Book Review

A Factual History of the Vietnam War, A Reappraisal After 50 Plus Years
Edited by Frank Scotton, Stephen Sherman, and Roger Soiset
Published by Vietnam Veterans For Factual History
04/10/2025
254 pages
Available for purchase in paperback at Amazon.com

By How Miller

Steve Sherman and his collaborators of the Vietnam Veterans for Factual History have come up with a book that ties in all of their histories-by-years about the Vietnam War and much more. The original 14 volume set, Indochina in the Years 1963-1976, is still available. Steve has grown to be the unofficial historian of Special Forces in the Vietnam/Southeast Asia theatre of operations since serving as a Civil Affairs/Psychological Operations Officer for the 5th SFG(A) in Vietnam. The full title is A Factual History of the Vietnam War, A Reappraisal After 50 Plus Years, edited by Frank Scotton, Stephen Sherman, and Roger Soiset.

Using articles from many experts and first-person witnesses, they intensely cover pertinent history of the entire area, including outside actors such as China, France, the USSR, Japan, the International Communist Party, and, of course, the United States and its allies. Personalities covered are varied and significant, such as the driving force behind the whole ruthless struggle to subjugate all of Indochina under communist rule: Ho Chi Minh, using his various aliases, from his early years.

In 1920, he voted with his fellow French Socialist Party to join the Communist International, thus being a co-founder of the French Communist Party. Then on to the Soviet Union, where he became part of the inner circle and adopted the ruthless tactics of V.I. Lenin. He was finally sidelined by Le Duan in his later years.

The subjects covered are varied and interlocked. They weave a tapestry of characters, ideologies, historical pressures, and the big lie that communism is heaven on earth.

They cover the flow of America’s growing involvement in Southeast Asia, from supporting the war weakened French empire while they fought off relentless communist expansionism through taking over for the defeated French, helping out with military training and provisioning, while uplifting Vietnamese citizens through USAID and other civil efforts. Then came JFK’s embracing counterinsurgency capabilities and Johnson’s attempt to survive but not win the war, and Nixon’s embracing the Vietnamization idea to the point that he was apparently willing to give up on the RVN. There is even more recent information buttressing the idea that Kissinger wanted out at just about any cost as long as there was a “decent interval” between the time we left and the time the North finally subdued the weakened South.

There was plenty that went wrong, lessons learned, and largely successful efforts like the Phoenix program. Public opinion was manipulated both in SEA as well as here in the US. But the focus of the book was to interject new information into their conclusions, based on 50 years of revelations, including from the North Vietnamese side. Interviews are now available with North Vietnamese participants by the admittedly controlled press, and authors have had supposed “facts” either confirmed or disproven.

With few exceptions, the U.S. side fought with bravery and distinction while spreading around our democratic and moral values. This is in sharp contrast to the communists, who, showing their own competence and bravery, were under the control of an all-encompassing, deceitful, and vindictive government and communist system.

There is much said about how the Vietnam experience changed our country and the way we deal with the world. There was some diversity of authors’ opinions there, with some veering to political judgments reflecting the divided country in which we now live. That is the beauty of the book being a collaborative effort.

The book is revealing and well worth the read. I enjoyed and learned a lot from it.

Now, please click here to enjoy a selection from the book about different viewpoints on the assassination of the brothers.