Tactics and

strategy of

Vietnam

Review

Target: Predict the outcome of the war.

U.S. Vietnam

Goals/Motivation Containment Independence, Freedom, Liberty

Strategy Kill all (Body Count) Survive

Weapons Napalm, Agent Orange,Machine guns, air force, navy, nukes*, “chopper”

Booby traps, tunnels,home field advantage, machine guns, guerilla warfare, Vietcong

LBJ’s Foreign Policy Advisors

Robert McNamara (Secretary of Defense)

Dean Rusk (Secretary of State)

William Westmorland

North Vietnam Army

NVA

NVA vs. The French

Vietcong

Jungle Warfare

Tunnels

Booby Traps

U.S. “Win their Hearts and Minds” Keep the Vietcong from winning

support in the South

Win the “hearts and minds” of the Southern villagers

Napalm

Agent Orange

Search-and-Destroy

Search and Destroy

Sinking Morale

Frustrations of Guerrilla Warfare

Brutal Jungle fighting

Failure to make substantial gains

Corruption and instability of South Vietnam

Credibility gap

1967

Gap between what LBJ reported and what was really happening

Small minority was beginning to protest