Salute!
Thank you, Turbine, for a super recommendation to the Trumpster. Not sure if you should info Mad Dog, but if he thinks the U.S. can achieve some mysterious goal or another in the 'stan, then he needs to go back in history as well.
When the recent announcement was made we Yanks would "only" send a few thousand "advisors" to the 'stan, I cringed. I told my wife, and wrote my close buddies and fellow grads from USAFA that bore the brunt of the air war - tonight there are 60,000 ghosts rising from their graves and shouting "NOT AGAIN!!!!".
My class was in a virtual tie with '65 for most KIA, and we were the top WRT POW's.
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@ Sas: With due respect, the Cambodian ground effort was cut very short, and by early 1972 the Vee had infiltrated very large ground forces to the III Corps area and stged an intense battle at An Loc - the Easter Offensive. They then raced across the DMZ and made Quang Tri a wasteland.
My A-37 unit was a major player in the air over Cambodia until all in-country USAF units folded their tents in Oct of 72. But its crowning achievement was being the last and most capable, dedicated close air support unit still in-country for the battle at An Loc. The Vee had tanks!! They had arty, they had lottsa folks. We lost more there than any other battle from 1967 - 1972, including the fellow who was interred as the "Unknown Soldier" for years before the government admitted they made a mistake. At the time, they needed an "unknown" and all the dedicated ground units were gone except a few Marines for airbase defense. Despite eyewitnesses to the crash, the military weenies wanted an "unkown".
The renewed bombing campaign up north in April/May of 1972 caused the Vee to back off that summer and there was only sporadic firefights the rest of the year. So I got back in October, and had the oppo to hit Hanoi during the Christmas blitz in my new ride - A-7D. I can guarantee that our only goal was to get our friends out of prison and all go home. The South was on its own. Our direct involvement was over, tho we bombed Cambodia for another few months, and I was one of the last dozen fighters to hit Laos and then cross the Thai border with a few seconds to spare one day in late February 1973.
Gums recalls...