Why do some Americans still think they won the Vietnam war?

Question

America pulled out of Vietnam, Vietnam became communist and remains communist. American casulties were massive as was the cost of the war. America lost the war, yet i still see in forums and even in some answers on this site Americans claiming that they never lost that war?

Answer 1

because they can't admit defeat because they are the almighty USA and that would make the world all wrong if they lost.

Don't know if they get it taught at school but i didn't realise they lost until i was about 15 because i had seen loads of films about vietnam and they all give the impresssion of the heroic americans fighting the evil Vietnamese and always gave the impression that in the end they would be victorious

Answer 2

Sir, for the Veterans that fought over there, winning or losing is not the issue. The issue for them, is that America pretty much deserted them. My cousin came home from Nam and people would flip him off, and spit at him. Myself, I joined the United States Air Force one month before the fall of Siagon. I was 18 years old, by four (4) months. I had no way of knowing that the war was truly over. The American forces were pulling out, but operations have a tendency to go wrong. Could you stand in front of an American GI, who fought in Vietnam, and tell him he lost the war. If you can do that, then you are a braver, if not more ignorant man, than I am. Please don't take this personally, but you did ask for an opinion. Peace!

The Ryder

Answer 3

People think of Vietnam as a war in itself. It wasn't. Vietnam was but one battle in the cold war that we fought with the USSR and China for over four decades. Although my mindset has changed many times since my army days in Vietnam, one thing is now clear to me. Our taking a stand in Vietnam and Korea against Communist governments supported by the Soviet Union had a great deal to do with their ultimately deciding that THEY could not win the cold war.

I'm sure that people will argue with me till the cows come home on this one but had Korea and Vietnam fallen into Communism then a great deal of the pacific rim would have become of interest to the Soviet's goal of spreading Communism throughout the world wherever it could. It was dumb the way we fought the war and some could argue that we should have stood our ground somewhere else like Thailand, they likely would've been next, but hey, I think all in all things worked out pretty well for not only the US but the world.

By the way, I was in Vietnam again last year. Doesn't seem much like a Communist country to me. We may have gotten our butts handed to us militarily, but capitalism is kicking butt right back now.

Oh and for the one that thinks we have bases in South Vietnam? We don't. There is no South Vietnam. Only Vietnam united under what used to be the government of North Vietnam. Preventing the north from conquering the south? That much we did lose.

Answer 4

Judging by some of the answers they are doing a Tony Blair and twisting the truth in the hope it will come right. Every answer so far hides the fact that US lost that war. the fact that they lost it because of problems at home do not really stand up. yes they did win open battles but it was not that kind of war. ir was constant pinpricks and it became obvious that it was a war that could not be won so US rightly cut their losses and got out. They lost

Mind you I do not know who wins a war it seems that only the arms and oil companies do. the Vietcong and US soldier just suffer die or carry the wounds mental and phyical for the rest of their lives

Answer 5

We did not win the war in Vietnam. We left because it was an unjust war and because the American people were against it.
If and when the military of our country looses its soldiers it does not matter if the war was declared by the rules or not.If our young people are dying it is a war. There are no winners in military conflicts accept for the military industrial complex that Pres. Eisenhower \warned us about..remember?

Answer 6

ask any of the returning troops about the welcome they got when returning from vietnam They were called baby killers and worse.They certainly didn't win that war. There were too many being killed and being prisoners It was in the sixties after all time of the hippies going to canada to dodge the call up etc Look at the black wall and you will see just how many americans died in that war. Some still have not returned.

Answer 7

The Americans still believe John Wayne won the second world war

Answer 8

Well, America isn't the only country in this world that dose that some there are some in this world who do the same thing as the US so it's not just the US that say things like that.

Then again you also have to hear both sides of the story from those who saw it on TV and from those who lived it.

Answer 9

We never lost any major battles in the Nam and kicked the enemy's asses whenever we met on the battlefield. You think that the USA's losses were large don't you wonder what the enemy losses were?? They tried to conceal all their dead so that their numbers wouldn't reflect the truth. The war was lost politically by Johnson, McNamara, Nixon, and last but not the least Kissinger.

Answer 10

They marched against the War and thier country complied with thier demands and pulled out. How was that not a victory the American protestors and thier communist allies in Vietnam?

Answer 11

The answer is... We lost the war here at home, not overseas. That is the only similartiy to Iraq. Our politicians and the weak hand of the left wing handicap our soldiers so badly that they cannot even fight a battle to win it. If a terrorist hides in a Mosque for safety... BOMB THE MOSQUE. If Hitler would have hid in a church do you think we would have not bombed the church during WWII?

Fact is, there is no Military Force on the Planet that could defeat our Armed Forces. We have superior weaponry, superior training, and superior morality. We lose battles because we refuse to let our military do what is necessary to win.