The Vietnam was a long and costly one, coming it at $111 billion in real dollars ($738 billion in today's money) according to a congressional research report released in 2011. It's stigma has long plagued the American people and those men and women who fought bravely for the South Vietnamese people.
One myth about the Vietnam War is that most of the American soldiers were drafted and forced to serve in Vietnam (i.e. draft dodgers, those who fled to Canada to avoid service). The fact is that two-thirds of all of the soldiers who served in Vietnam volunteered for that honor.
Many other myths that have been taken as fact are that most American servicemen were addicted to drugs, were unable to reaclimate to civilian life, that many ended up spending time in jail after they returned home, that they wished that they had never served or, the biggest myth, that the United States lost the war in Vietnam.
History.com dispels these myths and more.
One myth about the Vietnam War is that most of the American soldiers were drafted and forced to serve in Vietnam (i.e. draft dodgers, those who fled to Canada to avoid service). The fact is that two-thirds of all of the soldiers who served in Vietnam volunteered for that honor.
Many other myths that have been taken as fact are that most American servicemen were addicted to drugs, were unable to reaclimate to civilian life, that many ended up spending time in jail after they returned home, that they wished that they had never served or, the biggest myth, that the United States lost the war in Vietnam.
History.com dispels these myths and more.
- There was no difference in drug usage from Vietnam veterans to and non veterans from the same age group
- 85% of Vietnam veterans made a successful transition to civilian life
- .5% of Vietnam veterans have been jailed for crimes
- 91% of Vietnam veterans were glad that they had served
- According to history.com,"The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkley a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included Tet 68, which was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. The United States did not lose the war in Vietnam, the South Vietnamese did after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. The South Vietnamese ran out of fuel, ammunition and other supplies because of a lack of support from congress while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the Soviet Union."