this is long, forgive me but this is my topic. i do vietnam presentations for schools and i hand this out as part of that presentation
Vietnam War Myths
The Press, various organizations and groups, and even history book have promulgated many myths about this war. The most common are:
1. The average age of an infantry trooper was 19 years
The average age was actually 22.8 YO and no enlisted man in Vietnam was less than 20 YO. The average trooper was 26 YO
2. Combat fighting in Vietnam was less than that experience by WWII troops stationed in the South Pacific.
Infantry troops in the South Pacific averaged 40 days of combat during the four years of fighting. In Vietnam helicopter mobility put troops in combat 240 days per year.
1 out of 10 became casualty
58,169 were KIA
304,000 were wounded out of the 2.59 million who served.
75,000 veterans were severely disabled. 300% higher than WWII
MEDEVAC helicopters flew 500,000 missions, airlifting 900,000 wounded
(about ½ Americans), average time from being wounded to
hospitalization was less than 1 hour. Less than 1% of those who
survived the first 24 hours died from their wounds
3. The majority of Vietnam Veterans were drafted
2/3 of all troops in Vietnam had volunteered
During WWII 2/3 of all troops had been drafted.
4. Blacks were used as "Cannon Fodder" by the government resulting in high casualty rate for black troops.
86% of all KIA were White. 12% of KIA were Black, which is equal to their percentage in the U.S. population as a whole at the time and slightly lower than their percentage in the army.
5. Because of college student deferrals the war was fought by the poor and uneducated.
The highest KIA rate was among pilots and Infantry officers, positions filled by the more educated who tended to come from the more well to do parts of the country.
6. America lost the Vietnam War.
American military forces never lost any major battle including the
famous "Tet-Offensive" in 1968. Tet was a major defeat for both the
VC and NVA. NO territory was gained and NVA/VC lost 32,204 KIA
and 5,803 captured. US losses were 1,015 KIA and ARVN losses were
2,819. The VC/NVA had counted on a "People's Uprising" to carry
them to victory. It never occurred. The ONLY US property attacked
was the embassy in Saigon. The 15-man sapper team killed 4 Army
MPs and 1 Marine guard. They never entered the chancery building
and all 15 were dead within 6 hours. The SVN police who were
supposed to guard the embassy fled at the first sound of gunfire. With
the exception of Hue the NVA/VC were forced to retreat within 24
hours of the initial attack. After Tet the VC ceased to be a fighting
force. The NVA main battalions had been deliberately held in
reserve. The southern VC had been sent out to be slaughtered so the
North would have full control and political power. As for the civilians
"liberated" by the NVA/VC over 9,000 were murdered. In Hue over
2.800 burial sites were uncovered containing the mutilated bodies of
every doctor, teacher, and political leader the NVA could locate.
After Tet, American forces faced regular NVA fully trained and
equipped with the latest Russian and Chinese hardware.
American Media
The Vietnam War was lost in the American media.
A.
In 1968 Eddie Adams an AP photographer took
this photo of General Nguyen Ngoc Luan head
of Saigon's Security Forces executing a VC
prisoner. This photo won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969
and was widely portrayed as evidence of
Saigon's corruption, inhumanity, and injustice
which had caused the Viet Cong to rebel and begin their civil war.
That the prisoner was the head of a terrorist squad, that he had just been captured in the home of one of Nguyen's top officers. That he and 5 others had just killed and tortured the officer, his mother and father, his wife and their 4 children was never mentioned in any American report. Adams protests, even to his dying day, that this act was "wholly justified given the nature of the crime and guerilla nature of the War." were never given any press coverage.
B. On 8 June 72, AP photographer Nick Ùt (a
Vietnamese national) covering an ARVN
attack on the village of Trang Bang, which had
been captured and occupied two days earlier
by NVA forces took this photo of 9 YO Kim Phuc
running naked from the village where a VNAF
Vietnamese pilot had dropped napalm.
Media in the U.S. widely claimed this to be a U.S. atrocity, Evidence of the brutal way the US military conducted the War.
While U.S. forces had supplied the napalm NO Americans were
involved in any capacity whatsoever. U.S. forces had NO authority over any ARVN command.
C. During WWII the American media operated under strict wartime secrecy laws. The Media were expressly forbidden to show the bodies of dead soldiers. Try to find ANY history book, newsreel footage, or newspaper photo that shows a dead American GI. Try to find any photos of a soldier who had lost both legs to a German mine. Find any Photos of the thousands of Marines dying to capture islands no one could even find on a map? Islands we gave back after the war.
D. Imagine Walter Cronkite reporting on the "Battle of the Bulge" (Hitler's last ditch attempt to stop the allied forces in Europe): "despite Allied efforts, the enemy still has the means to mount a major offensive, and therefore the war in Europe is unwinable." Sound stupid? Yet Walter felt free to say this about Tet. Big-time reporters like Morley Safer, Charles Kuralt, etc. rarely left the comforts of Saigon.
7. Draft Dodgers protested against the war
They protested because they did not want to be inducted into the
military. When the draft ended in 1972 anti-war protests almost
ceased entirely. The so-called Peace movement never actually
called for peace only an end to American involvement. When the
NVA slaughtered thousands of peasants, when Pol Pot went on a
killing spree, when North Vietnam invaded Cambodia, when the
Soviets invaded Afghanistan, they made no protest.
8. Drug use in Vietnam was rampant
When drug use occurred it was confined to personnel stationed at
base camps or other secure installations. In the field it no longer was
a "victimless crime" it endangered lives. Anyone stupid enough to
use drugs in the field was either beaten senseless or became KIA
either through hostile fire or tragically, by friendly fire.
9. Fraggings were common in Vietnam
During the 10 plus years of American involvement the total cases
came to 230. Or less than your chances of becoming a homicide
victim in Berkeley California. From about 1970 – 1972 every soldier
was keenly aware the U.S. troops were being pulled out of Vietnam.
Draftees often had been involved in the anti-war movement and
were inclined to question military authority. Judges during the period
often gave convicted criminals the choice of Army or Jail. A good
number of the intentional homicides committed during this period
were by these sociopaths.
10. Prisoners were thrown from helicopters
In many of these stories one VC is tossed out to make the others
"talk". VERY few Americans spoke Vietnamese. It is a Very difficult
language to speak because the meaning of a word changes with its
tonal inflection. It is very difficult to ask even a very straight forward
question. I personally know of one fanatical NVA captive that fell to
his death. We had captured him in Cambodia and had to be
extracted by "strings". The VC was tied and blindfolded. He was
worth a week in Bangkok to the man that captured him so we sat him
in his captors lap and were lifted off. Once in the air the VC began
kicking, fighting, and biting until both were swinging like a pendulum.
The VC finally broke the ties and pushed himself free of his captor.
11. American Atrocities were widespread.
During the entire war there were TWO cases of War Crimes by military
personnel. March 1968 My Lai by the 1st platoon of Charlie company,
Lt Calley and February 1970 16 women and children by 5 Marines
Bravo company at Son Thang. Both case resulted in court martial
and all were found guilty. After 3 years, Calley was pardoned by
Nixon.
Meanwhile the press never mentioned any of the widespread civilian
murders committed by the VC/NVA. During Tet alone the VC/NVA
murdered over 5,000 civilians, in Hue alone over 3,000 were tortured
and murdered. Civilian USAID workers, missionaries and any other
westerners were captured starved, tortured, and murdered with never
a press comment.