fact that they did not support the cause they were fighting for. Undermining.
of the war by activists at home continued to increase with the increase in.
American casualties, this problem is best described by Robert McNamara, .
Secretary of Defense under both Kennedy and Johnson: "A nation's deepest .
strength lies not in its military prowess, but rather, in the unity of its people.
We [America] failed to maintain it." (Mcnamara, p.322), without this vital unity,.
it was a near impossible task for America to win the war. As America became .
increasingly divided between anti-war activists and those who supported the war,.
soldiers became increasingly disillusioned with their role in the war. The soldiers .
realized that perhaps what they were fighting for was not a just cause. .
The moral high ground held by soldiers at the beginning of the war .
began to slip as more and more soldiers realized that they did not truly believe in.
they were fighting for. This, coupled with low morale that resulted from the fashion .
that new recruits were placed into combat secured the North Vietnamese victory, .
also there is the low morale and lack of combat effectiveness resulting from .
poor command of the Army's resources. One management that resulted in dire .
consequences for America was the manner in which new recruits were introduced into .
the war. Instead of sending brand-new squads which had trained together, individual .
soldiers were sent to fill the space left by a soldier who had just been killed or injured. .
For the veteran soldiers, the new recruits served as reminders of fallen friends, and .
thus were never truly accepted into the unit: ".the soldiers who received us looked .
on us sadly and did not really want to know us." With this being the attitude of many .
.
soldiers, it was very difficult for any sort of esprit de corps to develop.