Due to the dense vegetation, there was often a sense of being surrounded. With no traditional “front line” it was impossible to know which area or village was controlled by the enemy. The terrain was hostile to the American soldiers who had to march through rice fields in the oppressive heat and rain, attacked by insects and leeches. Some Vietcong soldiers were “part time”, working as farmers through the day and most wore peasant clothes making them impossible to tell apart from ordinary village people. The Vietcong fighters also included women and children which the Americans could not comprehend.
The US also underestimated the willingness of the Vietcong to die in scores for their cause. This underlines the difference in morale of the two sides. American politicians had failed to understand the distinct difference in communism between what was happening in Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh and what they had been previously used to in Russia under Stalin. In Vietnam Ho Chi Minh was heading a nationalist revolution with the aim of achieving a united Vietnam, albeit with a communist doctrine. The Vietnamese people wanted freedom and independence. They had spent many years as a French colony followed by a spell of Japanese occupation in the Second World War. With the defeat of the Japanese, the French once again sought to re-establish rule in Vietnam but were defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. After negotiation at the Geneva conference, an independent Vietnam was divided into North and South. With American influence and a pro American leader (Ngo Dinh Diem) was installed in South Vietnam after cancellation of elections that Ho Chi Minh would have easily won in a fair contest. The American blindness towards Vietnamese nationalism undoubtedly led them to underestimate the commitment of the fighters.
American troops on the other hand were mostly young conscripts (draftees) of average age 19, who did not believe in the war they were fighting. Their main aim was to survive their one year tour of duty and return home safely. With no enemy to strike back at and in a hostile and unpleasant country, with mounting casualties, American fighting morale was poor. Drug abuse and lack of respect for their senior officers was rife, often leading to the murder of unpopular officers. Frustration, psychological strain and poor morale led to Civilian atrocities such as the My Lai massacre which further alienated the population of South Vietnam who America claimed to be ‘liberating’. Even before this, the US soldiers were unpopular with the local population; they did not speak Vietnamese and threw their money about in a very poor society.
Further factors that conspired against American success included support for the Vietcong from Russia and China; North Vietnamese losses in equipment, raw materials and vehicles were replaced by Russia and China who also supplied military advisers. Total assistance from these countries was estimated at over $2 billion between 1965 and 1968. The Vietnamese were able to move supplies from North Vietnam to the south of the country along the ‘Ho Chi Minh trail’ which went into bordering countries of Cambodia and Laos. The US was unable to significantly disrupt the supply route. The US received poor support from the South Vietnamese army which was weak and poorly led.
It is also necessary to look at the effect of the war on public opinion back home in the USA. By 1971 offensive paths showed that 71% of Americans believed that sending troops to Vietnam had been a mistake and 58% thought that the war was immoral. Why did the people have these views?
Television coverage of the Vietnam War was shown live, in colour and unedited. TV coverage of previous wars (Korea and World War Two) had been edited before release and showed a sanitized version of events. This meant that the whole of America could see unpleasant images of the war; children running from a Napalm attack on their village and South Vietnams chief of police executing a Vietcong office captured in Saigon. The war became known as the TV war. Unrestricted reporting brought news of US atrocities like the My Lai massacre and showed people the devastating effects of horror weapons like ‘Napalm’ and ‘Agent Orange’.
By 1970, 160 US soldiers were being killed a week and soldiers returning from Vietnam were psychologically scarred, with many being addicted to drugs.
The economic cost of the war was also causing concern. By 1968 13% of all government spending was on the Vietnam War. President Johnson had promised the ‘Great Reform’, a huge government investment to improve the social welfare of the poorer classes, especially the blacks. The cost of the war led to curtailment of social policies such as this.
The mid 60’s were also important for two popular movements that would influence public opinion on the war. The first was the ‘hippie’ movement with its “make love not war” message and the second was the ‘Black Rights’ movement in America led by Martin Luther King. Black people were an underprivileged minority in America who had been subject to racial abuse over the years. Proportionately more black men went to Vietnam despite the fact that they made up only 15% of the population. Opposition to the war was further strengthened in this group by the cancellation of social reforms in order to fund the war.
This groundswell of opposition resulted in public protests and demonstrations against the government. At Kent state university, two students were shot dead by the National Guard during an anti-war protest.
By 1968 it was clear the war was not going to be easy to win. This and the tide of public feeling led President Johnson not to stand for the re-election and Nixon was elected on a “Peace with honour” promise. He promised to reduce the number of US soldiers in Vietnam whilst increasing support for the South Vietnamese army.
From the above it can be seen that the USA withdrew from Vietnam in 1973 for two main reasons.
Firstly they were fighting a war they could not win. They had been unable to deal with the guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong, they had lost the battle for the “Hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people, they had poor support from the South Vietnamese army and US troop morale was non existent. The politicians realised they were unable to achieve the military objectives of the war.
Secondly the increasing social unrest back home in the USA was threatening national security and the potential stability of the country. The increasing tide of opposition to the war had led to the promise of withdrawal since 1968.
The delay till 1973 for final withdrawal was because Nixon did not want to loose the war (“Peace with honour”). Due to domestic pressure, peace talks began but fighting continued and the period saw the heaviest war bombing of North Vietnam in an effort to make the Vietcong accept a peace treaty which was finally signed in 1973. Were it not for the desire to save political face, the withdrawal could well have been earlier.