Vietnam War Myths

[MORTARDUDE]

Excellent web site !!! Go there and click on each topic for an explanation. The best analysis of the myths of the War where we all lost so much of ourselves !!!


http://www.rjsmith.com/war_myth.html


Vietnam War Myths


I have put together a compendium of the most virulent myths to come out of the Vietnam War. Some of these myths, because they have been repeated so many times, and have been showcased in some deplorable books and movies about the war, have taken on the status of "fact" in the minds of an alarming number of people. While some of these myths can be exposed as apocryphal tales by examining the statistics compiled during and after the war by independent sources, others are impossible to disprove (You can not "prove" a negative hypothesis. All that one can do is examine the evidence and determine if there is any susbstance to the allegations.
Statistical data was obtained from analysis of the Combat Area Casualty File of 11/93 (CACF1193), and The Adjutant General's Center (TAGCEN) file of 1981. Additional sources for factual data are listed below in the bibliography.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tet Offensive Was a Communist Victory Only In The Minds Of The Media

Blacks Served In Disproportionate Numbers They Did Not


Most Men Who Served Were Drafted Most Men Who Served (75%) Were Volunteers


Draft Dodgers Protested Against The War They Protested Over The Fact They Had To Serve


Drug Use Was Rampant In Vietnam Drug Use is Rampant In Berkeley, and Hollywood


Fraggings Were Common In Vietnam In fact they were rare


Prisoners Were Hurled From Helicopters From the archives of the Beverly Hills National Guard


American Atrocities Were Widespread In fact, only two can be documented


Body Counts Were Falsified If anything, we wildly underestimated NVA dead


The Communists Still Hold POWs There is no credible evidence to support this belief




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T O P 69th Armor Page Ray's Home Page

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
( example )


Myth: The Tet Offensive Was a Communist Victory

The 1968 Tet offensive was a total and complete miltary disaster for the North Vietnamese Communists no matter how you look at it. If you measure victory by territory gained or enemy killed, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong failed dismally in their attacks.
The NVA and VC had counted on a "People's Uprising" to carry them to victory, however there was no such uprising. They did exactly what the American military wanted them to do. They massed in large formations that were incredibly vulnerable to the awesome fire support the U.S. Military was able to bring to bear on them in a coordinated and devastating manner.

The NVA and VC attacked only ARVN installations with the exception of the US Embassy in Saigon. Despite reports to the contrary by all major television news networks and the print media, the VC sapper team of 15 men never entered the chancery building and all 15 VC were dead within 6 hours of the attack. They caused no damage to any property and managed to kill 4 US Army MPs, and one Marine guard. The South Vietnamese Police tasked with guarding the Embassy fled at the first sound of gunfire.

( more )

[sfc_darrel]

The Communists Still Hold POWs - There is no credible evidence to support this belief

We worked very hard to assure that everyone who wanted to leave got out. As far as I know, we left no American military in Vietnam except the guards at the Embassy.

Darrel-passenger on the last plane out

[onesix]

...Mr. Larocca's bow and arrow statement to your list (see revwardoc's post on "Have we forgotten the anger in their eyes?"