Bugfatty300
Buddha Squirrel
In the U.S., Americans often find themselves deeply devided among one another over the United State's involment in the Vietnam War. Many "Facts" that are considered a no-brainer truth by many are infact complete myths and fabrications.
The Vietnam War was one of the most intense wars of the century. The average infantryman of World War II saw 50 days of combat in a four year period.The average infantryman in Vietnam saw 240 days of combat every year! 58,148 Americans were killed in the war. America's bloodiest behind WWII and the Civil war.
When America's military became involved in Vietnam, it instituded a new policy of not controling the movement of journalist and reporters. Unlike in WWII and Present day Iraq, reporters had complete freedom in Vietnam. They were allowed to come and go as they please and where allways welcomed to acompany the next Squad in their Huey ride to a hot LZ. In fact Vietnam was was the most documented and publisized war in history.
Reporters were allowed to film, photograph and publish more horrific scenes of war than ever before. Which was the top reason for the loss of public support of the war. Americans saw for the first time on their TV sets the true meaning of war.
Along with media spin and Hollywood, Vietnam has been turned into a huge web of untruths that has now somehow become "facts" to many people.
The biggest untruth I have seen people swear to is that most of the fighting done in Vietnam was done by people who were drafted. Untrue. Infact 2/3 of Veterans were volunteers. 70% of combat deaths in Vietnam were volunteers.
Another big myth which is played over and over is this idea that a disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the war. Again this is false. %86 of the men who died in Vietnam were white. 12% were black. 2% Were of other races. This figure is proportional to number of whites and blacks in the U.S. at the time.
Alot of people argue that 18 was the average age of soldiers in Vietnam. Infact its closer to 22 or 23.
And where do people get the idea that the American military was pushed out of Saigon in 1975? The last American soldiers left Vietnam in May 1973. The only soldiers left were Marines to guard the embassy and organized the evacuation thousands of refugees.
The average American believe that the Vietnam War was an exclusively Viet-American war. Infact thousands of soldiers from Austrailia, South Korea and many SEATO members fought and died alongside U.S. troops during the war.
Another big myth circulated mainly by hollywood is that the U.S. military was generaly defeated in the ground war. The U.S. never lost a battle of any consequence. Infact from a military stand-point it was almost an unprecedented performance.
America's departure from the war is considered a Vietnamese victory. Infact more Vietnamese(North and South) were killed in the 2 years before the fall of Saigon than durring the entire U.S. involvment.
Many consider the Tet offensive to have been a Communist victory. In all military aspects it was a complete military disaster for the North Vietnamese. The Tet Offensive was not against Americans. It was against South Vietnamese troops and installations with the exception of the attack on the U.S. embassy. 30,000 NVA and VC were killed. The Tet offensive's goal was to spark an uprising in the south much like Cuban insurgeants hoped to at the Bay of Bigs. The uprising never happened.
Another Hollywood myth is that Vietnam still holds American POWs. All of the American POWs who were not returned in 1973 were kept as bargaining chips if the U.S. was to violate the Paris peace treaty. By the time Saigon fell in 1975 the POWs had out lived their purpose and sadly, instead of revealing the illegal holdings of these POWs, all evidence shows that the remaining POWs were put to death by November 1975. 2,200 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War was one of the most intense wars of the century. The average infantryman of World War II saw 50 days of combat in a four year period.The average infantryman in Vietnam saw 240 days of combat every year! 58,148 Americans were killed in the war. America's bloodiest behind WWII and the Civil war.
When America's military became involved in Vietnam, it instituded a new policy of not controling the movement of journalist and reporters. Unlike in WWII and Present day Iraq, reporters had complete freedom in Vietnam. They were allowed to come and go as they please and where allways welcomed to acompany the next Squad in their Huey ride to a hot LZ. In fact Vietnam was was the most documented and publisized war in history.
Reporters were allowed to film, photograph and publish more horrific scenes of war than ever before. Which was the top reason for the loss of public support of the war. Americans saw for the first time on their TV sets the true meaning of war.
Along with media spin and Hollywood, Vietnam has been turned into a huge web of untruths that has now somehow become "facts" to many people.
The biggest untruth I have seen people swear to is that most of the fighting done in Vietnam was done by people who were drafted. Untrue. Infact 2/3 of Veterans were volunteers. 70% of combat deaths in Vietnam were volunteers.
Another big myth which is played over and over is this idea that a disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the war. Again this is false. %86 of the men who died in Vietnam were white. 12% were black. 2% Were of other races. This figure is proportional to number of whites and blacks in the U.S. at the time.
Alot of people argue that 18 was the average age of soldiers in Vietnam. Infact its closer to 22 or 23.
And where do people get the idea that the American military was pushed out of Saigon in 1975? The last American soldiers left Vietnam in May 1973. The only soldiers left were Marines to guard the embassy and organized the evacuation thousands of refugees.
The average American believe that the Vietnam War was an exclusively Viet-American war. Infact thousands of soldiers from Austrailia, South Korea and many SEATO members fought and died alongside U.S. troops during the war.
Another big myth circulated mainly by hollywood is that the U.S. military was generaly defeated in the ground war. The U.S. never lost a battle of any consequence. Infact from a military stand-point it was almost an unprecedented performance.
America's departure from the war is considered a Vietnamese victory. Infact more Vietnamese(North and South) were killed in the 2 years before the fall of Saigon than durring the entire U.S. involvment.
Many consider the Tet offensive to have been a Communist victory. In all military aspects it was a complete military disaster for the North Vietnamese. The Tet Offensive was not against Americans. It was against South Vietnamese troops and installations with the exception of the attack on the U.S. embassy. 30,000 NVA and VC were killed. The Tet offensive's goal was to spark an uprising in the south much like Cuban insurgeants hoped to at the Bay of Bigs. The uprising never happened.
Another Hollywood myth is that Vietnam still holds American POWs. All of the American POWs who were not returned in 1973 were kept as bargaining chips if the U.S. was to violate the Paris peace treaty. By the time Saigon fell in 1975 the POWs had out lived their purpose and sadly, instead of revealing the illegal holdings of these POWs, all evidence shows that the remaining POWs were put to death by November 1975. 2,200 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
I must admit I'm one of those who subscribed to some of those notions, since I never cared to read too much on that war. Revealing. 
. Very interesting stuff.
