The Cedar Falls campaign. Operation Junction City. Scottish Campaign. With the presence of nearly 500,000 US troops by the end of the year, 1967 is often remembered as a time when General William Westmoreland pressured his enemies to war through his massive campaigns across South Vietnam. From War Zone C to Dak To to Con Tien, fierce fighting in major battles dominated every US newspaper front page. That year, US forces had 9,377 dead and 12,716 wounded, nearly double the figure of the previous year.

But the reality of the Vietnam War was for most American soldiers completely different. For them, the Vietnam War was a war in which soldiers were exhausted in their constant journey of searching for undiscovered enemies, plowing through paddy fields, rummaging through thick forests, Hut. But often the patrols were merely “long walks in the hot sun” that could have helped them catch some suspected Viet Cong, but there was absolutely no confrontation. There may also be soldiers trapped, missing a leg here, a leg somewhere. Or maybe some little sniper.