The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam

1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.

a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
I would say that the balance was strongly weighted to the army of the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong had soldiers that seemed fearless. Compared to the army of the US that lived in constant fear of ambushes and booby traps set by Viet Cong. Viet Cong soldiers showed their strengths since they did not need any weapons to prove it. Although the US had these weapons and technology that were strong, Viet Cong had their soldiers who refused to give in, and who would hide in the jungles with no uniforms or known base camps/head quarters.

b) Which quality was 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?
The Effective Tactics was the most important quality in determining who wont he war. I believe this because the Guerilla Tactics were extremely effective and caused much frustration for the US army. I think that yes this feature was so important that behing ahead in this area meant that most of the other advantages did not matter. For example, good supplies and weapons/the right technology did not matter for the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong had been so powerful with their Guerilla Tactics that the amount of weapons and technology did not matter. The US had outgunned them in weapons but that gave them no upper hand since the Viet Cong army had been hiding all over the place in jungles, and provided traps that stopped the US army before they could even use their weapons on them. Also, the US had developed new technology like the "Agent Orange" and the "Napalm" Both highly toxic weapons. These weapons and new technology didn't really phase Viet Cong. Actually, it caused less support from the Vietnamese People and less support also from the American People. The Vietnam War was a media war, and when pictures came out with crying burning children from the Napalm bombs the US army would use America was stunned. Either way, technology and weapons did not phase Viet Cong with their powerful and strong guerilla tactics.

The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.

2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:

a. The U.S. weaknesses were: Their Search & Destroy tactics which caused them much hatred among the Vietnamese Population, their bombing tactics which did no real damage to the Communists, and their fearful soldiers who had lost their morale for the war and were very fearful of the Viet Cong and their booby traps and ambushes. First, the Search & Destroy tactics were only a little effective. The US did find and kill some Viet Cong fighters, but in total there were much more problems that were included in the tactic. For example, inexperienced troops often walked into traps, innocent villages were destroyed, civilian casualties were extremely high, and many innocent civilians were murdered causing the support of the Vietnamese People to turn to the Viet Cong. When you compare the Search & Destroy tactics by the US to the Guerilla Tactics by the Viet Cong, it is clear that the guerilla tactics had no problems included, while the Search & Destroy tactic had much problems following behind. The Searach & Destroy tactic did nothing good for the US except anger the Vietnamese people. Next, the bombing tactics done by the US did no real damage to the Communists at all, it only slowed them down. Therefore the US army kind of wasted it's time I'd say. And finally, the soldiers of the US army had lost their morale and were very fearful. A fearful soldier isn't a strong one because their not able to take risks and kill. Also, when a soldier loses their morale they don't have anything pushing them to fight well. They weren't really fighting for anything if they lost their morale, therefore a loss in their morale meant a weaker soldier since they would not fight as well.

b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: Their motivated and committed soldiers, and their ability to keep going. The soldiers of the communists were very motivated, they refused to give in showing their strengths compared to those of the US army. Also, their ability to keep going after being hit was very impressive. After the US's extensive bombing raids on the Communists military and industrial targets, they were able to continue to operate their supply lines. And even after major air raids on North Vietnamese in 1972, the Communists were still able to launch a major assault on the South.

c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: When the US launched extensive bombing raids on the North Vietnamese targets they did come out with some successes. These were: it damaged the Vietnam's war effort and disrupted supply lines, it enabled the USA to strike at Communist forces even when it was reducing US ground forces in Vietnam after 1969, and finally from 1970 to 1972 intense bombing campaigns against Hanoi and the port of Haiphong forced the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table.

d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The biggest failure of the US during the Vietnam War was the My Lai Massacre. This was when in March 1968 a unit of Young America soldiers called Charlie Company started a search and destroy mission. They had been told that in the My Lai area there had been Viet Cong head quarters, and 200 Viet Cong guerrillas. The soldiers had been ordered to destroy all houses, dwellings, and livestock. Most of them were under the impression that they had been ordered to kill everyone in the villages. Between 300-400 civilians were killed, they were mostly women, children, and old men. No Viet Cong were found. Soon after Life Magazine, one of the most influential magazines in the USA, published photographs of the massacre at My Lai. This triggered an investigation that ended in the trial for mass murder of Leuitenant William Calley. The relevations at My Lai deeply shocked the American public and it was the clearest evidence that the war had gone wrong. In conclusion, the massacre at My Lai cost the US army much shame among the American public, and the lives of many innocent civilians for no lives of the Viet Cong.

e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as: their guerrilla tactics that led them to a success. Because they decided to fight the way a guerrilla does, they gave the US army a nightmare and therefore increased their chances of winning the Vietnam War. They did not wear any uniform, they did not have any known headquarters or base camps, they were hard to tell apart from other peasants living in the villages, and after they attacked they would escape into the jungles making life for the US army in Vietnam so much more difficult. Their aim of the guerrilla tactics was to wear down the US Army, in which they did with much success. In fact they did so much that most of the soldiers in the US army lost their morales to fight. Therefore the guerilla tactics that Viet Cong chose to use was one of their major successes in the Vietnam War.

f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example: The Tet Offensive of 1968. Viet Cong attacked over 100 cities and other military targets. US forces had to fight to regain control room by room. In many ways the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the US and the Viet Cong. Viet Cong had hoped that the South Vietnam would step up and help them but they did not. Viet Cong lost around 10,000 experienced fighters and were badly weakened by it.

g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be the tactics they decided to take in the Vietnam war because: Their tactics didn't really do much as to helping them in the war, it only made things go slower and cause some problems along the way. First, their bombing tactics could no defeat the Communists, it could only slow them down. The Viet Cong continued to operate its supply lines even after major air raids by the US. The Communists were even still able to launch a major assault on the South. Also, the cost of the sir was was horrendous. The Communists had shot down 14,000 US and South Vietnamese aircrafts. Also, in 1967 the American Life America magazine calculated that it cost the USA $400,000 to kill one Viet Cong fighter, a figure that included 75 bombs and 400 artillery shells. Therefore the bombing tacts they chose to take only slowed down the Communists doing no real damage, cost them many soldiers, and to make matters worse cost them the embarrassment to the American public. The second war tactic chosen by the USA was Search & Destroy Tactics. These also did the US no real success. The US killed very few Viet Cong fighters by burning down villages, and also killed many many innocent civilians living in these villages. This cost them hatred among the Vietnamese people, making them lose the chance of the Vietnamese population from ever helping them out, and also it cost them time since they spent their time searching through the villages and jungles, and found nothing. The US should have changed their war tactics in the Vietnam War because clearly what they had been doing did very little for them in the long run.

h. The key Viet Cong strength was the guerrilla tactics because: like I had said before, if it wasn't for the guerrilla tactics done by the Viet Cong this war probably would had been a lot easier for the US army to defeat. The Guerilla Tactics caused frustration among the US soldiers, and therefore a lack in morale and a fear among most of the men. A fearful soldier with no morale to win isn't a strong one. Overall the guerrilla tactics caused so much frustration and it made the fighters of the Viet Cong very difficult to find, and therefore harder to kill. Also, another strength of the Viet Cong was their soldiers who refused to ever back down. Because Viet Cong was equipped with such people like that, they had more of a chance of winning.