with this . LBJ comment about Walter was if we lost him we lost the middle class support. We won Iraq in a few days , we are still there . It was the GENERIALS who adviced lbj not cronkite that called the shots .It was the Generals who looked over the intellengence with cia dirrector helms , they had all the intell . The tail does not wag the dog , Walter was a reflection of Americas view of the war by 1968 .

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Mark Sichau July 20, 2009 1:06 pm (Pacific time)

JB I agree with your main thrust, but as you know there will always be those who are hard set in their opinions who will filter out any info that shows that they are in error. This is human nature, so at least we and countless others are on the same page when it comes to evaluating what Cronkite reported, no doubt completely opposite of what was going on. There were so many people who impacted the news then, even clods like Jane Fonda, it had an accumlative effect. I encouage those doubters out there to seek out some older Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotions, even some Burmese (Myanmar) to get their appraisal of having survived that time period and what they thought of what the media was reporting in terms of accuracy, ditto for many of the history books out there. Many died escaping from that hellhole. I put many close friends in body bags and wrapped them in ponchos' when we ran out of body bags. I know my experience is like those who have fought in all wars, but we won the Vietnam War during TET 1968, and in time morale of the public was eroded by false info and this in turn led to the death of millions. It has also embolden our enemies to continue with similar propaganda to negatively impact public opinion. We have some serious domestic problems to deal with and those enemies are here with us, doing all they can to sway public opinion with false and misleading info. They will always try to distract you from what is really going on by manufacturing a boogie man, which is what they are. The Alinksy distraction and ridicule method.

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Daniel July 20, 2009 9:24 am (Pacific time)

Guys please get your facts correct . It was Gen Omar Bradley . Matt Ridgeway , Max Taylor and cia Richard Helms who advised LBJ and informed him on the wars status . You make Walter into a controling demidgod who told lbj and Nixon what to do and they followed blindly . Please READ the history not some spectulation from right wing blogs ! I lost many close friends and relitives during the war , and i dont blame walter , it was LBJ and Nixon who were in charge. JB I was no fan of the VC , it seems if you dont have good facts you go after the poster .

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JB July 18, 2009 8:19 pm (Pacific time)

Daniel, you stll seem like a hard core VC supporter to this day. Tet was the Vietnames Battle of the Bulge. They were defeated and threw everythin they had at the Americans. Because of inept politicians running the war instesd of the generals we know what happand.

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Jim Mays July 19, 2009 12:35 pm (Pacific time)

Walter Cronkite was just one person of a large group of people who misinformed America about what was going on in Vietnam. It is clear that many in the media willfully and intentionally misled our people about our military victory during the TET 1968 offensive. As far as providing historical links to what Cronkite did, then just look at the television or read any daily newspaper that discusses his biography. I realize people have very emotionally reactions to this subject, but it is what it is. It is a very emotional matter to me and my Nam buddies also. The North Vietnamese and VC were demoralized and had their material support from the north essentially stopped as was mentioned by a below poster. It is true that the North Vietnamese acknowledged years later that they were finished except for the fact that the U.S. media, especially Cronkite, were misleading the folks in the states and gave them hope to continue their pursuit of conquering South Vietnam, and eventually raining death all over S.E. Asia. When it comes to counting casualties on both sides, by all means do so. We kicked their butts all throughout the war. As far as the fighting ability of the South Vietnamese military, well the CIDG could defeat them, but it wasn't about them, and anyone who fought there knew that. We had other excellent fighters from overseas, the Australians (many have extremely difficult PTSD problems and a government that is too damn passive in helping them). I spent time with the Korean Tiger Force, and these were excellent fighters who were quite aware of the misinformation coming from the U.S. media. I say Godspeed to Cronkite, but I have absolutely no respect for him nor do many of those who knew what he had done with the facts. I might add there are many of us who met with NIKE and asked them not to build their factories there because we were still in the process of developing POW leads. I would go barefoot before I wore NIKE products. Oh well, my small protest against them. Once again, there is a documented history about this time period and there is much disinformation about it. Suprisingly I hear much misinformation coming from many who served there, but no doubt they are just as misinformed/confused as those who listened to Cronkite and people of similar character.

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Anonymous July 19, 2009 7:14 am (Pacific time)

Daniel: and now the U.S. is doing the exact same thing in Afghanistan. It has come to my attention, the elite do not go to war to win. They do it to de-stabilize, and make alot of money. They financed both sides of WW2. The side that wins, pays back the money with interest, the side that loses, gives up the countries assets to the elite at pennies on the dollar. These people are not nice people, and they are close to taking over everything, including your health care, and everything you do via the carbon tax, which will be paid to international/foreign banks. Hillary Clinton, in her own words, said " The CFR runs the U.S." look it up. Playtime and games are over. I usually dont do this, make predictions that is, but before the end of the year, probably sept/oct, we are going to see life completely different. Whether it is a bank holiday, the ORCHESTRATED virus, or start a world war. One of them is coming soon. Prepare.

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Daniel July 18, 2009 5:12 pm (Pacific time)

Tet was a military victory for the U.S. but with heavy losses to the svn army and caused massive displaced people for svn to deal with. A great deal of the U.S. losses were from the complancy of the command . One example was having the f4's exposed with ordanance to vc rockets at Da Nang . LBJ and his crew lied to the America people about the troup build up and that victory was at hand . The actions of a supposed defeated nvn army shocked the American public because we had been told we were in control . The nva and vc were down but not out .Their loss was massive but they still had a hard core , the fact they could regroup and extend the war for years showed this. America heart was never into the war from the beginning ! Why should it , viet where ? Most I served with were not gung ho , they wanted to serve their time and go home in one piece and hang with their girl before some jodie mf got her .The VC and NVA had hard core well trained violent troups who were fighting for their turf . If American troups were fighting on our home land for years it would have been a different story . Today viet Nam makes running shoes .

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Henry Ruark July 18, 2009 2:55 pm (Pacific time)

Friends All: Agreed long ago with all others that Vietnam was terrible disaster brought on by egregious errors in judgement by our leaders all. Agreed it came about via Kennedy error and McNamara role on which historians DO agree. RFK termed McNamara "most dangerous man in the cabinet because most persuasive". It is no attack on McNamara to state what is historic record, despite near date to his recent death. My sole point here is that Cronkite was NOT --and COULD NEVER-- have been responsible solely on his own, even via his powerful points re famed broadcast impacts, for the sorry and undeniable very costly withdrawal we finally made. Whether "victory" could or should have been "won" is NOT the issue here, no matter how one defines "victory". Rather the truth is closer, I do believe most will agree, to WHY and HOW this could occur in a nation so organized as a democratic republic...a secondary point of deep interest here for cogitation. That's historical and public opinion fact-as-stated. All else here may well be best possible knowledge from those Charlies who were there, for whom I have, for personal reasons unstateable here, very high regard and accord to them every honor. BUT attack on Cronkite s clearly stated is still an egregious example of attack on one responsible, reputable journalist by "just putting out" statement impossible to document via authoritative historical judgments made by those trained, skilled, and highly informed, well after the emotional impacts of those times. History is history, not open to partial unfactual statement by those unqualified and unidentified to question when so timed. We still await any link or other expression from recognized historians specifying sole blame placed on Cronkite, as clearly done in the words I questioned. Again, honest, open and democratic dialog has surfaced fact and strong feeling bearing on intensely painful issues, still relevant to our times-today. That's purpose of forced cogitation demonstrated here. Thank you all for your insightful and accurate perceptions, insights, and experiences so well shared.

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Mark Sichau July 18, 2009 1:57 pm (Pacific time)

I was there during TET 1968 and frankly after I got back to the states and was able to review more of what happened throughout South (and North) Vietnam did I realize what an utter and complete victory our forces had over North Vietnam. The media had access to the same military info I had. While there I just knew about my particular localized geography ranging from the Central Highlands (Dak To area) over to Tuy Hoa along the coast. As far as the VC, they were simply reduced to something akin to gangbangers just participating in an endless array of terrorist acts and general criminal activity. Militarily they were finished as were the North Vietnamese, then LBJ dropped the ball. Years later the North Vietnamese brass admitted that they were out for the count, but hoped the American media would continue with their propaganda, which they did. The North Vietnamese saving lives? That's unbelieveable. Those who had up in your face interaction with these mosters knew just how ruthless they were. They controlled all news coming out of the area when we left so figure their spin was always influencing what was getting out to the world. I am always amazed at how many people who were never there, or those who were there, and never educated themselves on what happened during the TET time period. It was won at that time, with misleading reporting along with weak leadership which helped to create the largest killing fields since WWII after we left. Please note we had been bombing their transportation routes through Laos and chiefly Cambodia going back to 1966. Their supply lines were reduced to a trickle during TET, they were in complete disarray and had no logistical support. There were false stories planted that we bombed Cambodian towns, typical propaganda, it was untrue.

Editor: Mark, thanks for sharing this with us.

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Mike Sinclair July 18, 2009 11:03 am (Pacific time)

Walter Cronkite was a close friend and sailing buddy with Ted Kennedy. Earlier this week, ABC, CBS and NBC all noted the tenth anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. That Kennedy was an “icon” according to CBS’s Harry Smith, and “the Prince of Camelot” to ABC’s Chris Cuomo, a former cousin-in-law. Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, killed July 18, 1969 after leaving a party with Senator Edward Kennedy. That night, Kennedy drove his car off a bridge, and left the scene with Kopechne still in the submerged vehicle; he did not call the police until the following morning. Over the course of the past four decades, the media elite have touted Kennedy as a “liberal lion,” spending far more time celebrating his ideological agenda than reminding people of his behavior that night in 1969. The media have come to refer to Chappaquiddick as a “Kennedy tragedy,” not a “Kopechne tragedy.”

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Henry Ruark July 18, 2009 11:34 am (Pacific time)

To all: Not everyone is aware of the new move from some Far Right (well-funded) sources to denigrate, defame and damage in any way possible the public record of some of our leading journalists in past years. That effort includes several attacks on I.F. Stone, going so far as to accuse him of Soviet entrapment and use as informer. The motive for this new work of damage to our democracy, in actuality well supported by journalistic ethical workers over many decades, is simple: "Defy, deny, delay and defeat" their good reputation, thus also damaging what their work has taught us about essential honest, open, democratic dialog leading to the deeper public understanding of issues and problems we must solve, for any hope of bettering American life in the 21st Century.

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Henry Ruark July 18, 2009 11:10 am (Pacific time)

To all: Rapid research now shows clearly that comment re our withdrawal from VietNam was far and away the result not only of Cronkite and many similar reports, but also of letters-home and many other complex factors...per consensus of famed historians sought out. Thus now challenge jb still further to produce any possible documentation and/or proof of his-alone persuasion seemingly chargeable with many following deaths, however caused, by whom and on either side. That's intolerable and outrageous public statement re "nation's most trusted" journalist and demands intense challenge from any of us still involved in the profession and seeking ethical treatment of one of our pioneers, proven far more trustworthy than most who attack him within hours of his death. I await response, but will surely not hold my breath nor further insistence on reply or withdrawal of this statement by jb. Put up or shut up, sir!

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Daniel July 18, 2009 10:32 am (Pacific time)

JB in 1968 lbj was still building up troups and lieing about it . It was tet not cronkite that gave America second thoughts about the war . Was the war winnable , Nixon sure gave it a try . It was Nixon who expanded the war thru his air campaign ,dropping more bombs on se asia than were used by all side in WW2 . The US pulled out in 1974 under him . Nixon after SIX MORE YEARS and THOUSANDS MORE DEAD thought the war unwinable and left it to the svn army to defend themselves . It also is noted it was the north viet nam army who stopped the blood bath in Cambodia , saving hundreds of thousands , started by the American destablization of that country . JB You have history all wrong , LBJ built up the war killing many thousands , Nixon ended it . The best way for Viet Nam was not working with the French in the 50's and working with our WW2 partner Ho Chi Minh , but that was not the case . One further note , most american solders did not have the will for a longer protracted fight . It was not their country , most put in their hard one year and left . In the last years of the was there was divisions in the army between the elisted mem and the officers , fragging became all too common .The only way to win was to turn the north into a nuclear wasteland and hope China did not start ww3.

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Mark Sichau July 18, 2009 10:19 am (Pacific time)

I WAS THERE ( VIETNAM), AS WERE MILLIONS OF OTHERS. My opinion is not based on his reporting prior to the Vietnam War. I regret that I did not write to him and tell him how MUCH I resented his LYING when reporting on the Vietnam War. He impacted the thinking of many and I regret that we did not have other news outlets and the internet then to balance out the misinformation that he and others in the media reported....MOST AMERICANS NEVER KNEW that we won EVERY SINGLE BATTLE THERE. Most only knew about failure and body bags. The myths continue today even as those who demand more treatment for all PTSD vets, if they only knew that "truthful reporting" would be a major step in helping these combat veterans. This massive misinformation ended up causing the deaths of millions in South Vietnam, Cambodia and throughout southeast Asia. Other than that, RIP Walter Cronkite, RIP.

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Anonymous July 18, 2009 8:51 am (Pacific time)

38 second video by Walter Cronkite, explaining very clearly who runs this country. Wake up people, I have hundreds of articles/clips thru my years of research to back this up. And the fact that most of obamas cabinet are former bankers, you can truly see just how powerful they are, and that presidents are nothing more than puppets to these people. Check with Andrew Jackson, he will tell ya also. Go Walter!! :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9qyI7JVoi8andeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwhatreallyhappened.com%2Fandfeature=player_embedded

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Henry Ruark July 18, 2009 8:37 am (Pacific time)

JB: "Just putting it out there" avoids very neatly the fact of the matter --which is that the Cronkite statement came from close examination at the front itself, and on the basis of his solid experience over the years elsewhere, in both the politics, public opinion, and historical events involved. So, must ask: "Vas you dere, Charlie ?" From whence cometh these so-easy/now comments ? What's your basis, in documentation from other authorities with known right to speak ? IF you do not have strong, trained and long journalistic experience, specifically on the front involved, you speak from either lack of knowledge or transmission of opinion from someone else...what's the source ? ANY courageous journalist, esp. one enmeshed in those times of travail, strain, and extreme controversy, is open to similar attack...esp. when just-dead. WHY would anyone wish to do so, in such an exceptional case as the Cronkite record over the years ? Must be a very substantil reason...what's yours ? One you cite sounds very much too-simple, words chosen to cover other real reason. Why smear and detract from historic fact, held in strong consensus by solid authority, that his comments were not only accurate and timely but realistic and demanded ? IF we had listened, learned and then acted earlier, we would surely be in far better shape today than we now are, do you agree ?? Cronkite earned his right to speak then. How have you earned yours, now ? Source-and-motivation always apply in every communication, unavoidably, unmistakably, and remorselessly.

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Daniel Johnson July 18, 2009 4:59 am (Pacific time)

Of the 1963 coup in South Vietnam that the US engineered, some participants later came to regret it. General Maxwell Taylor wrote in his memoirs that from the perspective of history it could only be seen “as a disaster, a national disaster.” Edward Lansdale said it was “a terrible, stupid thing.” And William Colby called it “the worst mistake of the Vietnam war.” After the coup, the succeeding president only held power for three months before being overthrown in another coup. “After that a succession of military strongmen ruled South Vietnam.” wrote Kinzer in Overthrow, p. 208 In 1964 Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia said: “Our American friends are remarkable organizers, brilliant technicians and excellent soldiers. But their incontestable realism stops short of the realm of politics, where the attitude of the ostrich seems to conform best to their interests.”

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jb July 17, 2009 9:23 pm (Pacific time)

Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 statement on the air that the Viet Nam War was unwinnable, convinced President Lyndon Johnson to withdraw U.S. troops and abandon the South Vietnamese people. As a result, the U.S. left Vietnam which allowed the North Vietnamese butchers to kill hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese. In fact, the war was winnable, the U.S., not it's soldiers, did not have the will to win it. Just putting it out there.

Editor: No argument there, it was a sad dynamic.  My understanding is that there were at least two points when the U.S. could have forced the North Vietnamese to surrender.  Of course knowning that Ho Chi Minh actually worked with Roosevelt during WWII fighting the Japanese and that he wrote to Truman multiple times in the late 40's, going so far as to offer the nation as an American territory... is distressing knowledge.  Anyway, I still see it as the loss of another living part of American history.  I'm pretty sure he loved this country as much as any American and likely regretted any errors in judgement.  Thanks for your comment!

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