Term Paper final

During the Vietnam War the United States Army had to deal with another type of warfare, which they had never seen. The United States usually fought a traditional type of war, where the country that occupied the most land was supposedly the winner. However, that all changed when the United States Army entered Vietnam. Throughout the Vietnam War, multiple non-traditional warfare tactics used by the Viet Cong confused the U.S. troops and made it very difficult for the U.S. to defeat the Viet Cong. Guerrilla warfare, specifically tunnels, booby traps and quick, stealthy attacks caused the U.S. to fight a war of attrition and forced new tactics including technological advances, chemical warfare, and severe bombing.
Before the United States entered Vietnam, the Chinese ruled North Vietnam and the French ruled the South. However, when the French announced, in 1946, to take over North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh knew that he had to fight for it. (2000-2013, War in Vietnam, 3) after the French retreated from North Vietnam Hồ Chí Minh became the leader of the North Vietnamese and wanted to continue the spread of communism. (2 May 2013, News, before it, 3)
While preparing for the war in Vietnam the United States knew that they had to go against Nguyễn Sinh Côn, also known as Hồ Chí Minh, who was a Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader, and the President of the democratic republic of Vietnam. The USA knew that Hồ Chí Minh was an extremely persuasive person, and had already gained the trust of many people all over Vietnam. While the United States were determined to end communism as a whole, Hồ Chí Minh wanted to continue communism throughout Southeast Asia. (2000-2013, War in Vietnam, 3) While trying to continue the spread of communism throughout Asia, Hồ Chí Minh had another idea on his mind as well. Hồ Chí Minh was determined to reunite North Vietnam and South Vietnam. However, there was only one major problem. The North Vietnamese wanted Vietnam to be communist, while the South Vietnamese wanted Vietnam to be democratic. (2 May 2013, News, before it, 4) This started the outbreak of war between the countries. The North Vietnamese were against the South Vietnamese, who had been given a substantial amount of aid by the United States.
The Vietnam War was caused by the United States fearing communism’s spread throughout Asia. The United States government feared that communism would potentially hit the United States. The United States government believed in a theory, which was that, if one country in Southeast Asia were to fall to Communism, that other countries would follow one after the other (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 1) This speculation later became known as the Domino Theory. (2000-2013, War in Vietnam, 1)
Believing in the Domino Theory, the United States had a huge grudge on their back to quickly end the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia. The U.S. thought the best way to end the Domino Theory was to invade a country. The U.S. believed invading a country like Vietnam was quick, easy, and simple (2000-2013, War in Vietnam, 1). However, they did not know that Vietnam had a whole different type of warfare, and the condition in Vietnam was not to the USA’s benefit. The United States had fought traditional wars for many years, where two countries line up next to each other and shoot. The U.S. had been successful at it as well. However, when it came to the war in Vietnam, all of those traditional war tactics had gone out of the window.
The Viet Cong knew that the U.S. was going to enter the war and do all means necessary to defeat the North. However, the Viet Cong had a much better advantage than the U.S. The North Vietnamese knew their land by heart and used it to their advantage. (1999, Anderson David L., 8) The North Vietnamese’s most successful tactic was building tunnels that would connect from city to city. (On the website war, April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare, 1, 2) The Viet Cong built tunnels that would connect their territory to their enemy territory for quick and easy transportation and attacks. The Viet Cong built these tunnels while fighting the war with the French and they had stayed the same ever since. While the U.S. was entering the war Hồ Chí Minh ordered his men to expand the tunnels to make them more effective and so more people can live there. (April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare, 1, 2) The tunnels proved to be extremely difficult for the U.S. to fight against, because, it was a whole new underground system that the U.S. had never seen before. The tunnels were so long, that most of the time the enemy did not know that the Viet Cong were right under them ready for an ambush. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 5)
When Hồ Chí Minh created the tunnels, he wanted people to live there for a long time, because he did not know how long the war was going to last. Hồ Chí Minh order his Viet Cong troops to make the tunnels a suitable place to live in from day to night. When the tunnels were complete, there was enough space for a kitchen, workshop, bedrooms, and more. (April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare, 1, 2) The tunnels that the Viet Cong made were small cramped underground house, which troops communicated and stayed with other troops. Although, the tunnels were a great war strategy, people who lived in the tunnels were crammed into small spaces, and there was hardly any sunlight at all. This made many Viet Cong troops unhappy about the war and the living conditions. However, their loyalty got the better of them and they still wanted to fight for communism. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 5) For the Viet Cong the tunnels were both a great offensive and defensive strategy, because not only would the tunnels keep the U.S troops second-guessing about where the enemy was, but it also protected many of the Viet Cong soldiers from being killed from severe bombing or gunfire. For defensive attacks the Viet Cong used booby traps and highly poisonous snakes to protect the entrance of the tunnels from the enemy. A popular defense tactic that the Viet Cong used was Punji sticks. The Punji sticks were a booby trap that the Viet Cong created. The Punji sticks were sharp sticks made out of bamboo and wood that would camouflage with the ground. While a U.S troops were patrolling an area, Punji sticks would be blended in with the surrounding area. A U.S troop would not have noticed the Punji sticks because they were so well hidden. . (May 2 2013, News, before it, 5) The Punji sticks were mostly hidden in a hole that was covered up. If a U.S troop fell into a Punji hole, they would have died. Punji sticks were extremely useful for the Viet Cong because, the U.S troops did not know where these traps were hidden. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 6) Also, tunnels were made out of hard clay, with a mixture of different materials, so that trying to blow up a tunnel system was extremely difficult. (April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare, 1, 2) Also if a tunnel had fallen in the hands of the U.S., the Viet Cong members could flee down the tunnel a join a whole new branch of people. Tunnels were extremely effective in the Vietnam War and the U.S. could not find a way of destroying the tunnels. (April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare, 3, 4) The tunnels were also extremely effective on the offensive side as well. Because, the tunnels connected to many other tunnels the U.S. troops had no clue where the Viet Cong troops were. Because, the troops did not know where the Viet Cong members were, Viet Cong soldiers would pop out of their tunnels and shoot at the U.S. soldiers for twenty minutes, then quickly move back down in the tunnels and join another branch of Viet Cong members, who were hiding in a separate tunnel. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 5.) The tunnel system in the Vietnam War proved to be very confusing and effective for the Viet Cong, and if the Viet Cong did not use the tunnels, then the war would be quickly won by the U.S. (April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare, 1,2) While the war of attrition became extremely successful during the Vietnam War, more tactics started to emerge on the U.S. side. Based on the war of attrition General Westmoreland adapted his war of attrition method and changed it to search and destroy. This new method was the modified version of attrition. Not only did the U.S. kill people they believed were associated with the Viet Cong, but they would burn, and kill everything surrounding them. Since the United States had a huge advantage in technology, Westmoreland took that to his own advantage. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 3) Not only did ground troops walk around the jungle destroying everything in their path, but also troops would hover in helicopter and fly around to locate the enemy base. (BBC, The Vietnam War, 2, 3, 4) When the troops had located the base, all artillery was let loose. Finally when the Viet Cong had fled, American troops would drop down and burn everything. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 3) Although, the U.S. used helicopters to locate enemy bases, most members of the Viet Cong were hiding in tunnels underground. Since the tunnels blended in with most of the surrounding jungle, it made it very difficult for the U.S. to locate the tunnels and destroy them.
The Viet Cong also used guerilla warfare, which were quick and stealthy attacks, to keep the American soldiers off guard and to avoid heavy American firepower. Most American troops had trouble in Vietnam because the type of warfare that they were against was extremely aggressive. These sneaky attacks would be launched from thirty to one hundred men. These men would randomly pop out of bushes, swamps, trees, and even tunnels and launch a large amount of bullets at American troops. (June 11 2010, ITT Tech, 2, 3) After about 30 minutes of gunfire the Viet Cong members will escape the gunfire until they have reached a safe area. (May 2 2013, News, before it, 1, 3) These sneak attacks were extremely beneficial to the Viet Cong because the U.S. had ten times the amount of soldiers then the Viet Cong. So these attacks were essential for the Viet Cong to carry out or else Vietnam would have fallen in the possession of the Americans within a year. Although the American’s found out about the sneak attacks they could not anticipate when one was coming, this caused many American generals to postpone their search and destroy tactics because, they would not know if they would be sending their troops into a trap. (The Vietnam War, 2)
The Viet Cong would usually try to slowly bring the U.S. troops into territories that the Viet Cong are used to and use different noises and sounds to confuse U.S. troops. Once the troops were completely confused a quick and sudden ambush would occur were for once the U.S. had to play on the defensive end and save themselves. (The Vietnam War, 4) By the time reinforcements would recognize the gunfire and head to the location, most of the U.S. troops would have been dead or heavily wounded, and most or in fact all of the Viet Cong troops have fled the scene into safety. The Viet Cong used their knowledge of their territory and area to make secret attacks against the U.S. that were highly effective and could hardly have been stopped by the U.S. military Search and destroy became one of the most used tactics for the Americans in the Vietnam War. However, the more they used it, the more uprising happened in the states happened. Since the U.S. did not know who was on which side they, would kill many innocent civilians causing more and more people to favor the Viet Cong instead of the U.S. (1999, Anderson David L, 7)
The U.S. had fought a traditional war from day one. However, they would have to deal with a whole new type of warfare, guerilla warfare, that they had not seen or prepared for at all. The U.S. planned to fight the war by using their traditional method; this means that the U.S. planned on conquering land to show that they had secured Vietnam from the communist Vietnamese. (The Vietnam War, 1) However, when troops set foot on the land, they had discovered a torrid terrain, which was extremely difficult to fight a war in, especially a war that is based on conquering land. While deep into the war the U.S. realized that it was going to be very difficult to fight a traditional war. Suddenly, a new tactic developed by General Westmoreland had emerged. (4 September, 2008, Vietnam War, 2) The general’s new tactic was to fight a war of attrition. This new tactic meant that the Vietnam War was not going to be won by which side captures the most land, but by which side can eliminate more opponents. When everyone agreed upon the plan, U.S. troops were given the green light to shoot at anybody that looked like a Viet Cong supporter or a Viet Cong soldier. (The Vietnam War, 2) The U.S.’s troops did very well in this new method; in fact they killed two times as many soldiers as they lost. However, back in America when people heard about this new tactic, many peace groups and people who believed that fighting wars were wrong took the streets to show their anger. (The Vietnam War, 2) During the Vietnam War the U.S. always held the advantage on the technological side. From communication, to flying around in helicopters, the U.S. had so much technology that even today the Vietnamese do not have. The U.S. had advanced helicopters that could spot the enemy from miles away. The U.S. used that technology to their advances. The USA first invaded Vietnam with the M-16 rifles. (BBC, The Vietnam War, 2, 3, 4) However, because the M16 kept jamming during combat, the U.S. created a new and more accurate, and lighter gun called the M-14. Although, the M14 was clearly the better gun, more problems had accrued in combat against the Viet Cong. Therefore, the U.S. turned to the AK-47, a light but a little less affective gun then the M14, but it did not have any problems like the M-14. (BBC, The Vietnam War, 2, 3, 4) The U.S. tried to build more advanced guns so that if an ambush happened the U.S. would kill the Viet Cong before the Viet Cong pulled out their guns. However, this was not the case because the Viet Cong’s tactics were too confusing for the U.S. to understand, because the U.S. did not know the land they were fighting in. Even though the U.S. had the better guns and artillery, the Viet Cong, new the area the best, and that was the biggest threat to the U.S. during the Vietnam War. (June 11 2010, ITT Tech, 5) The U.S. had planes and helicopters to hover over the battlefield to target other enemies. However, since the Viet Cong, were hiding the tunnel this tactic was proven as somewhat as a bust. However, General Westmoreland had another tactic up his sleeve. (The Viet Cong were hiding in tunnels, and waiting for the U.S. to fall for their unexpected traps.) Westmoreland ordered his pilots to take out the jungle with napalm so the Viet Cong cannot blend or create new traps for the U.S. These attacks could not have happened without the technological advances by the American government. Even though the U.S. had the advantage on the technological side the U.S., did not know the land and the jungle biome at all. This caused the Viet Cong to easily, set up quick, stealthy attacks and ambushes to kill many American troops. The U.S. agreed to use Agent Orange (secret name for napalm), which was just planes going over the jungle and pouring napalm over the trees trying to destroy the jungle, in order to find the Viet Cong members easily. (1999, Anderson David L, 16) U.S. troops on the land kept falling into traps and ambushes by the Viet Cong. The only thing the U.S. could have done was to add air warfare and destroy the jungle to turn the table into the U.S.’s favor. However, the napalm proved to be ineffective, because the jungle was way too big to destroy and, the Viet Cong were living in tunnels so it would hardly kill any Viet Cong soldiers and hardly destroy the jungle. Even with all the napalm spreading into the jungles, the U.S.’s attacks could not live up to the standard guerilla warfare attacks. However, The U.S. had one more trick up their sleeves. (1999, Anderson David L, 16) Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson agreed upon, operation Rolling Thunder to eliminate quick sneak attacks caused by the Viet Cong. The North Vietnamese would take heavy bombing to weaken the Viet Cong army. (1999, Anderson David L, 9) The purpose of Rolling Thunder was to not only to weaken the Viet Cong army but also to get rid of all of its tunnel system by destroying the land. This tactic became very useful for the Americans but since the Viet Cong can easily blend in with the other Vietnamese, the Americans were also ending innocent people’s lives. (1999, Anderson David L, 7) Operation Rolling Thunder was a huge backfire for South Vietnam because, as the U.S. kept bombing North Vietnam, more and more people got inspired and unified with the Viet Cong to seek revenge on America, because most of their family members have been killed by the U.S. Operation Rolling Thunder led the Viet Cong to have a strong grudge against the U.S. (1999, Anderson David L, 7, 11) The tactics that the U.S. had come up with were mostly about killing everyone in their sight. Although it was successful, it also brought more and more people who have lost their families to the U.S., to join the Viet Cong. Because of this, more and more quick and stealthy attacks were placed against the U.S. At this point of the war, the US had ran out of options and dug themselves into a huge hole that would keep on getting deeper and deeper if they had continued with the war. (April 30, 2013 Vietnam Tunnel Warfare,1) Most of the U.S.’s attacks were heavily bloody, and killed many people, including a huge amount of innocent civilians, who were trying to avoid gunfire. This happened because; the United States could not fight the war that the Viet Cong were fighting. Guerilla Warfare, specifically sneak attacks, booby traps, tunnels, and quick and stealthy attacks by the Viet Cong caused the U.S. to change its tactic and forced the U.S. to fight a war of attrition. Guerilla warfare was so difficult for the U.S. to stop that the United States spend more and more money to try and get rid of it, even to this very day.