Well, in Vietnam, Hanoi in particular, they call it the American War and their war museum, which we visited in Hanoi, is full of the glory and success the Vietnamese had on their journey towards winning it. It's all a matter of perspective.
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Indeed it is, and as they say, history is written by the victor. I bet the stories there are certainly quite different than the ones Hollywood tends to tell us.
It was interesting to see the war museum there. I'm used to seeing the other side of it, Australia fought against North Vietnam as you would know. I've been to war museums around the world but this one on Hanoi was unique, almost laughable in what they displayed and the text descriptions. I don't mean that disrespectfully of course, just...Well, I guess you'd have to see it for yourself to understand.
Here's an example.
This refers to the First Indochina War 1946-1954. Evidence of the failure of the French...A helmet with some bullet holes. In one corner they had an AK-47 with a big text plaque saying how it was responsible for the killing of seven US airmen. The museum is full of stuff like that. I liked it though, as it was a nice counter-perspective to what I've seen around the world before.
Indeed, though I only learned of it from watching The Battle of Long Tan, seeing ANZACs fighting alongside the GIs. It's interesting to see how they're glorifying their victory, even if it means disgracing their former rivals. To be realistic though, a lot of the history that I've read so far did seem to show how poorly the French fought in the Indochina War.
The Brits, including the now disarmed Japanese were there fighting against the Viet Minh since just after WW2, and they had far better success then, just before the French came back. To think that the entire Vietnam War could've scarcely been avoided, if the French generals had stopped munching on onions, and had directed the war properly.
Source: War in Vietnam (1945–1946)