69 million page views

No 1975 retreat in Vietnam

Reader comment on item: Further on Israel's Winning Its War

Submitted by Ross Howard (Australia), Apr 7, 2006 at 21:44

Daniel Pipes is correct to say that the US won the Vietnam War on the ground but that "the body politic's will had been sapped." However I believe he is incorrect to refer to a 1975 retreat, as so many do, when he says"1975 the only defeat in US history, when American troops retreated from South Vietnam."

It was my understanding that 1968 was the high point of the war when the US had approximately 536,000 military personnel assigned to Vietnam. Those figures decreased over the years so that after the Paris Peace Agreement in 1973 the US had "less than 250" military personnel assigned to Vietnam by December 1973.

It is common for many to refer to the helicopter evacuation of the US embassy in 1975 as the US retreat and defeat. It is totally inaccurate.
Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

<< Previous Comment      Next Comment >>

Reader comments (22) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Re Gods war [60 words]franklinMay 15, 2006 06:0645635
Gods war [25 words]franklinMay 14, 2006 14:3545585
Winning an Unjust Colonial War [57 words]Fred SchlomkaApr 21, 2006 04:2443698
Reply to the Jerusalem Post's 4/18/2006 article "Peace is better than the West Bank" [129 words]Tzvi Ben-davidApr 18, 2006 15:5943501
Don't be too hasty and don't jump to conclusions [49 words]Ibrahim RamadanApr 11, 2006 17:1442959
Israel and its Victory Problems [146 words]Al OrtizApr 10, 2006 22:4642889
Waiting [254 words]orange yonasonApr 9, 2006 18:4142807
Vietnam? [585 words]rickApr 9, 2006 15:2142802
Israel has accepted being in eternal war since Entebbe 1976 [155 words]Nabil ShwarmaApr 8, 2006 11:2742724
Understanding the Moslem world [271 words]F. ShakkiApr 8, 2006 09:1542710
F. Shakki Nails Muslim "Charities [151 words]orange yonasonApr 9, 2006 19:0442710
to orange yonason: islamistic charities are a real problem [252 words]Farid H.Apr 12, 2006 23:2142710
Maybe Jabotinsky isn't the best writer to quote [302 words]GeorgesApr 8, 2006 06:2042703
"...Israel was founded on the dispossession of its original indiginous majority."????? [247 words]bernard rossAug 16, 2006 12:2142703
No 1975 retreat in Vietnam [135 words]Ross HowardApr 7, 2006 21:4442682
Because the Palestinians have nowhere else to go. [101 words]anonymousApr 7, 2006 16:5542651
the minor premiss [271 words]john w mcginleyApr 7, 2006 16:5442650
1Jabotinsky and Pipes are right [143 words]Richard MILLMANApr 7, 2006 16:0542645
Memo to Israel: encourage Islamic Jihad and Hamas to fight each other [183 words]Dr RJPApr 7, 2006 15:5342642
Israel & Its Victory Problem [130 words]Adina KutnickiApr 7, 2006 15:2242638
Limits of Force [264 words]SteveApr 7, 2006 11:5042620
The lost endless war [204 words]ramsesOct 3, 2006 13:5342620

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)