No offense, but South Vietnam was our ally. Maybe you meant North Vietnam.
None taken. That’s exactly my point. We play along with “calling” nations our “ally” (it’s a sham and a scam) but when it came to fighting and dying in the bush the South Vietnamese Army was abysmal and the government back in Saigon wasn’t any better and probably much worse.
Now, before some freeper attacks, I will grant that many times many South Vietnamese soldiers fought valiantly. But, the overall effort was an F in my opinion and our so called “partnership” should have never happened as it’s indisputable that a LeMay type bombing attack on North Vietnam in 1964 would have ended the war in weeks. Nixon proved that with his Christmas bombing of North Vietnam in 1972 which did end the war.
So, 58,193 Americans died because our leaders (Kennedy, Johnson, McNamara, Westmoreland, Kissinger and many others) made dumb cowardly decisions and “partnerships”.
When postulating on this subject, I never forget to honor the memory of my boyhood friend Bobby Roberts. An 18 year old Marine, he was shot in the head 3 weeks after arriving in Johnson’s and McNamara’s war. At least, they say, he was killed instantly.
https://www.militaryfactory.com/vietnam/casualties.php