AUTOPSY OF AN UNWINNABLE WAR: VIETNAM

1-219910

Hapnoski contends the Vietnam War was lost before the first American shot was fired. In fact, it was lost before the first French Expeditionary Corps shot, almost two decades earlier, and was finally lost when the South Vietnamese fought partly, then entirely, on their own.

Written by a combatant in six large battles and many smaller firefights, plus a full range of pacification duties, the book examines the futility of the 30-year war in Vietnam. This covers those who lived and revealed by the people inside Vietnam who were directly involved in the war: from leaders in high positions, down to the jungle boots and sandals level of the fighters, and among the Vietnamese people who were living the war. Because of what was happening inside Vietnam itself, no matter what policies and directives came out of Paris or Washington, or the influences in Moscow or Beijing, it is about a Vietnamese idea which would eventually triumph over bullets.