Unheralded Victory: The Defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, 1961-1973

by Mark W. Woodruff

Book Overview

Along with a half million other young men, Mark Woodruff put his life on the line to serve his country in Vietnam. Like so many others, he returned home to find himself regarded not as a hero but as a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0918339510
• ISBN13: 9780918339515
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Vandamere Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Powerful and persuasive

Everything I though I knew about the Vietnam War, everything I was taught or told since childhood, is the exact opposite of the truth! Between this book and 'Triumph Forsaken' by Mark Moyar, all the propaganda and misinformation is stripped away, factually and intelligently. It's a disconcerting feeling, but liberating, to read great books like this that directly oppose what is proclaimed true by the powerful of our society. The fighting in Vietnam is presented in a very complete way. The nature of small unit fighting is covered, but more importantly, the tactical and strategic context is given -- for example the connections between the battles of Khe San and Hue City. Naturally, the Allies -- in particular the elite fighting forces of the USA -- come across very well, exploding the myths (increasingly hard to maintain the more we see of US professionalism in Iraq) of American troops' low moral and incompetence. On the contrary, the communists, far from being the military geniuses of popular culture, are shown to be inept, inflexible and bumbling, their troops frequently drugged and usually very poorly trained, gaining such minor successes as they did through savagery and brutality and by squandering their men's lives. The destruction of the Viet Cong after the Tet Offensive is so comprehensive, you can't help but feel sorry for the poor communist slave soldiers. The subsequent media victory that the communists enjoyed is described most pithily by the autor, when he remarks that journalists present reported (at best) the 'panic they felt', not the events they witnessed. Like the communist troops in other conflicts, the North Vietnamese army are inflexible and too terrorised to be capable of initiative. In one darkly funny account, the Communists begin an attack by firing a red flare. The American officer in charge then has the idea of firing a blue flare -- guessing if a red flare was the signal to attack, blue might be the signal to stop. He guesses right and the attack stops! The peace talks of 1972 are rightly presented as a success for Nixon. The Communist armed forces had been utterly smashed -- all but annihilated -- their logistical infrastructure in ruins. Their sponsors -- the USSR and China -- gave assurances they would not re-arm the North, and peace and security for South Vietnam seemed assured to all concerned. The betrayal of South Vietnam becomes all the more bitter with the knowledge of how complete the victory was that preceded it.

Must read a valuable shift in perspective

Hello, I feel very strongly about this book. I feel quite inadequate to write a review of other peoples personal experiences in vietnam. I served in Republic of vietnam from 1967 through 1969 as a Fresh butterbar(2nd Lt. then on as XO and revolving platoon leader(casualties for 2nd lts was always quite high) for the company i served with,then on as Platoon leader for a second tour then serving briefly as Co of company for a grand total of 3 days until i got wounded by mortar fire. While i feel this book is a bit too Right wing it Clearly shows a significant amount of popular media of that era and today is frankly nonsense.A fact that no one seems inclined to reinterpret. Many people don't like this book, because if doesn't fit into their very very simplistic broad general view of a very complex civil war(take a look at vietnamese history the vietnamese have fought a handful of civil wars and wars of conquest) involving two superpowers Selling their brand to the the world,Period, Vietnam just happened to manifest itself perfectly as the testing ground much to the pain of the vietnamese. it's coke or pepsi with a pistol to you head and thats that. The entire strategic goals of the vietnam war and the way it were fought were obviously completely flawed,I highly advise everyone to read "A bright shining lie" along with"dirty little secrets of the vietnam war" a bit of a cheesy title. and a bit simplistic but spot on with Facts about the conflict with only a very slight sense of favoritism towards the USA.the truth lies flat in the middle of these three books and is frankly much simpler than most would lead you to believe. I served in highly populated areas my first year in country, there was definently "accidental" death of civilians from all manner of reasons(out at night after curfew triggering ambushes,random artillery fire. It was dangerous to be a civilian in vietnam and they suffered greatly regardless of their political stance. my second year was spent mainly fighting NVA in terrain with almost no civilian population.This book should be taken with a grain of salt but there are many many facts in this book that highlight directly how much horse puckey and COMPLETE DISTORTION OF FACT was used for dramatic effect both then and now,I feel competent to say this as i am currently typing this from my home in vietnam, i speak vietnamese fluently am married to a vietnamese woman who's fathers side of the family was Viet Cong and her mothers ARVN. Along with my unique experience as well as getting a real earful of communist propoganda most of the References the author makes towards Hanoi's Political and propaganda machine are easily found here in print by vietnamese publications.I strongly urge people truly interested in learning some amazing and not often ,if ever talked about facts to READ THIS BOOK. you probably won't like its point of view,(i had a real tough time swallowing alot of" a bright shining lie" but the author does make a very strong and

Why did it take so long to write the truth

Woodruff's well researched book finally puts the correct perspective on the Vienam War. Unheralded Victory makes it clear that, by any yardstick of military activity, the Vietnam conflict was an endless series of crushing defeats for the North Vietnamese forces and a long, small action, hard fought victory for the US (and their allied) forces.What escapes most observers of the Vietnam War is the distinction between winning the war and ending the war, something that Woodruff clarifies. He points out that while Westmoreland submitted plans for winning the conflict (the invasion of North Vietnam), this was totally unacceptable for political reasons, leaving only the ending of the war in the best available circumstances as the most realistic option.In cataloging the allied victories, Woodruff draws into sharp relief just how ill-served the world's public was by the western press corps. A group of people who were in the main (and there were some notable exceptions), a self serving, self appointed tribe of freeloaders interested only in getting a good story, rather than telling the truth. Aiding the western press corps was the propaganda machinery of North Vietnam who must have viewed the western journalists as the best free advertising on the planet.Unheralded Victory draws no specific conclusions as the right or wrong of supporting the government of South Vietnam. Many antiwar commentators gleefully point out that the Saigon regime was despostic, cruel, repressive, corrupt and undemocratic, while failing to acknowledge that the North Vietnam government was essentially the same. Additionally, the Saigon government's stated position was to be left alone to mismanage its own affairs, while North Vietnam's stated position was to invade the south by force of arms and mismanage the whole country - something it continuously denied during the conflict, claiming that the war in the south was due to local action.The book itself relies exclusively on facts, documenting both the sacrifice and valour of the individual soldiers and the overall conduct of the war. It dispells the myths of fragging, combat refusals, drug abuse and most other icons of the antiwar factions. In place of these it demonstrates the war could not have been concluded in the sense of a clear cut victory, but that up until the last combat troops left the country, there was no question that the allied forces won every decisive engagement. This is what makes the book so readable - the bald statements of victory all speak for themselves. There is no 'stab in the back' concepts, no political rantings, no finger pointing, no revisionist history, just plain good old 'political theory' destroying facts.It doesn't matter which side of the political fence you want to sit on, Unheralded Victory shows that something went on in Vietnam that was missed at the time (for whatever reason) and it is opportune to revisit the scene - not to rewrite history, but to try to understand why the glaringly obvious vic

The TRUTH!

Mark Woodruff's Unheralded Victory... is a must read for anyone that is interested in Vietnam. It's a scholarly work, well reserched and footnoted. As a combat veteran that served at Khe Sanh in '67-'68, this is the first book that I've read about Vietnam that rings true (very). Most of the books on this subject are essentially re-writes of North Vietnam's propaganda program;... This book vindicates Vietnam War Veterans and should be required reading for anyone teaching history of that period. BRAVO Mark Woodruff!

Facts at last

Finally we have a book that pulls no punches and tells the facts about the War in Veit Nam truthfully. Woodruff explodes several myths perpetrated by Peace activists and communist propagandists concerning among other things, body counts, civilian casualties, American troop morale and fighting ability. His research is long and hard and complete. With access to files from Hanoi, Washington and Moscow he uncovers startling revelations and observations written and spoken by Communist military leaders who are just now coming forth with the truth. This book as a must read for everyone who wishes to find the truth about the American involvement in Veit Nam.