Vietnam War, lost or not.

Please pick one of the two options.

  • The US militarily lost the Vietnam War.

    Votes: 25 45.5%

  • The US withdrew only due to the homefront protests, but they it never lost on the military level

    Votes: 30 54.5%
  • Total voters
    55
You mention that the United States was blemished in the eyes of the world ... how about the GI's that came home only to have their own government and their fellow citizens spit on everything they had fought and died for? What about the hard feelings that were created when President Ford signed a blanket amnesty for all of the draft dodgers that had fled to Canada instead of answering their country's call to arms?

As one of those who faced condemnation from my neighbors and former friends when I returned home, I didn't give a damn what the rest of the world thought about Vietnam. All I knew was that our politicians and our citizens had let us down ... part of that anger exists even today and my return from Nam lies over thirty years in my past.

We have a 16 year old young man on a local forum who is a devotee of conspiracies ... he hinted that he was going to post declassified documents from the "Gulf of Tonkin" fiasco. I told him that it would NOT be a very good idea as I would cut him to pieces and that I was NOT the only Vietnam veteran that would respond in that manner. The angers from that era have not diminished just because of the passage of time. To demonstrate just how remonstrative I would be (even after thirty years), I told him that even today I would throw Hanoi Jane over the pier side of any ship I was on IF she were to come aboard and to hell with the consequences.

SORRY FOR THE RANT GUYS ...this is one issue I can NOT be calm, cool and collected about.
 
Forgot to mention the men who came home and received nothing but anger, i can understand since their predecessors in every war were cheered when they came home and vietnam happened and then everything changed.
 
Italian Guy said:
We have a certain number of threads on Viet Nam already, but one thing interests me as a civilian. Before joining these boards I had no doubts the US had lost the war in Nam. As I talked to the cool guys in here 8) though, I learned how different the general opinion might be from the actual truth of what happened on the ground. I heard many times that the US decided to withdraw only because the war was being lost at the homefront (universities, Hollywood, pacifists) and not really in VietNam. As I have some Vietnamese-American friends I'd be curious to hear your opinion on this, specially the veterans one.

I also enclose a poll. Thank you, I'm really interested.
Click to expand...
War was not lost military or tactically. American decision to withdraw from Vietnam was political not because of military defeat.
 
Whispering Death said:
Both statements are true. But as we have found out in the last 50 years all of America's enemies have attempted to win (and have succeeded at times) by targeting American popular opinion. Remember Somalia? Gulf War(1991) Saddam throught if he could just bloody our nose with a thousand or so casualtied we'd give into him. In terrorism, as a strategy, the objective is COMPLETELY non-millitary, it's to go after the hearts and minds and convince them that war is no longer worth being waged.

So even though the US won every major battle in Vietnam, it LOST the war because the strategy of the North only required funnelling money into American peace movements and parading POWs infront of cameras. For whatever reason, America is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded when it comes to 'propogandist' warfare.
Click to expand...
Osama Bin Laden also said American people would rise up and protest the war in Iraq as we did in Nam
 
that's the generic vibe I've gotten from fellow high schoolers. Indifference to the war. They don't think it affects them, so they ignore it. A draft would certainly raise awareness, and probably create a large anti-war movement.
 
we never lost a battle.we left because :cens: hippie-communis-civlilian :cens: started bitching
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mod Warning: This post better get cleaned up ASAP. On second thought, I'll take care of it.
 
Last edited:
im probably going to repeat someone. but i cant resist.

war is a means to a political ends. hence, though im sure the US military was inflicting higher casualties on the enemy, and could defeat the enemy militarly, its irrelevent. the war was meant to contain the communist expension into south vietnam, and this failed. hence, the US lost the war, even if due to un military issues.

this dose not take an inch from what the brave men that fought there did, it just goes to show you war is a serious issue and nations shouldent commit to it unles they are sure the public can handle it.
 
It prevented a further spread of Communism in Southeast Asia (except Cambodia, that was their own thing) so it wasn't a complete loss.
Was it a defeat? Yes. I'd say so. But there was a consolation prize.
 
Thank y'all for your insights.
Do you believe the Viet Nam experience taught anything to the American military, politicians and the public?
It sure as hell stands as teaching example for the present and the past.
 
No way did we lose Vietnam. Not at all.
We should not get involved in war unless we're going to stick out until victory. Otherwise, leave it alone.
Politicians in DC decided it was better to cut and run rather than doing the right thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top