It is a Myth that US Forces Lost No Battles in the Vietnam War

That quote from the recently deceased General Vo Nguyen Giap is false, but we still find people claiming that neither the Viet Cong or the (then North) Vietnamese army ever won a battle.

David Petraeus was one of these people. He wrote that, “Military leaders recall US units never lost a battle,” in 1986.

This is something that you will hear said from members of the US Military all the time.

It it might be legitimately through provoking if it weren’t complete humbug.  A cursory examination reveals 70 lost battles in the Vietnam War.

Given that General Giap died a few days ago at the age of 102 (!), it behooves us to examine what happened in Vietnam, and Cambodia, and Laos, and ask how General Giap, and the people of Indochina beat us.

The military, as been asking a slightly different question, “How did we lose,” and so blame the American public.

One comment

  1. A says:

    We lost because of the media. Most of the 70 battles you listed weren't actual battles. We overwhelmingly won Vietnam, by any standard(enemies killed) and such.

    We were far better trained than they were, though the crap M16 kind of screwed us a bit, though it is a good weapon today.

    We were hamstrung as well, by too much political correctness and rules by politicians who didn't have the stomach to do what needed to be done to win a war. We also didn't go into North Vietnam, which we should have.

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