The USA was scared about the spread of communism throughout
South East Asia. After the Korean War between 1950 and 53 the Americans had already lost 142,000 soldiers when trying to stop communism in South Korea. They felt if communism spread further south into Vietnam all their effort ion Korea would be wasted.
Many of the people weren’t happy about Diem and decided to create a “freedom” group called the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. They created a movement against the pro American south and engaged in a guerrilla war against the South Vietnamese government. They used a route down the centre of the country called the Ho Chi Minh trail which was highly covered in dense forest. They made their way down to the south and acted as a relay carrying supplies down. The men attacked South Vietnamese officials, building and forces as well as common American targets.
In 1962 President Kennedy decided on sending in troops to Vietnam to put up a resistance against the Viet Cong. He eventually ended up placing 2300 troops into Vietnam in 1964. In 1963 after Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon Johnson the new president wanted to put on a full scale assault on the Viet Cong. In august 1964 In the Gulf of Tonkin, North Vietnamese patrol boats fired upon US ships. This created international uproar, President Johnson took this in his stride and the USA was in war with Vietnam. They were up against a tough opposition as we will see later.
Vietcong Tactics
The Vietnamese Communists, or Viet Cong, were the military branches of the National Liberation Front (NLF).The main troops were ex-military service men that launched attacks in large open areas. Regional forces operated only within their own districts. When necessary, small regional units would unite for large scale attacks. If enemy pressure became too great, they would break down into smaller units and scatter.
Unlike the main troops, who saw themselves as professional soldiers, local Vietcong groups tended to be far less confident. For the most part, recruits were young teenagers. The, local guerrillas were given only a basic run through of military training, but if they were recruited to a main force unit, they could receive up to a month of in-depth training. Additionally, there were dozens of hidden centres all over South Vietnam for squad and platoon leader, weapons and radio training. To ensure that the guerrillas understood why they were fighting, all training courses included political instruction.
Most main force Vietcong troops were armed with Chinese versions of the Russian AK-47 submachine gun. They also used a range of Soviet and Chinese light and medium machine guns,
For destroying armoured vehicles or bunkers, the Vietcong had effective rocket propelled grenades and rifles. Mortars were also available in large numbers and had the advantage of being very easy to transport.
Many weapons, including booby traps and mines, were homemade in villages. The materials ranged from scavenged tin can to discarded wire, but the most important ingredients were provided by the enemy. In a year, dud American bombs could leave more than 20,000 tons of explosives scattered around the Vietnamese countryside.
Guerrilla Tactics
In December 1965, Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese leadership ordered a change in a way the war in the South was to be fought. From now on, the Vietcong would avoid major battles with the Americans unless they were very likely to win. There would be more hit and run attacks and ambushes. To counter the American build-up, Vietcong recruitment would be stepped up and more North Vietnamese Army troops would be infiltrated into South Vietnam.
The Vietcong, following the example of Chinese guerrillas before them, had always given the highest priority to creating safe base areas. They were training grounds and headquarters. They also offered secure sanctuaries for times when the war might go badly.
The orders coming from NLF headquarters were absolutely clear. Tunnels were not to be treated as mere shelters. They were fighting bases capable of providing continuous support for troops. Even if a village was in enemy hands, the NLF beneath were still able to conduct offensive operations.
American Counter- Tactics
The Americans struggled to beat the enemy when they were constantly being ambushed; the fact that a lot of the villagers were helping the Viet Cong didn’t help either. Between 1965-72 the United States used three main tactics to counter guerrilla warfare.
Bombing: Operation Rolling Thunder was a key part of the counter-attack; in 1965 it involved the strategic bombing on both military and industrial targets in Northern Vietnam. Later on the targets also included Towns and cities all over Vietnam and targets throughout ht the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Positive affects
- Damaged the supply routes, therefore slowing the enemy down.
- Reduced Ground force casualties by striking from the air.
- Caused the eventual peace agreement after damaging the North Vietnamese capital
Negative affects
- Did not completely wipe out communist forces
- Cost of the air strikes were high
Chemical Weapons
The USA created chemical weapons to eradicate the jungle in which the Viet Cong used to hide themselves. This was and important tactic it caused the Viet Cong to come out into the open where they were most vulnerable. The US created Agent Orange and Napalm both highly powerful chemicals which had a devastating affect on both civilians and soldiers.
Search and Destroy missions
The country was filled with many villages and the USA decided on using the policy of search and destroy. The soldiers would descend over a village in which they had been told NLF and Viet Cong members were hiding. Several Problems were encountered though. The Viet Cong looked just like the other civilians and many civilians ended up dying.
Protest Movement
When the war first started many people were still in favour of the war but due to television public opinions soon changed. It was difficult for the US to keep public support due to the fact that the media had 24-7 reign over the television. The whole war was published every where in newspapers, television, radio; now with the television censorship could not be maintained. And when the people saw pictures of innocent kids running away from bombings and prisoners being executed the reaction was not good.
American support soon plummeted and anti-war campaigns were happening all over the country. During the same period there was the start of the hippie movement. People changing the mould and living freely with slogans like “make love not war”. Students showed the most outcry and protests were common at schools and universities. The USA was becoming a chaos zone slowly as the war continued and in the public eye this war was never right.
End of the war
President Johnson finally saw it as not being possible to win this war in 1968 and decided to slowly decline the amount of bombings on Vietnam. In March that year a peace conference was held in Paris and a slow withdrawal of troops begun. Johnson later proposed not to stand for re-election and Richard Nixon became president. He decided not to just hand Vietnam over to the Northern Vietnamese but to use several strategies.
- Peace negotiations : create some agreement in which the South gets well represented
- “Vietnamisation”: Building up the South’s army so in turn the American troops could withdraw and leave them to fight for themselves.
- Bombing: By continuing to bomb Vietnam Nixon would not seem to be backing down.
In 1972 the North Vietnamese tried to take over South Vietnam but were unable to, this called President Nixon to settle this dispute. So in 1973 a peace agreement was signed and on March 1973 all American troops had left Vietnam.
Consequences
- Chemical warfare: this effected Vietnam’s agriculture and the environment in general. Rivers and streams were poisoned by the chemicals.
- Citizens: Huge loss of life, and emotional scaring. Many people were sick after being in contact with Agent Orange. Mines still laid across the country were a major risk. Napalm disfigured victims and killed many others.
- Morals: Buddhist priests were very upset about what had become of their country. US forces supplied the people with many weapons and goods this created a large black market in the country.
- Refugees: 5 million people were resettled from their homes; many towns were completely blown up. Many people looked for a better life by sailing away to a new home, these people were called “boat people” they hoped to land in accepting countries like Malaysia or Hong Kong.
- US Troops: Many soldiers were affected by post traumatic stress, some of the troops got cancer after using chemical weapons. 30% of the American troops used heroin in Vietnam due to its price and availability many were addicted to it when the came back. Many people were very unwelcoming to the troops when the got back they did not receive the “heroes welcome” they expected.