Vietnam

• Name 3 US Strengths?


  • Almost unlimited economic resources
  • Control of airspace
  • Almost unlimited troops
• What is a strategic hamlet?

  Fortified villages that peasants were moved to, to keep them under control and stop them helping the Vietcong.
• What is Operation Rolling Thunder?

  When B52 bombers targeted military and industrial sites, and eventually towns and cities.
• What is a Napalm Bomb?

  An explosive weapon filled with very hot petroleum jelly.
• What is Agent Orange?

  Weedkiller used to defoliate the jungle and flush out the Vietcong. This caused many horrific birth defects.
• What are Search and Destroy raids?

  Where US soldiers were helicoptered into villages to search for Vietcong and burn the villages to the ground
• What is Vietnamisation?

  Near the end of the war, President Nixon wanted to withdraw US troops and replace them with South Vietnamese troops to remove US involvement.
• Why did the US intervene in Vietnam?

  • Valuable resources
  • The Geneva agreement - split Vietnam in 2
  • Weakness of Diem (South Vietnam)
  • Attack on the Maddox
  • The Domino theory
  • Truman doctrine of containment
• What is a guerilla tactic?

  Retreat when the enemy attacks. Raid when the enemy camps. Attack when the enemy tires. Pursue when the enemy retreats.
• Why did the Vietcong use guerilla tactics?

  If they fought conventional warfare they would lose. The peasants in the south supported them. They could get supplies from the trails. They knew the landscape well.
• How did the Vietcong use the tunnels?

  They were used to house troops, transport communication supplies and lay booby traps. They were built in the 1940s when they were fighting the French.
• What was the Ho Chi Min trail?


  A trail that went through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam and were used to take supplies to each end. It was hard for the US to attack as it went through neutral countries.
• What booby traps did the Vietcong use?

  Punji sticks were used as booby traps. These were sharpened bamboo sticks that were covered in human excrement. These were placed in traps under leaves that the US soldiers would fall into. Not only was it extremely painful and disgusting but they also had to wait for the other soldiers to rescue them.
• What tactics did the Vietcong use?

  • Guerilla tactics
  • Clothing not uniform
  • Ho Chi Minh trail
  • Tunnels
  • Booby Traps
• Tet Offensive

  A series of surprise attacks launched all in unison by the Vietcong during the new year 1968 when a ceasefire had been called. This caught the americans off guard and they almost lost the war during this. They managed to regain control but many lives were lost.
• My Lai


  A search and destroy mission that went badly wrong. The US attacked a local village in search of Vietcong. 347 innocent men, women and children. Women were also raped.
• Lack of home support


  The soldiers saw little reason to fight a war the public didn't support and lacked motivation.
• Why the public turned against the war?

  • Many of the soldiers were young and inexperienced
  • There was a high body count
  • Many did not want their soldiers fighting in a foreign land for a country that didn't want their help
  • The wounds suffered by the soldiers shocked many americans
  • TV was used to broadcast events and showed the horrors of the war
  • Many disagreed with the number of black soldiers fighting yet they had no civil rights back home
• Failure to defeat Vietcong?

  • Inexperience of jungle/guerilla warfare
  • Young, inexperienced troops
  • Hostility between professional officers and drafted men
  • Troops using recreational drugs
  • Public disapproval of high body counts
  • Backlash / failure of tactics used
• What are the main US Tactics?

  • Strategic Hamlets
  • B52 Bombers
  • Napalm Bombs
  • Agent Orange
  • Search and Destroy raids
  • Vietnamisation
• Impact of the war?

  • President Nixon tried to reduce tension with the USSR
  • the USA and the USSR tried to distance themselves from China
  • The Nixon Doctrine - stating that the USA would not make any more military commitments
  • The Domino Theory partially tackled and contained
  • North and South Vietnam were unified
  • Many skilled and professional workers connected to South Vietnam left the country in fear of being persecuted.
  • USA was criticised over brutal tactics