Did Vietnam really fight because they "hated" capitalism or was it that they wanted a united and independent Vietnam? There are a lot of details missing about the whole picture in this video. This video comes off too biased.
Exactly. Why does America always act like they're the good guys protecting the vulnerable? They just want world-wide control at the end of the day that's all it comes down to.
There was a documentary (don't remember the name) that highlighted how often the Vietnamese would say they are just fighting for freedom and you could tell that the Americans really were not about that. Even at the end of the war, a leader said all we wanted was our freedom, what were you trying to achieve?
@@johnnyvincent8995 im vietnamese and I honestly advise you to get your story straight. Vietnam was always under control of another since ming dynasty years. Then south vn got taken over by the French the North vietnamese wanted to be a free country being under it own ruling but French didnt wanted to return so north vn attacked the French while they was vonulable wuth most their troops supporting the Korean war. Because of that thats where you see American steps in 1 hand saying we had our country back yet on the other wanted to dictate south vn laws. They was egging on the south government to stand up to the north and america would support the south till the end. 8n the end when they realised they couldn't win and lost to much troops they ran off then started playing the sanction games. If north Vietnam had any intention of being a dictating country Mr Ho Chi Minh wouldn't have invited Vietnam last emperor to come to lead Vietnam after the vn war.
To be fair only so much can be put into a 5 minute video, but I agree. PragerU should have more videos surrounding Vietnam. The French colonialism, Ho Chi Minh's attraction to Communism, but also the fact that he quoted the declaration of Independence in his speech declaring the U.S. an ally, etc. I would HIGHLY recommend the Ken Burns documentary of Vietnam War.
@@mrbeandip2356 I was in the army from May 63-May 67. Luckily I never went to Vietnam. I just finished his documentary on Netflix this morning. I found it to be the best documentary on Vietnam. The government told us so many lies. They didn't learn a thing. Now we are finding out that the government has been telling us lies about Afghanistan for the last 18 years.
Except it wasn't "freedom" what they struggled about. Vietnamese rebelled towards integration and scientific applied technology. Their struggle war to "recover" the old "sacred" Vietnamese way opposed to "French imperialism". Now they are crawling back to western ways missing the opportunity to have been advanced like the Asian tigers of the 50s-90s. Shane on those commie clowns
Also, another fun fact. There was a country that intervened to stop the Cambodian genocide. Wasn't America. It was communist Vietnam. Thanks for mentioning it.
And they were supporting and collaborating with commies who were doing that genocide. It fought against Cambodian gov. And in that war Cambodian gov was supported by some country. And it was US and South Vietnam. That was enough
58thousand U.S. troops compared to over 2millon other combined with the micro management of the U.S. military not being allowed to use any major force That's a lot of kills still yeah that's gangsta
I lived in Vietnam for many years. My Vietnamese friends told me many times that what they wanted more than anything else was for all Vietnamese to live as one country. The choice of capitalism or communism was not that important, but communism was necessary for a time to overcome the legacy of colonialism created and left by the French. All Vietnamese consider themselves as one family, it is apparent in the pronouns they use to describe each other even when they meet for the first time: older brother, uncle, little sister, etc. The Americans never thought they could lose, but the Vietnamese never thought they could win. The Vietnamese thought that they could fight to a stalemate and in the end, the Americans would leave. And the Vietnamese were right.
@@XGamezMode82498 how is it possible? This is not a game where you can make choices in such a simple way. Vietnam chooses communism not because communist is good. It was because America wanted to help France continue to colonize Indochina, and the Soviet Union wanted to oppose this. Did you know that Ho Chi Minh sent many letters to President Truman in 1945 - 1946? American documents confirm this.
Americans are literally the biggest racists on the planet, of course they wouldn't care about what your friends care,just potential recourses and more useless control
@@MGrey-qb5xz ‘We’re all one big family’ is the same argument Saddam Hussein used for invading Kuwait and Putin used for invading Ukraine. By the way this nation of racists was the sole crusader against Africa’s AIDS crisis and the genocide in Darfur.
My father volunteered for Vietnam.He was part of the IVth Infantry that went over in September 1966.I asked my father what was toughest part of being there:"Knowing a five year old is your enemy".
@@thewarpotato4013 They came around begging for food. Who's going to turn away a hungry kid? Later on they had shoeshine boxes with grenades inside. Gotta have things bright and shiny.r
@@thewarpotato4013 The French were putting pressure on Kennedy to send troops to Vietnam. The US had supplied arms,etc...to French under Eisenhower. He told Kennedy no one would trust foreigners with guns. The French were horrible to the people in Indochina. We got sucked into a civil war. My Dad said the poverty he saw over there broke your heart. You wanted to help them. Who wouldn't feed a child begging for food?. My Dad worked with the Hmong. They lived in bamboo huts with thatched roofs. The men wore breechclouts like Souix Indians. All the talk about "The People" and what is best for them. Neither side wanted "The People" to make the choice. They may choose the wrong thing. They will be told their choice. A horrible event for all involved.
@@thewarpotato4013 JFK asked Eisenhower for his advice on Vietnam. Eisenhower said "Don't send anyone with a gun. It's a civil war. Send farmers, engineers,etc to help people.". After WW 2 Ho Chi Mihn asked Truman for $1 million to rebuild Vietnam. Truman refused. The Vietnamese had helped the US against the Japanese. Stalin had no problem helping Uncle Ho. The US created it's problems over there in 1945.
Something totally opposite to Poland in 1939 - mens were happy to join Army, everyone was enthusiastic about this war - it will end Nazi expansion in Europe, Allies Powers will attack from West, and we will finally get this ,,Danzig Free City"! So you could see a lot of people, putting some obstacles to slow down a Wehrmacht with smile on their faces. But even with heroic resistance and the most effective partizans in entire Europe (there's also a theory, that Polish partizans made Germans lose in Russia, because they cut down most of their supply lines), Allied Powers didn't help us, and they did nothing to stop advancing Red Army (despite what you can see in some games, Allied Powers knew exactly it's happening - simple evidence is that Stalin sent them excuse for that. They just did nothing to stop them). And then, after 6 heroic fighting on their side, in Narwik, Monte Cassino, El-Alamein, English sky, even Stalingrad and also after many, many inventions which let Allied Powers win this war, they decided it will be great to just give our independence to Big Red Monster from East, which you call USSR.
In my point of view History are written by winner. And in Vietnam war there was no winner, both loss one way or another. So all these truth and fact are all meaningless. In my school they taught us that the Vietnam war is full of blood from both sides, yellow, white corpses everywhere; and worse is that we have to fight our own people, Like pulling a trigger at your brother. The war is meaningless. US soldiers burning our houses and village, Our people burning our own houses and village We made boobie traps toward your people and our people We fuel a flame of hatrest toward our own people and that flame is still burning ( VN and VN///) ... I went to the museum and seeing victims of Agent orange, I still can't believe what i saw was human. I even saw babies in bottles. I went home seeing my grandpa recall how he join the army when he was just 16; how he become half deaf and how happy he is seeing that the war is over. ... Then i asked myself that my people have suffer alot throughout many generations. So what about you? And i search the internet and i saw the old soldier telling stories about how he being sent miles around the world to fight a war on a foreign country that simply did nothing to their country. He told how his friends die before his own eyes, how my people fighting like animals. Confuse, range, madness soon they become insane and did things that beyond moral limits. I read papers and seeing so many mother losing their sons, so many bones of unnamed soldiers still lies in every grant of soil of my country. So what I'm saying here is that i don't want to see history on only one side but i want to see it as a viewer I won't judge who's right and who's wrong because no matter who's right; after the war we all bury our soldiers.
@@theanhnguyen5445 Actually, there was a winner in that war. The people of Vietnam won. They expelled all foreign occupation and reunited their country. Today Vietnam belongs to the people of Vietnam thanks to their winning the revolution.
You are wrong. The communists won the war in a sense that their prime objective to win the war (not the battles) was to elongate the war as long as possible so the Americans start losing the worthiness of engagement. This was the order the communist generals had received from above and they managed to do exactly that.
A few things he conveniently forgets to mention: 1) He mentions that 58,000 Americans died in the war, yet forgot to mention the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who died 2) He forgot to mention the numerous war crimes committed by US troops. Most famous is the My Lei Massacre, but it wasn't the only one 3) He forgot to mention that many of the soldiers who served were drafted and didn't want to be there. Ironically many of them were African American and lived under Jim Crow laws. So they were fighting for freedom in Vietnam yet had no freedom in their own country 4) Many of the people who supported the war were rich white people who refused to serve. Many of the wars biggest cheerleaders were draft dodgers. A trend that continues to this day
He also kickstarted the open immigration policy as well as the "aym an yndependent woman n ain't need no man yo" benefits. The guy clearly has quite a few things to answer for.
David Grover doesn't really change the fact that the war was started on a lie which that and the inflation of the North Vietnamese body count, and the subsequent push for isolationism and other large social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement all ended up hurting the war effort
Yeah, I'm surprised the video makes no mention of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was completely fabricated & fictitious. I believe it was Winston Churchill who famously said "the first casualty of war is truth." No society wants war, so its leaders have to lie to convince the people to accept and support it. By the way, as many lives that were lost from the Vietnam War, guess what other war has claimed a thousand times as many since 1973? Abortion. Fifty-three million, a thousand Vietnams. Also based on a lie that the unborn baby isn't really a life... God help us.
I have read that Ho Chi Min's favorite document was our Bill of Right. Also that Ho requested asistance from Truman and Eisenhower six times, but was turned down in favor of the French. Yet he went to the communists and asked once and was given every thing he asked for. I have also read the Joint Chiefs told LBJ he couldn't win a war in Vietnam; based on MacNamara's strategy. I severed in USN 7th fleet 1970,71,72.
Something you might find interesting: the first president of S Korea, Syngman Rhee spent his life in the US during the 1920s - 30s lobbying for help and creating awareness about Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula. He did find some success, but eventually ran into a wall. Frustrated, he decided to talk to Moscow for help, but when he arrived he was told his visa was issued by mistake and to leave immediately. So, he was now all in with the US and waited patiently for Washington's backing, which he eventually got. So at least the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula is free today. But imagine if Moscow had welcomed him with open arms.
Ho was a committed Communist all his life, this is acknowledged by all serious historians. He was part of the Communist faction long before WW2. His citing the US Declaration of Independence was an attempt to manipulate US public opinion. In reality, at the same time he was supporting the massacre of tens of thousands of Vietnamese nationalists who challenged his power between 1945-1946.
This is the STUPIDEST comment I've ever read on youtube which has an over abundance of stupid comments. Congrats moron. And to you idiots agreeing with it, have a slice of this pie.
@@riton349 dictator, yes. the Geneva Accords of 1954, which were aimed at resolving the conflict in Vietnam. As part of these accords, it was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel, with the North controlled by the communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh and the South controlled by the anti-communist forces led by President Ngo Dinh Diem. The accords also stipulated that there would be a nationwide election in 1956 to reunify the country under a single government. However, this election never took place. The United States and the government of South Vietnam, led by President Diem, were concerned that if the election happened, Ho Chi Minh and the communists would likely win, given Ho Chi Minh's popularity in the country. As a result, the election was not held, and the division between North and South Vietnam became more permanent. This contributed to the escalation of tensions and eventually led to the Vietnam War. The division lasted until the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Ah yes, because communist countries have such a terrific record when it comes to freedom and definitely didn't imprison, torture, kill, and disenfranchise millions upon millions of people.
I recommend watching Ken Burns’ Vietnam for a better, more honest take on the Vietnam War. It’s not hyper-partisan like most Prager videos, and demonstrates quite clearly the reason so many veterans of the war protested it.
I'd rather look up the information myself, and decide whether I think we should've fought in the war, and to be honest, my answer is no, the war couldn't have been won, unless the elites would've taken themselves and their arrogance down a notch and admitted they were wrong.
The thing that stood out about that documentary were the lessons taken from it. Which was primarily "we didn't stay long enough" basically that the problem was that the US didn't triple down on a losing strategy. You can see it in how they conducted and finally pulled out of Afghanistan, and that the same conclusions are being drawn again. Another Vietnam is going to happen over and over until the lesson of not getting involved in a part of the world you don't understand and have no interest in trying to finally takes hold.
The “Rubber Tree War” (a.k.a. Vietnam War - America), began in 1945, France, recently freed from Nazi rule wanted resources to rebuild its war torn country. Prior to WWII, Vietnam was a French colony, companies like Michelin had rubber tree plantations in Southern Vietnam. Rubber is a very important and in the 1940’s it was chiefly harvested from rubber trees, today we call this “Natural Rubber”. In 1940 Synthetic rubber, a man-made version of rubber produced from petroleum began production for the war effort. Since that time synthetic rubber improved to the point where it became far superior and cheaper to produce than natural rubber. By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s there was no longer a reason for rubber tree plantations. There is a good series called “The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam, 1945-1975”, a 26-part documentary about the war in Vietnam, produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It give a better understanding without the American propaganda.
Some people seem to be puzzled, or bemused, or scornful, or derisive, or upset, or hateful, ... that socialist Vietnam adopts the market economy even with much capitalistic flavor. They fail to understand the following # For the Vietnamese Uncompromised priority: Independence and Integrity of their Country Other goals and priorities Priority #1: Freedom and Democracy Priority #2: Happiness Priority #3: Security Priority #4: Peace Priority #5: Prosperity Priority #6: International Standing # The rest, whether it's Monarchy, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, a Mixture of those, ... could easily be negotiable to serve those above goals. # Thus, the Vietnamese had endured unbelievable sacrifice and hardship in their long wars against capitalist French colonialists, and fascist Japanese militarists, and capitalist American neo-colonialists, and communist Chinese expansionists, not because of socialism or capitalism or communism, but because of their country's Independence and Integrity. ================ Putting it simply, the Vietnamese just wanted their country's independence and integrity, and to be left alone, IF NOT FRIEND TO EVERYONE. ALL ELSE IS NEGOTIABLE. # They'd go to any length, endure any sacrifice, hardship, suffering, ... for their country's independence and integrity.
Jayyy Zeee so if a friend of yours gets mugged, if you just step back and watch it happen, everything will "just work out" between the mugger and your friend...
@@insideoutsideupsidedown2218South Vietnam is a rump state, existed to serve the aggressors while killing their own kin. Vietnam is and always be one nation.
We should hold U.S. soldiers and officers to the same standards we hold our communist, fascist, and imperial enemies to. I respect all U.S. troops but man, we can’t make the Geneva convention if we don’t hold ourselves to it.
@@uniqoEnEsp I disagree that it is as much "is" as "was", while civilians still do get killed in war today, it is absolutely incomparable to the amount of genocide that happened during the vietnam war and the hiroshima/nagasaki bombings, while one could argue the world war 2 bombings were out of absolute desperation, it was still a choice to explicitly kill everything in the area, knowing that many innocent civilians would die, america had the money for a proper invasion but they chose to bomb instead. It's very disingenuous to say that the american military is as bad now as it was in the past, it's simply not, there is still much improvement to be done but it is a stark contrast from the past. America had many ironically imperialistic and ultranationalistic traits that went against the idea of freedom they said they were fighting for in the first place, but the ideologies are much different now.
@@erenjeager5290 If you are the "good guys", while you failed to win the Vietnamese people's hearts? The moment US aided France to reestablish colonialism in Vietnam, you were the "bad guys" in our eyes!
Maybe you could make a point about the bombing which led to rural support for the Khmer Rouge but the Khmer Rouge was never pro-US. That trait belonged to the party which they overthrew during the war
@Ricky Shiffer US merciless bombings led to equally merciless Khmer Rouge. Most cambodians didn't care about ideology, but many had their family members killed by American bombings. So, they joined Khmer Rouge en masse.
As did the North Vietnamese! The khmer rouge were their allies. The North STAGED most of their troops and equipment in Cambodia, in preparation for their 1972 Invasion of the South.
@Ricky Shiffer the US supported the Khmer Rouge publicly even after the genocide, it is not disputed that the U.S. voted for the Khmer Rouge, and later, for the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, which was dominated by the Khmer Rouge, to retain Cambodia's United Nations seat until 1982 and 1991, respectively.
Steven c Gutierrez says "If only we had our own Vietnam war here in the States." -- I ask: # @Steven c Gutierrez -- Why ? Please explain further. How's the Vietnamese's circumstance similar to the States' ? # The Vietnamese had no other choice but to fight for their country's independence and integrity. # President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had tried very, very hard to negotiate to avoid a war with the French colonialists, but to no avail. # Similarly, President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had written numerous times to US presidents (Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower [?]) seeking friendship between Vietnam and the USA, but received no reply. Instead, in return, the US government continued with the French colonialists' steps in erecting a puppet regime in southern Vietnam to permanently divide the country and serve their neo-colonialist purposes, and then invaded Vietnam. ================ NW and Dark Reaper say "we [USA] only lost 59k troops ... we actually killed more than 1 Million vietcong" -- I say: # You lost because you live by the cold statistics and numbers, like what you've said, "we've killed your so many; you've only killed us so many". We Vietnamese won because we live by the humane heart "every single life is invaluably precious". # Are you among the children whose fathers make those statistics ? # Or, maybe you've enjoyed growing up without a father ? # NW and Dark Reaper say similarly to Cambodian Khmer-Rouge Pol Pot. Pol pot said (exact wording might not be correct; but the idea is) "We'll have 1 Cambodian killed and kill 10 Vietnamese in return. We'll then have 3 million Cambodians left after all the Vietnamese would have been killed; and we win !"
I want to rectify a misconceotion. During the vietnam war, it was north vs south vietnam. Most north vietnamese death were done by south vietnamese, not Americans, as americans tend to love to believe that 1 US soldier could wipe out an entire troop of north vietnamese. US death rate was actually quite high given the fact that only 10 to 20% of american soldiers were deplyed in battle.
The great tragedy of Vietnam is that we, the US, were unable to see Vietnam outside the context of our own Cold War with Red China and the USSR. Similarly, the speaker glosses over important realities that became painfully apparent by 1970. Our reason for entering Vietnam- the Gulf of Tonkin incident- was a pretext to avoid a national (Vietnam) referendum on unification. By entering the war we were supporting a highly corrupt, unpopular South Vietnamese government. This is why the insurgency in Vietnam thrived - not because of jungle terrain. Military strategy in Vietnam was completely unlike Korea, which was similar to WWII. The US had no experience or strategy to win an asymmetric war. Because Vietnam is not on a peninsula we could not isolate S Vietnam with WWII tactics and prevent troop and supply movement on the Ho Chi Min trail. Consequently we relied on using ever increasingly destructive military might which disproportionately harmed civilians rather than the enemy. For these reasons and more, by the end of the 1960s even conservatives in the US accepted the war was "unwinable". Given that experience, it's not clear what the speaker believes the US could have done to help S Vietnam in 1973, 74 , 75 that hadn't been tried in the previous 10 years. The second great tragedy of Vietnam is that so many US soldiers served bravely and yet were not celebrated and rewarded by our society for their great sacrifice. The last great tragedy of Vietnam was that as a country we, the US, did not have the will to intervene in Cambodia when our help was needed to stop the killing fields.
The war was winnable, but Americans did not have the willpower to defend the south. The Tet offensive was the last major battle of the war. After that the communist forces were largely exhausted and were being overrun. In 1973, a peace deal was signed, and if the US defended the peace agreement, like we did in Korea, then it would have held, and it would have prevented the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Withdrawal from Vietnam was a major mistake.
There was no "national referendum", everyone with an iota of common sense knew free elections were not possible in a totalitarian North Vietnam despite their gaslighting. The "neutral electoral board" that the North Vietnamese offered to allow to supervise elections (opposing UN supervision) would have no actual power, only serving an advisory role. In short, you can pretty much guarantee 100% vote for the Communists.
In my opinion, it would have helped to look at American forces from the Vietnamese point of view. Vietnam had been controlled by the French for many years. After the French left, China saw an opportunity to create a communist ally. The U.S. intervened simply because communism was expanding. China convinced North Vietnam that the U.S. wanted to take over, which was not true. To win the war, the U.S. forces should have ceased fire and convinced the people that China was lying. Instead, the U.S. attacked more, resulting in the people believing the Chinese. Next, there were war crimes such as My Lai massacre. Today, the people of South Vietnam realize that communism was not the answer. Look at it from the people's perspective.
Many saw in Vietnam the reality of communist aggression, and as in Korea, they also understood that allowing the communists to conquer whenever and wherever they liked was an unacceptable premise. It was the liberal leadership in American that lost that war, period!
I'm not the smartest person, but having one party promising one thing and then another party comes along and does the opposite has got to be the most stupidest thing.
the Geneva Accords of 1954, which were aimed at resolving the conflict in Vietnam. As part of these accords, it was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel, with the North controlled by the communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh and the South controlled by the anti-communist forces led by President Ngo Dinh Diem. The accords also stipulated that there would be a nationwide election in 1956 to reunify the country under a single government. However, this election never took place. The United States and the government of South Vietnam, led by President Diem, were concerned that if the election happened, Ho Chi Minh and the communists would likely win, given Ho Chi Minh's popularity in the country. As a result, the election was not held, and the division between North and South Vietnam became more permanent. This contributed to the escalation of tensions and eventually led to the Vietnam War. The division lasted until the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
My dads mom died from the war. My dads dad died 3 years later after the war, and , my dad went into Canada illegally looking for a safe place. He got arrested, but had the rights of getting into it after he got out. I asked my dad, "I want to see how you looked when you were a kid, where are your photos?" My dad didn't have any, and just said "I don't have one" I thought it was dumb. Now I think I'm dumb..
The problem is that the Vietnam war was fought over decolonisation and the consequences of the Indochina war with France. It wasn't a clear cut communism vs free-ish world conflict
Ho Chi Minh fought the French for that reason. He fought the Americans who opposed the spread Communism to the South. The Russians backed the North. The Chinese didn't want a democratic country next door despite hating the Vietnamese. They simply wouldn't have a democratic pro-western power in their border. The Democrats in Washington totally screwed the South Vietnamese, because the hated Nixon and the Republicans more. It was the Dems who got the US into a shooting war. Nixon was elected 4 years into the Vietnamese conflict. This shit was all on the Dems who love to con everyone into the rubbish that this was Nixon's war and that his policy caused it to fail. Nixon got the Communists to sue for peace. The Dems said shit on this after Nixon left office, and South Vietnam paid the price.
@@macvena Well America made the Vietcong their enemies when they supported the French claims to their former colony, and they continue to make themselves the bad guys by supporting the southern regime which was not democratic at all, and by killing millions of innocent Vietnamese civilians (see the My Lai massacre). America was clearly the bad guys in this war.
Vlavitir glutginskiya The north were not the aggressors; the Americans were. The Americans intervened in Vietnam after the so-called Gulf of Tonkin incident, which the government recently admitted never happened. So more than 70 000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese are dead because of a lie. Not to mention that the U.S. bombed places in Laos and Cambodia, which was illegal, and the bombing of Cambodia gave way for Pol Pot to take power, who was later removed by the Vietnamese. The U.S. didn’t care about spreading democracy, as long as the countries they supported were anti-communist. South-Vietnam was just democratic on papers only. And when they blocked free elections, the U.S. was okay with it. So the U.S. only cared about preserving their own interests, not to spread democracy, and the war was just to enrich those who are apart of the military industrial complex.
@@redblaze8700 Vietcong wasn't officially communist during the war with the French, their leader used to ask for support for US but was ignored. I think Hochi Minh and his fellow were more like nationalists than communists. US and France were Titan and the NVA needed support to fight tho.
@@alt0799 Vietnam has been in almost continual warfare since the Trung sisters' rebellion, armed civil uprising between 40 and 43 AD. www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-timeline www.thoughtco.com/vietnam-war-timeline-1779963 www.holidify.com/pages/wars-in-vietnam-1379.html afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/vietnam_timeline.htm www.history-of-american-wars.com/vietnam-war-timeline.html
@@larrylinn8589 But the uprising against the Chinese was a completely different conflict altogether. The Vietminh revolting against the French was a colonial matter since they themselves were a colonial power occupying the country.
I must say the Vietnamese were extremely humane. # During the last hours before the end of the war at 11:30 30-4-1975 (in fact, always, well before that time), the Vietnamese commandos and militia (Viet Cong) were everywhere in Saigon, for sure even on the US Embassy ground. # What would have happened if a grenade or two were thrown at the crowds at the US Embassy or the American Marines still there? Yet, nothing had happened. # For sure, all around and very close to Saigon, and inside Saigon itself, there were enough of Vietnamese (Viet Cong) guns and missiles that could down a helicopter or two that were evacuating the escapees. # Yet, not a single shot was fired at the low-flying helicopters. # Furthermore, during the many years of the bloody war, WHILE THE AMERICAN MILITARY (and their followers, the South Korean troops, the Australian troops, ...) committed heinous barbarities on the Vietnamese people every hour of the day, every day of the many years that they waged their invading, unjust, immoral, barbaric war on Vietnam (barbarities like the kill-all-burn-all-rape-all massacre in Son My - My Lai in 1968, or the napalm bombing of the "Napalm Girl" Phan Thi Kim Phuc in Trang Bang in 1972, or the indiscriminate B52 carpet bombings killing all, including infants and old women, or the spraying of toxin Dioxin - Agent Orange that is still, right now in March 2019, causing catastrophic destruction of the bodies of many Vietnamese young, and numerous monstrous birth defects to Vietnamese women), THE VIETNAMESE on the other hand had NOT, not once, kidnapped or committed any atrocity on American children or women, or American civilians, many of whom were living in Vietnam at the time (and quite vulnerable). NOT ONCE. # If that does not show Vietnamese's humanity, I don't know what else does.
I have seen videos where they were at a hospital, was during or after the war. It was reported some young people and kids that were there and had lost limbs were forced to be human mine detectors by some vietcong or nva troops, or they would be beaten. Very sad. Goes to show that war brings out the worst in everyone.
While slavery may be abolished, I feel high U.S. officials will find any way to imprison and risk lives of U.S. citizens. Vietnam was no exception. My father served there.
well about cambodia, both US and china supported Paul Pot and was the viet kongs who defeated cambodian communists and stoped the genocide,check your facts Prager U
I remembered my Uncle tolding me story's where he fought the war as a child, i thought it was fun and funny but in reality it was hell when I was 17 year old! I always visit him now and go sometimes with him to church to make him happy even if I'm not that religious like him. He always told me when I arrived to his home "My Soldier never dies only the soul" or sometimes when we talk he always responds "Only God knows what's at the end of the Road!" (always hit me deep)
Totally agree here..this applies to almost every historical event.. easy to stand in judgement years later as we tend to do ...thank you I thought I was alone in this idea!👍
I always thought the same. If Americans were slaughter at Normandy and Nazi Germany prevailed we would thought it was stupid to send Americans to die for Europeans. But we succeeded and the generation called themselves “the greatest generation”. Talk about narcissism lol
Vietnam never made sense outside of ego, the Gulf of Tonken should be remembered like the war on terror, a frightening mistake in a powerful, albeit young, nation's history (and I don't mean Vietnam)
@@barriesansom2070 I couldn't agree more. It's easy to stand in judgement from the safety of 50 years later and when you have no idea what it was like for the people who were actually living it. Imagine in 50 years what they will say about us
SunnyFysh World view? It's a fact that Germany is struggling with refugees both culturally and economically, no matter which part of the political spectrum you're on. You sound like the baby in this case.
That'd indeed be a fantastic topic, especially to inform the American public about how such a massive refugee crisis can impact countries, so they won't make the same mistake and think with their heart rather than with their brain. Germans and Swedes are experts on this, especially because of the women in politics.
Jonatan Söderlund How did you guys end up with a feminist gov? Can Europe be saved? I mean, it seems like too much damage is done. Would have to perform mass round-up and deportation of migrants.
If this can comfort Americans; Vietnam has a reputation of punching above their weight, especially in warfare. We defeated the Mongols (thrice), the Chinese (countless times), the French, and the Americans,.
funny how this doesn't mention Ngo Dinh Diem, the leader of South Vietnam who did a lot to suppress the Buddhist population of south Vietnam while claiming to be fighting for a democratic society. So unpopular in fact that he ended up getting shot and later letting more or less cooption military leaders taking over control. Taking about stable democratic south after 1972 isn't realistic considering the rife corruption there was in the ARVN army and the South Vietnamese leadership. Also: the USA was involved with the conflict a long time before they send in combat troops. All the way back in 1945 after WW2 ended the USA played a vital part in assisting France in trying to re-gain colonial control over Vietnam. The USA send a lot of money, weapons before they started to send combat troops. Some might talk about the Indochina war (1946 - 1954) between France and Vietminh as one conflict and the Vietnam war (1965-1972) as another. But i think it makes sense to see them as the same conflict with different stages spanning from 1945 until 1975.
Bro cia supported the generals to kill diem because he didn’t want american troops in vietnam which would take away any credibility south vietnam had. So they killed him and the next 12 years were military dictatorships...also its important to recognize that vietnamese history has never had a democracy, its been thousands of years of dynastic, authoritarian rule and ngo dinh diem’s anti communist gov isnt that far off of what vietnam was used to, and neither was ho chi minhs gov
Ngo dinh diem never suppressed Buddists, it was the viet cong’s strategy to turn religion into politics for political purpose, which they took control and put many of their people (not real monks) into Buddism to make scenes against Ngo Dinh Diem’s government to aim for impeachment.
Let's not forget the Catholics, Christians, and montagnards oppressed by the Communist regime. Wonder why it doesn't have any news coverage? Communists don't like free press.
LBJ declared the gulf of Tonkin incident an act of war. Off the back of this he lobbied conformity on the issue in government beginning US military attacks in Vietnam. Since then the Gulf of Tonkin incident has been confirmed as NOT a second attack on a US vessel. Whether it was miscommunication or conspiracy, the US waged war in Vietnam on false pretences.
it was a Dolphin jumping out of the water....Johnson knew it and still made that justification for the "Resolution" giving him war powers.. that's another thing...spineless Congress not Declaring War as required in the Constitution, just delegating with "War Power's Acts..."
Did a year there. Still confused about purpose, objectives, strategies, and why we pawns for our government were so hated upon our return. Being thanked for our service starting twenty five to thirty years after we were trashed on our return is just another slap in the face.
Not trying to defend north Vietnam or anything, but South Vietnam was also a brutal military dictatorship under Diem. ‘Defending freedom’ as this video states as a reason to interfere in Vietnam completely disregards the fact that there was no freedom in Vietnam to begin with
Well it was dictatorship in the south, but it was free because it was mostly an anarchy. A new leader was put in place by a coup or assassination sometimes so often that there were multiple new "presidents" in a month.
Meh...I'm right wing, but you're never gonna convince me that Vietnam wasn't ill-conceived. For starters, Diem was never going to be seen as anything but a puppet to the Vietnamese, for reasons that Kennedy, of all people, ought to have known. Vietnam was a colonial possession, fighting for independence, in which religion took on significance. The Vietnamese were mostly Buddhist; the French, Catholic. Much like certain other wars for independence, one's religion became a surrogate for whom they supported. Diem, not only was a fluent French speaker, and a Catholic...went so far as to outlaw Buddhism! Which is why an Irish-American such as JFK ought to have realized Diem rule was going to be no more popular than the Black and Tans were in Ireland. You can call it "freedom vs communism" all you want...nobody is going to fight and die for an ass. And Diem was an ass. And, to extend the comparison...just because there were communist factions within the independence movement, does not make communism inevitable. After all, there were red factions in the IRA, and the Republic of Ireland escaped communism...though it would've been swell if it could have happened without a Civil War! IMO, Vietnam was a squandered opportunity to apply the "Get more flies with honey than vinegar" axiom. Hell, given the animosity between the two, Vietnam could have been a politically-useful counter to China, if more able statesmen had prevailed.
My Father, Uncles Vic and James, and Cousin Dave fought in the Vietnam War and I thank God for them all coming home safely! May God grant rest, to all of my fallen Comrades of the Vietnam War, in His loving arms; Blessing their families with peace and healing. Lest we forget! Respectfully, MSSN J. Hankins United States Navy 1979-1982
Vietnamese people and American combatants suffered the same pain, which caused by the US goverment. In Vietnam, every town has a cementery for the fallen soldiers with the largest one in Quang Tri, much like the memorial wall in DC on the scale. I'm glad that you and your loved ones came home alive and well. Please send my regard to them!
Jeffery Hankins I don't think God would support an army who raped their way through a country for several years and bombed the shit out of a country they weren't at war with and ruined the landscape of a nation by riddling every field with unexploded land mines, destroying luscious forests with excessive amounts of napalm, and killing more civilians than actual militants. As a matter of fact I think he gave them what they deserved... [of course god isn't real so it doesn't really matter]
Hands Up Promotions The US troops killed around 5,000 civilians buy their hands and the rest was caused by bombing. Bombings killed around 50,000 which is hard to avoid. What country are you from because I can probably give you plenty of wars that you guys did worse in and also you couldn't tell who the enemy was so it's different then an actual war. If you kill a civilian thinking they are a soldier it's kinda half the enemies fault for fighting as gorillas.
Joseph Damiano Oh yeah forgot to count Agent Orange consequences that leave over 4M Vietnamese people have abnormal bodies yet the USA get away from thr Geneva by saying it is a fking herb weapon.
That's the one question no one will answer . We didn't gain anything from it . We just went and killed or got killed . I never knew why I had to fight to the death over there .
@stoic romulan That's a very good question. The answer is that we didn't care what happened to Vietnam. The point of the ordeal was to show third world countries seeking independence the extraordinarily high cost of trying to be independent. It was to make sure Vietnam served as a lesson to others. It sounds counterintuitive but it was very effective. This is what Chomsky thinks and I believe him.
Project for a new American century picked Iraq to serve basically the same purpose. To demonstrate American power to the world. These people are just astoundingly unethical, death and destruction mean almost nothing to them, Reagan was the same.
@stoic romulan It works for smaller countries because it's usually accompanied by a lot of money for the powerful. It doesn't work so well with world powers like China and Russia. Look at Bolivia ,Brasil and Honduras. Venezuela's holding on by it's nails, whether it falls is still in the air. So it's kind of successful. In any case the new target is right here in the USA.
So we're just going to ignore the fact that more and more families were owning two cars by the early 60s, and the rubber comes from trees that are indigenous to southeast Asia? 🤔
It was originally to get the french to join NATO by promising them control of Vietnam as it was when it was classified as a french colony. It was for pride after the initial goal was swept under the rug.
I once watched a documentary about Robert McNamara. In it he talks about the Vietnam War and some lessons. Ten lessons I think. One of them was, and I'm paraphrasing, "listen to the other side." When after many years since the Vietnam War McNamara traveled to Vietnam and spoke to some of wartime the leaders. McNamara said to him "You were trying to take do a communist take over of a country," while the other man said "No, you were trying to take our country by force, We were fighting for our independence." While it may be true that the US, by fighting in the Vietnam War, tried to prevent the "dominoes from falling," North Vietnamese held an almost religious belief that they were fighting against Western colonial imperialism. Keep in mind that the iron curtain concealed much atrocities that were and were being committed in the 2nd world, majority of which would only be revealed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And even if some atrocities were known in Socialist countries, they were attributed to a previous dictator accompanied by a disavowal by the current one. The Soviets used the clever tactic of using riding on the back of independence/liberation movement to export their ideology. The first successful case also came from Asia - the People's Republic of Mongolia.
As a Vietnamese refugee to USA, this is a spot on comment...this was everything that my mother (who was actually alive during the war) has told me and raised me to believe....even with my own research this is accurate. We were really fighting to get rid of imperialist and colonialism...vietnam just want to be free
Young American and Vietnamese died for no reasons, because of lifers thought with his superior fire powers he is gonna win but nooo . Vietnamese ppls don’t care about communists or socialist all we want is to be free/independence after 2000 years thru many enemies
During the Vietnam War there were a lot case of US ground troops commit a lot of attrocities toward many South Vietnamese villagers during their "Search and Destroy Mission." Many were never reported and a lot was being covered up by US General William Childs Westmoreland. There were many US ground troops saw the attrocities done by their fellow American troops and did nothing. While other participate. Vietnamese peoples were the victim of the Vietnam War. Even though many Vietnamese didn't start the War and didn't ask for it. That was the decision by the American peoples who voted for Democrats President JF Kennedy and LB Johnson as their Commander in Chief for their country. And Democrats President Truman who brought Communist support to Vietnam by allowing and supporting France to reclaim Vietnam as their colony. A country who value their freedom and independence from England. Deny other country of their own. America was never a democracy country. America is a Republic.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… The US saw unprecedented economic growth from WWII, then completely abused it terrorizing an undeveloped country, thinking war would continue that growth. Instead ended up in debt and having to end the gold standard, screwing the world for generations to come. Smh.
He explained the Domino effect. Without Nam war, Australia and New Zealand might've come under communist dictatorship. Chinese hegemonism, like today in South-China- Sea island(s) dominoes. Pacific islands are like stepping stones (ask the Japanese). Imagine Catalina Island, off Los Angeles, as the final stepping stone! No more Disney.
South Korea is way more free and prosperous than any post communist nation there. Can you prove me wrong? Or you just wanted another chance to spit out the typical anti American rant? Internet history afficionados can be so damn retarded...
John Tyler In the early 1950’s, South Korea was ruled by a dictator worse than Kim Il Sung. He murdered 100,000 innocent citizens to stop them defecting to the North. Also, for the best part of its existence, North Korea was actually doing better economic wise than the South, and it only went downhill after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of Kim Jong-il. Get your facts straight you brainwashed American patriot.
I'm Hmong and I've always heard the side of the story from my dad, but never understood why our history was never told, and named the secret war during the Vietnam War. Only hearing the context of the American's side and my dad's experience and what was told. Learning the context and roles of other nations trying to occupy and do nation building in Vietnam only to end up with massive casualties and atrocities all over se asia. From my perspective the CIA, what they do and don't tell the public they're doing illegally behind the back of other nations for money, war, political gain, influence, and nation building. I assume the plan of the CIA was to use the Hmong men, children and people as a scapegoat to help infiltrate from Lao's neutral zone where the U.S. couldn't. In which the Hmong were exhausted to the point most men were lost, and children were drafted to take their place. Some of us who were lucky enough were divided amongst and sent to different continents from refugee camps. Others stranded and hunted down like animals with the last hope of planning to extract and help the lost only to get caught in the act of planning an international terrorism by GVP and others in the U.S. Full circle of criminal acts from bureaucracy, sometimes I don't know if we should be thankful, or scream and demand for justice for covering up this kind of behavior in times futile bureaucracy war.
The British had used or played ethnic peoples against each other since at least the 16th century when they started grabbing colonies around the world. They were extremely natural and good at that game. The US is just a successful spinoff of the British Empire so they’re also very good at using, manipulating local ethnic peoples against their enemies.
Sir...As a Hmong you no doubt know there were...maybe are, at least five major cultures living in S.E. Asia without regard for political boundaries drawn by many outside politicians. You might read the book'' Street without Joy" and see just how well informed those politicians were or should have been...They went ahead anyway!
If you don't read Vietnamese, maybe the English interpretation below helps. # Vietnamese saying: Giặc đến nhà, đàn bà cũng đánh! English: Enemy arriving to your home; women too fight! # To better understand Vietnamese women, look up for "Trưng sisters", "Lady Triệu (Triệu Thị Trinh)", “Võ Thị Sáu”, “Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai”, “Lê Thị Hồng Gấm”, “Đặng Thùy Trâm”, “Nguyễn Thị Út (Út Tịch)”, "Tạ Thị Kiều", "Nguyễn Thị Định", "Bùi Thị Xuân", ... # Poem by Tố Hữu: O du kích nhỏ giương cao súng Thằng Mỹ lênh khênh bước cúi đầu Ra thế! To gan hơn béo bụng Anh hùng đâu cứ phải mày râu! # My attempt at English translation: Petite militia girl raising high her gun Towering American guy stoopingly walking, his head bent So! Big liver (courage) better than fatty stomach (big body) Heroism not having to be reserved just for men. # There was a happy ending to the "Petite militia girl and the towering American guy" photo: They (Nguyễn Thị Kim Lai, 17 years old at the time the photo was taken on 20-09-1965, and American ex-pilot William Andrew Robinson, aged 22 then) met up again 30 years later, but this time as FRIENDS when Robinson came to visit Kim Lai at her home in Hà Tĩnh province in Central Vietnam (ruclips.net/video/MDFcpVq_HZA/видео.html )
LOL The Vietnam War started in 1945, when the Vietnamese nation declared their independence from colonialism. Clearly, every American, who completely embraces the idea of "freedom" and "liberty", and fought for OWN freedom from British rule, MUST understand the basic urge of nations to be free.... Right?
So killing 2,5 million Vietnamese was better than "corruption"?
6 лет назад
@Vlavitir glutginskiya 800.000 actually were killed, but not all of them were killed by American. You forgot that 3 millions South Vietnamese, 300.000 South Korean, 20.000 of New Zealand, Australian, Thai were in that war too? America is full of propaganda too you know. Sure that dropping down 7 million ton of bombs on villain and city, committed hundred of massacre and executing hundred thousand of people for Buddhism, political and supporting the North in South Vietnam.
Yes, the very democratic South Vietnam. SO democratic that in Saigon he won the election with more than 600.000 votes while there were only 450.000 voters. so democratic that Diem denied The general election to unify the country because he knew he would lose to Ho Chi Minh Yes, Cambodian Genocide, I wonder who sent them guns and who did absolutely nothing when the genocide happened Vietnam war was not about capitalism and communism but about independent. The Vietnamese not see the US as a capitalist invader but an invader. Millions of Vietnamese would not become refugees if the US had not intervened. Vietnam and the US could have been allied and partner at that time because the Vietnamese don't really trust their northern friend
If it wasn't a war between communism and democracy but a war for independence i wonder why the there's still no freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to protest or criticize the government in vietnam. Totally a war for independence, by your logic the north korean government should liberate south korea from american imperialists too since the south korean government wasn't democratic when the us created it. But as we learned from history, anything that's not communist or socialist will become democratic some day regardless (and yes, nazi germany was socialist to its core). Better dead than red, commie.
@@TranNhatKim YOu know who kick the French out of Indochina? It was the commie and accord to the Geneva Convention they would have an election but ROV denied it, was it democracy? How about the Buddhist crisis? You wonder there is no freedom of speech, ...? the economy is not that good compare to other countries, there are corruptions and you think people will care about it more than their money? I wonder how I can comment on the youtube while the Chinese have to use VPN? I wonder how I can post it on Facebook saying the cop is bad without being arrested? Now you talking about the Nazi, you think it was socialist because it had the word socialist in its name, National Socialism? You remember the time Hitler set the Reichstag on fire and blamed it on the commies and then sent them to the concentration camp? It was pure German Nationalism, anti-communist and antisemitism.
Some people say "The US have LITERALLY NO BUSINESS starting that War vs. Vietnam ..." -- Please consider again regarding "BUSINESS", as per below ================ Domino theory ? Stop the spread of communism ? Protect the "free world" ? ... # Maybe. But please consider the following first. # Imagine I was the owner of a company that makes ammunition for the US-army guns, plus canned food for the US Military. # If the war in Vietnam went ahead (i.e. killing people, Vietnamese and Americans; expected to last years), I'd stand to make maybe 100 billion dollars in total (makers of helicopter gunships, artillery shells, military clothing, ... would probably make more money) # If there wasn't any war, then I would not have that 100 billion dollars. # In that case (no war) I would try to destroy any obstacle on my way of getting that 100 billion dollars. # President John F Kennedy was hesitant about invading Vietnam and starting a war (he knew about Vietnamese people's history and spirits), and about to declare USA's no-war and non-involvement (or drastically reduced involvement) # Please suggest what I do to get my 100 billion dollars. Thanks.
@@totoarba2439 he made 2 comments about each side, I’d say he gave a more favorable outline of the Vietnamese side. Though to be honest there isn’t much you can say in favor of the US
Im guessing you are Vietnamese? I still have more research to do on the Vietnam war. But it seems to me a missed opportunity, the US could have supported Ho Chi Minh after ww2 ended, possibly having input on policies and maintaining us bases there. My understanding is we helped him fight the japanese during ww2. I see a few reasons why we sided with the french, mainly our history of being allies and the "communist* word. Ironically fighting Ho Chi Minh and losing almost assured Vietnam would be communist and chinese and soviets would have more influence in the region. After the french left why were we fighting their war? The military industrial complex surely is powerful and influential in us policy sometimes. It was probably about maintaining good relations with france and greed of big business.
@@connor3288 -- Steven c Gutierrez says "If only we had our own Vietnam war here in the States." -- I ask: # @Steven c Gutierrez -- Why ? Please explain further. How's the Vietnamese's circumstance similar to the States' ? # The Vietnamese had no other choice but to fight for their country's independence and integrity. # President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had tried very, very hard to negotiate to avoid a war with the French colonialists, but to no avail. # Similarly, President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had written numerous times to US presidents (Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower [?]) seeking friendship between Vietnam and the USA, but received no reply. Instead, in return, the US government continued with the French colonialists' steps in erecting a puppet regime in southern Vietnam to permanently divide the country and serve their neo-colonialist purposes, and then invaded Vietnam. ================ NW and Dark Reaper say "we [USA] only lost 59k troops ... we actually killed more than 1 Million vietcong" -- I say: # You lost because you live by the cold statistics and numbers, like what you've said, "we've killed your so many; you've only killed us so many". We Vietnamese won because we live by the humane heart "every single life is invaluably precious". # Are you among the children whose fathers make those statistics ? # Or, maybe you've enjoyed growing up without a father ? # NW and Dark Reaper say similarly to Cambodian Khmer-Rouge Pol Pot. Pol pot said (exact wording might not be correct; but the idea is) "We'll have 1 Cambodian killed and kill 10 Vietnamese in return. We'll then have 3 million Cambodians left after all the Vietnamese would have been killed; and we win !"
Tragic, so much suffering and death for an ideology. I worked with a lady who was a boat person, she had scars from napalm burns. I was glad she was out of that hell and living a much better life in Canada.
you say it was for an ideology...that much you understood?!! so, "The defence of freedom in Asia" is justifiable or wouldn't be better "In the name of Pax Americana, kill'em all"...don't you see the hypocrisy in...it was for an ideology?!! I guess you are confusing things with deaths of russians under Stalin or deaths of chinese under Mao... by the way, the lady you've met got the scars from the napalm bombs that the US dropped off, so you know!
The greatest travesty of the Vietnam conflict was the misunderstanding that it was fought to combat communism. What it came down to was that the Soviet Union was backing anti-colonial insurgencies and the USA was supporting post-colonial governments who were previously occupied by their Western allies. The latter was unsustainable. The NVA and the Viet-Cong were going to win no matter what the USA did because they fought for Vietnamese independence under the thin veil of communism. If the USA was willing to support Vietnamese independence as opposed to sustaining French imperialism, we could have avoided a war that cost millions of lives and billions of dollars. Ho Chi Minh only sided with the USSR after the USA refused to assist him against the French.
"Vietnam provided no imperial advantages." Please explain why the US funded the majority of the French-Indochina war. Additionally, if the US did not seek a war in Vietnam, please explain the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Ultimately, the US meddling in the self-determination of another country is what directly led to millions of lives lost.
The place was unstable for centuries ...trible warfare, wars with China. Western involvement began with French missionaries and then Napolean invading and making S. Viet Nam and parts of Cambodian peninsula a French protectorate. Viet Nam became a "French colonial" region for the next 100 years. In WWII German occupied France (as the French Vichy government) sought to retain control of the area. After WWII France tried to re-establish colonial control. Due to France's Inability to maintain control of the region (their defeat at Dien Bien Fu in 1954) and the growing fears of the U.S. that Viet Nam would become Communist the United States 'stepped in' and (under Truman, Eisenhower, and then Kennedy) was forced to gradually escalate our military involvement in the region. It was not Colonialism so much as fear of Communism that got us drawn into the escalating conflict.
America has a fair share of brutal history from native americans to civil war etc . Imagine if vietnam was the one to come and kill hundrends of thousands of american families their children to end slavery for freedom and equality for all will it justify the killing's ??
My favorite part about this topic is when people say that we got our asses kicked. 50,000 is literally a drop in the bucket compared to 1.1 million soldiers that the nva and vietcong sent to get slaughtered. We only lost the conflict because we started trying to draft college kids and the media was intensely anti-war so they continuously bombarded housewives with footage of the carnage. We made the same mistake in vietnam that will eventually made in Afghanistan. We abandoned the people we were there to help before we finished helping them.
My poppy ( grandpa ) was in the Vietnam war....people gave him a really hard time about it but it wasn’t his fault , they made him do it. He still has nightmares time to time about it..had my nanny by the neck because of one of the nightmares...
That's like my grand grandfather, drafted into Wehrmacht (he was living in Germany before WW2 (nothing special in those times and now either)), but when WW2 spread out he was drafted. He died in Eastern Front, but he really didn't want to fight on German side.
@@Admiral45-10 Of course he wasn't a nazi then. So the nazis didn't like Slavs but didn't mind them in the Wehrmacht... Interesting story, and I'm sorry for the fate of your grandfather.
@@okramra yeah, he was not the only one from my family. But it's imporant to note, that he wasn't even German - he was Polish, who fleed his country, because he needed to provide for his family. You may not like me for saying so, but that makes me respect him and consider him as a good person. And P.S.: it's probably not due to his race, but due to his citizenship - many people forget about this, but being a male Citizen of specific country means, that you can be drafted to protect this country during war, whether you like it or not. Although it was legal, I still feel sorry about what happened to him - let's not forget he died in probably the worst place possible during WW2...
Source: Ex OSS/CIA agent's interview. It was all about the US fearing that if (south)vietnam fell into the hands of communisme, the whole of south east of asia would follow as a domine effect.
Vietnam reminds us that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog. North Vietnam had a fraction of our population base, and their losses in the war were over ten times ours. But they were so determined to turn South Vietnam red, they just kept coming. We didn't.
4:00 Fun fact: Pol Pot was backed by USA, who executed 2 million people in Cambodia. Vietnam invaded Cambodia, dethroned Pol Pot and saved Cambodians from the genocide.
The Khmer Rouge was originally enabled, trained and propelled by North Vietnam, its ally during the Vietnam war. During this time, the US opposed the Khmer Rouge. Only when Pol Pot stopped obeying Hanoi’s marching orders, and started cross-border attacks, did the Khmer Rouge become the opponent of newly unified Vietnam. Subsequently, the US also switched its position, and began a period of diplomatic support of the Khmer Rouge. The US did not execute two million people in Cambodia.
"We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong." -Kennedy and Johnson Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, In Retrospect (1995)
Did you bother looking at the reality of that time period. Soviet/communist containment. From 1945 to when the wall came down. You think that quote from McNamara is a bit from guilt and wokeness? Remember they are all trying to put on a good face in light of failure moving forward.
@@republica7337 one of the "principles and traditions of this nation" is that dictatorships do not allow freedom of their people, one of the core ideas of the United States. that's what South Vietnam was, a brutal dictatorship. whatever the outcome, victory for north or south, it would've been a bad government, but the Vietnamese people would still just be doing their thing, farming and living their lives either way. with that knowledge, how was the war not a waste of 58000 American lives?
HeadachyX ...... ask the far left Dems - AOC, De Blasio, Witt,er, Dunkan etc.etc. and every single branch of the communist party of every single state in the US !
@Keith schaedel Yes, the Communist Party would be involved in labour unions because fighting for worker rights is fundamentally the point of any communist movement. Unionism at its core is a left-wing concept so there would be close ties to the Communist Party. Conversely the capitalist parties in power do everything within their power to disenfranchise the worker: To take away their right to vote, to speech, to dismantle their union organisation and to suppress their wages. The Communist Party having close ties to all labour unions is glowing praise of their commitment to their cause. Why would you think a party claiming to represent the average worker having ties to organisations representing the average worker would be a bad thing?
The Khmer Rouge along with China's expansionist Rulers like Deng Xiao-Ping and Mao Ze-Dong were urged on and supported by the vilely vengeful US Administration to attack Vietnam on both northern and southern borders (lucky that Vietnam was able to beat them off before they could enter into the country to cause loss of life and damage like the US had done); and all that was accompanied by the vilely vengeful US Administration imposing total embargo and encirclement on Vietnam, in a heinous effort to cause famine in the country.
The narrator of this piece is Victor Davis Hanson who (like most Republicans) is a Vietnam War draft dodger. If he supported the Vietnam war, why didn't he enlist and serve?
In a lot of ways America could have won the war, but the politicians tied the general's hands. This meant more money for the military industrial complex. Freedom was the reason we went in, but money was the reason that we stayed and were not allowed to win.
TickedOff Priest No. We had an "MIC" since Eisenhower's presidency. Long before the Vietnam war. We fought for oil. We did not win because the left killed the anti war movement.
TickedOff Priest We weren't there for Vietnams oil, but to protect our flow of oil that was and still is in the Middle East. Communism is power hungry, it seeks to dominate the world.
I've always wondered why the VietnaM war was viewed different to the Korean war which was a "good war" many Americans say. When realistically they were fought for the same reasons, both very expensive, and the Korean war was actually more bloody. The only reason I think is because America "lost", but it was more pulling out for polical reasons (the war footage, different in values for the baby boomers, etc).
Part of that is the fact that North Korea was a dictatorship and remained that way. South Korea was also a dictatorship, but developed into a democracy and successful economy. South Vietnam never experienced sovereign democracy, it was always, in some sense, a victim of foreign meddling. So the war never gained the appearance of the US protecting an ally from an invader, but rather the US propping up a puppet. And part of this perception is, as you pointed out, the fact that the US successfully defended South Korea, and failed to defend South Vietnam.
@@Jake-rs9nq I would add that Ho, and thus North Vietnam has a way better image internationally than any communist leader from that era. With his modesty, he gave off the feeling that he actually did the stuff he did for the nation and not his own gain
The North Vietnamese walked away from Johnson's peace offers because they wanted a united Vietnam and didn't want to see Vietnam as a puppet state of foreign powers. Sure, they accepted help from the Soviets and Chinese but once Vietnam was unified, they treated their backers as allies or enemies depending on which nation you talk about and not as overlords who they kiss up to. It's ironic though that Vietnam is becoming a capitalist nation and is on good terms with the U.S against China.
Fun Fact: Ho Chi Minh admired the USA for the way they kicked the British out and fought for freedom. He tried getting the US to help them fight against the French multiple times (but was declined), and the first line in the Vietnamese declaration of independence was a quote from the American declaration of independence Vietnam even made their strategy for the war similar to America's during the American Revolution
It’s debatable whether Ho Chi Minh’s odes to democracy and flattering of the US were sincere. I do not find them convincing, but instead I suppose that they were ploys for support.
Back then, the United States was isolationist, and the great depression was hitting the USA hard. Supplying them would be hard. Britain gave the US more advanced radar systems, better equipment, etc, so they gave Britain a lend-lease that allowed Britain not only greater flexibility but more ability to stop Germany. However, after world war II, the US's economy was roaring due to the war. It's safe to say because of the attack on Pearl Harbour, the USA is what is now. If the Japanese never attacked, the USA would still probably be isolationist to this day.
While Finns were sufferind under the attack of this horrible nation, US was supplying the commies with 375000 pickup trucks, 50000 jeeps, 35000 motorcycles, 8000 tractors, 7000 tanks, 15000 airplanes, 2000 locomotives, 5 million tons of food supplies and the list goes on forever.
Finland had still got more supply or any kind of support from West, than Poland in Polish-Bolshevik War (this is one of three major wars (another ones: ,,Winter War" and ,,Intervention in Afghanistan") which closed Russians their gate to rest of continent they were planning to conquer).
If you see your friend getting the life beaten out of him by his neighbor do you sit and eat popcorn or do you go help your friend? The US chose the latter.
@@kamyarroshandel3055 It doesn't matter if you like it or not. The south was an ally and was invaded. Allys tends to help each other when they face aggressive military action
@@_gamepoint_ the only time the U.S intervenes is if it has a positive outcome for them, people who think its for the "freedom" of the other country are ignorant. If communism wasnt involved in the war then the U.S would not have intervened at all. But because they were so scared of communism at the time they had to do something, which ended up costing so many innocent lives. But America forever am I right, land of the free btw.
@@kamyarroshandel3055 Yea that's how geopolitics works buddy. You new? Again countries tend to help allies who get violently invaded.... because that's mutually beneficial.
Vietnamese never seek for Communism or resist Capitalism in any mean, our reason for fighting is not ideology. We seek for independent and unity. If US had not involved in our fight with France, we would not have had to lean on Communist side.
I am Vietnamese and I'm seriously offended by you blatantly lying about my country's war. Historical revisionism at its best. You can fool an American but you can't fool a Vietnamese.
Did you guys watch the video? The US basically won, divided the country in half, just like Korea, but the North Vietnamese violated the Paris Peace Accord. They called the US's bluff that they would come back and were right. The US said screw it.
They wanted their own country free of colonialism. They asked Truman for support to get rid of the French. Truman refused because the French owed us war debt and needed their colonies to pay. I’m other words the Vietnamese just wanted what we have.
I would like to know why we were there. I spent over three years in Vietnam. And I like to know why we pulled out. We should have won. I feel betrayed.
You never had a chance. You Americans supported France and the rump state, you were enemies in Vietnamese eyes, and we are not keen of having invaders in our homeland. Vietnam defeated Mongolia, China, Japan, and USA.
Did Vietnam really fight because they "hated" capitalism or was it that they wanted a united and independent Vietnam? There are a lot of details missing about the whole picture in this video. This video comes off too biased.
Exactly. Why does America always act like they're the good guys protecting the vulnerable? They just want world-wide control at the end of the day that's all it comes down to.
No, i think this video was rather unbiased for a Prager U video, they did hate capitalism a lot
@@Marsalien100 because America was protecting it's allies like do support north Korea on the Korean war because if not why support north vietnam
There was a documentary (don't remember the name) that highlighted how often the Vietnamese would say they are just fighting for freedom and you could tell that the Americans really were not about that. Even at the end of the war, a leader said all we wanted was our freedom, what were you trying to achieve?
@@johnnyvincent8995 im vietnamese and I honestly advise you to get your story straight. Vietnam was always under control of another since ming dynasty years. Then south vn got taken over by the French the North vietnamese wanted to be a free country being under it own ruling but French didnt wanted to return so north vn attacked the French while they was vonulable wuth most their troops supporting the Korean war.
Because of that thats where you see American steps in 1 hand saying we had our country back yet on the other wanted to dictate south vn laws. They was egging on the south government to stand up to the north and america would support the south till the end.
8n the end when they realised they couldn't win and lost to much troops they ran off then started playing the sanction games.
If north Vietnam had any intention of being a dictating country Mr Ho Chi Minh wouldn't have invited Vietnam last emperor to come to lead Vietnam after the vn war.
This narrative should start with french colonial occupation of vietnam and its struggle for freedom.
But that would contradict the limited worldview of PragerU's conservative minions.
XD
To be fair only so much can be put into a 5 minute video, but I agree. PragerU should have more videos surrounding Vietnam. The French colonialism, Ho Chi Minh's attraction to Communism, but also the fact that he quoted the declaration of Independence in his speech declaring the U.S. an ally, etc. I would HIGHLY recommend the Ken Burns documentary of Vietnam War.
@@mrbeandip2356 I was in the army from May 63-May 67. Luckily I never went to Vietnam. I just finished his documentary on Netflix this morning. I found it to be the best documentary on Vietnam. The government told us so many lies. They didn't learn a thing. Now we are finding out that the government has been telling us lies about Afghanistan for the last 18 years.
Except it wasn't "freedom" what they struggled about. Vietnamese rebelled towards integration and scientific applied technology. Their struggle war to "recover" the old "sacred" Vietnamese way opposed to "French imperialism". Now they are crawling back to western ways missing the opportunity to have been advanced like the Asian tigers of the 50s-90s. Shane on those commie clowns
if you want to you can go back to the french revolution that inspired ho chi mihn
Also, another fun fact. There was a country that intervened to stop the Cambodian genocide. Wasn't America. It was communist Vietnam. Thanks for mentioning it.
Not to mention the US backed Pol Pot
Okay Genius the genocide would not have happened had we supported south Vietnam to the end. What’s your point?
Communist Vietnam helped bring Pol Pot to power in the first place and only intervened when attacked first
@Rob well Vietnam suffered the war just before that time. It was such a difficult time for the country, so they just did not want to fight anymore.
And they were supporting and collaborating with commies who were doing that genocide. It fought against Cambodian gov. And in that war Cambodian gov was supported by some country. And it was US and South Vietnam. That was enough
everybody gangsta until the trees start speaking vietnamese
@Federal Bureau of Investigation S125: You're mine yankee plane!
58thousand U.S. troops compared to over 2millon other combined with the micro management of the U.S. military not being allowed to use any major force That's a lot of kills still yeah that's gangsta
@@Zach-lg3bw way more Soviet troops died than the nazis in WW2 and still they won. Kills don't count since it's about archieving your goals to win.
He’ll yeah
@Matt and Cindy Thoen It's the other way. 80% German/ Axis losses were in the Eastern front.
I lived in Vietnam for many years. My Vietnamese friends told me many times that what they wanted more than anything else was for all Vietnamese to live as one country. The choice of capitalism or communism was not that important, but communism was necessary for a time to overcome the legacy of colonialism created and left by the French. All Vietnamese consider themselves as one family, it is apparent in the pronouns they use to describe each other even when they meet for the first time: older brother, uncle, little sister, etc. The Americans never thought they could lose, but the Vietnamese never thought they could win. The Vietnamese thought that they could fight to a stalemate and in the end, the Americans would leave. And the Vietnamese were right.
Saddam made the exact same argument when he invaded Kuwait. Should we have listened to him? I don’t think very many Kuwaitis think so.
@@XGamezMode82498 how is it possible? This is not a game where you can make choices in such a simple way.
Vietnam chooses communism not because communist is good. It was because America wanted to help France continue to colonize Indochina, and the Soviet Union wanted to oppose this.
Did you know that Ho Chi Minh sent many letters to President Truman in 1945 - 1946? American documents confirm this.
Americans are literally the biggest racists on the planet, of course they wouldn't care about what your friends care,just potential recourses and more useless control
What you stated is absolutely right brother
@@MGrey-qb5xz ‘We’re all one big family’ is the same argument Saddam Hussein used for invading Kuwait and Putin used for invading Ukraine. By the way this nation of racists was the sole crusader against Africa’s AIDS crisis and the genocide in Darfur.
My father volunteered for Vietnam.He was part of the IVth Infantry that went over in September 1966.I asked my father what was toughest part of being there:"Knowing a five year old is your enemy".
@@thewarpotato4013 What's worse is packing that kid with grenades,Then sending him to beg for food."The ends justify the means".
@@thewarpotato4013 They came around begging for food. Who's going to turn away a hungry kid? Later on they had shoeshine boxes with grenades inside. Gotta have things bright and shiny.r
@@thewarpotato4013 The French were putting pressure on Kennedy to send troops to Vietnam. The US had supplied arms,etc...to French under Eisenhower. He told Kennedy no one would trust foreigners with guns. The French were horrible to the people in Indochina. We got sucked into a civil war. My Dad said the poverty he saw over there broke your heart. You wanted to help them. Who wouldn't feed a child begging for food?. My Dad worked with the Hmong. They lived in bamboo huts with thatched roofs. The men wore breechclouts like Souix Indians. All the talk about "The People" and what is best for them. Neither side wanted "The People" to make the choice. They may choose the wrong thing. They will be told their choice. A horrible event for all involved.
@@thewarpotato4013 JFK asked Eisenhower for his advice on Vietnam. Eisenhower said "Don't send anyone with a gun. It's a civil war. Send farmers, engineers,etc to help people.". After WW 2 Ho Chi Mihn asked Truman for $1 million to rebuild Vietnam. Truman refused. The Vietnamese had helped the US against the Japanese. Stalin had no problem helping Uncle Ho. The US created it's problems over there in 1945.
Damn
Q: *Why did America fight the Vietnam War?*
A: *BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME TO DRILL SERGEANT*
Nice refrence
😂😂😂
Welp, here goes a frag**** 💀
What a courageous little boy you are!
France
Don't forget about all the soldiers they drafted and forced into the war, eventhough the soldiers didn't even believe in the war.
Something totally opposite to Poland in 1939 - mens were happy to join Army, everyone was enthusiastic about this war - it will end Nazi expansion in Europe, Allies Powers will attack from West, and we will finally get this ,,Danzig Free City"! So you could see a lot of people, putting some obstacles to slow down a Wehrmacht with smile on their faces.
But even with heroic resistance and the most effective partizans in entire Europe (there's also a theory, that Polish partizans made Germans lose in Russia, because they cut down most of their supply lines), Allied Powers didn't help us, and they did nothing to stop advancing Red Army (despite what you can see in some games, Allied Powers knew exactly it's happening - simple evidence is that Stalin sent them excuse for that. They just did nothing to stop them). And then, after 6 heroic fighting on their side, in Narwik, Monte Cassino, El-Alamein, English sky, even Stalingrad and also after many, many inventions which let Allied Powers win this war, they decided it will be great to just give our independence to Big Red Monster from East, which you call USSR.
You mean 25% of all those in combat zones right? Cause only 2.5% of the population was drafted and of all the men in combat zones 25% were Conscripts
Ok mongoloid look it up
And they could've waged a revolution. We the American people can only hide for so long behind "our evil leaders made us do it"
Don’t forget MCNAMARA’S MORONS. EDUCATIONALLY SUBNORMAL MEN ENLISTED AS CANNON FODDER IN A GLORIOUS CULL DOWN SYNDROME SOLDIERS SENT TO THEIR DEATHS.
In my point of view
History are written by winner.
And in Vietnam war there was no winner, both loss one way or another.
So all these truth and fact are all meaningless.
In my school they taught us that the Vietnam war is full of blood from both sides, yellow, white corpses everywhere; and worse is that we have to fight our own people,
Like pulling a trigger at your brother. The war is meaningless.
US soldiers burning our houses and village,
Our people burning our own houses and village
We made boobie traps toward your people and our people
We fuel a flame of hatrest toward our own people and that flame is still burning ( VN and VN///)
...
I went to the museum and seeing victims of Agent orange,
I still can't believe what i saw was human.
I even saw babies in bottles.
I went home seeing my grandpa recall how he join the army when he was just 16; how he become half deaf and how happy he is seeing that the war is over.
...
Then i asked myself that my people have suffer alot throughout many generations.
So what about you?
And i search the internet and i saw the old soldier telling stories about how he being sent miles around the world to fight a war on a foreign country that simply did nothing to their country. He told how his friends die before his own eyes, how my people fighting like animals. Confuse, range, madness soon they become insane and did things that beyond moral limits.
I read papers and seeing so many mother losing their sons, so many bones of unnamed soldiers still lies in every grant of soil of my country.
So what I'm saying here is that i don't want to see history on only one side but i want to see it as a viewer
I won't judge who's right and who's wrong because no matter who's right; after the war we all bury our soldiers.
Bình Minh Nguyễn Văn 💯
Bình Minh Nguyễn Văn true 😢
"so all these truth and fact are meaningless".
Like with other lefties, this summarises how your brainwashed mindset works.
@@theanhnguyen5445 Actually, there was a winner in that war. The people of Vietnam won. They expelled all foreign occupation and reunited their country. Today Vietnam belongs to the people of Vietnam thanks to their winning the revolution.
You are wrong. The communists won the war in a sense that their prime objective to win the war (not the battles) was to elongate the war as long as possible so the Americans start losing the worthiness of engagement. This was the order the communist generals had received from above and they managed to do exactly that.
A few things he conveniently forgets to mention:
1) He mentions that 58,000 Americans died in the war, yet forgot to mention the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who died
2) He forgot to mention the numerous war crimes committed by US troops. Most famous is the My Lei Massacre, but it wasn't the only one
3) He forgot to mention that many of the soldiers who served were drafted and didn't want to be there. Ironically many of them were African American and lived under Jim Crow laws. So they were fighting for freedom in Vietnam yet had no freedom in their own country
4) Many of the people who supported the war were rich white people who refused to serve. Many of the wars biggest cheerleaders were draft dodgers. A trend that continues to this day
Well-said. Thank you for mentioning the deaths on the Vietnamese side, both north or south.
Millions of Vietnamese were killed, not hundreds of thousands.
Only 8% of the men that fought during the Vietnam war were drafted
My favorite part of it is the mention of the Cambodian genocide, which was stopped by communist Vietnam
Well how many people were saved vs. allow a bully to kick someone’s ass, allowing a bully kick someone’s ass makes you no better
LBJ lied about the Gulf of Tonkin incident....
Joseph Ybarra LBJ was a progressive. What else do they do?
He also kickstarted the open immigration policy as well as the "aym an yndependent woman n ain't need no man yo" benefits. The guy clearly has quite a few things to answer for.
David Grover
doesn't really change the fact that the war was started on a lie which that and the inflation of the North Vietnamese body count, and the subsequent push for isolationism and other large social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement all ended up hurting the war effort
Salty Socks and that has exactly what to do with my comment?
Yeah, I'm surprised the video makes no mention of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was completely fabricated & fictitious. I believe it was Winston Churchill who famously said "the first casualty of war is truth." No society wants war, so its leaders have to lie to convince the people to accept and support it.
By the way, as many lives that were lost from the Vietnam War, guess what other war has claimed a thousand times as many since 1973?
Abortion. Fifty-three million, a thousand Vietnams. Also based on a lie that the unborn baby isn't really a life...
God help us.
I have read that Ho Chi Min's favorite document was our Bill of Right. Also that Ho requested asistance from Truman and Eisenhower six times, but was turned down in favor of the French. Yet he went to the communists and asked once and was given every thing he asked for. I have also read the Joint Chiefs told LBJ he couldn't win a war in Vietnam; based on MacNamara's strategy.
I severed in USN 7th fleet 1970,71,72.
Something you might find interesting: the first president of S Korea, Syngman Rhee spent his life in the US during the 1920s - 30s lobbying for help and creating awareness about Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula. He did find some success, but eventually ran into a wall. Frustrated, he decided to talk to Moscow for help, but when he arrived he was told his visa was issued by mistake and to leave immediately. So, he was now all in with the US and waited patiently for Washington's backing, which he eventually got. So at least the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula is free today. But imagine if Moscow had welcomed him with open arms.
@@kalvin1123 9
MacNamara’s
ELITIST, ACADEMIC attitude was disastrous. Truly destructive STRATEGY of military policy.
@@kalvin1123 c
Ho was a committed Communist all his life, this is acknowledged by all serious historians. He was part of the Communist faction long before WW2.
His citing the US Declaration of Independence was an attempt to manipulate US public opinion. In reality, at the same time he was supporting the massacre of tens of thousands of Vietnamese nationalists who challenged his power between 1945-1946.
The Korean War never ended.....still going on
srercrcr Yeh the ceasefire has stopped but a peace treaty was never signed so the two sides have technically been at war ever since
srercrcr technically it’s a stand off but America is not helping the south but we are maybe going to war soon so we will have to see
srercrcr I just hate it when Marxists say that America is starting a war with North Korea
Cameron Norris that’s true but in recent advents we might
This is the STUPIDEST comment I've ever read on youtube which has an over abundance of stupid comments. Congrats moron. And to you idiots agreeing with it, have a slice of this pie.
"The defend of freedom in Asia" thats when I left.
Would do you mean? The South had a "democratic" dictator, cuz he was capitalistic.
Yep.
@@riton349 dictator, yes.
the Geneva Accords of 1954, which were aimed at resolving the conflict in Vietnam. As part of these accords, it was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel, with the North controlled by the communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh and the South controlled by the anti-communist forces led by President Ngo Dinh Diem.
The accords also stipulated that there would be a nationwide election in 1956 to reunify the country under a single government. However, this election never took place. The United States and the government of South Vietnam, led by President Diem, were concerned that if the election happened, Ho Chi Minh and the communists would likely win, given Ho Chi Minh's popularity in the country.
As a result, the election was not held, and the division between North and South Vietnam became more permanent. This contributed to the escalation of tensions and eventually led to the Vietnam War. The division lasted until the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Ah yes, because communist countries have such a terrific record when it comes to freedom and definitely didn't imprison, torture, kill, and disenfranchise millions upon millions of people.
googlenutcaseaccount7252
I recommend watching Ken Burns’ Vietnam for a better, more honest take on the Vietnam War. It’s not hyper-partisan like most Prager videos, and demonstrates quite clearly the reason so many veterans of the war protested it.
It's a great documentary
Not really it's hardcore lefty biased.
I'd rather look up the information myself, and decide whether I think we should've fought in the war, and to be honest, my answer is no, the war couldn't have been won, unless the elites would've taken themselves and their arrogance down a notch and admitted they were wrong.
The thing that stood out about that documentary were the lessons taken from it. Which was primarily "we didn't stay long enough" basically that the problem was that the US didn't triple down on a losing strategy. You can see it in how they conducted and finally pulled out of Afghanistan, and that the same conclusions are being drawn again.
Another Vietnam is going to happen over and over until the lesson of not getting involved in a part of the world you don't understand and have no interest in trying to finally takes hold.
Yeah Ken burns and the leftist documentary no thanks pal
The “Rubber Tree War” (a.k.a. Vietnam War - America), began in 1945, France, recently freed from Nazi rule wanted resources to rebuild its war torn country. Prior to WWII, Vietnam was a French colony, companies like Michelin had rubber tree plantations in Southern Vietnam. Rubber is a very important and in the 1940’s it was chiefly harvested from rubber trees, today we call this “Natural Rubber”.
In 1940 Synthetic rubber, a man-made version of rubber produced from petroleum began production for the war effort. Since that time synthetic rubber improved to the point where it became far superior and cheaper to produce than natural rubber. By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s there was no longer a reason for rubber tree plantations.
There is a good series called “The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam, 1945-1975”, a 26-part documentary about the war in Vietnam, produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It give a better understanding without the American propaganda.
Thanks for confirming that by 1964, the US was NOT motivated by resources to control South Vietnam.
Yes, Canadian propaganda is so much more accurate. 😆
@@LouieKaboomwell, if everythings propaganda, whats the point of talking? Stfu.
My dad almost died in that war, i'm happy that he is alive :)
Some people seem to be puzzled, or bemused, or scornful, or derisive, or upset, or hateful, ... that socialist Vietnam adopts the market economy even with much capitalistic flavor. They fail to understand the following
# For the Vietnamese
Uncompromised priority: Independence and Integrity of their Country
Other goals and priorities
Priority #1: Freedom and Democracy
Priority #2: Happiness
Priority #3: Security
Priority #4: Peace
Priority #5: Prosperity
Priority #6: International Standing
# The rest, whether it's Monarchy, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, a Mixture of those, ... could easily be negotiable to serve those above goals.
# Thus, the Vietnamese had endured unbelievable sacrifice and hardship in their long wars against capitalist French colonialists, and fascist Japanese militarists, and capitalist American neo-colonialists, and communist Chinese expansionists, not because of socialism or capitalism or communism, but because of their country's Independence and Integrity.
================
Putting it simply, the Vietnamese just wanted their country's independence and integrity, and to be left alone, IF NOT FRIEND TO EVERYONE. ALL ELSE IS NEGOTIABLE.
# They'd go to any length, endure any sacrifice, hardship, suffering, ... for their country's independence and integrity.
Hay lắm!!
So in the end, Vietnam worked out its own problems. The takeaway is the U.S. should stay the hell out of everyone's business.
Jayyy Zeee so if a friend of yours gets mugged, if you just step back and watch it happen, everything will "just work out" between the mugger and your friend...
@@insideoutsideupsidedown2218South Vietnam is a rump state, existed to serve the aggressors while killing their own kin. Vietnam is and always be one nation.
We should hold U.S. soldiers and officers to the same standards we hold our communist, fascist, and imperial enemies to. I respect all U.S. troops but man, we can’t make the Geneva convention if we don’t hold ourselves to it.
@@uniqoEnEsp I disagree that it is as much "is" as "was", while civilians still do get killed in war today, it is absolutely incomparable to the amount of genocide that happened during the vietnam war and the hiroshima/nagasaki bombings, while one could argue the world war 2 bombings were out of absolute desperation, it was still a choice to explicitly kill everything in the area, knowing that many innocent civilians would die, america had the money for a proper invasion but they chose to bomb instead.
It's very disingenuous to say that the american military is as bad now as it was in the past, it's simply not, there is still much improvement to be done but it is a stark contrast from the past. America had many ironically imperialistic and ultranationalistic traits that went against the idea of freedom they said they were fighting for in the first place, but the ideologies are much different now.
It’s ok because we’re the “good guys”
@@ChristopherGray00 More lives would have been lost invading.
@@ChristopherGray00 The my Lai massacre was 3-16!
@@erenjeager5290 If you are the "good guys", while you failed to win the Vietnamese people's hearts? The moment US aided France to reestablish colonialism in Vietnam, you were the "bad guys" in our eyes!
Now talk about the 2 milion deaths during khmer rouge, which US supported!
Maybe you could make a point about the bombing which led to rural support for the Khmer Rouge but the Khmer Rouge was never pro-US. That trait belonged to the party which they overthrew during the war
@Ricky Shiffer US merciless bombings led to equally merciless Khmer Rouge. Most cambodians didn't care about ideology, but many had their family members killed by American bombings. So, they joined Khmer Rouge en masse.
As did the North Vietnamese! The khmer rouge were their allies. The North STAGED most of their troops and equipment in Cambodia, in preparation for their 1972 Invasion of the South.
@Ricky Shiffer the US supported the Khmer Rouge publicly even after the genocide, it is not disputed that the U.S. voted for the Khmer Rouge, and later, for the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, which was dominated by the Khmer Rouge, to retain Cambodia's United Nations seat until 1982 and 1991, respectively.
That after the genocide and after the invasion by Vietnam.
Steven c Gutierrez says "If only we had our own Vietnam war here in the States." -- I ask:
# @Steven c Gutierrez -- Why ? Please explain further. How's the Vietnamese's circumstance similar to the States' ?
# The Vietnamese had no other choice but to fight for their country's independence and integrity.
# President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had tried very, very hard to negotiate to avoid a war with the French colonialists, but to no avail.
# Similarly, President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had written numerous times to US presidents (Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower [?]) seeking friendship between Vietnam and the USA, but received no reply. Instead, in return, the US government continued with the French colonialists' steps in erecting a puppet regime in southern Vietnam to permanently divide the country and serve their neo-colonialist purposes, and then invaded Vietnam.
================
NW and Dark Reaper say "we [USA] only lost 59k troops ... we actually killed more than 1 Million vietcong" -- I say:
# You lost because you live by the cold statistics and numbers, like what you've said, "we've killed your so many; you've only killed us so many". We Vietnamese won because we live by the humane heart "every single life is invaluably precious".
# Are you among the children whose fathers make those statistics ?
# Or, maybe you've enjoyed growing up without a father ?
# NW and Dark Reaper say similarly to Cambodian Khmer-Rouge Pol Pot. Pol pot said (exact wording might not be correct; but the idea is) "We'll have 1 Cambodian killed and kill 10 Vietnamese in return. We'll then have 3 million Cambodians left after all the Vietnamese would have been killed; and we win !"
I want to rectify a misconceotion.
During the vietnam war, it was north vs south vietnam. Most north vietnamese death were done by south vietnamese, not Americans, as americans tend to love to believe that 1 US soldier could wipe out an entire troop of north vietnamese.
US death rate was actually quite high given the fact that only 10 to 20% of american soldiers were deplyed in battle.
The great tragedy of Vietnam is that we, the US, were unable to see Vietnam outside the context of our own Cold War with Red China and the USSR. Similarly, the speaker glosses over important realities that became painfully apparent by 1970. Our reason for entering Vietnam- the Gulf of Tonkin incident- was a pretext to avoid a national (Vietnam) referendum on unification. By entering the war we were supporting a highly corrupt, unpopular South Vietnamese government. This is why the insurgency in Vietnam thrived - not because of jungle terrain. Military strategy in Vietnam was completely unlike Korea, which was similar to WWII. The US had no experience or strategy to win an asymmetric war. Because Vietnam is not on a peninsula we could not isolate S Vietnam with WWII tactics and prevent troop and supply movement on the Ho Chi Min trail. Consequently we relied on using ever increasingly destructive military might which disproportionately harmed civilians rather than the enemy. For these reasons and more, by the end of the 1960s even conservatives in the US accepted the war was "unwinable". Given that experience, it's not clear what the speaker believes the US could have done to help S Vietnam in 1973, 74 , 75 that hadn't been tried in the previous 10 years. The second great tragedy of Vietnam is that so many US soldiers served bravely and yet were not celebrated and rewarded by our society for their great sacrifice. The last great tragedy of Vietnam was that as a country we, the US, did not have the will to intervene in Cambodia when our help was needed to stop the killing fields.
I’m so glad you wrote that because it saved me saying something very similar
The war was winnable, but Americans did not have the willpower to defend the south. The Tet offensive was the last major battle of the war. After that the communist forces were largely exhausted and were being overrun. In 1973, a peace deal was signed, and if the US defended the peace agreement, like we did in Korea, then it would have held, and it would have prevented the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Withdrawal from Vietnam was a major mistake.
There was no "national referendum", everyone with an iota of common sense knew free elections were not possible in a totalitarian North Vietnam despite their gaslighting.
The "neutral electoral board" that the North Vietnamese offered to allow to supervise elections (opposing UN supervision) would have no actual power, only serving an advisory role. In short, you can pretty much guarantee 100% vote for the Communists.
In my opinion, it would have helped to look at American forces from the Vietnamese point of view. Vietnam had been controlled by the French for many years. After the French left, China saw an opportunity to create a communist ally. The U.S. intervened simply because communism was expanding. China convinced North Vietnam that the U.S. wanted to take over, which was not true. To win the war, the U.S. forces should have ceased fire and convinced the people that China was lying. Instead, the U.S. attacked more, resulting in the people believing the Chinese. Next, there were war crimes such as My Lai massacre. Today, the people of South Vietnam realize that communism was not the answer. Look at it from the people's perspective.
Many saw in Vietnam the reality of communist aggression, and as in Korea, they also understood that allowing the communists to conquer whenever and wherever they liked was an unacceptable premise. It was the liberal leadership in American that lost that war, period!
I'm not the smartest person, but having one party promising one thing and then another party comes along and does the opposite has got to be the most stupidest thing.
Hard to live in a democracy, where different opinions flourish.
the Geneva Accords of 1954, which were aimed at resolving the conflict in Vietnam. As part of these accords, it was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel, with the North controlled by the communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh and the South controlled by the anti-communist forces led by President Ngo Dinh Diem.
The accords also stipulated that there would be a nationwide election in 1956 to reunify the country under a single government. However, this election never took place. The United States and the government of South Vietnam, led by President Diem, were concerned that if the election happened, Ho Chi Minh and the communists would likely win, given Ho Chi Minh's popularity in the country.
As a result, the election was not held, and the division between North and South Vietnam became more permanent. This contributed to the escalation of tensions and eventually led to the Vietnam War. The division lasted until the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
My dads mom died from the war. My dads dad died 3 years later after the war, and , my dad went into Canada illegally looking for a safe place. He got arrested, but had the rights of getting into it after he got out. I asked my dad, "I want to see how you looked when you were a kid, where are your photos?" My dad didn't have any, and just said "I don't have one" I thought it was dumb. Now I think I'm dumb..
I’m so sorry.
The problem is that the Vietnam war was fought over decolonisation and the consequences of the Indochina war with France. It wasn't a clear cut communism vs free-ish world conflict
Ho Chi Minh fought the French for that reason. He fought the Americans who opposed the spread Communism to the South. The Russians backed the North. The Chinese didn't want a democratic country next door despite hating the Vietnamese. They simply wouldn't have a democratic pro-western power in their border. The Democrats in Washington totally screwed the South Vietnamese, because the hated Nixon and the Republicans more. It was the Dems who got the US into a shooting war. Nixon was elected 4 years into the Vietnamese conflict. This shit was all on the Dems who love to con everyone into the rubbish that this was Nixon's war and that his policy caused it to fail. Nixon got the Communists to sue for peace. The Dems said shit on this after Nixon left office, and South Vietnam paid the price.
@@macvena Well America made the Vietcong their enemies when they supported the French claims to their former colony, and they continue to make themselves the bad guys by supporting the southern regime which was not democratic at all, and by killing millions of innocent Vietnamese civilians (see the My Lai massacre). America was clearly the bad guys in this war.
Vlavitir glutginskiya
The north were not the aggressors; the Americans were. The Americans intervened in Vietnam after the so-called Gulf of Tonkin incident, which the government recently admitted never happened. So more than 70 000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese are dead because of a lie.
Not to mention that the U.S. bombed places in Laos and Cambodia, which was illegal, and the bombing of Cambodia gave way for Pol Pot to take power, who was later removed by the Vietnamese.
The U.S. didn’t care about spreading democracy, as long as the countries they supported were anti-communist. South-Vietnam was just democratic on papers only. And when they blocked free elections, the U.S. was okay with it. So the U.S. only cared about preserving their own interests, not to spread democracy, and the war was just to enrich those who are apart of the military industrial complex.
@Vlavitir glutginskiya You uninformed idiot
@@redblaze8700 Vietcong wasn't officially communist during the war with the French, their leader used to ask for support for US but was ignored. I think Hochi Minh and his fellow were more like nationalists than communists. US and France were Titan and the NVA needed support to fight tho.
Domino effect sounds like Kissinger whispering in someones ear.
The Vietnam War was a civil war.
@@larrylinn8589
The first Indochina war was 100% a colonial war.
@@alt0799 Vietnam has been in almost continual warfare since the Trung sisters' rebellion, armed civil uprising between 40 and 43 AD.
www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-timeline
www.thoughtco.com/vietnam-war-timeline-1779963
www.holidify.com/pages/wars-in-vietnam-1379.html
afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/vietnam_timeline.htm
www.history-of-american-wars.com/vietnam-war-timeline.html
@@alt0799 Vietnam has been in almost continual warfare since the Trung sisters' rebellion, armed civil uprising between 40 and 43 AD.
@@larrylinn8589
But the uprising against the Chinese was a completely different conflict altogether. The Vietminh revolting against the French was a colonial matter since they themselves were a colonial power occupying the country.
We have recordings of LBJ talking to Lady Bird. He knew we couldn't win, but he kept sending those boys into a meat grinder.
I must say the Vietnamese were extremely humane.
# During the last hours before the end of the war at 11:30 30-4-1975 (in fact, always, well before that time), the Vietnamese commandos and militia (Viet Cong) were everywhere in Saigon, for sure even on the US Embassy ground.
# What would have happened if a grenade or two were thrown at the crowds at the US Embassy or the American Marines still there? Yet, nothing had happened.
# For sure, all around and very close to Saigon, and inside Saigon itself, there were enough of Vietnamese (Viet Cong) guns and missiles that could down a helicopter or two that were evacuating the escapees.
# Yet, not a single shot was fired at the low-flying helicopters.
# Furthermore, during the many years of the bloody war, WHILE THE AMERICAN MILITARY (and their followers, the South Korean troops, the Australian troops, ...) committed heinous barbarities on the Vietnamese people every hour of the day, every day of the many years that they waged their invading, unjust, immoral, barbaric war on Vietnam (barbarities like the kill-all-burn-all-rape-all massacre in Son My - My Lai in 1968, or the napalm bombing of the "Napalm Girl" Phan Thi Kim Phuc in Trang Bang in 1972, or the indiscriminate B52 carpet bombings killing all, including infants and old women, or the spraying of toxin Dioxin - Agent Orange that is still, right now in March 2019, causing catastrophic destruction of the bodies of many Vietnamese young, and numerous monstrous birth defects to Vietnamese women), THE VIETNAMESE on the other hand had NOT, not once, kidnapped or committed any atrocity on American children or women, or American civilians, many of whom were living in Vietnam at the time (and quite vulnerable). NOT ONCE.
# If that does not show Vietnamese's humanity, I don't know what else does.
I have seen videos where they were at a hospital, was during or after the war. It was reported some young people and kids that were there and had lost limbs were forced to be human mine detectors by some vietcong or nva troops, or they would be beaten. Very sad. Goes to show that war brings out the worst in everyone.
While slavery may be abolished, I feel high U.S. officials will find any way to imprison and risk lives of U.S. citizens. Vietnam was no exception.
My father served there.
Because no other war would fit with Fortunate Son playing in the background
I ain’t no fortunate son
@@brianrobillard8692 It ain’t me!
@@capncake8837 it ain't me, I ain't no senator don
Only war with a theme song ....CCR is epic
Why did American soldiers kill so many civilians?
1. War crimes
2. They were armed later
Everyone = Vc
well about cambodia, both US and china supported Paul Pot and was the viet kongs who defeated cambodian communists and stoped the genocide,check your facts Prager U
Hi, you know who is good now, it's Viet cong
I’m afraid I cant recommend this video for your history exam revision.
XD
Smart how u didn’t say they were over 500,000 Vietnam people died
Actually, it was between 2-4mil vietnamese die
I remembered my Uncle tolding me story's where he fought the war as a child, i thought it was fun and funny but in reality it was hell when I was 17 year old! I always visit him now and go sometimes with him to church to make him happy even if I'm not that religious like him. He always told me when I arrived to his home "My Soldier never dies only the soul" or sometimes when we talk he always responds "Only God knows what's at the end of the Road!" (always hit me deep)
I'm always amazed by how people judge historical choices based on their outcome, not on whether or not it was the right choice in that moment.
Totally agree here..this applies to almost every historical event.. easy to stand in judgement years later as we tend to do ...thank you I thought I was alone in this idea!👍
I always thought the same. If Americans were slaughter at Normandy and Nazi Germany prevailed we would thought it was stupid to send Americans to die for Europeans. But we succeeded and the generation called themselves “the greatest generation”. Talk about narcissism lol
Vietnam never made sense outside of ego, the Gulf of Tonken should be remembered like the war on terror, a frightening mistake in a powerful, albeit young, nation's history (and I don't mean Vietnam)
@@barriesansom2070 I couldn't agree more. It's easy to stand in judgement from the safety of 50 years later and when you have no idea what it was like for the people who were actually living it. Imagine in 50 years what they will say about us
@@godssara6758 Absolutely!
Do a video on how Germany is struggling with the refugees both culturally and economically
SunnyFysh World view? It's a fact that Germany is struggling with refugees both culturally and economically, no matter which part of the political spectrum you're on.
You sound like the baby in this case.
SunnyFysh get rekt boi
That'd indeed be a fantastic topic, especially to inform the American public about how such a massive refugee crisis can impact countries, so they won't make the same mistake and think with their heart rather than with their brain. Germans and Swedes are experts on this, especially because of the women in politics.
Ufstermonster111 Kocker1 add sweden to that, our feminist government is committing cultural suicide.
Jonatan Söderlund How did you guys end up with a feminist gov? Can Europe be saved? I mean, it seems like too much damage is done. Would have to perform mass round-up and deportation of migrants.
This is fascinating, he’s just so bored.
Lol I find his unhyped demeanor refreshing
This is pretty much how VDH always talks.
*A militia of guerrillas in flip-flops threw one of the most powerful armies in the world to hell.*
If this can comfort Americans; Vietnam has a reputation of punching above their weight, especially in warfare. We defeated the Mongols (thrice), the Chinese (countless times), the French, and the Americans,.
funny how this doesn't mention Ngo Dinh Diem, the leader of South Vietnam who did a lot to suppress the Buddhist population of south Vietnam while claiming to be fighting for a democratic society. So unpopular in fact that he ended up getting shot and later letting more or less cooption military leaders taking over control. Taking about stable democratic south after 1972 isn't realistic considering the rife corruption there was in the ARVN army and the South Vietnamese leadership.
Also: the USA was involved with the conflict a long time before they send in combat troops. All the way back in 1945 after WW2 ended the USA played a vital part in assisting France in trying to re-gain colonial control over Vietnam. The USA send a lot of money, weapons before they started to send combat troops.
Some might talk about the Indochina war (1946 - 1954) between France and Vietminh as one conflict and the Vietnam war (1965-1972) as another. But i think it makes sense to see them as the same conflict with different stages spanning from 1945 until 1975.
Bro cia supported the generals to kill diem because he didn’t want american troops in vietnam which would take away any credibility south vietnam had. So they killed him and the next 12 years were military dictatorships...also its important to recognize that vietnamese history has never had a democracy, its been thousands of years of dynastic, authoritarian rule and ngo dinh diem’s anti communist gov isnt that far off of what vietnam was used to, and neither was ho chi minhs gov
Ngo dinh diem never suppressed Buddists, it was the viet cong’s strategy to turn religion into politics for political purpose, which they took control and put many of their people (not real monks) into Buddism to make scenes against Ngo Dinh Diem’s government to aim for impeachment.
Let's not forget the Catholics, Christians, and montagnards oppressed by the Communist regime. Wonder why it doesn't have any news coverage? Communists don't like free press.
@@quanhuynh4413 stop your liar traitor
@@quanhuynh4413 3 sticks traitorous mindset.
LBJ declared the gulf of Tonkin incident an act of war. Off the back of this he lobbied conformity on the issue in government beginning US military attacks in Vietnam. Since then the Gulf of Tonkin incident has been confirmed as NOT a second attack on a US vessel. Whether it was miscommunication or conspiracy, the US waged war in Vietnam on false pretences.
True. Vietnam was a conflict, a declaration of war was never pushed through congress.
it was a Dolphin jumping out of the water....Johnson knew it and still made that justification for the "Resolution" giving him war powers.. that's another thing...spineless Congress not Declaring War as required in the Constitution, just delegating with "War Power's Acts..."
Did a year there. Still confused about purpose, objectives, strategies, and why we pawns for our government were so hated upon our return. Being thanked for our service starting twenty five to thirty years after we were trashed on our return is just another slap in the face.
makes you wonder about this world, thank you for your service
Not trying to defend north Vietnam or anything, but South Vietnam was also a brutal military dictatorship under Diem. ‘Defending freedom’ as this video states as a reason to interfere in Vietnam completely disregards the fact that there was no freedom in Vietnam to begin with
Well it was dictatorship in the south, but it was free because it was mostly an anarchy. A new leader was put in place by a coup or assassination sometimes so often that there were multiple new "presidents" in a month.
Meh...I'm right wing, but you're never gonna convince me that Vietnam wasn't ill-conceived.
For starters, Diem was never going to be seen as anything but a puppet to the Vietnamese, for reasons that Kennedy, of all people, ought to have known. Vietnam was a colonial possession, fighting for independence, in which religion took on significance. The Vietnamese were mostly Buddhist; the French, Catholic. Much like certain other wars for independence, one's religion became a surrogate for whom they supported.
Diem, not only was a fluent French speaker, and a Catholic...went so far as to outlaw Buddhism! Which is why an Irish-American such as JFK ought to have realized Diem rule was going to be no more popular than the Black and Tans were in Ireland. You can call it "freedom vs communism" all you want...nobody is going to fight and die for an ass. And Diem was an ass.
And, to extend the comparison...just because there were communist factions within the independence movement, does not make communism inevitable. After all, there were red factions in the IRA, and the Republic of Ireland escaped communism...though it would've been swell if it could have happened without a Civil War!
IMO, Vietnam was a squandered opportunity to apply the "Get more flies with honey than vinegar" axiom. Hell, given the animosity between the two, Vietnam could have been a politically-useful counter to China, if more able statesmen had prevailed.
Yup, bcubed72!
America did not underestimate how strong it was so much how smart it was.
Was the Korean War wrong? Should we have been there?
Should have let the joint British-japanese force handle it. They were so close to winning too.
@@unitedstateser Our troops were already in Korea after WW2 so we had a reason. There was no reason at all for us to even be in Vietnam.
My Father, Uncles Vic and James, and Cousin Dave fought in the Vietnam War and I thank God for them all coming home safely! May God grant rest, to all of my fallen Comrades of the Vietnam War, in His loving arms; Blessing their families with peace and healing.
Lest we forget!
Respectfully,
MSSN J. Hankins
United States Navy
1979-1982
Vietnamese people and American combatants suffered the same pain, which caused by the US goverment. In Vietnam, every town has a cementery for the fallen soldiers with the largest one in Quang Tri, much like the memorial wall in DC on the scale. I'm glad that you and your loved ones came home alive and well. Please send my regard to them!
Jeffery Hankins I don't think God would support an army who raped their way through a country for several years and bombed the shit out of a country they weren't at war with and ruined the landscape of a nation by riddling every field with unexploded land mines, destroying luscious forests with excessive amounts of napalm, and killing more civilians than actual militants. As a matter of fact I think he gave them what they deserved... [of course god isn't real so it doesn't really matter]
Hands Up Promotions: Screw you!
Hands Up Promotions The US troops killed around 5,000 civilians buy their hands and the rest was caused by bombing. Bombings killed around 50,000 which is hard to avoid. What country are you from because I can probably give you plenty of wars that you guys did worse in and also you couldn't tell who the enemy was so it's different then an actual war. If you kill a civilian thinking they are a soldier it's kinda half the enemies fault for fighting as gorillas.
Joseph Damiano Oh yeah forgot to count Agent Orange consequences that leave over 4M Vietnamese people have abnormal bodies yet the USA get away from thr Geneva by saying it is a fking herb weapon.
That's the one question no one will answer . We didn't gain anything from it . We just went and killed or got killed . I never knew why I had to fight to the death over there .
We did gain from it. We made the Vietnamese serve as an example to any people who wanted to be free from colonialism and capitalism.
@stoic romulan That's a very good question. The answer is that we didn't care what happened to Vietnam. The point of the ordeal was to show third world countries seeking independence the extraordinarily high cost of trying to be independent. It was to make sure Vietnam served as a lesson to others. It sounds counterintuitive but it was very effective. This is what Chomsky thinks and I believe him.
Project for a new American century picked Iraq to serve basically the same purpose. To demonstrate American power to the world. These people are just astoundingly unethical, death and destruction mean almost nothing to them, Reagan was the same.
@stoic romulan It works for smaller countries because it's usually accompanied by a lot of money for the powerful. It doesn't work so well with world powers like China and Russia. Look at Bolivia ,Brasil and Honduras. Venezuela's holding on by it's nails, whether it falls is still in the air. So it's kind of successful. In any case the new target is right here in the USA.
@stoic romulan It's good to see our vets thinking critically. Your voice carries authority the rest of us don't have. So thanks.
So we're just going to ignore the fact that more and more families were owning two cars by the early 60s, and the rubber comes from trees that are indigenous to southeast Asia? 🤔
It was originally to get the french to join NATO by promising them control of Vietnam as it was when it was classified as a french colony. It was for pride after the initial goal was swept under the rug.
Are the French in NATO? No? Well I guess that was a waste.
@@fenrir7878 France is in NATO.
I once watched a documentary about Robert McNamara. In it he talks about the Vietnam War and some lessons. Ten lessons I think. One of them was, and I'm paraphrasing, "listen to the other side." When after many years since the Vietnam War McNamara traveled to Vietnam and spoke to some of wartime the leaders. McNamara said to him "You were trying to take do a communist take over of a country," while the other man said "No, you were trying to take our country by force, We were fighting for our independence."
While it may be true that the US, by fighting in the Vietnam War, tried to prevent the "dominoes from falling," North Vietnamese held an almost religious belief that they were fighting against Western colonial imperialism. Keep in mind that the iron curtain concealed much atrocities that were and were being committed in the 2nd world, majority of which would only be revealed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And even if some atrocities were known in Socialist countries, they were attributed to a previous dictator accompanied by a disavowal by the current one. The Soviets used the clever tactic of using riding on the back of independence/liberation movement to export their ideology. The first successful case also came from Asia - the People's Republic of Mongolia.
As a Vietnamese refugee to USA, this is a spot on comment...this was everything that my mother (who was actually alive during the war) has told me and raised me to believe....even with my own research this is accurate. We were really fighting to get rid of imperialist and colonialism...vietnam just want to be free
@@sew_gal7340And you misunderstood, América would’ve reinstated Frances rule if they cared. No, they just hated communism.
How do you know if the oil's enough for frying French fries?
When you can hear American choppers over your house.
Good one 😂
Fries are NOT french
Young American and Vietnamese died for no reasons, because of lifers thought with his superior fire powers he is gonna win but nooo .
Vietnamese ppls don’t care about communists or socialist all we want is to be free/independence after 2000 years thru many enemies
During the Vietnam War there were a lot case of US ground troops commit a lot of attrocities toward many South Vietnamese villagers during their "Search and Destroy Mission." Many were never reported and a lot was being covered up by US General William Childs Westmoreland. There were many US ground troops saw the attrocities done by their fellow American troops and did nothing. While other participate. Vietnamese peoples were the victim of the Vietnam War. Even though many Vietnamese didn't start the War and didn't ask for it. That was the decision by the American peoples who voted for Democrats President JF Kennedy and LB Johnson as their Commander in Chief for their country. And Democrats President Truman who brought Communist support to Vietnam by allowing and supporting France to reclaim Vietnam as their colony. A country who value their freedom and independence from England. Deny other country of their own. America was never a democracy country. America is a Republic.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… The US saw unprecedented economic growth from WWII, then completely abused it terrorizing an undeveloped country, thinking war would continue that growth. Instead ended up in debt and having to end the gold standard, screwing the world for generations to come. Smh.
You didn't explain why. You just went over what happened.
USA fought the Vietnam war just to stop communism from spreading into whole south east asia
He explained the Domino effect. Without Nam war, Australia and New Zealand might've come under communist dictatorship. Chinese hegemonism, like today in South-China- Sea island(s) dominoes. Pacific islands are like stepping stones (ask the Japanese). Imagine Catalina Island, off Los Angeles, as the final stepping stone! No more Disney.
It was a lie,that why, is it enough?
PragerU wins best motion picture in the PsyOps category, congratulations!
"The defense of freedom in Asia" that's what I call a good joke 😂
YOU WILL WISH YOU NEVER SAY THAT...
South Korea is way more free and prosperous than any post communist nation there. Can you prove me wrong? Or you just wanted another chance to spit out the typical anti American rant? Internet history afficionados can be so damn retarded...
John Tyler In the early 1950’s, South Korea was ruled by a dictator worse than Kim Il Sung. He murdered 100,000 innocent citizens to stop them defecting to the North. Also, for the best part of its existence, North Korea was actually doing better economic wise than the South, and it only went downhill after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of Kim Jong-il. Get your facts straight you brainwashed American patriot.
I am from México and I really know the sense of "freedom" US has.
@@MrAlepedroza South Korea keeps world records in suicides. They worked for 68 hours per week till 2016. And now it's "only" 52.
I'm Hmong and I've always heard the side of the story from my dad, but never understood why our history was never told, and named the secret war during the Vietnam War. Only hearing the context of the American's side and my dad's experience and what was told. Learning the context and roles of other nations trying to occupy and do nation building in Vietnam only to end up with massive casualties and atrocities all over se asia.
From my perspective the CIA, what they do and don't tell the public they're doing illegally behind the back of other nations for money, war, political gain, influence, and nation building. I assume the plan of the CIA was to use the Hmong men, children and people as a scapegoat to help infiltrate from Lao's neutral zone where the U.S. couldn't.
In which the Hmong were exhausted to the point most men were lost, and children were drafted to take their place. Some of us who were lucky enough were divided amongst and sent to different continents from refugee camps. Others stranded and hunted down like animals with the last hope of planning to extract and help the lost only to get caught in the act of planning an international terrorism by GVP and others in the U.S. Full circle of criminal acts from bureaucracy, sometimes I don't know if we should be thankful, or scream and demand for justice for covering up this kind of behavior in times futile bureaucracy war.
The British had used or played ethnic peoples against each other since at least the 16th century when they started grabbing colonies around the world. They were extremely natural and good at that game. The US is just a successful spinoff of the British Empire so they’re also very good at using, manipulating local ethnic peoples against their enemies.
Sir...As a Hmong you no doubt know there were...maybe are, at least five major cultures living in S.E. Asia without regard for political boundaries drawn by many outside politicians. You might read the book'' Street without Joy" and see just how well informed those politicians were or should have been...They went ahead anyway!
If you don't read Vietnamese, maybe the English interpretation below helps.
# Vietnamese saying: Giặc đến nhà, đàn bà cũng đánh! English: Enemy arriving to your home; women too fight!
# To better understand Vietnamese women, look up for "Trưng sisters", "Lady Triệu (Triệu Thị Trinh)", “Võ Thị Sáu”, “Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai”, “Lê Thị Hồng Gấm”, “Đặng Thùy Trâm”, “Nguyễn Thị Út (Út Tịch)”, "Tạ Thị Kiều", "Nguyễn Thị Định", "Bùi Thị Xuân", ...
# Poem by Tố Hữu:
O du kích nhỏ giương cao súng
Thằng Mỹ lênh khênh bước cúi đầu
Ra thế! To gan hơn béo bụng
Anh hùng đâu cứ phải mày râu!
# My attempt at English translation:
Petite militia girl raising high her gun
Towering American guy stoopingly walking, his head bent
So! Big liver (courage) better than fatty stomach (big body)
Heroism not having to be reserved just for men.
# There was a happy ending to the "Petite militia girl and the towering American guy" photo: They (Nguyễn Thị Kim Lai, 17 years old at the time the photo was taken on 20-09-1965, and American ex-pilot William Andrew Robinson, aged 22 then) met up again 30 years later, but this time as FRIENDS when Robinson came to visit Kim Lai at her home in Hà Tĩnh province in Central Vietnam (ruclips.net/video/MDFcpVq_HZA/видео.html )
LOL
The Vietnam War started in 1945, when the Vietnamese nation declared their independence from colonialism.
Clearly, every American, who completely embraces the idea of "freedom" and "liberty", and fought for OWN freedom from British rule, MUST understand the basic urge of nations to be free....
Right?
that "independence" is based on Communism which totally equal to corruption. Trust me it f**k harder than you thoght
So killing 2,5 million Vietnamese was better than "corruption"?
@Vlavitir glutginskiya 800.000 actually were killed, but not all of them were killed by American. You forgot that 3 millions South Vietnamese, 300.000 South Korean, 20.000 of New Zealand, Australian, Thai were in that war too? America is full of propaganda too you know. Sure that dropping down 7 million ton of bombs on villain and city, committed hundred of massacre and executing hundred thousand of people for Buddhism, political and supporting the North in South Vietnam.
Freedom for them, not for us.
@@ralphbernhard1757 the deathtoll of 4-7 Million, they're covering it up
Yes, the very democratic South Vietnam. SO democratic that in Saigon he won the election with more than 600.000 votes while there were only 450.000 voters. so democratic that Diem denied The general election to unify the country because he knew he would lose to Ho Chi Minh
Yes, Cambodian Genocide, I wonder who sent them guns and who did absolutely nothing when the genocide happened
Vietnam war was not about capitalism and communism but about independent. The Vietnamese not see the US as a capitalist invader but an invader.
Millions of Vietnamese would not become refugees if the US had not intervened.
Vietnam and the US could have been allied and partner at that time because the Vietnamese don't really trust their northern friend
If it wasn't a war between communism and democracy but a war for independence i wonder why the there's still no freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to protest or criticize the government in vietnam. Totally a war for independence, by your logic the north korean government should liberate south korea from american imperialists too since the south korean government wasn't democratic when the us created it. But as we learned from history, anything that's not communist or socialist will become democratic some day regardless (and yes, nazi germany was socialist to its core). Better dead than red, commie.
@@TranNhatKim YOu know who kick the French out of Indochina? It was the commie and accord to the Geneva Convention they would have an election but ROV denied it, was it democracy? How about the Buddhist crisis? You wonder there is no freedom of speech, ...? the economy is not that good compare to other countries, there are corruptions and you think people will care about it more than their money? I wonder how I can comment on the youtube while the Chinese have to use VPN? I wonder how I can post it on Facebook saying the cop is bad without being arrested?
Now you talking about the Nazi, you think it was socialist because it had the word socialist in its name, National Socialism?
You remember the time Hitler set the Reichstag on fire and blamed it on the commies and then sent them to the concentration camp? It was pure German Nationalism, anti-communist and antisemitism.
Some people say "The US have LITERALLY NO BUSINESS starting that War vs. Vietnam ..." -- Please consider again regarding "BUSINESS", as per below
================
Domino theory ? Stop the spread of communism ? Protect the "free world" ? ...
# Maybe. But please consider the following first.
# Imagine I was the owner of a company that makes ammunition for the US-army guns, plus canned food for the US Military.
# If the war in Vietnam went ahead (i.e. killing people, Vietnamese and Americans; expected to last years), I'd stand to make maybe 100 billion dollars in total (makers of helicopter gunships, artillery shells, military clothing, ... would probably make more money)
# If there wasn't any war, then I would not have that 100 billion dollars.
# In that case (no war) I would try to destroy any obstacle on my way of getting that 100 billion dollars.
# President John F Kennedy was hesitant about invading Vietnam and starting a war (he knew about Vietnamese people's history and spirits), and about to declare USA's no-war and non-involvement (or drastically reduced involvement)
# Please suggest what I do to get my 100 billion dollars. Thanks.
Are you pro Vietnam war? Please tell me you're joking
@@totoarba2439 he made 2 comments about each side, I’d say he gave a more favorable outline of the Vietnamese side. Though to be honest there isn’t much you can say in favor of the US
Im guessing you are Vietnamese? I still have more research to do on the Vietnam war. But it seems to me a missed opportunity, the US could have supported Ho Chi Minh after ww2 ended, possibly having input on policies and maintaining us bases there. My understanding is we helped him fight the japanese during ww2. I see a few reasons why we sided with the french, mainly our history of being allies and the "communist* word. Ironically fighting Ho Chi Minh and losing almost assured Vietnam would be communist and chinese and soviets would have more influence in the region. After the french left why were we fighting their war? The military industrial complex surely is powerful and influential in us policy sometimes. It was probably about maintaining good relations with france and greed of big business.
@@totoarba2439 -- I'm not talking about pro or con here; I'm simply stating what I believe are the facts.
@@connor3288 -- Steven c Gutierrez says "If only we had our own Vietnam war here in the States." -- I ask:
# @Steven c Gutierrez -- Why ? Please explain further. How's the Vietnamese's circumstance similar to the States' ?
# The Vietnamese had no other choice but to fight for their country's independence and integrity.
# President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had tried very, very hard to negotiate to avoid a war with the French colonialists, but to no avail.
# Similarly, President Uncle Ho Chi Minh had written numerous times to US presidents (Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower [?]) seeking friendship between Vietnam and the USA, but received no reply. Instead, in return, the US government continued with the French colonialists' steps in erecting a puppet regime in southern Vietnam to permanently divide the country and serve their neo-colonialist purposes, and then invaded Vietnam.
================
NW and Dark Reaper say "we [USA] only lost 59k troops ... we actually killed more than 1 Million vietcong" -- I say:
# You lost because you live by the cold statistics and numbers, like what you've said, "we've killed your so many; you've only killed us so many". We Vietnamese won because we live by the humane heart "every single life is invaluably precious".
# Are you among the children whose fathers make those statistics ?
# Or, maybe you've enjoyed growing up without a father ?
# NW and Dark Reaper say similarly to Cambodian Khmer-Rouge Pol Pot. Pol pot said (exact wording might not be correct; but the idea is) "We'll have 1 Cambodian killed and kill 10 Vietnamese in return. We'll then have 3 million Cambodians left after all the Vietnamese would have been killed; and we win !"
Tragic, so much suffering and death for an ideology. I worked with a lady who was a boat person, she had scars from napalm burns. I was glad she was out of that hell and living a much better life in Canada.
you say it was for an ideology...that much you understood?!! so, "The defence of freedom in Asia" is justifiable or wouldn't be better "In the name of Pax Americana, kill'em all"...don't you see the hypocrisy in...it was for an ideology?!! I guess you are confusing things with deaths of russians under Stalin or deaths of chinese under Mao... by the way, the lady you've met got the scars from the napalm bombs that the US dropped off, so you know!
The greatest travesty of the Vietnam conflict was the misunderstanding that it was fought to combat communism. What it came down to was that the Soviet Union was backing anti-colonial insurgencies and the USA was supporting post-colonial governments who were previously occupied by their Western allies. The latter was unsustainable. The NVA and the Viet-Cong were going to win no matter what the USA did because they fought for Vietnamese independence under the thin veil of communism.
If the USA was willing to support Vietnamese independence as opposed to sustaining French imperialism, we could have avoided a war that cost millions of lives and billions of dollars. Ho Chi Minh only sided with the USSR after the USA refused to assist him against the French.
"Vietnam provided no imperial advantages." Please explain why the US funded the majority of the French-Indochina war. Additionally, if the US did not seek a war in Vietnam, please explain the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Ultimately, the US meddling in the self-determination of another country is what directly led to millions of lives lost.
The place was unstable for centuries ...trible warfare, wars with China. Western involvement began with French missionaries and then Napolean invading and making S. Viet Nam and parts of Cambodian peninsula a French protectorate. Viet Nam became a "French colonial" region for the next 100 years. In WWII German occupied France (as the French Vichy government) sought to retain control of the area. After WWII France tried to re-establish colonial control. Due to France's Inability to maintain control of the region (their defeat at Dien Bien Fu in 1954) and the growing fears of the U.S. that Viet Nam would become Communist the United States 'stepped in' and (under Truman, Eisenhower, and then Kennedy) was forced to gradually escalate our military involvement in the region. It was not Colonialism so much as fear of Communism that got us drawn into the escalating conflict.
America has a fair share of brutal history from native americans to civil war etc . Imagine if vietnam was the one to come and kill hundrends of thousands of american families their children to end slavery for freedom and equality for all will it justify the killing's ??
Had we allowed open elections that the French and Viet Namese had agreed too, we could have avoided this.
America had agreed to open elections as well. Then they changed their mind.
@@WuhanMan2013 They knew Ho Chi Minh would've won majority and clear victory hence they couldn't have let that happen.
Its bc they made the decisions w usa france and viet minh but not state of vn so south vn was like f tht and didnt do it
laatko bhoot Agreed!
Did the North allow open elections?
"The Man Who Sold The World"
No one every wins a war.They all simply just generate sadness.
God bless our veterans. You will always be remembered and appreciated by true Americans.
They saved your house and familiy in Alabama?
Hope god also bless the kids they burned, the women they raped
Talk with a Vietnam veteran and you might get the REAL reason for this conflict.
Which is?
@@grogu9215 politicians
@@bini2851 lol you mean a allies of America getting attacked and America coming to aid them
@@johnnyvincent8995 no politicians didn’t want communism to spread all over Asia
@@bini2851 Yeah because communism is a oppressive and dictatorial form of government and that government form was attacking out allies
4:04 And then us
backet Pol pot was crushed by Vietnam
My favorite part about this topic is when people say that we got our asses kicked. 50,000 is literally a drop in the bucket compared to 1.1 million soldiers that the nva and vietcong sent to get slaughtered. We only lost the conflict because we started trying to draft college kids and the media was intensely anti-war so they continuously bombarded housewives with footage of the carnage. We made the same mistake in vietnam that will eventually made in Afghanistan. We abandoned the people we were there to help before we finished helping them.
Still lost regardless
You were "helping" them in the same way the Soviet Union was "helping" the people of Hungary in 1956.
we didnt help at all. we bomb the people we swore to protect. hilarious this channel is extremely bias
My poppy ( grandpa ) was in the Vietnam war....people gave him a really hard time about it but it wasn’t his fault , they made him do it. He still has nightmares time to time about it..had my nanny by the neck because of one of the nightmares...
That's like my grand grandfather, drafted into Wehrmacht (he was living in Germany before WW2 (nothing special in those times and now either)), but when WW2 spread out he was drafted. He died in Eastern Front, but he really didn't want to fight on German side.
@@Admiral45-10 wait, was he Polish (judging by your username) 😦
@@okramra yes, although he was living in German part of Upper Silesia before WW2. He was never a Nazi, he was simply drafted, as German citizen.
@@Admiral45-10 Of course he wasn't a nazi then. So the nazis didn't like Slavs but didn't mind them in the Wehrmacht... Interesting story, and I'm sorry for the fate of your grandfather.
@@okramra yeah, he was not the only one from my family. But it's imporant to note, that he wasn't even German - he was Polish, who fleed his country, because he needed to provide for his family. You may not like me for saying so, but that makes me respect him and consider him as a good person.
And P.S.: it's probably not due to his race, but due to his citizenship - many people forget about this, but being a male Citizen of specific country means, that you can be drafted to protect this country during war, whether you like it or not. Although it was legal, I still feel sorry about what happened to him - let's not forget he died in probably the worst place possible during WW2...
Source: Ex OSS/CIA agent's interview.
It was all about the US fearing that if (south)vietnam fell into the hands of communisme, the whole of south east of asia would follow as a domine effect.
Vietnam reminds us that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog. North Vietnam had a fraction of our population base, and their losses in the war were over ten times ours. But they were so determined to turn South Vietnam red, they just kept coming. We didn't.
More like unification. Vietnamese who fought for the PAVN never believed in communism, only in independence and freedom.
@@angkhoanguyen6114 Not much freedom in Communism.
@@oddish4352 Not in the case of Vietnam.
4:00
Fun fact:
Pol Pot was backed by USA, who executed 2 million people in Cambodia.
Vietnam invaded Cambodia, dethroned Pol Pot and saved Cambodians from the genocide.
The Khmer Rouge was originally enabled, trained and propelled by North Vietnam, its ally during the Vietnam war. During this time, the US opposed the Khmer Rouge. Only when Pol Pot stopped obeying Hanoi’s marching orders, and started cross-border attacks, did the Khmer Rouge become the opponent of newly unified Vietnam. Subsequently, the US also switched its position, and began a period of diplomatic support of the Khmer Rouge.
The US did not execute two million people in Cambodia.
@@cardinalrg5114 No sources, no credibility
"We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong."
-Kennedy and Johnson Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, In Retrospect (1995)
Did you bother looking at the reality of that time period. Soviet/communist containment. From 1945 to when the wall came down. You think that quote from McNamara is a bit from guilt and wokeness? Remember they are all trying to put on a good face in light of failure moving forward.
@@republica7337 one of the "principles and traditions of this nation" is that dictatorships do not allow freedom of their people, one of the core ideas of the United States. that's what South Vietnam was, a brutal dictatorship. whatever the outcome, victory for north or south, it would've been a bad government, but the Vietnamese people would still just be doing their thing, farming and living their lives either way. with that knowledge, how was the war not a waste of 58000 American lives?
To try to roll back Communism ! The same thing we have to do right now within our own country !
Y tf would we want communism
HeadachyX ...... ask the far left Dems - AOC, De Blasio, Witt,er, Dunkan etc.etc. and every single branch of the communist party of every single state in the US !
communism will win!!!
@Keith schaedel Yes, the Communist Party would be involved in labour unions because fighting for worker rights is fundamentally the point of any communist movement. Unionism at its core is a left-wing concept so there would be close ties to the Communist Party. Conversely the capitalist parties in power do everything within their power to disenfranchise the worker: To take away their right to vote, to speech, to dismantle their union organisation and to suppress their wages. The Communist Party having close ties to all labour unions is glowing praise of their commitment to their cause. Why would you think a party claiming to represent the average worker having ties to organisations representing the average worker would be a bad thing?
The Khmer Rouge along with China's expansionist Rulers like Deng Xiao-Ping and Mao Ze-Dong were urged on and supported by the vilely vengeful US Administration to attack Vietnam on both northern and southern borders (lucky that Vietnam was able to beat them off before they could enter into the country to cause loss of life and damage like the US had done); and all that was accompanied by the vilely vengeful US Administration imposing total embargo and encirclement on Vietnam, in a heinous effort to cause famine in the country.
The narrator of this piece is Victor Davis Hanson who (like most Republicans) is a Vietnam War draft dodger. If he supported the Vietnam war, why didn't he enlist and serve?
Gargantuan W
Those kids never should have been there in the first place. Rich mans war, poor mans fight
In a lot of ways America could have won the war, but the politicians tied the general's hands.
This meant more money for the military industrial complex.
Freedom was the reason we went in, but money was the reason that we stayed and were not allowed to win.
TickedOff Priest No.
We had an "MIC" since Eisenhower's presidency. Long before the Vietnam war.
We fought for oil.
We did not win because the left killed the anti war movement.
What oil? Vietnam isn't known as a nation that exports Oil.
That is an insult to Patton to say that we went there for oil.
TickedOff Priest We weren't there for
Vietnams oil, but to protect our flow of oil that was and still is in the Middle East. Communism is power hungry, it seeks to dominate the world.
We were there as a show of power and to keep trading partners.
I've always wondered why the VietnaM war was viewed different to the Korean war which was a "good war" many Americans say. When realistically they were fought for the same reasons, both very expensive, and the Korean war was actually more bloody. The only reason I think is because America "lost", but it was more pulling out for polical reasons (the war footage, different in values for the baby boomers, etc).
Part of that is the fact that North Korea was a dictatorship and remained that way. South Korea was also a dictatorship, but developed into a democracy and successful economy.
South Vietnam never experienced sovereign democracy, it was always, in some sense, a victim of foreign meddling. So the war never gained the appearance of the US protecting an ally from an invader, but rather the US propping up a puppet.
And part of this perception is, as you pointed out, the fact that the US successfully defended South Korea, and failed to defend South Vietnam.
@@Jake-rs9nq I would add that Ho, and thus North Vietnam has a way better image internationally than any communist leader from that era. With his modesty, he gave off the feeling that he actually did the stuff he did for the nation and not his own gain
The public knew we were losing in Vietnam, don't blame the home front for military failures.
The North Vietnamese walked away from Johnson's peace offers because they wanted a united Vietnam and didn't want to see Vietnam as a puppet state of foreign powers. Sure, they accepted help from the Soviets and Chinese but once Vietnam was unified, they treated their backers as allies or enemies depending on which nation you talk about and not as overlords who they kiss up to.
It's ironic though that Vietnam is becoming a capitalist nation and is on good terms with the U.S against China.
"Listen not to what the communists say,look closely at what the communists do", Nguyen Van Thieu.
and look at what the capitalism did in their country, they did in this way and done in another way
That's how it should go, communist do have a tad bit too much propaganda, the sneaky suckers.
3 sticks finding excuses for their worthlessness.
Fun Fact: Ho Chi Minh admired the USA for the way they kicked the British out and fought for freedom. He tried getting the US to help them fight against the French multiple times (but was declined), and the first line in the Vietnamese declaration of independence was a quote from the American declaration of independence
Vietnam even made their strategy for the war similar to America's during the American Revolution
It’s debatable whether Ho Chi Minh’s odes to democracy and flattering of the US were sincere. I do not find them convincing, but instead I suppose that they were ploys for support.
@@cardinalRG As usual you offer zero evidence for your claims.
@@MicroscopeGeranium5274 Well Minh banned opposition parties and his state did not have real check and balances.
@@reviewreviewer1 Stability was far more important and most of them are French and Chinese puppets.
@@angkhoanguyen6114 You can argue that he established a totalitarian dictatorship for the sake of stability, but it doesn't make it democratic.
If anything in the beginning is true, why didnt they help finns in the winter war, they didnt even supplie us.
Back then, the United States was isolationist, and the great depression was hitting the USA hard. Supplying them would be hard. Britain gave the US more advanced radar systems, better equipment, etc, so they gave Britain a lend-lease that allowed Britain not only greater flexibility but more ability to stop Germany.
However, after world war II, the US's economy was roaring due to the war. It's safe to say because of the attack on Pearl Harbour, the USA is what is now. If the Japanese never attacked, the USA would still probably be isolationist to this day.
And yet USA launched the lend lease program to help soviets. What a heroic act.
While Finns were sufferind under the attack of this horrible nation, US was supplying the commies with 375000 pickup trucks, 50000 jeeps, 35000 motorcycles, 8000 tractors, 7000 tanks, 15000 airplanes, 2000 locomotives, 5 million tons of food supplies and the list goes on forever.
RevivaL USA sent supplies to soviet union allready in 1939, before it was at war with Germany.
Finland had still got more supply or any kind of support from West, than Poland in Polish-Bolshevik War (this is one of three major wars (another ones: ,,Winter War" and ,,Intervention in Afghanistan") which closed Russians their gate to rest of continent they were planning to conquer).
vietnam war death count
america: 58 thousand
vietnam: 4 million
US coping with their failure i see.
"No imperial advantages"
What was the point of the containment policy then?
To fulfill American gwarantee, that if anyone will attack South Vietnam they will send help. They were obligated to enter this conflict.
If you see your friend getting the life beaten out of him by his neighbor do you sit and eat popcorn or do you go help your friend? The US chose the latter.
Never say some dumb shit like that again
You don't know what you're talking about.
@@kamyarroshandel3055 It doesn't matter if you like it or not. The south was an ally and was invaded. Allys tends to help each other when they face aggressive military action
@@_gamepoint_ the only time the U.S intervenes is if it has a positive outcome for them, people who think its for the "freedom" of the other country are ignorant. If communism wasnt involved in the war then the U.S would not have intervened at all. But because they were so scared of communism at the time they had to do something, which ended up costing so many innocent lives. But America forever am I right, land of the free btw.
@@kamyarroshandel3055 Yea that's how geopolitics works buddy. You new? Again countries tend to help allies who get violently invaded.... because that's mutually beneficial.
"No one in hindsight believes that fighting a losing war is ever worth the cost" ....That's completely false.
They didn't think they were going to lose
@@jijorassad709 And?
You are only saying it's a pointless war because they failed that's it
@@jijorassad709thry lost anyways
Vietnamese never seek for Communism or resist Capitalism in any mean, our reason for fighting is not ideology. We seek for independent and unity. If US had not involved in our fight with France, we would not have had to lean on Communist side.
It would be nice if Prager was an actual university.
I am Vietnamese and I'm seriously offended by you blatantly lying about my country's war. Historical revisionism at its best. You can fool an American but you can't fool a Vietnamese.
The USA never lost the Vietnam War. They pulled out.
Isn't that how all wars end though? One side decides the war is not worth fighting any more, and a treaty is signed.
@WalterRamjet HeroOfOurNation ...diplomatically speaking.
Because they were losing lol
The USA won the Vietnam War. Ask any Vietnamese in Vietnam if they want to go to America for a better life, they'll be "Hell yeah".
Did you guys watch the video? The US basically won, divided the country in half, just like Korea, but the North Vietnamese violated the Paris Peace Accord. They called the US's bluff that they would come back and were right. The US said screw it.
According to the vietnamese, the vietman war (American war for they) was just the continuation of thier independence war
They wanted their own country free of colonialism. They asked Truman for support to get rid of the French. Truman refused because the French owed us war debt and needed their colonies to pay. I’m other words the Vietnamese just wanted what we have.
3:47 sent to the gulag 😂😂😂 with a chance to redeploy
hello fellow warzone player
that game is so good
I would like to know why we were there. I spent over three years in Vietnam. And I like to know why we pulled out. We should have won. I feel betrayed.
Could have and should have. You certainly were betrayed brother, but please do not think for a second that your service was in vain.
@@lobo7361 No matter what happened in Nam I will always be proud of my service to our country.
You never had a chance. You Americans supported France and the rump state, you were enemies in Vietnamese eyes, and we are not keen of having invaders in our homeland. Vietnam defeated Mongolia, China, Japan, and USA.
Watch 5 different videos about Vietnam and come to 5 different conclusions. Just let’s me know we still don’t know why Vietnam happened.