TRUTHS ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR



“Do not fear the enemy,
for your enemy can only take your life.
It is far better you fear the media,
for they will steal your HONOR.”

Author unknown

Virtual Vietnam Wall

Click on the following link, then by state, then name, to find each person listed on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.
You will find their service information, awards,
and information regarding their death.

Help your Brothers. Join Vietnam Veterans of America

Check online for a Chapter near youu!


Vietnam Veterans of America Chapters in Alabama

 

	VVA Chapters in Alabama
Chapter	Address	City	State	Zip
VVA ALABAMA STATE COUNCIL	3121 APPLE VALLEY LANE	OXFORD	AL	36203
VVA CHAPTER #502 / Website	PO BOX 2326	ANNISTON	AL	36202-
VVA CHAPTER #511 / Web Site	PO BOX 604	ATHENS	AL	35611
VVA CHAPTER #190 / Website	HOLMAN UNIT 3700	ATMORE	AL	36503-0037
VVA CHAPTER #864 / Website	PO BOX 1081	FAIRHOPE	AL	36533
VVA CHAPTER #637 / Website	PO BOX 164	GADSDEN	AL	35902-
VVA CHAPTER #701/ Website	PO BOX 850775	MOBILE	AL	36685-
VVA CHAPTER #607 / Website	220 2ND STREET	MONTGOMERY	AL	36110-
VVA CHAPTER #373 / Website	PO BOX 1112	DALEVILLE	AL	36322
VVA CHAPTER #416 / Website	P.O. BOX 1354	LEEDS	AL	35094
VVA CHAPTER #740 / Website	565 E RENFROE RD	TALLADEGA	AL	35160-
VVA CHAPTER #301 / Website	2621 7TH STREET	TUSCALOOSA	AL	35401-1803
VVA CHAPTER #786 / Website	PO BOX 1032	WINFIELD	AL	35594
VVA CHAPTER #742 / Website	P.O. Box 195	Sheffield	AL	35660-0195

  

 1968 Tet Offensive and the News Media

 

            As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. It was reported as an overwhelming success for the Communist forces, and a decided defeat for the U. S. forces. Nothing could be further from the truth.

          Despite initial successes by the Communist forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those forces. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee, MacArthur as a great commander. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. It resulted in the deaths of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. The organization of the Viet Cong units in the South never recovered. Years later, it was announced that Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap concurred that the Tet Offensive was a major defeat for his forces.

 

          The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. Particularly, prior to Tet, the majority of Americans were in favor of the war in Vietnam, but the misrepresentation of the truth gave momentum to the anti-war factions in the United States. Instead of the U. S. military being allowed to deliver the final knock-out blow to the Communist forces, politicians caved in to the anti-war activists. This was just one example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth.

  


101st A/B  -  173rd A/B Brigade  -  82nd A/B
"Screamin' Eagles" - "The Herd"  -   "All American Div."


MYTH: The United States lost the war in Vietnam.

 

                    FACT: The U. S. military was not defeated in Vietnam.

 

            The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. Quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California at Berkley, Gen. Westmoreland stated the war was a major military defeat for the VC and the NVA.

            The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973.

          How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? We fought to an agreed stalemate. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. It called for release of all U. S. prisoners, withdrawal of all U. S. forces inside South Vietnam, and a commitment to peaceful reunification. The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 than there were during the more than ten years the U. S. was involved in Vietnam. Thanks for the perceived loss and the countless assassinations and torture visited upon Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians goes mainly to the American media and their undying support-by-misrepresentation of the anti-war movement in the United States. 

More Myths and Facts about the Vietnam War

 

Myth: Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.

 

Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.

U. S. Special Forces    -  MACV

Vietnam War facts from the VA

 

 

 

 

 

   9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975

 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam

 

Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation

 

240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor

 

58,148 were killed in Vietnam

 

304.000 were wounded

 

75,000 were severely wounded

 

23,214 were 100% disabled

 

5,283 lost limbs; 1,081 sustained multiple amputations

 

Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21

 

11,465 of those killed were younger than 20

 

Of those killed, 17,539 were married

 

Average age of men killed was 23.1 years

 

Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old

 

The oldest man killed was 62 years old

 

97% of Vietnam veterans were honorably discharged

 

91% of Vietnam veterans say they are glad they served

 

74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome

 

There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam veterans and non-Vietnam veterans of the same age group.

(Source: Veterans Administration study)

 

Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet groups.

 

Vietnam veterans’ personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran group by more than 18%.

 

Vietnam veterans are less likely to be in prison – only one-half of one percent of Vietnam veterans have been jailed for crimes.

 

 

            Some ask how the Viet Cong could fight so well against the U. S. military forces who obviously were better equipped and better trained. Those who were there know first-hand that, although from American standards the Viet Cong seemed like an unlikely formidable military force, they were just that .

On the Viet Cong

Remarks by

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Paul F. Smith,

173^rd Airborne Brigade

 

“In the context in which we consider morale as a factor affecting the performance of our soldiers, I do not believe morale to have been important in measuring performance of the VC soldier. I believe indoctrination and

discipline induced subjugation of all personal feelings. Discipline within the VC was outstanding until a situation arose that had not been covered in instructions or indoctrination – then it broke down. VC small-unit tactics lacked the element of fire and maneuver. This was probably so because the VC units were not designed for confrontational warfare nor were they structured or trained to engage organized, aggressive, well-controlled and supplied enemy forces. Their hit-and-run, ambush, infiltration, and harassing tactics were outstanding – particularly against the impatient American…”

 

 

  On the fighting ability of the Viet Cong and NVA

 

Remarks by

Gen. (Ret.) W. B. Rosson

Chief of Staff, MACV

Commanding General, Task Force Oregon (later Americal Division)

Commanding General, I Field Force

Commanding General, Provisional Corps, Viet Nam (later XXIV Corps)

Acting Commander, III Marine Amphibious Force

Deputy Commander, USMACV

 

          “Generally speaking, I found the VC and NVA soldier to be tough, courageous, well-motivated, dedicated, and competent. His overall quality diminished during the U. S. involvement due primarily to heavy combat losses. Units on the whole were well led, reliable. Commanders displayed considerable ingenuity in making do with little and in overcoming the harshness of jungle camp life. Unit effectiveness also diminished as the war progressed and as casualties took their toll. The VC and NVA excelled in the guerrilla role, and were able to surmount the challenge of operating and surviving in difficult terrain – jungle, mountains, and delta. The VC, for obvious reasons, operated more easily among the people in populated areas than did the NVA, but once the NVA personnel became acquainted with an area they blended in effectively.

          One came to admire, possible envy, the VC and NVA for their stealth, mastery of camouflage, ability to move and operate at night, noise and light discipline, and removal of bodies and weapons from the battlefield. They were impressive at times in breaching wire obstacles by stealth, demolition, or wave assault. Conduct of ambushes became a specialty.…the VC and NVA demonstrated convincingly their ability to withstand the physical and psychological hardships of campaigning ‘for the duration’ in an environment of uncommon severity and danger.”

Comments



After seeing this website, a friend of mine who served in the 173rd in Nam in 1967-68, sent me the following comments, which are his observations, and are presented for discussion:

 

    Draftees had very little opportunities to avoid combat MOS's if they were high school athletes. The available schools that a draftee could volunteer was limited to airborne, or if their scores were good enough they could get in Ft. Rucker or Ft. Sill.  Are these people now counted as volunteers rather than draftees after Jump or artillery school?  If so, everybody in the 173rd could be called a volunteer.  If you came to basic training in shape and were athletic, the draftee was assured infantry was his final destination.

 

    My impression was that I was not surrounded by near the number of idiots in the 173rd as I was in basic training.  Where did all those idiots go?  My theory is that they ended up in supply, motor pool, clerks and cooks, or some make-up unit like the AmeriCal Division or the 25th Infantry Division.  The drill instructors weren't dumb, they tagged you right out of the box.

 

    The other thing to consider in this myth is the year when the measurement is taken.  If you limited you statistics to 1967 and 1968, then I'm pretty sure your statistics would look different.  We doubled our combat footprint in these years - where do you think they got the manpower?  Plus, I have a higher opinion of the citizen soldier than most of the lifers in the military - personally, I think the military is the best when it reflects the population that it represents.  I believe in universal military service - that way, you always have a reserve of trained soldiers if the shit really hits the fan.  By in large, I think the draftee did a pretty good job in the Nam and should not be disparaged.

    Another friend emailed the following very interesting comment:

    In reading some of your website content, here's my bottom line on the Vietnam war: the brave 50 thousand that died in Vietnam did NOT die in vain. They inflicted millions of casualties on the North, thus, set the price-to-be-paid for any other nation to push communism down the throats of another. And none did. None were willing go through what we put North Vietnam through. So then, the 50 thousand put a stop to the spread of communism, and slowly the iron curtains fell, and are still falling all around today. All without a bloody third world war. The 50 thousand PREVAILED for liberty and democracy!

If you choose to comment, send me an email, and I'll post any appropriate comments here. Thanks.







The above memorial, patterened after the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D. C.,
was erected by the VFW Post in Athens, Alabama, and is located in the
southbound rest area of I-65 in north Alabama (where the big missile sits).
This beautiful memorial lists the names of all Alabamians who made the
ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War.


A Military Prayer


I saw a soldier kneeling down,
for this was the first quiet place he had found.
He had traveled through jungles, rivers, and mud.
His hands were scarred and toil-worn.
He had fought for days from night 'til morn.
He folded his hands and looked to the sky.
I saw his tears, as they welled in his eyes.

He spoke to God, and this is what he said:


"God bless my men, who now lie dead.
I know not what You have in mind,
but when You judge, please be kind...
When they come before You,
they will be poorly dressed,
but will walk proudly, for they have done their best.
Their boots will be muddy and their clothes all torn...

but these clothes they have so proudly worn.
Their hearts will be still and cold inside, for
they have fought their best and did so with pride.
So please take care of them as they pass Your way...
the price of freedom they've already paid.  

 

  

              Those Who Didn’T Return

 

If you are able, save for them

a place inside of you

and save one backward glance when you are leavingfor the places

they can no longer go.

 

Be not ashamed

to say you love them,

though you may or

may not have always.

 

Take what they have left

and what they have taught you

and keep it with your own

and take one moment to embrace

those gentle heroes

you left behind.

 

For they are the true heroes

of their generation.

Save the Montagnard People

These indigenous people of the central highlands of Vietnam
gave courageous and unselfish service to the United States
military, especially MACV-SOG Special Forces.
Contrary to the promises made to them, they were abandoned
when the U. S. forceswithdrew from Vietnam,
and were slaughteredby the thousands.
They are still being persecuted.
Efforts are finally being made to save these people.
Check out the following website.

http://www.montagnards.org/