"The Vietnam War: An Assessment by South Vietnam's Generals" by Dr. Lewis Sorley

In the five years or so after the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army Center of Military History sponsored a project in which half a dozen senior former South Vietnamese generals wrote lengthy monographs on various aspects of the war as seen from their perspective. There were seventeen such monographs in all, some by individual authors, others by two or more of the group collaborating. Among the authors were General Cao Van Vien, former Chief of the Joint General Staff; Lieutenant General Ngo Quang Truong, former 1st ARVN Division and I Corps commander; and Lieutenant General Dong Van Khuyen, the top logistician. Topics included tactics, logistics, advisors, pacification, leadership, intelligence, and all the major battles (Tet 1968, Cambodian Incursion, Lam Son 719, Easter 1972). In the aggregate this was very valuable material, but the CMH publication of it left something to be desired and distribution was limited.Dr. Lewis Sorley has annotated a compendium of excerpts from the monographs to produce a valuable contribution to the now under-represented South Vietnamese retrospective view of the war and as such will be useful both to scholars of the war and to those who served in it or have an interest in its history.

Length: 66 Minutes

Lecture Date: February 3, 2011