Introduction

In 1965, US armed forces embarked for Vietnam. In 1975, American military helicopters retrieved a final handful of individuals from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon, signaling the total collapse of a foolish and tragic enterprise. The Vietnam era was a vile period in American history. The critics' image of Vietnam was dominated by a monstrous war machine spewing death impersonally and indiscriminately. The youth culture, the most visible manifestation of the great sea change taking place in some areas of traditional morality, became intertwined with the war. Many in the antiwar movement unmistakably were also waging generational civil war. The Vietnam War served as a weapon to use on the innocent for reasons that had little to do with the conflict itself. And the weapon was extremely powerful because the war was futile and mismanaged. When American involvement in Vietnam began in 1965, brigades were a development designed to give flexibility to the division.