The Vietnam War was the watershed of American military and political power in the 20th century. Although the war which ended in the debacle of Saigon has been over for quite some time, the ramifications of the French and American involvement in Vietnam since 1945 are still being felt. How the war began, why it began, the impulses behind its prolongation and the reasons for the French and American defeat at the hands of the Vietcong are explored in this book. Part military history and part memoir of the author's time as an operative for the US Army behind the lines in North Vietnam and in Laos during the 1970s.