Second Indochina War
The Second Indochina War
The term "Vietnam War" itself, although accepted in common parlance, would more accurately be called "The Second Indochina War" (1952 to 1978). Limiting himself to that Title also seems to have narrowed Burn's vision when in applies to the whole of a regional conflict. How can you limit Cambodian and Lao deaths to "tens of thousands" when 2 million Cambodians lost their lives to the brutal Khmer Rouge and at least 60,000 of Vang Pao's Hmong were killed in this war with perhaps an even larger number of Lowland Lao's. How can you look at U.S. operations into Laos and Cambodia as "widening a war" when hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops were occupying large swaths of territory in those countries. Are you going to ignore the pivotal role played by Thailand, particularly in the early stages of this war when Laos was the primary theater and, later, in providing bases for U.S. air power and combat troops during the years when fighting in Vietnam was most ferocious.
This is a "stump" essay which will be revisited when time permits.
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