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Military Tactics In The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War was a contentious and polarizing conflict that took place between 1955 and 1975. It pitted the Communist forces of North Vietnam, supported by the Soviet Union and China, against the South Vietnamese government, backed by the United States. Despite the enormous military and economic assistance provided by the US to the South Vietnamese, the war ended in a humiliating defeat for the Americans. The effectiveness of the Vietcong military and tactics played a significant role in this outcome. As historian Gabriel Kolko noted, the Vietcong's guerrilla tactics and ability to win the support of the local population gave them a crucial advantage over the US military (Kolko, 1985). The Vietcong employed a range of unconventional tactics, …show more content…

19). He argues that the Vietcong's ability to effectively use guerrilla tactics and gain the support of the local population gave them a significant advantage over the US military. Kolko notes that the Vietcong's tactics of blending in with the local population and operating in small groups made it challenging for the US military to locate and defeat them. Additionally, the Vietcong employed hit-and-run tactics, striking quickly, and disappearing before the US military could respond, inflicting casualties on the US military without sustaining significant losses …show more content…

Instead, they fought a war of attrition, using guerrilla tactics that relied on ambushes, booby traps, and surprise attacks" (Karnow, 1983, p. 365). Karnow argues that the Vietcong's tactics were effective in creating a sense of insecurity among the US forces, who were constantly on edge and never knew when or where the next attack would come from. This is supported by the

personal account of a US soldier who served in Vietnam. In his memoir, Philip Caputo describes how "the Vietcong could strike at any time and from any direction, and their attacks were often sudden and deadly. They were experts at setting traps and using mines and other booby traps to inflict casualties on US forces" (Caputo, 1977, p. 124). Caputo's account emphasizes the psychological impact of the Vietcong tactics, as the constant threat of attack created a sense of fear and uncertainty among US soldiers. Although Caputo's is a first-hand account as open to his own bias and

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During the Vietnam War, the Unitied States ' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited General Vang Pao and trained about 35,000 Hmong soldiers to fight communist forces in the mountains of Laos in what is known as the "Secret War." Vang Pao 's involvement in the war divided many Hmong people, but he believed that it would lead to a better life for his people. Under Vang Pao 's leadership, Hmong soldiers stopped the North Vietnamese from bringing supplies into Laos through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, helped identify targets for American bombs, and saved the lives of many American pilots, When the Americans pulled out of the war in 1975, they abandoned General Vang Pao and all of the Hmong people who were now enemies to the communist Pathet Lao.

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Men went through so many tasks during the Vietnam War physically and mentally. The beginning chapters focus on training for war and being prepared for the worst. For example, when there is a sergeant in a room with the marines. The sergeant walks to the chalk board and writes “AMBUSHES ARE MURDER AND MURDER IS FUN” (36-37). The

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In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.

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This evidence highlights gruesome traps, such as the Punji trap, and bamboo spike pits intended to ensnare and impale US soldiers. Supporters of escalating the war would debate the inhumane tactics employed by opposing forces, such as the Vietcong, and argue that the use of Agent Orange to remove trees and foliage aimed to eliminate enemy cover, making it more difficult for guerrilla tactics to be employed against American forces. Despite acknowledging the negative and life-changing effects suffered by innocent civilians in Vietnam, they contend that the war was essential in preventing the spread of communism and its perceived domino effect on neighboring countries. While guerilla warfare was indeed very fearful for the United States and its soldiers, the effects of Agent Orange continue to be much worse than that of guerilla warfare because of the outcome that has stretched outside the fields of

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Both sides view the other as being mysterious and unpredictable in their actions, however both think that they may have an idea of what the other is plotting. (Although, the Americans are less wary of the Vietnamese initially and also later only compare them to phantoms, which also insults the Viet Cong by making them seem like cowards) In Tram’s diary she makes reference to the Americans sweeping plan, the plan to march through the country and exterminate the Vietnamese population, whereas the Americans think that the Viet Cong have the tactic of simply staging night time attacks to slowly decimate or wear out the American

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Most of their night operations were near their bases, and rarely did they travel deep into the jungles when the sun was down. On the other hand, most of the viet cong’s operations were done under the night sky. Our group didn’t do much, but protect the supply line. The creek we were positioned by ran parallel to one of the supply lines. There were many other fox holes down the creek.

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One such challenge of using technology during the Vietnam War was that the US could not fully utilise the tanks to their advantage as the terrain in the Vietnam jungle was too muddy and soft that hinder the movement of their tanks.3 Thus, the tanks were not fully employed and hardly played a huge role in combat during the war. The US were also overconfident and underestimated the capabilities of the well-trained VC in guerrilla warfare who were very familiar and knowledgeable with the terrains and challenging environmental conditions that caused challenges for the US to engage them. VC forces were very effective and elusive by hiding underground through their extensive network of Cu Chi tunnels to evade the US forces and air bombardment.

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In this devastating war the north Vietnam used the guerrilla tactic which means hit and run and they also set traps that killed a majority of the US troops. Most of the traps were holes in the ground with spikes or a bullet in them. The American army

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By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade, but just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb, they drop it on the Viet Cong.” From just this song, you can see how angered people were from politics and government

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Even when Americans were victorious they had to be careful. In the victory people are tempted to rip down flags and steal the remaining useful supplies, but the Vietnamese wouldn’t let them get valuables that easily. They added explosives to flag poles, and supplies, even ballpoint pens could be rigged. The soldiers always had to be focused and ready for any kind of situations. These traps could be anywhere so the people first in line, or leading the group, always had to be extremely observant and gained a huge symptom of paranoia.

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The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.

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