[Hemingway's Ghost]

but to be fair to the South Vietnamese, they were doing reasonably well until JFK ordered the assassination of their leader, Diem. That was a major turning-point for the worse and was what chiefly led to our own direct involvement in the war as participants rather than advisers. Maybe South Vietnam couldn't have withstood the North Vietnamese onslaught anyway, but we'll never know for sure.

The ARVN was doing well before '63? The ARVN could've withstood an NVA onslaught? Exactly what color is the sky in your world?

[Angelique]

From everything I have studied, the French did not ask the USA to intervene. The USA supposedly was defending S. Vietnam because it was a strategic post. Later, I was told this is not the case. If we needed to be there, it does not make sense that we gave up.