Years ago I read an interview with Imelda Marcos, first lady to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. In 1967 Lyndon Johnson visited the Marcos’ in Manila. She said Johnson unfurled a big map of the Pacific and explained his strategy in Vietnam.
LBJ said U.S. involvement in Vietnam was about tying up Communist resources on one battleground, affording time for the non-communist Asian states—many of them just emerging from colonial rule—to develop stable governments, economies and armed forces that could cope with local communist insurgencies. To this end the war was a success.
The U.S. buildup in Vietnam forced the Soviets, and to a lesser extent the Chinese, to divert money, arms and materiel to Vietnam thus neglecting other armed Marxist movements in the Western Pacific.
This strategy strengthened the rising nations of Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea. The cost to the Soviets was huge because of their dysfunctional economy.
When Russian personnel began appearing in the conquered South Vietnam the people called them “Americans without dollars.”
You are welcome. Y our story reminds me of something I hadn’t thought about for years. The first reunion I went to was Gamewardens. Their speaker on Saturday night was Elmo Zumwalt and he made essentially the same points. I like the line about Americans without money.