There is a mythology the U.S. built around the American War in Vietnam. It goes like this: Young idealistic soldiers were sent into an unwinnable situation by confused politicians. They came home broken and unappreciated. It was a tragedy. A mistake. A lesson learned. Notice what that story does. It centers Americans. Their trauma. Their confusion. Their homecoming. Their feelings. In this story, the Vietnamese people are a backdrop. A jungle. An obstacle. An abstraction.