How did we determine if we were winning the Vietnam War?

The Pentagon set up metrics to measure that progress, the primary data point being kills (dead enemies), which was reviewed as an absolute number and expressed as a ratio against our own dead. The bigger ratio, the better the war was going, and Viet Cong casualties were generally 2x or more those of American dead.

Did the US really win the Vietnam War?

Explanation: The U.S. Army reported 58, 177 losses in Vietnam, the South Vietnamese 223, 748. In terms of body count, the U.S. and South Vietnam won a clear victory. In addition, just about every North Vietnamese offensive was crushed.

Why was the Vietnam War hard to win?

The Vietcong had an intricate knowledge of the terrain. They won the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people by living in their villages and helping them with their everyday lives. Their tunnel systems, booby-traps and jungle cover meant they were difficult to defeat and hard to find.

How many Americans think they won Vietnam War?

The latest Gallup poll shows that just 36\% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Vietnam — identical with the public’s opinion of China, and slightly more favorable than its views of North Korea (26\%).

What if America had won the Vietnam War?

So if the US had won, the Cold War would probably have ended a little sooner and the dawn of that unilateral superpower controlling things would have come quicker. In Southeast Asia, everything would be radically different – including a faster and more thorough confrontation between the USA and China.

Did the US really lose in Vietnam?

The United States forces did not lose, they left. America lost approximately 59,000 dead during the Vietnam War, yet the NVA/VC lost 924,048. America had 313,616 wounded; the NVA/VC had approximately 935,000 wounded. North Vietnam signed a truce on Jan.

Why we lose the Vietnam War?

America “lost” South Vietnam because it was an artificial construct created in the wake of the French loss of Indochina. Because there never was an “organic” nation of South Vietnam, when the U.S. discontinued to invest military assets into that construct, it eventually ceased to exist.