We set ourselves up for a loss in VN because the war was from the beginning micromanaged from Washington as all our wars are now. WWII was fought with broad directives from Washington but the conduct of the war was left to the commanders on the ground. Korea started out that way but ended up stifled as the first of our micromanaged wars. We never had a chance to win in Vn because we had bureaucrats in DC trying to hold the soldiers’ rifles from ten thousand miles away.
Some of the posters are selling this "we should have carpet-bombed the whole country" garbage which is another idiotic idea. Vietnam needed our help against the combined efforts of the Viet Cong terrorists, the North Vietnamese Army, and all the supplies, weaponry and advisors the Soviets, Chinese and the Warsaw Pact could provide. We fought hard and well for those many years and I am proud of my fellow Marines who fought there with me. Vietnam is a good country and I cherish their people and particularly the Vietnamese who came here to be citizens.