Contrary to what many of the history books will say, America did not lose the Vietnam War. While the country paid a horrific price in losing so many lives (over 58,000 American soldiers by many counts) and destroying countless more, as well as tearing away at the very fabric of our society, the fact is that the major goal of the Vietnam War was accomplished: the spread of communism was halted.

There is no reason to attempt to minimize the devastating effect the war had on this country. The sheer number of lives lost, on both sides of the conflict, coupled with those who were irreparably injured both mentally and physically, as well as the toll that damage took on their families, is nothing short of shocking. To attempt to expound on the cost paid in Vietnam by the brave members of our military in this limited space would be futile. War is hell, and far too many of our young Americans were exposed to that hell in this vicious conflict.

However, what has come to be known as “The Vietnam War” was never really about Vietnam in the first place. Whether or not a democratic or communist government controlled that particular stretch of land in South East Asia was never the reason America committed to the fight the way it did. In the larger scheme, the Vietnam War was not a war, and not for the reason often given. Many point out the technicality that the U.S. Congress never officially declared war, so therefore it was a conflict and not a war. That may be the case, but perhaps a more accurate description would be “The Battle of Vietnam”.  America’s conflict in Vietnam was the stage in which the Cold War with the Soviet Union turned into a hot war.

As the Cold War raged on between the world’s two great super-powers, USA and USSR, it became clear to both sides that any direct large-scale military confrontation would be useless. The doctrine of mutually assured annihilation, brought to us through our friendly neighborhood ICBM’s, ensured that neither side was ever going to win the Cold War via direct military conflict. Instead, the Cold War would be fought out on battlefronts around the globe. Some fronts would be shooting fronts, others deeply steeped in the legendary espionage and clandestine activities that both sides carried out continuously. Small victories and losses played out worldwide on a daily basis as the two competing ideologies vied for world dominance, all the while both sides avoiding any major direct confrontation.

In Vietnam however, the stakes were raised. Eventually America decided it had to draw a line in the sand. Or, more accurately, the jungle. Communism was winning the battles in that part of the world and slowly spreading. The powers-that-be determined that the spread of communism in South East Asia must be stopped, and that’s just what happened. So whether or not you choose to refer to what happened in Vietnam as its own “war”, perhaps it can be better understood as being a battle (albeit a humongously deadly and costly battle) within the broader scope of the Cold War.

It is within that context, considering the Vietnam conflict to be the major battle of the larger Cold War, that it becomes clear that America did not in fact “lose the Vietnam War”. The spread of communism stalled out after America’s conflict in Vietnam and the Soviet Union was then held in check. The tide had turned and within a mere 15 years or so the Berlin Wall would be coming down along with the rest of the Iron Curtain. America and its twin values of democracy and capitalism had emerged victorious over the “Evil Empire” and its communist ruling fist. While a tremendous price was paid by America in its proxy battle against the communist Vietnamese, and while no one would look at the aftermath of that battle and claim victory, the fact remains that Vietnam is where the spread of communism and the control of the Soviet Union was stalled, leading to the end of the broader Cold War and ultimately to victory for America.

It might come down to perspective. One can easily say that America lost the Battle of Vietnam when considering the heavy human price the country paid. And one can say that America lost the Battle of Vietnam as the communists remained in power at the end of the battle. Or, perhaps one can say that America lost the Battle of Vietnam for both of those reasons, but actually won the Battle of Vietnam as the goal of stopping the surging spread of communism was accomplished in that battle, eventually leading to victory in the Cold War.