Vietnam Veterans for Factual History

Vietnam Veterans for Factual History (VVFH) was founded in 2014 by a group of veterans and historians concerned that Guenter Lewy's statement from 35 years ago, "Mythology, half-truth and falsehood concerning events in Vietnam abound and, unless corrected, will enter the textbooks for the mis-education of our children" has proven to be all too accurate. It is a project of the Radix Foundation, a 501(c)3 Texas educational corporation. Its home web address is https://www.vvfh.org.

History
In late July 2004, concerned about the presidential campaign of John Kerry, a group of veterans met in Boston to discuss John Kerry's candidacy as well as a number of issues about the received history of the Vietnam War that they felt were in error. The result of that conference was the Boston Manifesto,  a statement by the group declaring their outrage over the nomination of John Kerry to be President of the United States.

Some veterans had already formed groups to protest Kerry's candidacy, including the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, and the Winter Soldier group, that included a website, to combat both the candidacy of John Kerry and what they believed were the falsehoods being told about the war. In attendance at the conference were a number of distinguished veterans, including Medal of Honor recipients, former Prisoners of War, the keynote speaker, Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton, B.G. "Jug" Burkett, Scott Swett and Bill Bell.

After the defeat of John Kerry, efforts took place to codify the concerns of these veterans regarding the history of the war. Eventually, the group Vietnam Veterans for Factual History (VVFH) was formed. Its stated purpose was to correct the myths about the war as well as what they viewed as a skewed historical perspective developed by members of academia who were not only historians but antiwar activists. It was the belief of these veterans that academia was biased in its telling of the war's history, and they felt they could provide a corrective to that narrative. In their view, the orthodox view of the war was that it was unnecessary, immoral, illegal, ineffective, and unwinnable. They took issue with all those views and sought to provide a counternarrative using primary sources, historical research and the experiences of veterans who served in that conflict.

Revisionist Histories of the 2nd Indochina War
The first revisionist historical analysis of the U.S. Phase of the Second Indochina War was a 1978 book titled America In Vietnam by Dr. Guenter Lewy (cited above). In 1999, a revisionist historical analysis of the war from mid-1968 to mid-1972 titled A Better War was written by Dr. Lewis Sorley. That same year a partially revisionist historical analysis of the geopolitical background of the U.S. phase of the war titled Vietnam: the Necessary War was written by Michael Lind. In 2006, a revisionist historical analysis of the war from 1954 to 1965 titled Triumph Forsaken was written by Dr. Mark Moyar. In 2010, a revisionist historical analysis of the war in the critical year of 1968 titled This Time We Win was written by James Robbins. That same year a brief revisionist summary of the war from 1954 to 1972 titled The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Vietnam War was written by Phillip Jennings. And in 2017, a revisionist history of Ngo Dinh Diem titled The Lost Mandate of Heaven was written by Dr. Geoffrey DT Shaw.

Membership
Members of VVFH include distinguished historians, Dr. Robert F Turner, Dr. Lewis Sorley, Dr. Geoffrey DT Shaw, Dr. Mark Moyar and Professor Roger Soiset. Other members include former prisoners of war, former and retired Marine, Navy, Army and Air Force officers including SOG, former CIA officers, former U.S.A.I.D. employees and others who served in the war, as well as veterans and civilians with an interest in the history of the war.

Many VVFH members have published books on the war.

Current and Ongoing Activities
VVFH is actively involved in producing a series of books about the war, each one covering one year of the conflict. These books are designed to coincide with the ongoing 50th Anniversary activities coordinated by the US federal government. In addition, current work is ongoing to document the perceived errors in the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS documentary, The Vietnam War.