with respect to dwitt and jc

While I agree with the tenor of my colleague's responses, two quick points:

1. There were tactical and operational defeats of U.S. forces by N. Vietnamese units in Vietnam. There weren't many, and their success was often short lived, but they did happen. Fire Base Ripcord in western Thua Thien province in 1970 is a case in point. Under siege from July 1-23, the 101st Airborne Division 3d Bde., and the 2d Bn., 506th Infantry defending the fire base, finally withdrew under fire on the 23d. During the siege, on the night of July 1-2, one U.S. company was attacked on Hill 902, held their ground but left the following day after suffering casualties. Two companies tried to dislodge (what turned out to a regiment) the enemy from Hill 1000, but in two days (July 7 and 8) could not achieve their tactical objective. From July 12-17, another company held out on Hill 805 for five days and nights against vicious attacks by an enemy battalion, but they, too, were withdrawn. On the 20th and 21st, a company was shattered by enemy forces east of Hill 805, and were evacuated on the night of the 22d. They had to leave a dozen dead behind, which were recovered a week later. Another rifle company took on two enemy battalions on July 22, and barely managed to hold on to their tactical real estate although they sustained 90 percent casualties. (A victory of a sort.) In the end, the enemy could not overrun Ripcord, but their stand off attack by fire and their rough handling of maneuver companies on key terrain around the mountain top forced the withdrawal on the 23d.

2. The U.S. military has a great deal of experience fighting insurgent or guerrilla wars. The first experience came during the colonial period, and included the French and Indian War; another came as we enlarged national territory, at the expense of the Miami, Seminoles (two wars), Cherokees, among others. The U.S. had further experience with essentially guerrilla war during the expansion westward after the American Civil War. After the Spanish American war, the U.S. fought an insurrection in the Philippines at the turn of the century. Again, U.S. forces experienced insurgency operations in Cuba and Nicaragua in the early part of this century. Plus, there were many lessons from others, viz: the British against the Boers in South Africa, the French against the Viet Minh in Vietnam.

Yes, our strategy in Vietnam was flawed ... terribly flawed. Read H. R. McMaster's "Direlection of Duty," which is probably the most detailed expose of Lyndon Johnson's and Robert McNamara's criminal handling of events in the early 1960s.

I, too, served in Vietnam, and served proudly ... at Ripcord.