1 Key Q 1: Why did the USA get increasingly involved in Vietnam?Key Q 2: What were the different ways that the USA and Communists fought the war? Key Q 3: Whose tactics were more effective – the USA’s of the Communists’? Domino Theory: The theory that if one country falls to communism, a nearby country will probably be next. Arose from communism spreading across Eastern Europe. Also China, Vietnam and Korea shared borders. Was incorrect (see Cuba) but many Americans believed it and more importantly so did many in government. USA overwhelmingly superior technology: The US was the wealthiest, most powerful army in the world with all the most modern technology. Agent orange was a chemical weapon that would destroy jungle where Vietcong hid – US used 82 million litres of it. Napalm was a jelly-like substance that would stick to a person and burn – it would burn skin through to the bone. Both were dropped from planes or helicopters. Both killed many civilians and destroyed the countryside, which only created more support for the Vietcong. Bombing was a key feature of US tactics, they dropped more bombs on Vietnam than they had dropped on Germany and Japan combined during WW2. They mostly targeted North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trial which went into Laos and Cambodia. It caused massive damage to North Vietnam, but it could not defeat the communists once and for all, it could only slow them down. Vietcong guerrilla warfare: The Vietcong knew they could never beat the US army in a conventional(fair) fight so they used guerrilla tactics which meant they only fought when they had an advantage and hid from the enemy the rest of the time. The aim was not to conquer land or wipe out the enemy it was to wear their morale down until they gave in. The guerrillas did not wear uniform, had limited weapons and were impossible to tell apart from ordinary villagers. They used a lot of booby-traps such as trip wires attached to grenades, or punji sticks which were basically pits covered with sharpened bamboo sticks, often covered in human faeces (poo) so they caused infections. Booby traps caused about 11% of US casualties. They used ambushes when they would wait for a US patrol, attack them when they outnumbered them and then escape before US reinforcements arrived. 51% of US casualties were caused by small arms fire which were often used in ambushes. They used hidden tunnel systems so they could hide more easily from their enemy. Ho Chi Minh knew that it was important to win the support of locals so he ordered the Vietcong to be polite and courteous to the South Vietnamese and even to help them in the fields from time to time. This helped the Vietcong to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the South Vietnamese population. They targeted any supporters of the South Vietnamese government including teachers, police, government officials, tax collectors and more. It is estimated that between the Vietcong killed 27,000 South Vietnamese civilians. They simply refused to give in, no matter how many of them were killed, they were never ever going to give up. An estimated 1 million Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops were killed during the war compared to less than 300,000 US and South Vietnamese troops combined but they were willing to pay that price to win back their country. They used the Ho Chi Minh Trail to keep supplied, part of this ran through Laos and Cambodia so it was difficult for the US to stop the supply route. Troops, supplies and weapons all travelled up and down this trail and about 40,000 Vietnamese fought to keep the supply route going, despite constant bombing. Money: The US had given millions of dollars worth of aid to the French as they fought the Vietminh, then millions more to the South Vietnamese government. It would have been an embarrassing waste to let Vietnam fall to communism and damaging politically. Corrupt and ineffective South Vietnamese Government/Army: After the elections of 1956 were prevented from happening, the Vietcong stepped up their guerrilla warfare. The South Vietnamese government were unpopular and their army wasn’t good enough to fight the Vietcong effectively. Either the US got more involved or the Vietcong would eventually win. Search and Destroy: A tactic which involved creating strong bases for South Vietnamese and US soldiers. They would use helicopters to quickly raid villages with suspected Vietcong in them and report back body counts. The problem was the intelligence was often faulty so innocent villages were targeted and the need to provide a body count meant innocent people were often killed. For every Vietcong killed or captured it is estimated that 6 civilians were killed. This just created more support for the Vietcong. Troops often walked into traps left by the Vietcong too, when he Vietcong were miles away from the traps so it took a terrible psychological toll on the US troops and their morale. Political Necessity: American politicians of the 1950s were sometimes accused of being communist sympathisers and put on trial. This would ruin a career even if found not-guilty. If any president had ‘lost’ Vietnam, it could have made it very difficult for them to be re-elected. Containment: Truman Doctrine set out that the US should ‘contain’ communism. When coupled with domino theory it shows why many in the US felt they had to act to stop Vietnam falling to communism.s

2 Key Q4: Why did the USA withdraw from Vietnam?Hearts and Minds: To win the war the US needed to gain the support of the Vietnamese people, otherwise only force would stop the communists from taking over. Winning the ‘hearts and minds’ would mean the capitalists might have a chance of winning and election (such as the one never held in 1956). The problem was most US tactics made them more unpopular and created more support for the Vietcong. Impossible to stop them all: The US couldn’t invade North Vietnam for fear of bringing China and/or the USSR in to the war but that was where the communists were based. Air strikes would never stop them altogether. So by killing Vietcong they were killing the enemy but there would always be more willing to fight from the north. It was like killing wasps but leaving the nest alone. Low morale and inexperience: Most US troops didn’t want to be there and were young with an ave age of 19. They didn’t care about Vietnam, they just wanted to get home alive. In contrast the Vietcong were fighting to defend their homelands. There is evidence of ‘fragging’ officers which is troops killing one of their officers who took too many risks. Cost: It is estimated by the Pentagon that the Vietnam War cost the USA a total of $110billion. Specific Key Events Tet Offensive 1968: The US public had been told the US were winning the war up to 1968 but then during the Tet New Year Holiday the Vietcong attacked over 100 cities at once. One Vietcong commando group even tried to take the US embassy in Saigon and they got inside. The whole thing was a disaster for the Vietcong in military terms as they lost over 10,000 soldiers but it did prove to be a turning point in the war. US cameramen got images of the attacks and film of the assault on the Saigon US embassy was shown on US news networks. Tet showed the American people that the US were probably not ‘winning’ the war quite as they had been led to believe. Before Tet the media had been largely positive towards the war, after Tet the media was crucial in influencing the American public to turn against the war. After Tet President Johnson concluded that the war could not be won militarily and scaled back the bombing of North Vietnam. In the election of 1968 both presidential candidates promised to end US involevement in Vietnam. My Lai 1968: Charlie Company had been told that there were an estimated 200 Vietcong in the village of My Lai and were sent on a Search and Destroy mission. They were ordered to destroy all houses and livestock, they were also told the villagers would be out at the market. The interpreted this as kill everyone left in the village and most of the villagers were not at market. There were also no confirmed Vietcong in the village. In 3-4hrs they killed mostly women, children and old men. Only 3 weapons were found in the village. At the time it was a recoded a success with mostly Vietcong killed but 12 months later a solider wrote to 30 leading politicians in Washington about it and the truth came out. The influential Life magazine wrote about the My Lai massacre and published photographs. Lieutenant Calley was put on trial and convicted to 20 years hard labour in 1971 but was released in 1974. My Lai deeply shocked the American public and undermined the war effort making the war in Vietnam incredibly unpopular. Peace Movement: 1968 was year of protest, the movement had gathered dpace before then but Tet and My Lai had a big impact. Black soldiers accounted for 22% of all casualties, despite making up only 11% of the army, there was a suggestion they were being put in most danger whilst some whites avoided it. Boxing champ Mohammad Ali refused to go fight and avoided the draft, he said ‘the Viet Cong never called us nigger’. He inspired others. Students were also crucial. In the first half of 1968 there were over 100 student organised anti-war protests involving over 40,000 people. In Nov 1969 a Washington anti-Vietnam war protest was the largest protest in US history with 700,000 participants. The war could not continue in the face of such huge opposition, the politicians had to act or they would never win votes. At Kent State University 4 students were killed in 1970 when state troopers panicked and fired on a crowd of anti-war protesters. 2 million students went on strike in protest. US Media: Up to 1968 the media did not want to be accused of undermining the war effort so were mostly positive about the war. After 1968 the media generally turned against the war. They showed US troops burning down Vietnamese peasant houses, they showed coverage of anti-war demonstrations and they showed images of atrocities such as a famous image of a South Vietnamese police colonel executing a Viet Cong suspect in the street. Such casual violence seemed to suggest the US armed forces were not the ‘good guys’ and undermined the war effort. Influential CBS news report Walter Cronkie said to his TV audience that he thought the war was ‘unwinnable’ after reporting on the Tet Offensive, His views were very influential. The Fall of South Vietnam: It is estimated by the Pentagon that the Vietnam War cost the USA a total of $110billion.