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There are a number of myths and falsehoods that exist in the public understanding of the Vietnam War. Many of these were promoted and continue to be advanced by the "anti-war" crowd, a number of whom now hold positions in academia. The following is not an exhaustive list but consists of the main issues that we have identified. Each myth is linked to a documented response.

1. The US had no reason to be involved in Viet Nam
2. The Vietnam war was immoral and illegal
3. Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist and a benevolent leader of his people
4. The South Vietnamese government denied the people a free election on unification [related to the guarantee of free elections written into the Geneva Accords]
5. The Viet Cong were an idealistic nationalist group, just like the American Minutemen
6. The rationale for US intervention in Viet Nam was based on a fraud
7. The US military routinely used inhumane tactics on the people, while the VC were benefactors
8. The great majority of villagers were VC sympathizers, so no counterinsurgency programs ever succeeded
9. The Tet Offensive was a devastating blow to the US and SVN forces and a major military victory for the communists
10. Media coverage of the war was balanced and accurate and contributed to development of appropriate US policies
11. Antiwar protests shortened the war and saved lives
12. The war was fought by victims of US society, and the lasting effects on survivors were much worse than for other wars
13. The South Vietnamese never really fought well, they weren't really committed to the fight
14. American POWs and other prisoners of the communists were treated humanely
15. The determination of the North to carry the war on was never affected by any military setbacks or US actions
16. The United States fought and lost a war in Viet Nam (which was unwinnable in any case)
17. After NVN "liberated" the South, everything went well and suffering ended
18. The Domino Theory was a silly invention, and nothing remotely positive resulted from US involvement in Viet Nam
19. Most U.S. troops were poor soldiers: they lacked discipline, were poorly led, were usually stoned (and older ones/lifers were usually drunk)
20. Almost all US troops committed atrocities against civilians
21. Many US troops committed acts of violence against their own command (fraggings)
22. US troops were barbaric, racist and hated gooks to the extent they saw the Viet Namese as a sub-human species
23. The use of defoliants destroyed 70% of the crops in the South, poisoned the ground in Viet Nam for decades and caused an enormous increase in birth defects throughout the country
24. The National Liberation Front which was the underground opposition government to Saigon controlled the Viet Cong and prepared the declaration of how the South would be governed once the revolution was accomplished
25. The guerilla forces of the Viet Cong were made up of southern nationalists and their strategies and tactics led to the defeat of the US and in the end, the ARVN forces
26. That by '71 antiwar activities among the troops was common and resulted in frequent refusals to leave the bases
27. That in reality the stories of returning soldiers being spat at or upon was made up by Far Right extremists as a way to smear the antiwar movement
28. The coup against Diem was one example of the messiness and foolishness of Vietnamese politics, since things were messier for years afterwards than they were when he was in power, and the US really had nothing to do with it
29. Giap was a true military genius, his defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu was a military marvel
30. The devotion of people in the North to the defeat of the South was shown by the 1.4 million men that died in the struggle, all volunteers eager to serve their country (and there was never any draft resistance in the North, again showing the solidarity of the people for the cause)
31. The USA paid 80% of all the costs of the French war against the Viet Minh
32. The level of aid from China to the Viet Minh was really tiny compared to the aid from the US to the French
33. The Pentagon Papers showed conclusively that the US government had lied about every facet of the war, from its earliest stages to the end, and that the US should never have been involved in Viet Nam at all
34. We deiberately targeted the rice paddies in the North to flood the homes of innocent civilians and, thus, kill thousands more by starvation. Also, we purposely bombed well-marked hospitals.
35. With the signing of the Paris Accords, the communists did return all our POWs to us
36. The Phoenix Program was an immoral 'assassination program' that killed many innocent civilians, as well as Viet Cong political cadres.
37. U.S. used poison gas (proscribed weapons) in Vietnam and Laos and conducted secret operations to assassinate American POW's [longshadows] in Communist hands.
38. There was no bloodbath in Vietnam after the communists took over.

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Research Links

Primary Source Material

Avalon Project - Yale's repository of State Department documents

CIA FOIA Documents

Foreign Relations of the United States - State Department documents - select Indochina from the Volumes dropdown menu

The Pentagon Papers from the National Archives

The National Archives - Department of Defense records

Mount Holyoke Vietnam links collection - press releases, speeches, CIA and State documents, etc.

Army Center for Military History

Air Force Historical Research Agency

Naval History and Heritage Command

Marine Corp Historical Division

Coast Guard History

Virtual Vietnam Archive

Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff, FOIA Requester Service Center

Veterans Pages

Examining The Myths of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War Myths

Vietnam War Facts

Statistics About the Vietnam War

Vietnam War Myths and Facts

Vietnam Veterans Home Page

Facts and Myths of the Vietnam War

Vietnam Veterans Facts

Facts and Myths

Facts About The War

Vietnamese and American Veterans of the Vietnam War

Related Sites

Saigon Arts, Culture & Education Institute

Media Myth Alert

Vietnam Myths vs. Facts

Mythed Opportunities: The Truth About Vietnam Anti-War Protests

Articles on the Web

Expert Punctures 'No Bloodbath' Myth - Dr. Robert Turner

Bloodbaths in Vietnam: The Reality and the Myth - Dr. Robert Turner

Gen. Bui Tin Describes North Vietnam�s Victory

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