Pivotal Battles of The Vietnam War

The Battle of Khe Sanh began on January 21, 1968, when forces from the People’s Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) carried out a massive artillery bombardment on the U.S. Marine garrison at Khe Sanh, located in northwest South Vietnam near the Laotian border. For the next 77 days, U.S. Marines and their South Vietnamese allies fought off an intense invasion of the garrison, in one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, with U.S. and South Vietnamese attention focused on Khe Sanh, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive, a series of coordinated surprise attacks on cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive on January 31, 1968, some 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year holiday called Tet), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces managed to hold off the Communist attacks.

Vietnamese Government Before and After

The government in Vietnam pre-war was a Communist rule. It was lead by the ways of China and Russia trying to spread their way of government. On the other hand the South was a nationalistic government or a republic. It was then starting to become democratic. By the end of the war the Vietnamese government was a Communist all the way around. This was caused by the fall of Saigon. Also with the evacuation of the United States. This ultimately was the downfall of the South and caused the North to continue with Communist rule.

Attitudes Toward The War

The Vietnam War was not popular all over the world. Especially in the United States people hated and thought we should not have even joined the war. They believe we should have just let the war continue between the North and South. They also began to hate the government due to the fact they forced many men to go to Vietnam. Many people in the country were also against the war. People in the North just wanted to stop the war and to keep communism rule. Many Americans also felt that the amount of troops that were sent was too many. They did not like the fact that we were also involved in something just to get our government ideas over there.

United States Affects After The War

During this war the United States had to spend a lot of money. Actually during this 150 billion dollars were spent. This also caused a huge inflation in the country. Also after this war many Americans lost trust in the government, military, and it largely impacted the Democratic party. This also was the last war where a military draft was used. Many men also did not get to come home right after but had to stay for years after. This war divided Americans and caused many unrests. It also made 700,00 Vietnamese people move to the states.

This is a Vietnamese POW camp.

Who Was Involved in The War

There were many people who were at least some what involved in this war. The pro-Hanoi side or the side for the Communist North consisted of China, Soviet Union, North Korea, and Cuba. These countries were helpful for the North because yet again they were all Communist. The pro-Saigon consisted of South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and the United States. These countries were for the Southern side because they were all against Communism. Also, the United States really wanted to spread their Democratic ways. Even though many countries were on both sides of the war only the United States for the Southern Vietnamese joined the war. This made the war a doubled sided war between Communism and the non-communists.

Why Did This War Happen and How Did It Help The Country Now

The Vietnam War happened because Southern Vietnam did not want to be under Communist rule. The United States also got involved because they were allies with South Vietnam. They also were involved because they wanted the spread of Democratic beliefs. North Vietnam was in this war to stop the South Vietnam's threats against the Communist government. Yet with the help of Russia and China the North was well under way to beat the South. Then the U.S. came in and began to help. Without them going, there would have been no war and the South would be a whole lot different now. This war shaped that whole country into what it is now.

Effects After The War in Vietnam

The most immediate effect after the war was the outrageous death toll. It was estimated that there was a loss of two million Vietnamese citizens. There were 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops and 200,000 South Vietnamese troops lost their lives as well. Also there was 58,00 American troops lives lost. These amounts caused many changes around the world especially in these areas. Also the amount wounded added tens of thousands more. The bombing of both North and South Vietnam left the country in ruins. The use of Agent Orange by the United States Army has killed and devastated Vietnam's natural environment. It also caused many health problems for the people in the area that lasted for years.

Amount of people killed in Vietnam to how many in the war in Iraq.

Works Cited Page

Websites

Works Cited

"Booby Traps, Vietnam War." 5th Battalion The Australian Regiment Association Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014. <http://www.5rar.av/weapons/boobytraps.htm>.

"Guerrilla Tactics: An Overview." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 4 May 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerrilla/index.html?pagewanted=all>.

"South Vietnam." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam>.

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"The Vietnam War." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 9 May 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/johngardner/chapters/4a.html>.

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"What effect did the Vietnam War have on the world?." prezi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://prezi.com/zlqmhtkvxjcq/what-effect-did-the-vietnam-war-have-on-the-world/>.

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Vietcong Guerrilla Tactics

The Vietcong focused as small unit forces. They are based on intelligence, ambush, deception, sabotage, and espionage. They are mostly composed of strong attacks in small groups. These small groups used lots of camouflage. Also using many traps to take down and run away opposing forces. The tactics would work due to the fact the Vietcong had a good relationship with the civil population in the country. The relationship helped because they could hide out in towns and know the people are going to help them. Also, the terrain of Vietnam was used to and advantage. They had immense cover which helped them because the enemy forces would not suspect them in many places, and gave them the surprise of attack.

This is a a surprise attack method that the Vietcong would use to get the jump on American forces

Booby Traps used by Vietcong

The Vietcong used many types of booby traps. Most of them had nails or spikes or the traps were pits. Many of the pits used would range from 6-8 feet deep and some would have spikes at the bottom as well. The traps were used to slow down and injure the United States forces. Some of the names of the traps were: spike board, side-closing punji trap, and the whip trap. The spike trap is a board of wood and nails driven through and placed all over. The side-closing punji trap is a small hole in the ground. The hole is filled with many different types of spikes and nails. These littered the Vietnam war area. The whip trap is a long bamboo stick that is connected to a trip wire. The bamboo stick is then layered with spikes and nails to take out the legs of enemy troops. This caused many American troops and Vietnamese people to perish or to not regain many body part functions.

Weapons Used by Vietcong

Most of the Vietcong Army was armed with Chinese versions of the Russian AK-47 submachine gun. Also, they used a range of Soviet and Chinese light and medium machine guns. They infrequently used heavy machine guns. These heavy machine guns were mostly used for the defense against American Helicopter's. They also used many rocket propelled grenades and mortars to destroy the enemies vehicles. Booby traps and mines were used as many ways of attack for the Vietcong. These weapons caused lots of destruction for the enemies and caused them to lose many lives in the war. These weapons were the main way of death of the United States troops in the war.