Posted on May 26, 2015
'Reporting Vietnam' a gritty look at reporting the war - Did the press "lose the war"?
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The answer was "no" for Neil Lakdawala, a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
"The media was not always just trying to portrait what the government wants," he said. "I think they did a good deal of work to bring the truth to the light."
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/23/vietnam-war-reporting-newseum/27801123/
"The media was not always just trying to portrait what the government wants," he said. "I think they did a good deal of work to bring the truth to the light."
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/23/vietnam-war-reporting-newseum/27801123/
Posted in these groups: 
Vietnam War
Military History
Vietnam War Military History
Posted >1 y ago
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I disagree with Mr. Lakdawala. The media took the enemy's view to a large extent, and their reporting seemed aimed at demoralizing the nation.
The Tet offensive for example was an absolute disaster for the North Vietnamese, and the Viet Cong were destroyed as a fighting force, yet the media portrayed it as an American defeat. And we often saw communist propaganda reported as fact in the press.
And it was not just the media. Many of the Democrat politicians were just as bad. Sen. Fulbright for instance was briefed on a new defensive system we had just deployed, and he came back home and read it into the Congressional record - how it worked and how it could be defeated.
When we had congressional VIPs visiting our command center we had to scrub the status boards and post false but realistic appearing data for the visit. We could not show them anything we were not willing to show the NVA.
It was a different time then. It is difficult to imagine a country turned so strongly against itself yet surviving the experience. Let us hope that we never return to the internal strife of those days.
The Tet offensive for example was an absolute disaster for the North Vietnamese, and the Viet Cong were destroyed as a fighting force, yet the media portrayed it as an American defeat. And we often saw communist propaganda reported as fact in the press.
And it was not just the media. Many of the Democrat politicians were just as bad. Sen. Fulbright for instance was briefed on a new defensive system we had just deployed, and he came back home and read it into the Congressional record - how it worked and how it could be defeated.
When we had congressional VIPs visiting our command center we had to scrub the status boards and post false but realistic appearing data for the visit. We could not show them anything we were not willing to show the NVA.
It was a different time then. It is difficult to imagine a country turned so strongly against itself yet surviving the experience. Let us hope that we never return to the internal strife of those days.
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SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S.
I did some body count assessments up in Tay Ninh / '68
Sort of, well if this is a body part, then we must have gotten 6, so multiply by 12 and divide by the number of standing trees ...
Sort of, well if this is a body part, then we must have gotten 6, so multiply by 12 and divide by the number of standing trees ...
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SPC Michael Tierney
Vietnam was a disaster. No amount of propaganda could have salvaged that stupid war. I went to a reunion of guys in my unit and about 1/2 were 100% disability. As I talked to them, much of their difficulty was trying to understand what we were doing in VN. I suggested we were doing the bidding of some politician (a politician is someone who will lay down your life for his country) or military supplier. It sure as hell wasn't to stop communism. We tried to prop up a corrupt political entity in Saigon instead of sticking with Ho who was our ally in WWII. The villages we walked through didn't need or want Democracy. They were fine with their centuries old system of elders. Trying to impose our preferences on foreign countries is absurd (Iraq comes to mind).
Among our AOs was An Hoa and Hoi An (South of Da Nang). I was there a few years ago and they had a stop light on the highway. It was a dirt road in 1968.
I don't resent my time in the Army (drafted in 1967 before the lotter) or my time in VN. I do resent the government that sent us there and the draft dodgers (Private Bone Spurs) but not the protestors or those who legitimately opposed the war. We all should have "just said no".
Among our AOs was An Hoa and Hoi An (South of Da Nang). I was there a few years ago and they had a stop light on the highway. It was a dirt road in 1968.
I don't resent my time in the Army (drafted in 1967 before the lotter) or my time in VN. I do resent the government that sent us there and the draft dodgers (Private Bone Spurs) but not the protestors or those who legitimately opposed the war. We all should have "just said no".
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The Truth....you cant handle the truth!
Most of the press wrote their stories from the rooftop bar of the Continental hotel in Saigon.
Most of the press wrote their stories from the rooftop bar of the Continental hotel in Saigon.
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Capt Seid Waddell
I had a college friend that married a reporter for the Washington Post. She said that one time when he was in the field he asked an ARVN artillery officer where he could go to get the story of the action. The ARVN officer directed him to the target area.
It struck me at the time that at least the ARVN officer could claim a translation problem that a G.I. could not.
It struck me at the time that at least the ARVN officer could claim a translation problem that a G.I. could not.
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