Why did the US fail to win the Vietnam War?

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Why did the US fail to win the Vietnam War?
2
What background knowledge should I use?

• Why America are involved?
• The Domino Theory
• Containment
• French withdrawal from indo-china
• Gulf of Tonkin
• Ho Chi Minh and the Communist North

3
Essay style questions

• Most essays on the Vietnam War will have a factor
  to discuss and judge on its importance
• Military Failings
• Anti-War Movement
• You must discuss each of these factors and make a
  conclusion to how important these factors are
  individually.

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What are the factors?

• US ARVN military failings
• Vietcong NVA success
• Anti-War Movement
• Influence of the Media
• Economic Impact on US
• US Moral

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ARVN Strategy

• Keep control of South Vietnam
• Remove the Viet Cong from Villages
• Defend South from Invasion
• Rely on Massive amounts of money from US.

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ARVN weaknesses

• Even though they outnumbered the Vietcong they
  failed to counter the threat of the Vietcong
• Diems Regime was deeply unpopular in Vietnam
• Poorly Trained Equipped
• US sent Special Forces to teach basic training
  and tactics to ARVN
• Represented the Middle Class and not the people
• Sympathy for Vietcong in the countryside
• Poor chain of command
• Corruption amongst the Army and Government
• Political interference
• All crippled the ARVN from being an effective
  fighting force against Communism
• High casualty rate during the Vietnam War

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Importance of this Factor

• The Vietnam War would have been over far quicker
  without the introduction and escalation of US
  military forces however it is not a major factor
  in the US failing to win the Vietnam War.
• The corruption and chain of command was a key
  issue in the failings of the ARVN

8
US military Failings

• Operation Rolling Thunder
• Search and Destroy
• Chemical Warfare
• Strategic Hamlets

9
Operation Rolling Thunder

• Aim to was two fold
• To make the North Vietnamese give up the War
• Halt the flow of equipment down the Ho Chi Minh
  trail.

10

• 8 million tons of bombs dropped between 65 and
  73
• 300 tons for every man, woman and child in
  Vietnam
• the cost to the US of these raids was estimated
  at 900 million.

• Life Magazine calculated it cost the USA 400,000
  to kill on Vietcong fighter
• North Vietnam had few factories to bomb
• It failed to stop the supply

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• The USA did not anticipate the determination and
  resilience of the North Vietnamese people.
• Despite killing between 50,000 and 200,000
  civilians, morale remained high
• The people volunteered to repair the damage
  showing they would not give up.

12

• Operation Rolling Thunder was a costly operation.
  It cost the USA vast sums of money and had little
  impact on both the economy of North Vietnam and
  the morale of the people.

13
Search Destroy

• Aim
• To Locate the enemy and engage
• Missions using US and ARVN troops transported via
  helicopters
• High Body Count approach (grind the enemy into
  submission)

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Failure of Search and Destroy

• Killing more NVA and VC soldiers did not have the
  desired effect. More and more people from the
  North would join to fight the foreign invaders.
• As soon as US troops arrived at an area the
  Vietcong would often disappear only to return
  later.
• Innocent villages were often destroyed
• Made US ARVN troops unpopular
• Failed to win the support of the Vietnamese
  peasants.
• Inexperienced troops often walked into traps
• Rapes and Killings occurred

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• Search and Destroy did not have the desired
  effect either as they failed to grind the North
  into submission through body counts.
• US public used to their soldiers being heros,
  not beating up children and women
• Did not reduce the enemies ability to attack or
  reduce level of support among the south
  Vietnamese.

16
Agent Orange and Blue

• Aim
• To destroy the jungle and crops supporting the
  NVA VC
• Make it easier to fight the war for US

17

• It was estimated that approximately 77 million
  litres was sprayed over Vietnam.
• Drifted for miles and destroyed crops of local
  people.
• Up to 4 million people were exposed to these
  acids
• Settled on animals and got into water supplies

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Strategic Hamlets

• Very unpopular with locals
• Relocated peasant farmers from their land and
  placing them in fortified camps
• Supposed to protect them from VC attacks however
  drove the peasants closer to the VC.
• Like living in prison

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Overall

• US military failings were crucial in the Vietnam
  Wars outcome. The US failed to win the Hearts
  and Minds of the people and used tactics that
  were ineffective and largely unpopular amongst
  the locals.
• Support for the War at home was wavering as a
  result of the dead bodies coming home and the
  tactics used by the US.

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NVA VC strengths

• Aim
• To win the hearts and minds of the people
• Wear down the US forces
• Use Guerrilla tactics

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• Vietcong treated the South Vietnamese with
  respect and helped them out in their fields
• In return they gained food, hiding places and
  support
• Supporters of the US/ARVN would be treated with
  ruthless and brutal behaviour
• 30,000 teachers, police and tax collectors were
  killed as they worked for the Souths government

22

• Tactics used
• Booby Traps and mines (60 of US casualties
  result of these)
• Used the Jungle and countryside to their
  advantage
• Tunnel system for cover
• Vietcong did not use uniforms so hard to identify
• Very skilled due to previous wars against the
  Japanese and French
• Prepared to accept a heavy body count

23

• Vietnamese were fighting for a cause so much more
  determined than the USA
• Affected US morale both in Vietnam and at home
• Guerrilla tactics ideal for jungle warfare
• American High Tech warfare nullified

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• Importance
• The success of the Vietcong and NVA in winning
  the Hearts and Minds of the local peasants in
  Vietnam was important in the outcome of the War.
  They fought a determined effort to reunify
  Vietnam and drive out foreign invaders. The
  Guerrilla tactics were able to wear down the
  US/ARVN superior numbers and prevent them from
  using their superior technological power.

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Anti-War Movement

• Huge demonstrations carried out during the war
  calling for the withdrawal of US forces from
  Vietnam
• VVAW
• Civil Rights Movement
• Students
• Hippies

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• Undermined the war effort as the US failed to
  achieve a quick victory
• 58,000 total deaths
• Televised pictures showing the horrors of the war

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• Student opposition
• October 1969 2 million people took part in the
  Vietnam Moratorium protests
• November 1969 1 million people demonstrated in
  Washington DC and San Francisco
• Kent State 1970 massacre

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• VVAW
• Powerful voice against the war
• Stories of brutality and pointless suffering
• Hard to dismiss their opposition
• VVAW took over the Statue of Liberty in Dec 26th
  1971 for 2 days

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• Civil Rights
• Protesting against the draft
• Martin Luther king against the War as most
  recruits were young blacks
• Seen as poor and black mans war
• Ali refused to go
• They never called me nigger

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• Anti-war demonstrators labelled as Communists,
  traitors or cowards
• Impact?
• LBJ did not seek re-election due to the
  unpopularity of the War and his policies
• Cant win a war when you lose the support of the
  people
• Some would argue that the movement had little
  impact and not as powerful as first imagined
• However it split US public opinion and heavily
  contributed to the eventual withdrawal from
  Vietnam.

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Media

• Heavily reported
• First Televised War
• US civilians saw war in a way they had never seen
  before
• Saw wounded and killed
• US soldiers committing acts of brutality against
  prisoners and civilians
• My Lai Massacre
• Napalm Bombings

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• Gave the Anti-War movement the momentum
• People were turned off by the images
• Challenged the idea that We were the good guys
  in this war
• However critics believe that people became
  desensitised by the imagery and immune. Still eat
  their dinner watching the news.

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Economic Impact of the War

• Economic cost of the war US deficit of 1.6
  billion in 1965 increased to 25.3 billion in
  1968. Tax increases unpopular.
• Sacrificed the Great Society which would have
  improved the lives of many in the USA especially
  the poor and blacks.
• Seen as a waste of resources, 2000 million a
  month in 1968

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• The US economy could not sustain the Vietnam War
  spending
• Caused high inflation
• Large budget deficit
• Important Factor but not a crucial factor as the
  war should not have dragged on as long as it did.
  Expected to be a quick victory for the US, did
  not materialise

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US moral

• Inexperience of US soldiers (not prepared to
  fight the war)
• No experience of jungle warfare
• 19 was the average age of the soldier in Vietnam
• 43 of those killed in Vietnam were killed in
  their first three months of service
• Drug Use (20,000 treated in 1971)
• Most soldiers main aim was reaching DEROS (Date
  Eligible for Return Overseas)
• Conflict between officers and men, Fragging was
  common. (killing of officers by their own men)

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• Troops more interested in surviving their tour of
  duty than winning the war as 2 million serving in
  the War were drafted.
• Important factor but not as important as other
  factors