You are not wrong. The communists' disinformation campaign is now well documented as well as its effect on Americans. For example, it has been believed, by some, for years, that North Vietnam had nothing to do with the rise of the Viet Cong "revolutionaries" in South Vietnam and only got involved years later. It is now known, through documents found in North Vietnam in recent years (after they've opened up their archives to selected researchers) that the North Vietnamese communists were behind the Viet Cong from the beginning and sent agents to the south specifically to create, build and sustain the organization.K.Mooneyham wrote:Have you considered that there might have been a significant disinformation campaign running a particular narrative being circulated at that time? Sometimes the smallest things can have an effect on morale. Service members serving a dangerous tour (and once again, I wish to take nothing away from the sacrifices made by those who served there, yourself included) might be made just that tiny bit less effective if they were led to believe they were fighting a war against a "nationalist" who just wanted "democracy for his country" and only went with the Communists because they said they would help him get that. The Soviets and the Chinese, as I gather, were both noted for their excellent propaganda efforts in that regard. The same disinformation campaign would perhaps been even more effective against the ARVN troops. Obviously, I was not there and could be totally wrong, it is just a thought.
One thing I've learned in life is that some people will deny the truth even when you slap the proof in their faces. It's no surprise that people believed Ho's lies until they could be proven. There's no excuse at all for believing them now except ideology, but that doesn't stop certain academics from arguing for it despite the evidence. For some, beliefs are much more important than truth.