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Lt Col Charlie Brown
7
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This was a war run by politicians and managers. That never goes well. I am hoping we manage not to do that in the middle east or it will be a disaster.
Sgt Randy Wilber Maj Marty Hogan SP5 Mark Kuzinski CSM Charles Hayden CPT Scott Sharon MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi Sgt Albert Castro A1C Ian Williams SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth Capt Tom Brown PO3 Bob McCord LTC Stephen F. Kathleen Redman Kathlean Keesler A1C Doug Towsley SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas SPC Douglas Bolton SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Maj William W. 'Bill' Price
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CPT Scott Sharon
CPT Scott Sharon
>1 y
I agree!
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SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
>1 y
I totally agree with you on that ma'am.
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski
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SPC Douglas Bolton
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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited >1 y ago
Leaks of sensitive information are always problematic because they short-circuit the decision-cycle process and shift it from proactive to reactive SP5 Mark Kuzinski.
The VC cadre was largely decimated in TET 1968. The NVA lost heavily but was still a viable force as the TET offensive was being mopped up.
In this case a leak forced the administration and DoD to spend time responding to Congressional questions while battle raged in South Vietnam in a fluid combat environment which was draining the US of operational reserves.
It is easy in hindsight to second guess strategic assessments and recommended solutions to problems.
TET was the closet thing to conventional battle the communists initiated prior to 1975 when they overran the south.
The Urban warfare in Hue and elsewhere forced the Marines and other forces to go back to WWII urban warfare lessons learned, update them and employ them to decisively defeat the communists in Hue at a significant cost in US personnel.

The Battle of Khe Sanh [Jan 21, 1968 – Jul 9, 1968] overlapped the Tet Offensive, or officially called The General Offensive and Uprising of Tet Mau Than 1968 by North Vietnam and NLF [Jan 30, 1968 – Sep 23, 1968]

The NVA and NLF were adept at manipulating our "news" reports to influence the people who watched TV. Scenes from Hue and Khe Sanh in 1968 dominated the news cycle all-too-often.
The populace was not used to seeing images of blood and gore [except for veterans of WWII and Korea who were all too familiar] shown while many were eating dinner as the 6 O'clock news was showing.
Thanks for mentioning me Lt Col Charlie Brown

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SP5 Mark Kuzinski
SP5 Mark Kuzinski
>1 y
Great comments LTC Stephen F. - thank you.
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LTC Stephen F.
LTC Stephen F.
>1 y
SP5 Mark Kuzinski - you are very welcome, my friend
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Sgt Randy Wilber
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Thanks for sharing this day in History of Vietnam War, politicians should have let the brass handle the war.
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CSM Charles Hayden
CSM Charles Hayden
>1 y
@Sgt Randy Wilber General H. R. McMaster’s book, ‘Dereliction of Duty’ details the political interference and mistakes they made in the Vietnam Conflict.
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Sgt Randy Wilber
Sgt Randy Wilber
>1 y
Thank you for sharing I'll look for this book
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