ABSTRACT

The Vietnam War was and is one of America's greatest military traumas. It was a bewildering affair from start to finish, and we are still trying to understand what happened to us in that corner of the world. Analysis has evolved; while the war was going on and shortly after our involvement ended, commentary was highly subjective and mostly vituperative, seeking to lay blame for blunders made. That tone has changed somewhat as a second generation of analyses, more removed from the passion of the occasion, has begun to attempt to present a more balanced, less emotional treatment of the events.