During the fighting in Vietnam, there was never a telltale sign of who would emerge victorious, when all was said and done. Washington did its best to hide casualties and promote optimism about the war abroad. In the New York Times article, “Copters No Substitute For Men,” military editor Hanson Baldwin described his feelings about how the United States needs a drastic change in its attack plans. They relied too much on South Vietnam, which Baldwin and many other U.S. advisors believed was a costly mistake. Baldwin acknowledges that the South Vietnamese assaults were effective initially because they confused the Communist guerrillas. Military operations with aid delivered by helicopters were successful until the adversaries recovered and learned to skillfully shoot down those helicopters. Without these helicopters, neither men nor supplies could be airlifted to the needed areas of Vietnam. Many people said that the capabilities of military helicopters were overestimated and “they tended to forget that it is men, not machines, who win wars.” (Baldwin)The guerrilla war continued to strengthen. The weaknesses of South Vietnamese and US combat strategies were now fully apparent. The helicopter could no longer compete with automatic weapons and machine guns on the ground, especially when landing or taking off at low speed. The heavy loss of helicopters was a major setback for the United States. Many American soldiers have lost their lives due to these types of attacks. Due to these enormous obstacles, the use of helicopters had to be reviewed and reworked. The landing areas were changed to locations further from the range of enemy fire, but they were also sufficient to allow the troops to reach their attack position. He focused on giving South Vietnam more power to help reduce U.S. casualties and ease tensions in the United States. South Vietnam continued to feel abandoned and resentful of the United States. U.S. officials were now on the verge of doing anything to get out of South Vietnam, even if it meant letting them fall into the hands of communism. Blame was shifted back and forth between the two countries. Looking back, experts believe much can be learned from the many tragedies that occurred between the United States and South Vietnam. Many have concluded that the United States was doomed from the start. There were many things that could have been done differently. Ultimately, the United States destroyed the society it was trying to save and made several enemies along the way.