The USA Isn’t the Only Country Still Trying to Figure Out the Vietnam War
Forty years ago this month the Vietnam War ended and the History News Network has a short article by a Vietnamese author (based in the USA) and in particular commends one book Huy Duc's The Winning Side (which does not appear to be in English):http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/159046
So he argues the South won and refers to:
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prominent Vietnamese from diverse backgrounds now feel that it was a costly mistake.
Reconsidering USMC involvement in the Vietnam War
Another short article from Defence-in-Depth, by a USMC LtCol, which I expect will be of interest;).
It opens with:
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In the 50 years since US Marines first landed at Da Nang on the morning of 8 March 1965, the history of their involvement in the Vietnam War has been one of the most misunderstood and sometimes contentious topics in modern military history. In most cases historians assert that the Marines had neither a clear understanding of the conflict nor the American military strategy to contain the spread of Communism in South Vietnam. By extension, the Marines’ involvement from 1965 to 1968 is often depicted as a series of unplanned and isolated events, demonstrating a divide between the Marines’ long-term vision and operational approach and the overall American military strategy in Vietnam. This interpretation, whilst enduring, has come to obscure the centrality of the Marines’ approach to implementing American strategy.
The landings at Da Nang, exemplify this problem.
Link:http://defenceindepth.co/2015/08/17/...e-vietnam-war/
The author's very short bio:
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LtCol Nevgloski, assigned as the operations officer of The Basic School School, Quantico, VA, is completing his doctoral thesis on the US Marine Corps planning for Vietnam in the Defence Studies Department, King’s College London.
Living and Breathing: Just Another Day in Vietnam
Living and Breathing: Just Another Day in Vietnam
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Spies, Advisors, and Grunts: Film Portrayals of Counterinsurgency in Vietnam
Spies, Advisors, and Grunts: Film Portrayals of Counterinsurgency in Vietnam
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Game Review: Fire in the Lake, the Vietnam War, 1964-75
Game Review: Fire in the Lake, the Vietnam War, 1964-75
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The Easter Offensive of 1972: A Failure to Use Intelligence
The Easter Offensive of 1972: A Failure to Use Intelligence
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Moving On In Vietnam, But Remembering Its Lessons
Moving On In Vietnam, But Remembering Its Lessons
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Some Sounds and Senses - Vietnam
Some Sounds and Senses - Vietnam
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1967: The Era of Big Battles in Vietnam
1967: The Era of Big Battles in Vietnam
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Vietnam ’67: At Quang Nam, a Raid and a Reckoning
Vietnam ’67: At Quang Nam, a Raid and a Reckoning
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A "sideshow" back in the foreground
A new book 'A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA' by Joshua Kurlantzick and a WoTR article reviews the arguments. It starts with:
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If you work at it, you can make a case that Americans fought on the right side in Vietnam. There is an argument — not conclusive, but defensible — that with all its faults, the anti-Communist side offered South Vietnam’s people a freer and more prosperous future than they would face if the Communists won. That didn’t mean war was a wise choice or that its goal justified the death and destruction it caused. But Americans looking for some moral comfort could at least tell themselves that they were fighting for a better outcome for the Vietnamese. By contrast, it is harder to find anything morally defensible in American actions in Laos and Cambodia. U.S. operations in those countries, including among the
heaviest bombing in military history, were conducted to support American objectives in Vietnam rather than for any achievable benefit for its smaller, weaker neighbors. That was also the reason for U.S. air support and military aid that kept weak, ineptly led local Laotian and Cambodian ground forces in the field long after it was clear they had no chance of winning against their stronger North Vietnamese enemies.
Link:https://warontherocks.com/2017/02/th...ormed-the-cia/
His Amazon bio:
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Joshua Kurlantzick is a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been a correspondent in Southeast Asia for The Economist, a columnist for Time, the foreign editor of the New Republic, a senior correspondent for the American Prospect, and a contributing writer for Mother Jones. He has written about Asia for publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The New York Times Magazine. He is the winner of the Luce Scholarship and was selected as a finalist for the Osborn Elliot prize, both for journalism in Asia. He is the author of four previous books on Asia. For more information on Kurlantzick, visit CFR.org.
Link to Amazon, with very mixed reviews:https://www.amazon.com/Great-Place-H...+to+have+a+war
Vietnam '67 - Bernard Fall: The Man Who Knew the War
Vietnam '67 - Bernard Fall: The Man Who Knew the War
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