Why did the USA lose the Vietnam War?

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam War?

The Americans did not lose purely for military reasons. There were other factors as well.

Write an explanation AND cite a source which shows the importance of the following six factors:

1. US military tactics in Vietnam: During the Vietnam War the US military used a lot of ineffective tactics. These were the search & destroy tactics, the orange and napalm bombs, and finally their extensive bombing on North Vietnam. The search & destroy tactics were very very ineffective. This is because the US military had been burning down villages, and in the midst of it killing many innocent civilians mistaken for Viet Cong fighters hiding in these villages. The US had wasted their time, they found very few Viet Cong fighters and probably killed more innocent civilians rather than what they were looking for, Viet Cong. Next the orange and napalm bombs also did very little. They had not only killed innocent people, but children as well which certainly did not make the US look good to the American public when pictures leaked of children running from the Napalm bombs. (Source 42) And finally, their bombing tactics did very little to the Communists. It only slowed them down, since the Communists were able to pick up right from where they started after the bombs with a major assault attack against the US military. They had also bombed the ancient Hue (source 41) that had caused outraged amongst the American public questioning the US military and their morals during the Vietnam War.

2. The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese regime: The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese regime was another factor as to why the US lost the Vietnam War. The United States had supported Ngo Dinh Diem, who's regime was extremely corrupt. He was an extreme anti-communist who showed little respect for the Buddhist religion. Buddhist priests would protest by lightning themselves on fire in public (source 33) But America "knew of no one better." and kept supporting Diem. They needed somebody strong to help them defeat the communists. He wouldn't even hold any elections for positions of power, he would appoint members of his own family. The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese Regime was the reason for the formation of the Viet Cong. Because of the actions of these anti-communist governments, support among the ordinary peasants for the Communist- led National Front for the liberation of South Vietnam was set up, the movement is referred to as Viet Cong.

3. The experience of the Viet Cong and the inexperience of the American soldiers: The Viet Cong fighters clearly showed much more experience than the American soldiers during the Vietnam War, leading to the defeat of the US. The Viet Cong fighters had the upper hand since they were fighting in their home, they knew their land well while the America soldiers had not a clue on where they were going. The Viet Cong soldiers used their advantage well and decided to use Guerilla tactics, which was extremely effective. As seen in source Source 37, American soldiers would search and search through the jungles, but the Viet Cong was hiding in the jungle unable to be seen by the US giving them the upper hand. Viet Cong fighters had been extremely hard to find for the US soldiers because of this, leading to why the US had such a hard time defeating them.

4. Domestic opposition to the war in the U.S: During the Vietnam War the American public did not support the American soldiers being there. Many many people were opposed to the war, and therefore many anti- war protests were formed. Nasty pictures began to leak out of screaming children running fro US Napalm bombs (source 42) Along with information about the My Lai Massacre (source 50), that shocked the world. Because of this discomfort throughout the American public about their soldiers taking apart of these horrible acts, it had caused a raucous throughout the American Public demanding that the war was put to an end. The numerous amount of protests were effective in making the President think about why they were in Vietnam. This loss of support made America think about leaving Vietnam, in which they did enabling them to lose the war.

5. Chinese and Soviet support for the Viet Cong: Both the Chinese and Soviet Union had supplied Viet Cong with weapons, which was very helpful to the Viet Cong. China had been very against the US winning the Vietnam War. As shown in source 38, they didn't want America to be in Vietnam. Along with this, the Soviet Union had been supporting Viet Cong because they wanted to spread communism so they felt that they had to support Vietnam as much as possible in order to spread the communism. Clearly Viet Cong had its supporters, while the US did not. The US had the help of the South Vietnamese regime, but they were no help. They depended on the American soldiers, and therefore kind of sat bat and watched the US do all of the work. The US had been alone in the war pretty much, while Viet Cong had been supporters which is a main reason the US lost the Vietnam War.

6. 'But did they really lose?' Summarize the argument put forward in Source 57, and your view on it.:V
Source 57 makes the argument that America did not lose the Vietnam War. It makes the point that the American Military had not been defeated in Vietnam, The US had not lost the war in Vietnam- the South Vietnamese did, and the fall of Saigon. Source 57 states that American military had not been defeated because they had preformed a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. Next, the fall of Saigon had happened two years after the US military had left, therefore how could they lose a war that they had already stopped fighting? In my opinion, I believe that the Vietnam war was a loss for us. This is because we had involved ourselves in a war we were not prepared for, and that we failed at successfully defeating communism, our primary goal for being apart of the Vietnam. Since we did not achieve our goals, we did not win the war we lost. Source 57 does make a good argument as to how this isn't personally a defeat for our country. But in my perspective we wasted our time being there to get rid of communism, and we could not defeat it meaning we failed.



Add other if you think there are factors you should consider.

Vietnam War Opposition

You are an opponent of American involvement in Vietnam. Use the evidence in this chapter to begin formulating ideas to make a poster or a leaflet putting forward your views. You will work on this in class on Friday. You can include stories and images from pages 353-61. However, you must also include an explanation that will convince the supporters of containment that the policy is not working in Vietnam. OPTIONAL: Instead of opposing the war, you can support it. Feel free to make a COUNTER-ARGUMENT that the war is necessary to contain Communism.

1. Note all of the reasons why you feel the war in Vietnam is wrong.
-Many many innocent civilians were killed (by chemical weapons, search and destroy tactics)
-destroying villages where innocent civilians were
-The My Lai Massacre
-The Ancient Hue was destroyed
-Napalm bombs killing children (pictures shown of children running from the bombs)
-US army seemed weak

2. Note what you're trying to achieve with this poster. (e.g. to convince people to write to their Congressmen to get the troops out.)
To convince people that this war is disastrous, and we need to get the Congressmen to get our troops out before we kill anymore innocent civilians and take their homes away by destroying their villages.

3. List possible images for your poster. Think about: background (e.g. destroyed villages); the central image (e.g. picture of a young soldier); whether you will need words to explain your image.
-destroyed villages
-solider watching burning down village
-photographs of the My Lai Massacre
-Vietnamese children running from the US Napalm bombs
-people in the South Vietnamese sorting through the city of Hue looking through the wreckage of their homes

4. List some possible slogans for your poster.
-Is this what we sent our soldiers there for?
-Do we want the innocent Vietnamese blood shed on our country?

Vietnam War Turning Points

1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.
The Tet Offensive was a major turning point during the Vietnam War because it raised hard questions about the war in the USA. For example, there were nearly 500,000 troops in Vietnam and the USA was spending $20 billion a year on the war. This raised questions as to why the Communists had been able to launch a major offensive that took the US forces completely by surprise. Another for example, the US and South Vietnamese forces quickly retook the towns captured in the offensive but in the process they used enormous amounts of artillery and air power. Many civilians were killed, and the ancient Hue was destroyed. Was this right?

2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
Sources 51 and 52 are not making the same point about the My Lai Massacre. This is because sources 51 is opposing the reasons behing the My Lai Massacre, claiming it was a Nai type of thing and they had not gone there to be Nazi's. The source also makes the point that they had gone there to be courageous on the behalf of their country and they had not known what they were doing. Source 52 however states tha tit was not a massacre of innocent civilians, they were only killing pawns who supported communism, something they needed to stop.

3. Why do you think it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the massacre?
I think that it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the My Lai Massacre because the revelations of the massacre would of course cause a great discrediting to the US army. Also there had already been photographs of horrid images of screaming children running from the Napalm Bombs the US had set off against Viet Cong, so the US had already been losing the support from the American people. If this were to get out, it would have enraged many antiwar protesters and cause a huge outrage among the people.

4. Why was the massacre so shocking to the American public?
The Massacre was so shocking to the American people because nobody thought the US army was capable of doing such horrid, and horrendous things such as killing 400 innocent civilians. Of which mostly were women, children, and old men. It was a deed that no person at the time would think America would commit.

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.

The U.S. Enters the Vietnam War

1. Many neutral observers in Vietnam were critical of US policy. Explain why.
The US made the policy that prevented the elections from taking place because it feared that the Communists would win. Many neutral observers in Vietnam were critical of US policy because Ho Chi Minh, he inspired the Vietnamese people to fight for an independent Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was a communist, and the United States feared that possibly 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the communist as their leader. The Vietnam people were very critical of the policy preventing these elections from taking place, because Ho Chi Minh imspired them. Also, the United States methods and policies showed their ignorance of the Vietnamese people and the region.

2. Explain how US politicians would have defended their policies.
US politicians would have defended their policies by advocating their "domino theory". President Eisenhower and his Secretary of State JF Dulles were convinced that China and the USSR were planning to spread Communism throughout Asia. If Vietnam fell to Communism, then Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and possibly even India might also fall- just like a row of dominoes.

3. The following events are not listed in correct date order. Place them in the correct chronological order. (Write the year inside the parenthesis, i.e. (1965). Then note the reason for each U.S. action, and how it brought the U.S. into deeper involvement in Vietnam.

The reasons you can choose from are: No direct involvement; financial support; political involvement; military involvement. Also, note what events triggered the increased involvement.

(1963) Assassination of JFK - Johnson becomes president: political involvement-> His successor Lyndon Johnson, was more prepared than Kennedy to commit the USA to a full-scale conflict in Vietnam to prevent the spread of Communism.

(1955) Formation of South Vietnam- political involvement-> Ngo Dinh Diem set up the Republic of South Vietnam, who treated the Vietnamese peasants with
contempt. He was a Christian and showed little respect for the Buddhist religion of most Vietnamese peasants. Diem's regime was also extremely corrupt. Therefor causing the people to overthrow him, and anger the Vietnamese people even more triggering increased involvement.

(1964) Gulf of Tonkin Incident: military involvement-> The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed which gave Lyndon Johnson the power to 'take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security'. It effectively meant that
he could take the USA into a full-scale war if he felt it was necessary.

(1962) Number of 'advisers' reaches over 11,500: military involvement-> Increased American involvement in Vietnam.

(1962) JFK sends military advisers: military involvement-> JFK sent the advisers to fight the Viet Cong, therefore in 1963 and 1964 tension between North and South
Vietnam increased.

(1965) U.S. Marines land at Da Nang: military involvement-> US marines, combat troops rather than advisers, came ashore at Da Nang. America was at war in Vietnam.


(1954) U.S. stops elections in Vietnam: political involvement-> Stopping elections in Vietnam angered the people because now they could not elect Ho Chi Minh, somebody they deeply admired.

(1963) U.S. supports South Vietnam government after army overthrow Diem: no direct involvement-> The actions of these anti-Communist governments increased support among the ordinary peasants for the Communist-led National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. This movement was usually referred to as the Viet Congo which later on attacked American air force bases getting the US even more involved.

(1960) Viet Cong attacks on U.S. and South Vietnam bases: military involvement-> This would involve the US in the Vietnam even more because they would need to fight back.

(1960) Viet Cong formed: no direct involvement-> Viet Cong later on attacked the United States American air forces which would cause the US more involvement.

4. Choose two events that you think were critical in getting the U.S. involved in a war in Vietnam. Explain.
The two event that I think were critical in getting the US involved in a war in Vietnam would be the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, and the US Marines landing at Da Nang. The Guld of Tonkin Incident gave Lyndon Johnson the power to 'take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security'. Meaning that he could take the USA into a full-scale war if he felt it was necessary. Increasing the chances of the US getting involved in the war. Next, when the US Marines landed at Da Nang, America was finally at war in Vietnam.