We were not only fighting the VC in the South, we were fighting the NVA. They were infiltrating into the South as early as 1965. The battle of the Ia Drang valley (near Pleiku)was a pitched battle involving almost a division of NVA regulars, the first such major contact with the NVA.
In the beginning, many of the so-called experts tried to portray the war in the South as a civil war, i.e., between the VC and the government of South Vietnam. In reality, it was North Vietnam trying to takeover South Vietnam by force. The VC were tools of the North. Unfortunately, this myth of poor, lightly armed peasants in black pajamas (the VC) going against the Americans continues to be perpetuated by revisionist historians. The NVA were in Vietnam in strength early on. They were mostly in the North of the country, but they supplied and eventually replaced the VC elements from their sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia. We were fighting NVA regulars, including some Chinese and Russian advisors.
I find the ignorance of the American public about what happened in Vietnam to be profound. If you are interested in learning the truth about Vietnam, I suggest you take a look at the following:
The Boston Manifesto: Prepared by the Vietnam Veterans to Correct the Myths October 18, 2004
I'm familiar with your points, and have no quarrel with you.
Fact is, though, the bombing of the trail did no good, nor did green- and brown-water interdiction, since they needed next to nothing to fight with on any given day.
And the NV didn't really start coming down in significant numbers until after Tet, cause we blew the crap out of the VC, and a war abhors a vacuum.
My daddy, who was a Recon Marine out of Phu Bai, says that he was "finding" WWII M1's (leftovers from the French) as late as 1971 on communist bodies.
I will read the download you provided for me.