By Paul Schmehl, Independent ResearcherJan 24, 2015

One of the most persistent myths about the Vietnam War is that PAVN (People’s Army of Viet Nam) and PLAF (People’s Liberation Armed Forces) troops were Vietnamese patriots fighting for their independence. While there is no doubt that some of those who fought on the North Vietnamese side believed that wholeheartedly, that was never the goal of their leadership. The goal of the North from the very beginning was a communist tyranny. Schmehl, Paul "Who Was Ho Chi Minh? A Deceitful Mass Murderer." VVFH 14 Apr 2014. Web 15 Apr 2014. They pursued that goal to the exclusion of all else.

PAVN troops were North Vietnamese regulars (known as NVA by American troops). Many were conscripts. Some were chained to their weapons Publication - Hue Massacre, 1968-1998, in English and Vietnamese - includes personal note and newspaper articles in Vietnamese, No Date, Folder 03, Box 01, Lu Lan Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University. Accessed 17 Apr. 2014. . 11 Nha Ca Mourning Headband For Hue (Indianapolis:Indiana University Press 2014. 225, 262) Dead NVA soldiers chained to their machineguns are attested to in several passages, and Vennema, Alje The Viet Cong Massacre at Hue (New York:Vantage Press 1976) 203 to force them to fight. "3 Dead Enemy Soldiers Reported Chained to Gun." New York Times (1923-Current file): 3 Feb 17 1968. ProQuest. Web. 2 May 2014 . p. 3 Perhaps as many as 20% of them succumbed to disease on the Ho Chi Minh trail before they ever fired a shot.

PLAF troops were South Vietnamese “Viet Cong” regulars and National Liberation Front irregulars. Many were volunteers, but some were conscripted. Both forces were under the direct command and control of North Vietnam throughout the war. They followed the policies, strategies and tactics provided to them by the communist leadership.

A massacre occurred in Hue that never received the attention it should have in the US media or in academia. It involved both PAVN and PLAF troops. Unlike the My Lai massacre, which was front-page news for months and is still talked about today, A search for “Hue Massacre” in the Internet TV News Archive returns zero relevant hits. A search for “My Lai Massacre” returns 21 relevant hits. the massacre in Hue, which was ten times larger than My Lai, was covered briefly, inaccurately and then promptly ignored. There are around 20 published books on My Lai. There is one on the Hue Massacre. Among the 41 newspaper articles that I was able to locate, most were 1 or 2 column inch articles buried pages deep in the paper. Very few were front-page news. More to the point, the Hue massacre was symptomatic of a much larger problem that was ignored by the US media.