"The Victory That Wasn't" begins with people in Hawaii who unknowingly change the course of the Vietnam War, and the new America that follows it. The story is based on real behind-the-scenes events known by only a handful of people. Could minor changes in their actions have resulted in a different kind of America? In "The Victory That Wasn't" a few subtle shifts trigger a cascade of actions that change everything. Scott Benison and his small team of military journalists have great Army assignments, writing press releases while stationed in Hawaii. Their lives become more complicated as they view strange things happening to a brigade undergoing combat training at Schofield Barracks. Though the brigade is scheduled to fight in Vietnam, it seems to be failing in many ways, and troop morale has hit rock-bottom. When an angry brigade soldier murders his first-sergeant and kills himself, Pentagon generals postpone the unit's Vietnam deployment. Learning of the murder-suicide, and the low performance of the brigade, the Pentagon assigns unit command to one of the Army's strongest combat generals, with orders to transform it into a new kind of fighting unit that becomes a model for winning in Vietnam. As Benison completes his short Army career, he is enticed to a civilian job in Vietnam, with a mysterious military contractor. Working with the press corps covering the war - especially his friends from the brigade in Hawaii - he meets a smart, beautiful woman reporter who joins him in launching strategies that ultimately lead to American success in Vietnam. When the two return to civilian life in the US, they help key government leaders in changing America's future, as the country overcomes major peacetime problems.