To that end, the northern Vietnamese forces and the Viet Cong in the south were looking to actually unify with the southern portion of this country -- which is evinced by the fact that shortly after the end of the war Vietnam was indeed united once again. Although this conception of the significance of the war is primarily political in nature, U.S. military forces could have used a more savvy understanding of the culture of the Vietnamese and their viewpoint of this martial conflict to its advantage, which perhaps could have shortened this encounter that was both lengthy and costly to virtually all of its participants.

Even the involvement of the Marines, which was initially sent to Vietnam to protect the Air Force which was conducting aerial raids, could have been utilized more effectively. This occasion was one of the few in which this military branch (or virtually any in...
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