I was in DaNang, and you seem to forget that during Tet, Saigon, DaNang, Hue City, Khe Sanh and dozens of regional capitals were attacked. It wasn’t just the journalists that were surprised, the American commanders and troops were surprised also because no one thought they could launch such a coordinated offensive. No question the North lost many more men than us, but just like other wars (Afghanistan comes to mind) where we have spent years training and supporting a besieged government, the ARVNs were incapable of holding back the north or winning the support of the majority of the populous and crumbled as soon as we pulled out.

The American military is the finest in the world, but we have a tough time fighting an asymmetrical war on foreign soil when the local military and government cannot defend themselves. This has been proven time and time again.

And since this thread has morphed into a debate on VietNam, let me tell you a personal story. While in DaNang, I became acquainted with an ARVN Officer. One Monday morning, I was in downtown DaNang and drove him to his unit’s Monday morning formation. I was amazed at how large the company was - maybe 150 men. When I remarked on this to the officer, he said: “most only come to Monday morning formation and then go back to their jobs and lives - we really only have about 25 full time soldiers”. If the ARVNs had been as dedicated to their cause as the NVA, VC and “uncle Ho”, the war might have had a different ending.

exactly!!!

And on top of that, at the Paris Peace Accords when the cease fire was negotiated, both North and South Vietnam were allowed to rebuild their military capacity to the point of self defense. The NVA did that with the help of China. The democrat controlled U.S. government refused to comply with the agreement and refused to assist South Vietnam in rebuilding to the same level. Because of that South Vietnam was caught flatfooted without the means of self defense which resulted in the fall of Saigon and the later slaughter of hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese. THAT was the disgrace of the Viet Nam War! And no one remembers that!

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And let’s not forget the history of VietNam. After being occupied by the French and the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh came to the US and asked for help, but in our wisdom, we turned him down, essentially sending him into the arms of China and Russia. We had our chance and picked the wrong (corrupt) leader. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve picked the wrong side in a regional civil war. In that respect, I agree it’s the politicians that lost the war, not in 1968, but much earlier. You just cannot promote Democracy with a people that are not ready for it and unwilling to fight for it - our history is replete with multiple examples of failed attempts (Chile, Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, VietNam)