Viet Nam Essay -- essays research papers

Tactics in Vietnam were an important factor in the victory of the Vietcong over the U.S. There were fundamental differences in their fighting methods, which the Vietcong were able to take full advantage of. The Vietcong used Guerrilla warfare, this meant that they used their knowledge of the area they were fighting in to hinder the U.S. The U.S army had been used to conventional warfare, in the form of bouts of fighting. Guerrilla warfare meant that they had to be constantly alert and Booby traps meant that many soldiers died and witnessed horrific deaths. This was naturally unnerving for the soldiers concerned, particularly so because many of the soldiers were young and inexperienced. The technology of the U.S was far superior to that of the Vietcong and yet it was ultimately ineffectual. One weapon, which the U.S thought would be important, was Bombs. At first the U.S bombed specific targets. When they realized that had little effect, they began blanket bombing, this was known as ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’. Massive amounts of explosives were dropped on Vietnam, three times as much explosives was dropped than on Germany and Japan put together during World War 2. However, the Vietcong countered this with anti-aircraft guns, surface to air missiles, aid from soviet planes, and a network of tunnels. The U.S believed these to be simply to take cover from the bombing, in-fact they were also effectively used to ambush the U.S. Bombing had very little effect on the Vietcong ...