Though it's odd how these things work out sometimes.
Alot of American then troops have gone back there - including myself and my daughter - who in that porocess impart much about American values especially to those in the South where the majority of them served. This tends to reinforce the differences in the South which have always been different from the North and demonstrably, I believe, give them continued hope and opportunity which has been granted, albeit in stop and go fashion regularly from Hanoi since the "doi moi" ecconomic reforms of 1986.
I personally believe that Vietnam is worth it, and could eventually become one of our greatest allies in Asia. But the United States must retain its greatness for this to happen, and that is thre great question now in the current political enveronment.
58,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam and 153,000 wounded. Using nuclear weapons in 1964 would have ended the conflict and saved American lives.