To justify sending American combat troops was the ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ incident where two American destroyers, the Maddex and the Joy were supposedly torpedoed by North Vietnamese forces.
2. Describe the military tactics used by the USA and the Vietcong forces in Vietnam in the 1960s.
The Americans and the Vietnamese used very different tactics during the Vietnam War, and they also changed their tactics as the years went by, to adapt to each other’s tactics. The Americans had the technology and the resources to fight a full-scale war whereas the North Vietnamese did not have the resources in the south to face the Americans face on so they turned to guerilla tactics. So in the beginning of the war, the USA used their technology to shower the North Vietnamese with heavy artillery, whereas the Vietcong in the South used guerilla tactics; making quick attacks and then disappearing fast before the Americans could catch them, they also used booby traps.
The first operation that the Americans started was “Operation Rolling Thunder” which was the bombing of strategic sites in North Vietnam, such as military establishments, bridges, roads, rail supply lines and also the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a trail through Cambodia and Laos that was used by the Vietcong to provide supplies to the NLF in South Vietnam.
One example of the types of harmful bombs that the Americans developed and used during the war was the cluster bombs, or “mother bombs”. These exploded in the air releasing many smaller bombs, which, when they hit the ground, exploded into thousands of metal pellets. These bombs could kill, but they were designed to wound the troops. If a man is killed, then his comrades can just leave him where he is, but if he is wounded, then they have to use more manpower to bring him in to get medical treatment. Later on in the war, the Americans redesigned these bombs so that the pellets were made of fibreglass. These kinds of pellets did not show up in an x-ray so operations would be less easy.
The Americans also used Napalm to drop on suspected enemy positions, supply lines or enemy buildings. Napalm was a bomb that exploded to give out a highly corrosive petroleum jelly. This stuck to the skin and burned through the skin at around 800 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, sometimes the American bombers misjudged the position of the enemy forces and accidentally bombed a South Vietnamese village containing many innocent people.
The US also used defoliants to help them expose VC troops hiding in the undergrowth. The defoliants were sprayed on the jungle and killed off the vegetation that served as cover for the VC troops. It was also used to destroy the crops of villagers suspected to be harbouring Vietcong troops. In this way, the US punished the villagers, but also cut off food supplies of the VC troops. The villagers had no choice but to move to new areas, away from communist controlled areas. The main defoliant used was called Agent Orange. This was a cancer-causing agent and caused pregnant women who were affected by it to give birth to deformed babies. Some of the chemical was washed into the streams where soldiers from both sides drank.
Another strategy that Diem thought up before the war started to move villagers away from communist influences was the ‘Strategic Hamlet Policy’. This was uprooting whole villages and moving them to a new area to move them away from communist influence. But this did not really work because many villagers were themselves members of the VC. All this did was to spread the communist influence to new areas.
The Seventh Fleet controlled the waters of Vietnam. This consisted of aircraft carriers (not all aircraft took off from the well defended air bases in South Vietnam), naval ships and patrol ships. They attempted to stop military supply by sea going from South Vietnam to North Vietnam.
In the beginning of the war, America military strategy was basically defensive; the troops defended the air bases. Johnson thought that this would look good to the American Public. But after a while, President Johnson decided to tell General Westmoreland to use more aggressive tactics. The American public were never told this. In the beginning, the US purely used their high technology to bomb the North Vietnamese into submission, but when that didn’t seem to be working, relied more heavily on ground manoeuvres. One of Westmoreland’s aggressive tactics was ‘Search and Destroy’ in which the Americans tried to find large groups of North Vietnamese Army troops to fight. But often large groups of enemies could no be found, so the American troops adopted what was known as ‘Zippo Raids’. These were operations where the Americans would storm villages, torching the houses of villagers suspected of helping the communist guerrillas. Many villagers were ‘justifiably’ murdered on these occasions. The Massacres of My Lai are an example of this.
Throughout the war, there was the High Body Count tactic, where it was believed that if the Americans just killed as many people as they possibly could, they would win the war. It was supposed to boost US army morale and also to lower communist morale, but it didn’t really work. The communists were prepared to suffer high casualties, and sometimes the body count was very low anyway because the communists tried to take their dead with them.
Both sides used propaganda to try and win the support of their public ad to try to win over people from the other side. At some point in the war, the Americans decided to try to win the “ Hearts and Minds of the Vietnamese people with propaganda instead of forcing them to surrender using military strategies, but the NLF propaganda was much stronger and many of the Vietnamese people would never give up their loyalty to the North Vietnamese Government to a bunch of foreigners. The NLF and the VC had a very clear cause; and many peasants living in South Vietnam were just as committed to this cause. The Vietcong had the support of the peasants in South Vietnam because they were always instructed to be polite and respectful towards the villagers whom they stayed with. The Americans, on the other hand, were very rough with the peasants and seemed to see them as sub-human.
As mentioned before, the Vietcong and the NLF used guerrilla military tactics. They avoided all pitched battles because they could not match the American forces. Guerrilla tactics suited the South Vietnamese Communists because they knew the jungle terrain and they knew how to use it to their advantage so that they could perform an effective ambush on a group of unsuspecting American troops. The Vietcong did not have heavy artillery or tanks or aircraft; they relied on using the resources of the jungle as very effective traps to maim or kill an American soldier. These booby traps meant that the Vietcong could kill US fighters without actually having to fight them face on. The simplest traps were made out of bamboo and trip wires. The unsuspecting soldier would trip over a trip wire and fall onto a patch of sharpened bamboo sticks. These sticks were often smeared with infected animal or human blood so that the wounds created became infected. Another type of trap was a pit with a covering of leaves over the top and sharpened stakes in the bottom so that when the man walked across it he would fall in and be killed or seriously wounded. Trip wires were also used to trigger off a grenade. If a soldier was wading through deep water he could catch his leg on one of these and the person behind him would have his foot or leg blown off. Mines were the more sophisticated booby traps used. They were designed so that when the soldier stepped on it, it would fly about a metre into the air before it exploded. They were designed like this to be the same height as the man’s genitals so that, if he did not die, the soldier would not be able to fight anymore and this would increase the tension among the other GIs as they imagined the pain that the man was in.
The VC also used tunnels to move around. The tunnels ran around Saigon for 320 km. These tunnels were used as air shelters during bombing raids. Most were quite intricate and well designed so that the Vietcong could move around freely and easily with good supplies.
Even though the South Vietnamese Communists did not have any heavy artillery, the North Vietnamese did but it was very hard to get these types of equipment to the South Vietnamese Communists. They had aircraft, missiles and shelters, all provided by Russia. Although Russia and China did not actually participate in the war, Russia provided the North Vietnamese with supplies and equipment, just like America provided the South with equipment. If China and Russia had decided to participate, then it would no longer be just the Vietnam War; it would be World War 3.
In 1968, the Vietcong decided to launch the Tet Offensive. They abandoned their original guerrilla tactics and actually came into the cities of the South to fight a series of conventional battles with the American forces and the ARVN. This was a big change in tactics and also a big risk, as the VC were not used to fighting conventional battles. Consequently the Tet Offensive was a military failure for the Communists, as many of them were killed, but it was a political gain for them as well because it decreased the American morale because it showed them that perhaps the Americans were not so safe and that there might be a chance that they could be defeated.
Helicopters were used a lot throughout the war, especially by the Americans. They were mostly used at the end to evacuate the remaining US troops from South Vietnam.
3. Explain why there were such different reactions in the USA to the country’s involvement in the conflict in Vietnam in the 1960s.
There were many people in the US who supported the war in the beginning but also quite a few people who opposed the war from the very beginning. But as the war progressed, more and more people turned against the war. The reason why there were 200 million people living in the US and they all cannot have the same opinions. Each person had their own opinion.
In the beginning the war had the support of the general public. There were the groups of people who opposed all war such as pacifists or strong Christians who believed that all war was wrong on moral and religious grounds. And yet there may have been some Christians who were pro-war because they saw communism as atheism and so believed that it should not be allowed to spread. There were other people such as socialists or radicalists or even communists living America who believed that the people of Vietnam had a right to a unified, independent, communist Vietnam. There were others who simply did not think that a different country was worth the lives of young American men.
But after a few years, the number of people who believed this increased, especially after viewing what had happened on the 31 of January 1968 when the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive. This made the people of America feel that perhaps their US soldiers in Vietnam were not so safe. The general public began to feel that perhaps Vietnam was not worth the lives of young American men. The public were very much under the influence of the media, so when the media started questioning the war and portraying their concerns to the public and letting the public see footage from Vietnam, a lot of the public also turned against the war. When men started to get conscripted for the army because the volunteers and the professionals needed more support, the public became even more resentful of the government and the war taking away their young men. In protest, many people burnt their draft cards and held massive rallies in which as many as 500,000 people took part. Many of the people marching in these protests were Vietnam War veterans who were opposing the war, as they knew what kind of things the soldiers had to endure there. After seeing footage from My Lai, even more people turned against the war. Americans had always seen themselves as ‘the good guys’ bringing law and order to the world community but My Lai seemed to show that perhaps this was not the case. Many people then realised how many innocent Vietnamese were being killed and were turned against the war.
There was also the community of students and university goers who vehemently opposed the war and violence. In 1966 the Students Non-violent Coordinating Committee had been set up to ensure equal rights for blacks and now they were opposing the war. The students of this time had been brought up to question the government and not just listen and believe all that it tells the public so they did. After the Second World War there was a baby boom and these had grown up to become the young people community of the 1968. Many of these young people were involved in the Flower Power movement. This movement was very anti-violence and pro-peace. It emphasised the fact that America was a free country where the public should speak out their views against the government.
Most black people were very against the war because in tended to be the poor black men who were conscripted more regularly into the army than well-off white men. Some of the blacks were actually pro-war because they saw it as a way out of their impoverished lives. But most were anti-war as they saw that there was a definite racial prejudice against blacks and a large percent of the recruitments for Vietnam were blacks.
Not everybody was opposed to the war. Much of the older generation in the US supported the war all the way through. Many of the men had fought in World War 2 and so thought that if they had fought for their country then the younger generation should also do their bit for their country and government. But many people argued that the soldiers in the Vietnam War were not actually fighting for their country at all; Vietnam was not part of America and so was not worth the lives of young men. Most of the older generation were more conservative and were not used to questioning what their government told them. People who lived in small town communities and were more closed off and isolated from the world would just believe what their government would tell them because they did not really know any better.
Other people who would have supported the war against communism would obviously be right wing extremists who opposed communism and socialism. The professional military would have supported the war a lot at first as well because fighting is what they joined up to do. Capitalists and businessmen might also have supported the war because they were scared that if communism spread, they would not be able to make money or trade effectively with Asian countries.
So, this was why there were so many different reactions in the US to the Vietnam War. Every one of those 200 million people were different and had different ideas about war in general and this particular war against communism. At the start, the general public supported the war, but as it dragged on, more and more people just thought that it was not worth all the lives of those young men.
4. Why were US forces withdrawn from Vietnam in 1973?
Probably the most important reason why US forces were withdrawn from Vietnam in 1973 was because of what was known as the period of Détente. This was a period from 1968 when the US entered a period of negotiations with the communist block. Feelings and agitations in the US against communism had died down a bit at this time even though the Cold War was still going on. The Chinese in particular were willing to talk to the US as they were in conflict with the Soviet Union. President Nixon was the first American president to visit Beijing. Nixon had abandoned the Truman doctrine. The United States were no longer so concerned about the spread of communism because the American Public and it’s government were tired of seeing so many of their young men get killed for the sake of another country. They thought that the best way to contain communism would be to negotiate with them, as fighting was costing them too much, both in lives and money.
That was another reason why US forces were withdrawn from Vietnam; the American public opinion had turned against the war. Massive anti-war rallies and protests involving as many as 500000 people took place. These were often led by Vietnam Veterans who were against the war after experiencing it. President Johnson was described as a ‘War Criminal’. There were many groups who were simply against all War and violence and had been for some time, but there were some people who simply felt that Vietnam was not worth the lives of all their young American men. This was also a period when ‘flower power’ bloomed. This increased the anti-war sentiments. The press also helped to increase the pressure on the government and to show the American Public what was really going on in Vietnam. Publications of photographs of the war and incidents like My Lai helped to increase opposition to the war. The shooting of four students at Kent State University also sparked off even more opposition to the war and sparked off even more protests.
Another reason why people turned against the war was because of their raised taxes. Both the human and financial cost of the war was very high for the US so funds could not be used to address social problems such as poverty and civil rights in the US.
This was one of the reasons Nixon was elected as president in 1968. He promised to ‘de-Americanize’ the war in his campaign and that was one of the things that made people vote for him. They wanted an end to the war and he was going to give it to them. The war would carry on until ‘peace with honour’ could be achieved. The Vietnamization meant gradually removing the American forces so that the South Vietnamese Army would be forced to do more and more of the fighting. The US would continue to support the South Vietnamese Government and the US air force would continue to bomb North Vietnam. The American withdrawal from Vietnam was gradual, like it’s involvement. At the same time as the war was still going on, peace negotiations would continue. President Nixon believed that if the US continued to bomb North Vietnam, they would finally give up and they would give in to America’s demands. But the Hanoi government realized that all they had to do was hold on.
One of the most important reason for why US troops were withdrawn from Vietnam was that America was actually losing the war and the end of the war did not seem to be anywhere near in sight. The War was supposed to continue until ‘peace and honor’ for America could be achieved but that was nowhere near in sight and pressure was building up from the public so forces were just withdrawn. For one thing the US lost the propaganda war to the Vietcong. They could not convince some South Vietnamese peasants or the world community of their intentions. To the South Vietnamese they just seemed like more foreigners trying to take over their country. Strategies like the ‘Strategic Hamlet Policy’ failed and lost support of the peasants. In some ways the US underestimated the power of the guerilla fighters. They did not understand how to fight back at them. Their military and technological technology did not benefit them here as the North Vietnamese government learned that they just had to hold on. Tactics like the ‘search and destroy’ tactic mad the US and South Vietnamese army very unpopular with the peasants and without the support of the peasants, neither the US nor the South Vietnamese were going to win the war. US could not capture the countryside and so became isolated into the cities. To control the countryside they would have needed the support of the peasants, which they did not have.
Another reason why the US were losing the war was because the US army and the ARVN did not have the same kind of commitment or morale as the Vietcong had. The Vietcong were very committed to their cause and were fighting for their freedom and country and where prepared to put up with huge losses, whereas the US soldiers were not fighting for their own freedom and their own country and many soldiers were very weary of the war and seeing all of their comrades die. Many of them turned to drugs and alcohol for comfort and many were ‘high’ when they went into battle. This obviously reduced the efficiency of the US army. The ‘being short’ mentality also greatly reduced the efficiency of the army. The tour of duty was one year for ordinary soldiers so when these soldiers neared the end of their tour of duty they became less willing to go into battle, they wanted to avoid any combat as far as possible. This made fighting less efficient. Tensions between officers and conscripted soldiers were high and this resulted in something called ‘fragging’. The Officers were professionals and wanted to make a name for themselves so they would push their men for more ‘kills’. This sometimes led to the officer being killed by his own men.
On the 27th of January 1973, the Paris Peace Agreement saying that all American troops would withdraw from Vietnam was signed. One reason why it was signed at that time was that Kissinger wanted to sign the agreement before the re-elections so that Nixon would be seen well in the public eye and so that he would be re-elected, and he was. Thieu had refused to sign the agreement before, as without the aid of the US the South Vietnamese would be at the mercy of the North, but in 1973 the Americans said that they would sign without him if he wouldn’t sign. So in March 1973, the last remaining troops in Saigon left Vietnam along with 691 American prisoners of war, leaving the South Vietnamese to try to fight the North by themselves, with only financial and technological aid.
