ABSTRACT
The Vietnam war was arguably the most traumatic and expensive foreign policy adventure (or, rather, misadventure) in the recent history of the US. It carried a heavy price tag in human, moral, political, and economic costs. The bills for these costs will continue to come due well into the next century. It has been estimated that the ultimate financial expense of this war for the US would be about $676 billion (Riddell 1973). Much of this estimated expensesuch as in the form of future costs for veterans’ benefits and interest payments on the national debts-have yet to be borne by the American tax payers.
