This article examines attempts by the Second Republic of Vietnam (RVN) to call attention to perceived and real quantitative and qualitative disparities of weapons between their forces and those of their enemies. It also looks at the way Chinese, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and US propaganda efforts complicated these attempts. Sài Gòn’s leaders tried and failed to gain additional military aid, to use weapons to improve their relations with the Southern Vietnamese public, and to redress what they saw as inaccurate information about their own military strength and that of their enemies.
The Second Indochina War: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at Airlie, Virginia, 7-9 November 1984