The Lewis Army Museum on Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington has some displays on the Vietnam War.
According to the Museum:
“With the 1954 French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel of latitude between a communist North and a western-backed South. Soon, American advisors were committed to supporting South Vietnam’s ongoing operation against communist insurgents. The situation escalated following the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident and subsequent U.S. legislation that increased American military involvement in South Vietnam.”
According to the Museum:
“The American military was engaged against two formidable foes during the Vietnam War—well-trained and equipped regulars of the North Vietnames Army (NVA) and guerilla forces call Viet Cong (VC)—the armed wing of the National Liberation Front (NLF).”
With regard to the end of the war, the Museum states:
“Although American forces were never defeated in the field, neither was victory in sight, so political pressure and public dissatisfaction led the United States to withdraw combat forces from Vietnam.”
In a story in Daily Kos, RO37 describes the Vietnam War this way.
“The Vietnam War is one of the most complicated wars in American history. The first American military advisors arrived in Vietnam in 1950, during the Truman administration. It was five years before the Vietnam War officially started. The last American soldiers would withdraw from Vietnam in 1973.”
In his book A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn writes:
“From 1964 to 1972, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world made a maximum military effort, with everything short of atomic bombs, to defeat a nationalist revolutionary movement in a tiny, peasant country—and failed. When the United States fought in Vietnam, it was organized modern technology versus organized human beings, and the human beings won.”
With regard to U.S. Army uniforms, the Museum indicates:
“The first American troops deployed to Vietnam wore stateside uniforms unsuited for the hot, humid climate of Southeast Asia. Lightweight ‘jungle fatigue’ uniforms were developed to replace them. Full-color unit patches and rank insignia were replaced by ‘subdued’ versions of black and green. The M16 rifle, which was lighter and capable of providing full automatic fire, was replaced by the heavier M14 rifle.”
According to the Museum:
“Most of the arms and equipment used by both the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army were supplied by China and the Soviet Union. The NVA wore traditional military field uniforms while the Viet Cong were clad in simply cotton shirs and trousers, a variation on the áo bà ba. The Type 56 rifle, a Chinese version of the AK-47, and the SKS semi-automatic rifle, were the primary weapons of both communist regulars and guerillas.”
More military museum exhibits
Lewis Army Museum: The Korean War (photo diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: The Korean War (Photo Diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: The Vietnam War (Photo Diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: Military Weapons (Photo Diary)
Lewis Army Museum: Half-Tracks (photo diary)
Air Force Museum: Southeast Asia War memorabilia (photo diary)
Air Force Museum: The Hanoi Taxi (photo diary)
Lewis Army Museum: Some tanks (photo diary)