CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Xlll

INTRODUCTION XV

A WORD ON USAGE xvii

ABBREVIATIONS xix

CHAPTER 1: The Enduring Myths of the War 1 America Suffered a Military Defeat 1 The American Soldier Was "Different" in Vietnam 2 Vietnam Was a War of Communist Aggression 8 It Was Just Another War 10 The Was Not as Intense as World War II 14 Who Served and Who Got Hurt? 18 Those Traumatized Vietnam Vets 21

CHAPTER 2: The Forty-Year War 25 What Is Vietnam? 25 Where the French Came In 27 Uncle Ho, General Giap, the Red Menace, and Power Politics 28 The French Campaigns 35 The Viet Minh-Japanese Alliance 38 The Viet Minh's Foreign Legion 38 Lessons Forgotten: The American Military and Insurgency 39 Communist Insurgencies, 1945-65 44 The Official American Army Campaigns in Vietnam, and the Unofficial Ones at Home 44 A Strategy of Uncertainty 54

CHAPTER 3: In The Rush (Ground Combat) 59 First Impressions 59 The Nature of Combat 60 Air Assault 61 viii CONTENTS

Trashing the Battlefield 63 Allied Forces in Vietnam 64 A Plague of Radios and the "Flying CP" 65 Infantry Weapons 67 The Big Guns 70 Armor in Vietnam 71 Body Counts 75 Thunder Run 76 FNGs, Getting Short, and Staying Alive 77 LRRPs and Rangers 79 LRRP Rules 82 Creating ARVN 85 Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps 88 The ARVN Rangers 89 The Popular Forces 90 Marine Combined Action Platoons 90 General Monsoon 92 Ground Radar 92 Plastic on Fire 94 Road Warriors 95 Some Useful Field Expedients 96 Tigers, Elephants, Poisonous Reptiles, and Determined Vermin .... 98 Tunnels and Tunneling 103 CHAPTER 4: Slicks, Puffs, and Fast Movers (War In the Air) 106 The Largest Bombing Campaign in History 106 U.S. Combat Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 107 Helicopters Everywhere 109 Helicopter Operations and Losses 112 Helicopter Sorties Are Different 114 Those Daring Young Men in Their Flying Machines 115 Air Combat 117 Antiaircraft Defense 122 Light Airplanes in Vietnam 125 "Puff the Magic Dragon" 126 The B-52 and Arc Light Missions 126 Principal Combat Aircraft of the Vietnam War 127 RVN Air Force 132 Aces of the Vietnam War 133 Assault Helicopter Units 133 Napalm 134 and "Operation RANCH HAND" 135 The Kingbee 137 CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER 5: Blue Water, Green Water, Brown Water (The Naval War) 139 Aircraft Carriers in the War 139 The Battleship Returns 146 The Green Water Navy 147 The Brown Water Navy 150 The Coast Guard 152

CHAPTER 6: Base Camp Follies 154 Uncle Sam's Way of War 154 Let's Make a Deal 155 Good Morning, Vietnam 157 "Bloomin' Good Pay" 159 American Women at War 161 The Chaplaincy 163 The Class of '66 164 VD and Vietnam 165 Pacific Idylls 166

CHAPTER 7: War in the Shadows 168 The Special Forces 168 The Secret War in Laos 170 SOG's War Against the Ho Chi Minh Trail 173 Undercover for Uncle Ho 177 SOG Recon Teams 178 The Montagnards 178 The Hmong 184 The Cambodian Connection 185 The North Vietnam Counter-Recon Program 189 Playing on Paranoia 191 Sniff This, Fido 194 The Problem of Moles 194 Flight of the Phoenix 195 Paper Paratroopers 196 STRATA 196 The Lifeline from Above 197 The Religious Factor 198 The Ultimate Killing Machine 199 Bright Light 200 Dead Plants and Bitter Rice 201 The Real Rambo 201 x CONTENTS

CHAPTER 8: Leadership 203 "Follow Me!" Leadership Problems in Vietnam 203 The Mismanagement of ARVN 206 The ARVN Officer Corps 210 The First "Hollow Army" 212 "They Also Serve Who Only Stand and Wait" 214 The Communist Advantage 219 Fragging 221 The Medal of Honor and Other Decorations 222 The Drug Problem 230 Looting 231 The My Lai Massacre 233 American War Crimes Trials 235 Some Questionable Weapons of the Vietnam War 235

CHAPTER 9: Numbers and Losses 240 American Casualties 240 Casualties Compared 246 Allied Combat Battalions in Vietnam 246 Eye Injuries in Vietnam 247 Psychoneurotic Casualties 248 Prisoners of the North Vietnamese 250 The Garwood Case 251 Treating the Wounded 252 Blood 254 Hospital Ships 255

CHAPTER 10: The Home Front 257 Getting In and Getty Ready 257 The Media 258 Some Notable Blunders of the Peace Movement 260 Things Are Not Always As They Seem—Nor Are People 261 The Conspiracy of the Moment 263 Kent State 264 Jackson State 266 Peace with Honor 266

CHAPTER 11: The Other Side 267 Born in the North to Die in the South 267 A Day in the Life of Uncle Ho's Nephews 269 Group Think and Mind Control 271 The Other Side's Draft Dodgers 272 Training 273 CONTENTS xi

Bad Medicine 274 The Sappers 275 Electronics 281 The Well-Clad Guerrilla 282 North Vietnam's Allies in the War 283 The Pathet Lao 285 Enemy Atrocities 286 The Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam 287

CHAPTER 12: Logistics 291 Creating the Infrastructure for War 291 Merchant Shipping 293 Revolutionary Logistics 293 The Ho Chi Minh Trail 295 The Cost of the War 300

CHAPTER 13: The Combat Units 302 The Principal American Ground Combat Units in Vietnam 302 ROK Forces in Vietnam 310 Australia and New Zealand in the War 311 Thai Forces 313 The Philippine Contingent 314 South Vietnamese Army and Marine Units 315 South Vietnamese Corps Areas 320 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Combat Units 321

CHAPTER 14: The Aftermath 329 The Era of the "Hollow Army" and Military Reform 329 The MIA Problem 332 MIA Sightings 334 The Amerasians 335 The Reorganization of the Defense Establishment 336 The Vietnam War Deserters 338 Some Notable Americans Who Served in Vietnam 341 Some Notable Americans Who Didn't Serve in Vietnam 342 The Sino-Vietnamese War 342

APPENDIX: A Vietnam War Glossary: Acronyms, Code Words, and Slang 345

RECOMMENDED READING 355