Not Much Of A War

"It's not much of a war, but it's all we have." This was a recurrent theme of those brash, young military officers, mostly West Pointers, who were assigned as advisors to ARVN (Army of Vietnam-Republic of South Vietnam) troops in 1962. How we all were to rue those words before it ended in disaster in 1975 "Those who know me will recognize that I have spoken very little about Vietnam, even when I was still on active duty and especially since my retirement. This seemed like a good time to document facts and opinions while they are still vivid and clear in my mind. My reticence, until now, is not the result of any deep secrets or emotional trauma which occurred while I was there. As a matter of fact, although there was a fair amount of combat, it was mild compared to what was to come. It's just that I've always felt that unless you have something important to say, you ought to keep quiet. I've obviously reached that point." - Dr. O'Neill Barrett