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The Vietnam conflict began in the late 19 th Century. France forcefully took ownership of the islands and made the Vietnamese islands a protectorate of France. The Viet Minh, or the League Of Independence was formed sometime around 1940. They were a group of people seeking independence from France. The French Government opposed this action and decided to try and stop the Viet Minh from advancing their political ideals into the rest of Vietnam.
In the city of Dien Bien Phu, the Viet Minh surrounded the French Expeditionary Force, and after a fifty-five day siege, the French surrendered (1). After the French pulled out of Vietnam, there was a conference held in Geneva to decide the fate of the small nation. Vietnam was divided into two parts along the 17 th parallel. To the North, the Government was supported by Communist Russia and Communist China, while the Southern half had a Democratic Government supported by the United States and France. The rebels in the South, who fought against their Government, were called the Viet Cong, and they were supplied and supported by the N. V.
A, or the North Vietnamese Army. Northern Vietnam's goal was to reunite North and South Vietnam through military force, and to spread Communism throughout all of Vietnam. John F Kennedy and the United States Government did not want this to happen. They provided South Vietnam with economic and military aid, but were not yet involved in the conflict, as North and South Vietnam were still engaged in a Civil War. The North Vietnamese took the United States aid as an act of war and on August 2 nd, 1964, sunk a United States destroyer Maddox in International waters.
On August 3 rd, 1964, the United States began retaliatory attacks on Vietnamese ports and gunboat facilities. In 1964, two more United States destroyers were sunk, and the United States brought even more ships and planes into the area. The United States did not officially declare a state of war against the Vietnamese until August 5 th, 1964. United States forces were to remain in South Vietnam and were not to cross the 17 th parallel, until Feb 7 th, 1965, when North Vietnamese forces attacked a major United States airbase in Bein Hoa. By the end of 1965, the number of American troops stationed in Vietnam was approximately 180, 000. By the end of 1968, that number rocketed to 542, 000 men (2).
The role of Communism was very important in this conflict. America felt that it was its duty to fight the spread of Communism in Asia, as it wanted to deter other countries from doing as the Vietnamese had done. America was counting on a quick war that would be very easy to win, as Vietnam was a third world nation, and America was a very strong militaristic nation. However, as time passed and casualties mounted on both sides, it became clear that this was not the case. The Americans realized that this would not be a conventional war, with wide-open fields like in Europe. This would be a brutal conflict that involved dense jungles, vicious fighting, and virtually no honor.
Despite the Americans numerous advantages, they could not have won the Vietnam War due to weapon neutralization, Vietnamese strategy, and a lack of morale within their own troops, and a lack of support back home. The United States had an excellent air force when compared to Vietnam. The most widely used aircraft was the Bell UH- 1 Huey (3). This helicopter was used in every role in the war, including gunship and medical transport. Also used were the Huey Cobra, and many other types of helicopters including the Canadian built Chinook. These helicopters were integral for scouting, evacuation, and rapid deployment.
However, the Vietnamese became adept at knowing ahead of time where the perspective landing zones were going to be, and could do one of many things. First, they could lay mines around the perimeter of the landing zone, or it could be targeted for a heavy mortal and machine gun ambush. They also planted thin wires across numerous treetops to bring the helicopter down by becoming tangled up in the very sensitive rotor assembly. They would also use pressure sensitive mines that would detonate when the helicopter wash created sufficient enough pressure to depress the trigger (4) (See appendix 1). The Americans were always worried about what could happen at a landing zone with their helicopter because of the North Vietnamese ingenuity and know-how. Also, the F- 4 Phantom was the most advanced plane at the time, capable of dog fighting, bombing, reconnaissance, and supporting roles, the engineers neglected to mount any type of traditional projectile weapon.
This made pilots of the F- 4 Phantom completely useless in a close dogfight because they only had Aim- 9 and Aim- 7 missiles which contained too much explosive power to be detonated at close range (5). When engaged in dogfights, the Russian built MiGs would eat the F- 4 s alive. This problem took two years to solve when someone decided to stick a 6 -barreled auto cannon in the nose of the Phantom. Also, the casualty rate among pilots was very high for this type of conflict because American pilots trained for only six weeks, instead of the customary 1 -year usually given to pilots due to a high need for their skills. The B- 52 Flying Fortress (See appendix 2) was Americas largest bomber, built to deliver nuclear payload into Russia. It was able to cruise at a height that the Russian built MiGs could not reach, and carry over 60, 000 pounds of payload (6).
However this bomber was designed to drop its payload on huge World War II type industrial centers or large equipment movements. This proved useless in Vietnam because there were never such factories or movements exposed to the Americans. Instead, the B- 52 was used to destroy large Northern Vietnamese cities and towns in a hope to force surrender. Also, the napalm that was dropped by these Flying Fortresses killed more civilians than soldiers, and the bombings actually had a reverse affect on North Vietnamese morale.
Instead of becoming demoralized, it brought them closer together due to their hatred for Americans. Also, the American armored divisions that were so effective during World War II were almost completely useless. The United States could not bring any of their M- 60 tanks or mobile Howitzer artillery units into the jungle, and they were destined to remain only in cities or large American bases. The United States had to rely mainly on lightly armored M 112 troop carriers with only a. 50 caliber machine gun turret mounted on the top of the vehicle.
This is quite a large step down from the 80 -millimeter cannon that is mounted on an M- 60. The Americans also thought that they would have the advantage when it came to small arms, including: rifles, sub-machine guns, and pistols but since the Russians and the Chinese were supplying the Vietnamese, that was not the case. The American M- 4 rifle that fired a. 308 caliber shell, held 20 rounds, and could be switched between semi or full automatic, proved to be almost an exact match to the Soviet SKS rifle which fired a 7. 62 millimeter shell, held 20 rounds, and could be switched between semi or full automatic. Also the ever popular M- 16 rifle, (which is still in service today and remains the most largely used rifle in the world) which fired a. 223 caliber shell, held 20 - 30 rounds, and could be switched between semi and full automatic, and three round burst had very big problems at the start of the war (See appendix 4). When the ammunition clip was slammed into the gun too hard, the gun had a chance of jamming. If any dirt or mud got into the bolt or the action of the gun, it would jam.
If the gun got wet, it would jam. This rifle cost many marines their lives early on, and it cannot be said that it was at this time, better than the Soviet made AK- 47, which fires a 7. 62 millimeter shell, has a 30 round capacity, and can be switched between semi and full automatic (7) (See appendix 5). While there were minute differences between the small arms of the two nations, they can be considered almost exactly equal in every way. This is not how the Americans wanted it. They expected the Vietnamese to be using old French built Lafayette bolt-action rifles. They were wrong.
What the Viet Cong and the N. V. A lacked in pure destructive firepower, they made up for in their brilliant tactics, mobility, and experience. While American forces did have uncontested air superiority over the Vietnamese, as well as tanks and Howitzer mobile artillery, the United States also decided to drop unconventional bombs such as: phosphorous, fragmentation bombs, napalm, and agent orange.
To combat these inequities, the Vietnamese soldiers had to be cunning and rely on strategy to defeat the Americans. The Vietcong had been using tunnel systems for many years versus their Chinese, French, and Japanese invaders. There were hundreds of underground guerilla bases in South Vietnam that had been built by slave labor from surrounding towns. The longest tunnel systems were found in the Iron Triangle and ranged between 50 kilometers long to 200 kilometers long (8). (The Ho Chi Minh tunnel was the longest tunnel ever built by the Vietnamese and was in the area of the Iron Triangle. ) Many tunnels were constructed with water pits in them to help reduce poisonous gasses from entering the tunnel, and some were even strong enough to withstand direct bombing / shelling . Some tunnels were so well camouflaged that American soldiers were only alerted to their presence when one of them stepped through the covering and fell into one. In any tunnel it was entirely possible that there would be barracks, armories, supply depots, air raid shelters, classrooms, hospitals, factories, a...
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