ABSTRACT
The Vietnam War was the first and only war the United States could not win. By any standard, the war was one of the costliest in American history. Dating from December 22, 1961, when the first American servicemen was killed in action, it was by far the longest fought by this country. The Vietnam War was different in many ways from other American wars. One difference of the Vietnam War from several previous American wars was put well by Mary McGrory who said: World War II was the last war that one cried at being left out.Korea, by contrast, was a matter of cold, geopolitical principle. The great majority of the 27 million men who came of age during the Vietnam War ducked Vietnam through legal and illegal means. "Equal opportunity draft avoidance was," as Myra MacPherson emphasizes, "enjoyed by hawks and doves—and the apolitical.
