When this reporter first learned about the Vietnam War in Ms. Johnson's seventh grade history class, I thought wow, what an intellectual force of a woman. In school I was sexually attracted to every single one of my history teachers because I loved the idea of them having sex with me. The point of this paragraph is to establish that, while the Vietnam War may have caused rampant PTSD for some, for me it has always been associated with fond memories and erections.

Flash forward 8 years and I’m working for the Harvard Lampoon as a full time journalist in the field. In very poor taste, Editor-in-Chief Bokil decides to send me to Kiev to gather some pictures to write funny captions under. Then my cab took a wrong turn on the way to the airport and I woke up in Vietnam.

My first few hours of ‘Nam were, frankly, lovely. Picture this: you’re sipping a mimosa beachside, a beautiful man on your right, and a less beautiful war memorial on your left. You feel just like a real life American GI but without all the violence and trauma. You even take a few pictures while you’re there, mostly of this lump on your back, but at least they’re HD resolution.

I should probably do my job, so I grabbed the nearest Vietnamese person I could find. When asked if “‘Nam was actually that bad,” the public provided me with answers like “no English, sorry” and “fuck you American, give me your wallet.”

When I showed Mr. Bokil the transcripts from my interviews, he said something along the lines of: “you’re fucking    really    incredible     SEH   I    respect you     you   are from [for] Lampoon.”

Inspired by his silver tongue, I set out for Harvard ROTC training camp to collect a few statements from the other country involved in the conflict. When asked about their experience in Vietnam, our soon-to-be veterans explained that “you don’t have to salute us every time you say something” and “stop following us please.” A man wearing nothing but an American flag commented “no siree, not bad at all, we whooped ‘em real good,” but that may have just been Richard Nixon.

If I’m being honest, none of those interviews were useful. Beyond veterans, families who lost people, and the Pentagon Papers, the lack of available primary sources has made it impossible to render an academically sound conclusion to the titular question of this article. But it was probably like pretty mid.