The North Vietnamese Army
By James D. McLeroyAt various times and places the Second Indochina War (1959 to 1975) displayed some of the characteristics of a South Vietnamese revolution, insurgency, guerrilla war, and civil war. Primarily, however, it was always an incremental invasion of South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army, at first indirect and covert, then direct an
Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Recently I've been studying the Pentagon Papers and the events surrounding their release. In that regard I read a New York Times op-ed written by Daniel Ellsberg that purports to tell the story of what compelled him to release national secrets to the media. More than any other single event in American history, Ellsberg's perfidy opened the floodgat
This Is What Passes For Logic in the Antiwar Crowd
Counterpunch is a leftist, communist commentary site. It's sometimes worthwhile to visit the site to see what the enemies of America are thinking. This article is a perfect example of the muddled thinking that passes for "logic" among communists. Of course their goal isn't truth, so anything can be made to seem logical if one does
The SACEI Forum
If you're interested in all things Vietnam, you may already be familiar with the Saigon Arts, Culture and Education Institute. If you're not, you may want to pay them a visit. I'll bet you end up bookmarking the site. Filled with interesting articles about Vietnam, many of them concerning the view of the 2nd Indochina War and its aftermath from
Why Was Vietnam Lost to Communism?
By Paul Schmehl, Independent Researcher Millions of words have been written about the Vietnam War, or as we prefer to call it, the 2nd Indochina War. Many thousands of those words have been about why the war was lost. There are as many opinions about why the 2nd Indochina War was lost as there are writers to express them. {footnote}A search on Amaz
Dr. William Lloyd Stearman, Founding VVFH Member A poll taken on this 40th anniversary would no doubt reveal that most Americans believe we should not have fought in this small obscure country half a world away, and do believe that the war there was unwinnable and that our huge expenditure of blood and treasure there was totally in vain. Most peopl
by Col. Andrew Finlayson, VVFH Founding Member In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, there were seven ongoing communist insurgencies in SE Asia - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines all had active communist insurgencies. Three of those insurgencies were successful in 1975 (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). When on
Paper presented by Col. Andrew R. Finlayson, USMC (Ret.)*“Amateurs talk about tactics; professionals talk about logistics.” An old military proverb One day in the spring of 1985, fifteen years after I had left South Vietnam for the last time, I was having lunch with
Paul Schmehl, Independent ResearcherApr 19, 2015 The Domino Theory got its name from President Eisenhower, but he was not the inventor of the concept. When World War II ended, the Soviet Union began to extend its influence over Asia and Eastern Europe. This development prompted Winston Churchill to remark in 1946, in a speech at Westminster College
Paul Schmehl, Independent ResearcherFeb 1, 2015In academics it’s considered bad form to be directly critical of a fellow academe. Rather than criticize the scholar, criticism should be confined to his or her work. This convention works well when scholars have honest disagreements or differ over the meaning of the evidence.However, when a scholar ch
By Paul Schmehl, Independent ResearcherJan 24, 2015 One of the most persistent myths about the Vietnam War is that PAVN (People’s Army of Viet Nam) and PLAF (People’s Liberation Armed Forces) troops were Vietnamese patriots fighting for their independence. While there is no doubt that some of those who fought on the North Vietnamese side believed t
ON OCCASION OF 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE (Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France, on September 21, 2012). . . .As I suspect many of you know, Jefferson served from 1784-1789 as America’s Minister to France—and until his death he remained a great friend and admirer of this country. Jefferson was renown for many things. He was a
The General Andrew J. Goodpaster LecturePresented at the Meeting of the American Veterans’ InstituteArmy-Navy ClubWashington, DC3 June 2014John F. Guilmartin, Jr.Conventional wisdom holds the Vietnam War to be the most divisive and controversial war in our history, second only to the Civil War. That view enjoys support from all points of the politi
A recent letter to Lt. General “Mick” Kicklighter, head of the government funded Vietnam War 50th Commemoration Program, demands recognition for the “peace-activists” who supported the North Vietnamese communist victory over South Vietnam. (One awaits a letter to the Holocaust Museum from the Nazis claiming there could be no Holocaust Museum if not
Millions of words have been written about Ho Chi Minh. He has been called the George Washington of Vietnam, Whitman, Alden “Ho Chi Minh Was Noted for Success in Blending Nationalism and Communism.” New York Times 4 Sep. 1969 New York Times Web. 4 Sep. 2010 a devoted nationalist who loved his country, Duiker, William
Copied below is an excerpt from Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire by Noam Chomsky. This brief excerpt is filled with falsehoods and false assertions as is typical of Chomsky, yet Chomsky is still praised http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/noam-chomsky-conti
