US Military

• Traditionally linked with the navy, the Marines were not keen to take orders from the army, causing disunity.
• The unconventional and independent Green Berets aroused jealousy and antagonism.
• Soldiers served 365 days, and Marines 13 months. Short terms of service meant units never attained the unity vital for morale and performance. An officer did five months on the front line and would probably be less experienced than some of the soldiers he commanded.
• Fragging - when enlisted men tried to kill US army officers by throwing fragmentation grenades at them. Between 1969 and 1971, there were 730 fraggings, in which 83 officers died.
• AA = 13% of Americans in Vietnam, but 28% of those in combat units - led to resentment
• Draft - many didn’t want to be in Vietnam. Some stencilled return dates on their helmets, or wrote UUUU - ‘the unwilling, led by the unqualified, doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful’
• Disagreement with the war or tactics in the US army led to indiscipline. An underground newspaper offered a $10,000 bounty for the death of the officer responsible for Hamburger Hill.
• Anti-war feelings grew in the late 60s in the US. Soldiers returned to find themselves ostracised, jeered at and spat on if they wore their uniform. Their homes may have had broken glass spread on the lawn, or objects thrown at their window.
• R and R - rest and recuperation for US soldiers in Vietnam
• Every week, several thousand soldiers were sent to Saigon or Japan for R and R.
• Due to R and R, when the last US soldier left Vietnam, there were 159 basketball courts, 90 service clubs, 85 volleyball fields, 71 swimming pools, 40 ice cream plants and two bowling alleys.
• R and R services led to an air of unreality and disorientation for US soldier.
• Around a quarter of US soldiers caught STIs and drug abuse grew common. In 1970 an estimated 58% of Americans in Vietnam smoked pot, and 22 % used heroin.
• In 1971, 5000 US troops needed treatment for combat wounds, whilst 20,529 for serious drug abuse.
• Grunts = young foot soldiers in Vietnam. Often horrified by what they saw and keen to get out. Many hoped for small wound and some shot themselves in the foot.
• The average age of the grunt in Vietnam was 19, compared to 26 in WW2.
• In WW2, soldiers were cheered at home and could see clear territorial progress. In contrast, Vietnam soldiers fought for ground, won it, then left knowing VC would move in again. They were jeered at home.
• 20% of American wounded were victims of booby traps.
• Physical discomforts for US soldiers:

  • carried 20-30kg equipment
  • plagued by rain and insects
  • metal gun parts burned in sun
  • uniforms rotted
  • suffocating heat made breathing difficult
• Not knowing which if the local people were the enemy was a demoralising difference from WW2.
• US troops engaged in ‘search and destroy’ missions to clear areas of VC, but proved difficult to find enemy. 1967 CIA report said under 1% of nearly 2 million small unit operations between 1965 and 1967 resulted in contact with the enemy. The ratio of destruction was usually 6 SV for every VC guerrilla.
• Operation Cedar Falls:

  • 1967
  • 20 US battalions - defoliants, bombing and bulldozers cleared the land - homes and lands destroyed
  • 6 thousand people evacuated
  • ‘friendly’ civilians made hostile to Saigon and US
  • only a few VC found
• Hamburger Hill 1969 - US troops cleared area of VC, but communists would return as soon as Americans moved out.
• In 1967, the CIA established that most communist supplies were originated in South, so cutting off their supplies would be difficult.
• 1990 study of Hau Nghia province, where US troops worked closely with villagers on pacification, revealed it still failed to win support for the Saigon regime.