Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s leader, was so grateful to the US for its defense of the region, he had a purpose-built carrier repair facility built to facilitate American operations in the region. Vietnam was a Thermopylae - a delaying campaign fought in order to give the newly-independent nations of Southeast Asia time to stabilize and muscle up to destroy the insurgencies also being supplied by the Chinese and the Russians. The US effort in Vietnam essentially prevented huge stores of Chinese and Russian supplies from being diverted elsewhere.
Just how big were their efforts in Vietnam? Individually, they dwarf the combined EU and US supply efforts in Ukraine, whether in terms of troops, aircraft, tanks, SAMs, ammunition or artillery pieces.
You make some excellent points. Still think sending a ton of troops to die in Vietnam was a mistake. Some of the goals you highlighted could have been done in other ways. LBJ was an ###. That said, again your points are excellent.
Thank you. That is an essential aspect of the entire event. It was later reported that it cost Russia a much greater percentage of its National Gross Product to provide military support to NVN than the percentage supplied to SVN by the U.S.
It soon became apparent that our effort in VN based on honoring an agreement with an ally was certainly headed toward a major global conflict with China and Russia.
VN was the wrong battlefield for such a larger conflict, we decimated the opponent's ability to wage war and left as soon as convenient. The well-published photo of civilians evacuating embassy by helicopter was taken a few years later after NVN violated the peace treaty.
The author of the article says he has "...done a great deal of research and introspection about the war, to understand the war’s pathology from beginning to end". He conveniently fails to mention, however, the sizeable role of China or Russia in the event, or perhaps even more importantly the role of the American Left in our culture, our MSM and Congress.
Simply put, those who say we "lost the war in VN" are mistaken or following an agenda. We did indeed, however, soundly prevail at great cost of lives in a local skirmish that deferred, perhaps temporarily, a global conflict.
BTW, there were at least two kinds of Purple Heart holders who served in VN, those given to patriotic American warriors and those who like John Kerry's three citations, were based on slight injuries that did not take them off duty.
A lot of the latter type may well believe we lost the war.