- 1. Case Study 2: The Vietnam War The Viet Cong & Guerilla
War vs. The United States
2. What kind of war was the Vietnam War?
- If the USA thought its soldiers would win an easy victory, it
was soon proved wrong.American technology and firepower were
totally superior, but as time wore on it became clear that the USA
needed more than technology to win this kind of war.In the
following presentations you will compare Viet Cong and US tactics
to see why the US army did not win.The following Focus Task will
assist your understanding.
3. Viet Cong & Guerilla Tactics
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- 170,000 soldiers supplied by PRC, USSR
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- Outnumbered & outgunned by US, SV
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- Nov 65: La Drang Valley: US killed 2000 VC to loss of only 300
US soldiers
- Ho undaunted, goes guerilla
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- Ho saw Mao win in China w/ guerilla war
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- Ho used guerilla war successfully w/ (J), (F)
- Principles of guerilla war:
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- Retreat when enemy attacks
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- Raid when the enemy camps
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- Attack when the enemy tires
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- Pursue when the enemy retreats
4. Guerillas in their midst
- Guerilla warfare a nightmare for US
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- No uniforms, known base camps, headquarters
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- Worked in small groups w/ limited weapons
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- Hard to tell from peasants in nearby villages
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- Attacked & disappeared into jungle, villages, tunnels
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- Hos aim of wrecking moral was very effective
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- Lived in constant fear of ambushes, booby traps
A portion of Billy JoelsGoodnight Saigon 5. Tunnels of Cu Chi 6.
U.S. Troops & Casualties 1960-1974 7. VC & Civilians
- Ho knew importance of popular support
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- VC ordered to be courteous toward peasants
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- VC often helped during planting & harvest
- VC were ruthless to enemies
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- Killed peasants who opposed them
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- Killed peasants who cooperated w/ US
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- Terror campaigns against police, tax collectors, teachers, govt
employees
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- Between 1966-1971 VC killed 27,000 civilians
You are listening to a modernized version of the Vietnamese folk
songLy Ngua O 8. VCs Greatest Strength
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- Depended on supplies for Ho Chi Minh Trail
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- Though bombed constantly it stayed open
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- VC casualties estimated at 1 million far higher than US losses
(50,000)
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- Ho was willing to pay the price and, more importantly, so were
the Vietnamese
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- There werealwaysreplacement troops available
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- You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but
even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Vo Nguyen Giap,
military commander of North Vietnamese & Viet Cong forces
Talk about east meets west.This is what you get when you take
Vietnamese and mix it with a dance beat.The song isCoi Chung Gai
Dep . 9. Homework: Why did the Communists use guerilla tactics in
the Vietnam War?
- Copy sentence below the box.Add bullet points around the
central sentence starter to give theV ietC ongs reasons.Use your
notes for ideas.Remember also that the internet has a wealth of
material on the Vietnam war that will help you with your
research.The following sites are good starters:
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- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong
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- http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerrilla/
- To each of your bullets, connect a second bullet point giving
evidence to support it.The example follows
- The VC used guerilla tactics because
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- Historically this is how Vietnamese resisted invaders
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- It worked on the French forces
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- US forces too well-armed & trained
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- November 1965 La Drang Valley: US killed 2000 VC versus 300 US
casualties
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- Jungle hid their movement
The Viet cong used guerilla tactics because 10. Bombing
- 7 Feb 1965: Operation Rolling Thunder
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- Beginning of air offensive to last until 1972
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- Campaign expanded to include Laos, Cambodia (Ho Chi Minh
Trail), SV towns
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- More bombs dropped on Vietnam than on Germany & Japan in
all of WWII
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- Damaged NV war effort & disrupted supply
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- US could strike @ Communists even as it reduced troop strength
after 1969
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- 1970-72: Bombing of Hanoi (capital of NV) & Haiphong (NVs
port) force NV to negotiate
- Air power could not defeat Communists
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- Ho Chi Minh Trail continued to operate
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- 1972: Communists launched major assault in SV
- Cost of air war was horrendous
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- 14,000 aircraft shot down (dont forget crews)
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- Cost US $400,000 to kill one VC (75 bombs & 400 artillery
shells)
Mixed results.Is this a fair summary of the effectiveness of
bombing in the Vietnam War?Explain your answer. Doors Riders on the
Storm 11. Chemical Weapons
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- Used to destroy jungles where VC hid
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- Jellied fuel that burns through jungle & skin
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- Ignites spontaneously when with oxygen
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- Burns through steel, bone
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- Used in VC tunnel systems to flush out VC
Kansas,Dust in the wind 12. Search and Destroy
- US Commander General William Westmoreland developed
strategy
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- Establish secure, heavily defended US bases
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- Launch US & SV search & destroy raids from helicopters
taking off from bases
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- Descend on villages & destroy any VC found
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- Soldiers had to send back body counts
- VC were killed, but there were problems
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- Raids often based on inadequate intelligence
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- Inexperienced US troops often hit booby traps
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- Innocent villagers mistaken for VC
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- Civilian casualties extremely high.For every one VC weapon
found, body count was six
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- S&D tactics made US, SV forces very unpopular w/ villagers,
turning them toward VC
Would you say the US ground forces in Vietnam were more or less
effective than the air forces?Explain your answer. John Phillip
SousasUS Army Song 13. A Turning Point: Tet Offensive, 1968
- Major Communist offensive on Vietnamese New Year holiday
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- Over 100 cities & bases attacked
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- US embassy in Saigon a battleground
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- 4,500 VC in Saigon tied down entire city
- In many ways a disaster for communists
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- Hopes for SV civilian uprising fell flat
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- VC lost 10,000 experienced fighters
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- VC never fully recovered from losses
- Ultimately a victory because of Qs raised:
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- Us had 500,000 troops, spent $20 billion/year why had
Communists been able to launch major offensive w/ complete
surprise?
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- US & SV forces retook towns quickly, but only after massive
air power many civilian casualties and entire city (Hue) destroyed
was this right?
Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point?Explain your answer.
Edwin StarrsWar 14. Focus Task: Why was the US army unable to
defeat the Communists in Vietnam?
- Stage 2: Thinking it through
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- Next, in each row of column 3, draw some scales to show which
way the balance falls for this quality.Did the US or the VC have
the advantage?
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- Now think about the big picture how strengths and weaknesses
work together.
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- Were the armies fairly balanced or was the balance strongly
weighted to one side?
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- Which quality was the most important in determining who won the
war?Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area
meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
- Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions
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- Now write up your answer.You could use this structure:
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- Describe how the failure of the US army was a combination of
its own weaknesses and VC strengths
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- Give balanced examples of US successes and failures
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- Give balanced examples of VC successes and failures
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- Chooses one American weakness and VC strength that you think
were absolutely vital in preventing the USA from beating the VC and
explain the significance of the points you have chosen
- Stage 4: Thinking more deeply:
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- KEEP YOUR WORK.Youll be adding to it later
15. Fin 16. PSDs on US tactics in Vietnam
- An increasing number of recruits scored so low on the
standardized intelligence tests that they would have been excluded
from the normal peacetime army.The tour of duty in Vietnam was one
year.Soldiers were most likely to die on their first month.The
large majority of deaths took place in the first six months.Just as
a soldier began gaining experience, he was sent home.A rookie army
which constantly rotated inexperienced men was pitted against
experienced guerillas on their home ground.
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- FromFour Hours In Mai Laiby Michael Bilton, 1992.The average
age of US combat troops in Vietnam was only 19.Many recruits had
just left school.This was their first experience of war.
17. PSDs on the Vietnam War
- I remember sitting at this wretched little outpost one day with
a couple of my sergeants.Wed been manning this thing for three
weeks and running patrols from it.We were grungy and sore with
jungle rot and wed suffered about nine or ten casualties on a
recent patrol.This one sergeant of mine said, You know, Lieutenant,
I dont see how were ever going to win this.And I said, Well, Sarge,
Im not supposed to say this to you as your officer but I dont
either.So there was this sense that we just couldnt see what could
be done to defeat these people.
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- Philip Caputo, a lieutenant in the Marine Corps in Vietnam in
1965-66, speaking in 1997