Vietnam War Essay Example
How effective were the Vietcong tactics of underground tunnels and booby traps in the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War was a war that started during the late 1950s and ended during the late 1970s. The Vietnam War ended in the Vietcong victory over America. I believe that this was due to the underground ‘labyrinth’ of tunnels and the vast usage of guerrilla warfare used by the Vietcong. Their usage of the tunnels and booby traps were in my opinion ingenious.
The variety of the booby traps that were used was astounding. Homemade mines and bombs, punji sticks, grenade traps, pit traps, deadfalls, cross-bow traps and other devices were used by them. The booby traps ranged from punji sticks to an assortment of grenades, mines and explosive devices (IEDs). They were very common due to the guerrilla nature of the war. According to www.vietnamwar.net/boobytraps.htm , more than one in ten casualties to the American soldiers was the result of a booby trap of one kind or another. The common use of these booby traps only further alienated American soldiers from the civilian South Vietnamese, whom they didn’t trust and couldn’t distinguish from the Vietcong. The usage of the booby traps was far more frequent in the southern war zone than in the northern war zone where the more significant danger was being ambushed by the North Vietnamese army. According to an article published by Lewis B. Puller Jr. the American soldiers biggest fear was that of booby traps set by the Vietcong.
Many weapons including booby traps and mines were homemade in villages. www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerilla/index.html states that the materials for these homemade traps and mines ranged from scavenged tin cans to discarded wire, but the most important ingredient- explosives- were left behind by the American troops. In a year the failed American bombs left behind more than 20,000 tons of explosives scattered around the Vietnamese countryside. Volunteers from the village or Vietcong members would
The Vietnam War was a war that started during the late 1950s and ended during the late 1970s. The Vietnam War ended in the Vietcong victory over America. I believe that this was due to the underground ‘labyrinth’ of tunnels and the vast usage of guerrilla warfare used by the Vietcong. Their usage of the tunnels and booby traps were in my opinion ingenious.
The variety of the booby traps that were used was astounding. Homemade mines and bombs, punji sticks, grenade traps, pit traps, deadfalls, cross-bow traps and other devices were used by them. The booby traps ranged from punji sticks to an assortment of grenades, mines and explosive devices (IEDs). They were very common due to the guerrilla nature of the war. According to www.vietnamwar.net/boobytraps.htm , more than one in ten casualties to the American soldiers was the result of a booby trap of one kind or another. The common use of these booby traps only further alienated American soldiers from the civilian South Vietnamese, whom they didn’t trust and couldn’t distinguish from the Vietcong. The usage of the booby traps was far more frequent in the southern war zone than in the northern war zone where the more significant danger was being ambushed by the North Vietnamese army. According to an article published by Lewis B. Puller Jr. the American soldiers biggest fear was that of booby traps set by the Vietcong.
Many weapons including booby traps and mines were homemade in villages. www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerilla/index.html states that the materials for these homemade traps and mines ranged from scavenged tin cans to discarded wire, but the most important ingredient- explosives- were left behind by the American troops. In a year the failed American bombs left behind more than 20,000 tons of explosives scattered around the Vietnamese countryside. Volunteers from the village or Vietcong members would