What happened?
The SF were saved by AF and Army air power and flying in several battalions of American infantry.
So how did we lose with men like this?
“...impatient South Vietnamese soldier grabbed a U.S. officer’s pistol from him and used it to attack a North Vietnamese machine gunner. When he couldn’t chamber a round in the pistol, he used it to pistol-whip the machine gunner instead.”
Betrayed by politicians.... an old coworker and friend of mine, had been ARVN (he got out in the boat lift). He always said that if he had been in charge the Republic of Viet Nam would still be in existence.
“So how did we lose with men like this?”
We didn’t lose.
The war was won when the demonrats and fake news took Nixon down. That opened the way for the US Senate to betray our allies and hand them over to the enemy.