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In 1961 my HS world govenment teacher assigned a term paper to be on a country that would be significant in the next decade. I chose Vietnam. My World Government teacher said Vietnam would not be significant. I should have chosen Cuba or an emerging country in Africa.

Never-the-less, I did significant research on a term paper on which I got a D-.

I was in the Army and Vietnam in 66-67. I came home to Chicago’s inner city Christmas eve 1967, 1 week before the Tet Offensive.

Everyone in my inner city Alinsky organization in a heavily Democrat area was pro-war, except some of the Alinsky organizers.

In 1968 the anti-war types from the lakefront tried to co-opt us because we could produce thousands on a protest line and they could only produce a dozen. I have fond memories of NCO chasing them off Noble Square in one of their attempts.

In 1968 pro-war Humphrey beat anti-war McCarthy. Then even more pro-war Nixon beat Humphrey even though Wallace, who was even more pro-war than Nixon, split the pro-war vote.

In 1972 Nixon over-whelmed ant-war McGovern both nationwide, and in Chicago’s Democrat inner city with a dozen Democrat Ward Committeemen forced by the voters to back a Republican...in inner city Chicago.

Among the college youth, The Catholic Newman Society was the biggest youth organization. Second biggest were Young Republicans, then Hubert Humphreys Young Democrats, Bill Brigth’s Campaign for Christs/Youth-for-Christ, then YAF, then a dozen greek societies and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Captive Nations Youth Division.

The top 20 youth organizations by membership could all be described as pro-war, anti-communist.

Yet my kids and grandkids history books describe the war as unpopular with the majority against it, all youth against it, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Remember the Kent State riots and blamed on Nixon expanding the war to Laos and Cambodia? Well leftist/commie literature accused LBJ of being in Cambodia and Laos and that was the truth. My Artillery Battalion was in Laos shooting up the Ho Chi Minh trail .... just incase someone was on it. (We had no live fire fights while I was there.)

But both left and right miss the truth of the Vietnam war and why we lost.

From the fall of North Vietnam in the late 1940s Gallup type polls were done of opinion in S Vietnam. All Montargds and all Catholics and Protestants were 100% anti-Communist and very pro-US. (Over a million Christians had fled N Vietnam and were now in S Vietnam... or in the CMA churches in the US).

Vietnam was majority Bhuddist and over 80% were anti-Communist. About 20% were neutral- the Cambodian Sihanouk position. That was true all during the 1950s.

Then, in the early 1960s the CIA had the president of S Vietnam assassinated because he was more anti-communist, more hard-line than the official US position and was a obstacle to peace.

It was at that moment of the assassination of Diem that the poll numbers in S Vietnam started to drop. At first the drop was only slight. JFK had the concept of Special Forces that would be trained to win the hearts and minds of the people, as well as win on the battle field.

Then LBJ sent millions of us over with no training in how to win the hearts and minds of the people. We were bored stiff as there was no fighting. Of 550,000 Americans in the war zone when I was there, under 50,000 ever actually saw a real live enemy. (Remember, this was before Tet.)

Being bored stiff, many went into town, got drunk and raped the local women. Everytime a local woman was raped, her family turned anti-American and thus pro-communist. I was often adjacent to the 7th Cav. They would approach a good looking young woman in a small village in the central highlands.

The woman would hold up her Bible and say: I Christian. My huband fight with you against Godless Communism.

The Americans would rape her anyway.

It was the action of Americans off the babblefield that lost the war in Vietnam. This was at the same time as the sexual revolution and free love stateside. Many in Nam felt like they were missing out on the action back home and that the war protestors were doing their girlfriend. Boredom was mixed with anger.

But rarely does anyone on the left or right or center ever mention that the above scenario is the most likely Vietnam War Scenario. The Right points out that we won every battle on the battlefield and blames politicians for caving.

The left does not want to admit that free love and the sexual revolution played an important and ugly part in the war. Remember, in 1966-67 the left was still very male dominated. The scene in Forrest Gump of leftist protestors raping women was actually the norm. Free love meant the guys could demand free love of the gals. None of that Christian nicety of marriage could get in the way.

There is one mention of the truth of the Vietnam War in Susan Brownmiller’s book Against Our Will. Other than that there is no widely published truth of the War... not from the Right. Not from the Left.