Comments on: How Nixon Almost Won the Vietnam War http://www.historynet.com/how-nixon-almost-won-the-vietnam-war.htm From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher Sun, 26 May 2013 05:23:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Scott ffolliott http://www.historynet.com/how-nixon-almost-won-the-vietnam-war.htm#comment-812211 Scott ffolliott Sun, 15 Jul 2012 18:03:18 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13684434#comment-812211 "Vietnam, a story of virtually unmitigated disasters that we have inflicted on ourselves and even more on others. – Bernard Brodie, 1973 "Now, we learn the United States government is planning a 13-year propaganda project to clean up the image of the Vietnam War in the minds of Americans. It’s called The Vietnam War Commemoration Project. President Obama officially launched the project on Memorial Day with a speech at the Vietnam Wall in Washington. The Project was established by Section 598 of the 604-page National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2008. It budgets $5 million a year." - JOHN GRANT is a Vietnam War veteran "Vietnam, a story of virtually unmitigated disasters that we have inflicted on ourselves and even more on others.

– Bernard Brodie, 1973

"Now, we learn the United States government is planning a 13-year propaganda project to clean up the image of the Vietnam War in the minds of Americans. It’s called The Vietnam War Commemoration Project. President Obama officially launched the project on Memorial Day with a speech at the Vietnam Wall in Washington. The Project was established by Section 598 of the 604-page National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2008. It budgets $5 million a year." – JOHN GRANT is a Vietnam War veteran

]]> By: Thomas P. McKenna http://www.historynet.com/how-nixon-almost-won-the-vietnam-war.htm#comment-787959 Thomas P. McKenna Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:57:44 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13684434#comment-787959 The Communist North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam in the spring of 1972 was the biggest cross-border invasion since the Communist Chinese Army crossed the Yalu River into Korea in 1950. However, few Americans know anything about the Easter Offensive of 1972. As the map accompanying "How Nixon Almost Won the Vietnam War" showed, the Communist's struck in three widely separated areas. Their attack into I Corps was well described in Marine Colonel Gerald H. Turley's 1985 The Easter Offensive, the attack on An Loc was well described in James H. Willbanks' 2005 The Battle of An Loc, and my own recently published book Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam completes this "trilogy" of histories about the battles to prevent North Vietnam from defeating South Vietnam in 1972. The books that tell the stories of how American advisors and American air power helped the South Vietnamese save their nation in 1972 are available. But will Americans read them to learn about this important part of our country's history? The Communist North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam in the spring of 1972 was the biggest cross-border invasion since the Communist Chinese Army crossed the Yalu River into Korea in 1950. However, few Americans know anything about the Easter Offensive of 1972.

As the map accompanying "How Nixon Almost Won the Vietnam War" showed, the Communist's struck in three widely separated areas. Their attack into I Corps was well described in Marine Colonel Gerald H. Turley's 1985 The Easter Offensive, the attack on An Loc was well described in James H. Willbanks' 2005 The Battle of An Loc, and my own recently published book Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam completes this "trilogy" of histories about the battles to prevent North Vietnam from defeating South Vietnam in 1972.

The books that tell the stories of how American advisors and American air power helped the South Vietnamese save their nation in 1972 are available. But will Americans read them to learn about this important part of our country's history?

]]> By: Ralph Hitchens http://www.historynet.com/how-nixon-almost-won-the-vietnam-war.htm#comment-783408 Ralph Hitchens Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:53:54 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13684434#comment-783408 Nice article that brought back memories from 41 years ago. I flew AC-119K gunship missions in III Corps & fired on targets around & near An Loc early in the battle. Later I worked in the 7th AF "Blue Chip" command post in MACV where I got to see the truly amazing level of effort the Air Force mounted in support of the ARVN. I vividly recall seeing a massive Arc Light (B-52) strike laid on one day, with overlapping 1 km x 3 km boxes plotted on the "big board" in a huge inverted horseshoe surrounding the town. I think it's noteworthy that the NVA waited a couple more years, until President Nixon -- the "mad bomber" -- had self-destructed over Watergate, before making their final push to conquer South Vietnam. Nice article that brought back memories from 41 years ago. I flew AC-119K gunship missions in III Corps & fired on targets around & near An Loc early in the battle. Later I worked in the 7th AF "Blue Chip" command post in MACV where I got to see the truly amazing level of effort the Air Force mounted in support of the ARVN. I vividly recall seeing a massive Arc Light (B-52) strike laid on one day, with overlapping 1 km x 3 km boxes plotted on the "big board" in a huge inverted horseshoe surrounding the town. I think it's noteworthy that the NVA waited a couple more years, until President Nixon — the "mad bomber" — had self-destructed over Watergate, before making their final push to conquer South Vietnam.

]]> By: El Campesino http://www.historynet.com/how-nixon-almost-won-the-vietnam-war.htm#comment-781666 El Campesino Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:33:11 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13684434#comment-781666 Echoing the previous comment, it is too sweeping a generalization to conclude that Viatnamization worked because of the resistance at An Loc. True, the ARVN fought tenaciously there, but just the year before they were decisively beaten during Operation lam Son 719 in Laos. The best that can be said is that the ARVN can fight and hold their own only if supported by overwhelming US airpower and only if the NVA forces allow themselves to be targeted by such airpower by attacking in the open in the context of a set-piece battle. Airpower would be dramatically less effective if the NVA had chosen to continue with a classic guerrilla insurgency tactics, and the ARVN had shown itself dramatically incompetent at counter-insurgency warfare. The ARVN, in order to be able to defeat the NVA, must had to match their adversaries in skill, tenacity, and leadership excellence in ALL tactical situations: COIN/guerrilla, large-scale mechanized operations, low-level insurgency, etc.; otherwise the NVA would do be free to use their flexibility by tailoring their strategy to take advantage of the ARVN weaknesses. There is no evidence that the ARVN was even close to achieving this level of over-all efficiency in 1972 or 1975. Echoing the previous comment, it is too sweeping a generalization to conclude that Viatnamization worked because of the resistance at An Loc. True, the ARVN fought tenaciously there, but just the year before they were decisively beaten during Operation lam Son 719 in Laos. The best that can be said is that the ARVN can fight and hold their own only if supported by overwhelming US airpower and only if the NVA forces allow themselves to be targeted by such airpower by attacking in the open in the context of a set-piece battle.

Airpower would be dramatically less effective if the NVA had chosen to continue with a classic guerrilla insurgency tactics, and the ARVN had shown itself dramatically incompetent at counter-insurgency warfare.

The ARVN, in order to be able to defeat the NVA, must had to match their adversaries in skill, tenacity, and leadership excellence in ALL tactical situations: COIN/guerrilla, large-scale mechanized operations, low-level insurgency, etc.; otherwise the NVA would do be free to use their flexibility by tailoring their strategy to take advantage of the ARVN weaknesses. There is no evidence that the ARVN was even close to achieving this level of over-all efficiency in 1972 or 1975.

]]> By: Wong Hoong Hooi http://www.historynet.com/how-nixon-almost-won-the-vietnam-war.htm#comment-780787 Wong Hoong Hooi Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:01:53 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13684434#comment-780787 An Loc '72 was a set-piece defence battle in which individual ARVN troopers and commanders fought in close proximity to each other and there was perhaps little "cover" for shirking from fighting. Also crucial was the overwhelming support of US tac air employed in a set-peice defence battle i.e. the other side got up to attack and airpower could blow them away whilst they were moving and not under cover. Vietnamization would be deemed to have worked arguably only if the ARVN had successfully performed the grinding day to day task of counter-insurgency, securing and holding ground to win over the populace. It would have been easier for individual ARVN troopers and commanders to shirk from fighting in the more diffused setting of innumerate small unit actions and skirmishes. The fact that ARVN performance of search and destory sweeps was referred to derisively as "search and avoid" therefore told more about whether Vietnamization was a success. An Loc '72 was a set-piece defence battle in which individual ARVN troopers and commanders fought in close proximity to each other and there was perhaps little "cover" for shirking from fighting.

Also crucial was the overwhelming support of US tac air employed in a set-peice defence battle i.e. the other side got up to attack and airpower could blow them away whilst they were moving and not under cover.

Vietnamization would be deemed to have worked arguably only if the ARVN had successfully performed the grinding day to day task of counter-insurgency, securing and holding ground to win over the populace. It would have been easier for individual ARVN troopers and commanders to shirk from fighting in the more diffused setting of innumerate small unit actions and skirmishes. The fact that ARVN performance of search and destory sweeps was referred to derisively as "search and avoid" therefore told more about whether Vietnamization was a success.

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