I do recall. I spent a year in-country and another 8 months off the coast. We didn't lose militarily and never lost a major battle. We lost the war at home, defeated by a MSM and leftist cabal that convinced the American public that Tet was a major defeat for the US rather than for the VC/NVA.
But the fact remains that by the late 60's the VAST majority of Americans were opposed to it. So much so that liberal Lyndon chose not to run for reelection because that war and the lies he told the American people about it -- would result in his defeat.
I will argue that major public support was lost after TET, Feb 1968, which I remember quite well being in Danang at the time. The reason the VAST majority of Americans became disenchanted with the war was because of a vehement, despicable liberal cabal led by folks like Fonda and Kerry that spread all kinds of lies about what was happening there. We also didn't fight to win with Johnson micromanaging the war wasting resources and men. His policy of gradual escalation proved disastrous.
No I didn't serve in VietNam. But I didn't serve in the Civil War either -- but I know alot more about it than many who did. That's the advantage of historical hindsight!
The victors write history. Firsthand, contemperaneous knowledge is more reliable if you want the truth. If you want to read history, you should read General Giap's view of the war and how close they came to defeat. He hung on putting all his chips on the US antiwar movement. What are your sources about what happened in Vietnam? I suspect you are buying all the nonsense that guys like Halberstram and his ilk put out.
You may feel that 58,000 troops were worth the sacrifice but those are the historical facts.
I don't regret my service and honor those who gave their lives in defense of this country. They did no less than those who served in WWI, WWII, Korea, the first Gulf War, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to American sacrifces, you forget the millions of South Vietnamese who lost their lives and their country in an effort to stop a Communist takeover. The US not only left, but also, cut off arms and funds to the South Vietnamese so they were no longer able to defend their country.
I suggest you read Kerry's Testimony before the Senate in 1971 and see what his prediction was about the aftermath of an American withdrawal. Vietnam served a useful purpose as long as we learned the right lessons. In the first Gulf War and now Iraq and Afghanistan, we were/are fighting to win and our military folks know that the only way the enemy can win is to convince the American public that we can't win. Some day, South Vietnam will be a free country and the sacrifice of American lives will be honored and not forgotten.
Spot-on. Thanks for your service and for teaching a well-intentioned but mis-informed fellow citizen some basic facts.
Contemporeaneous knowledge is NEVER superior to the
collective wisdom and judgment of the past. I don't have
the time to go into the epistomology of history but you
could be in-country for eight years and not have the
slightest notion of why or toward what purpose -- other
than anecdotal knowledge which is not the essence of
historiography. Or, you could take the even easier way
out (the Hillary exit) and ascribe it all to a vast left
wing conspiracy.