It’s not even past. In a sort of counter-point in the Washington Post, Lan Cao present five myths about the Vietnam War:
- The Viet Cong was a scrappy guerrilla force.
- The refugees who came to the U.S. were Vietnam’s elite.
- American soldiers were mostly draftees.
- Enemy forces breached the U.S. Embassy in the Tet Offensive.
- South Vietnamese soldiers were unwilling and unable to ï¬ght.
to which I’d add one more: the Vietnam War was unpopular. It had majority support until at least 1968.
Not sure I would even take Lan Cao as providing the definitive history. Just way too much confusion and rewriting of history. Just limiting this to the Tet Offensive, I have always thought that it was the context hat was important. Westmoreland had announced at the end of ’67 that we pert much had the war under control and the end in sight. That is what made Tet a real blow. Whether enemy forces made it into the embassy or just onto the grounds is kind of irrelevant.
The capabilities of ARVN remain controversial.
Steve
I have Francis Fitzgerald’s Fire in the Lake coming. Discussion the other day, and, well, my brother’s death made me curious:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316284238/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1