Vietnam
Key Battles Intensification Gulf of Tonkin https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1987/05/03/what-really-happened-in-the-gulf-of- tonkin/88693188-9fe4-4c0c-a848-b92857a3bbf5/ Battles Resources https://historyten.com/vietnam-war/major-battles-vietnam-war/ https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/major-battles-of-the-vietnam-war.html Ia Drang South Vietnam 1965 November Battle Of Ia Drang The Battle of la Drang is considered to be the first major engagement between the U.S. Army and the Vietnam’s People Army (PAVN). It was a two-part battle which took place from November 14 to 18, 1965 at the la Drang Valley, South Vietnam. Both sides suffered major casualties with both claiming victory of their own. The Battle of la Drang was considered essential because it sets up a change of tactics for both troops during the conflict. The U.S. Army used air mobility and artillery to achieve their objectives while the Vietnam Army neutralized the U.S. Army by fighting at close range. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/major-battles-of-the-vietnam-war.html Easter Battle of 1972 The Easter Offensive of 1972 was arguably the largest and bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War. It began on March 30 when NVA divisions backed with tanks crossed the DMZ into Quang Tri Province and ended on September 16, 1972 when South Vietnamese troops retook Quang Tri City. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/major-battles-of-the-vietnam-war.html A difficult divide in the Vietnam country, but also in the US On November 15, 1969, the largest anti-war demonstration in American history took place in Washington, D.C., as over 250,000 Americans gathered peacefully, calling for withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history#william-westmoreland The Cu Chi Tunnels are located about 60 kilometers northwest of Saigon and are a tunnel system in which Vietnamese partisans hid during the Vietnam War from 1960 to 1975. The first tunnels had already been dug in 1948 in the fight against the French to protect weapons, supplies and people. https://one-million-places.com/en/travel-vietnam/cu-chi-tunnels-vietcong-vietnam-war My Lai: Sadly Infamous Slaughter by US Troops https://armyhistory.org/my-lai/ Army History dot org My Lai 1By Fred Borch On 16 March 1968—fifty years ago—First Lieutenant William L. “Rusty” Calley, Jr., and his platoon murdered at least 300 Vietnamese civilians (and perhaps as many as 500) at a small South Vietnamese sub-hamlet called My Lai. This article examines what really happened in the “My Lai Incident,” or the “My Lai Massacre” as it is sometimes called. It will then look at the court-martial of Lieutenant Calley before discussing how the Army learned lessons from this tragedy, and took actions that not only ensured that there would be no more war crimes like My Lai, but also made the Army a more ethical and professional institution. The result is that fifty years after My Lai, some genuine good has come out of a very dark episode in U.S. Army history. https://armyhistory.org/my-lai/ Ngo Dinh Diem JFK and the Diem Coup: Declassified Records https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/ History dot com US decides to support Diem https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-decides-to-support-diem Ho Chi Minh (aka Uncle Ho or Bac Ho) died 1969 One of the better discussions here: https://sofrep.com/news/war-vietnam-avoided-case-ho-chi-minh-oss/ https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/ho-chi-minh/ Excerpt: The reality was that North Vietnam was governed collaboratively by the communist Politburo and Ho, though greatly respected, did not dominate the government….During World War II, Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh in its struggle against the Japanese occupation force. During this period Ho worked closely with the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ho and the Viet Minh claimed control of Vietnam briefly in August 1945 (see August Revolution) – however they were displaced by the occupation of northern Vietnam by Chinese nationalist forces and revived French colonial ambitions. Excerpt: He was inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution and joined the Communist Party traveling to the Soviet Union and China to spread the socialist doctrine into South East Asia. At the end of World War II, he appealed to the United States to assist him in liberating Vietnam from French control. But the post-war world order was not in his favor and he allied the hopes of his country with the Soviet Union and Communist China. Known as “Uncle Ho,” he became the symbol of Vietnamese liberation and the arch rival to the United States during the Vietnam War. https://www.biography.com/political-figure/ho-chi-minh Guerilla Warfare Tunnels Excerpt: In order to combat better-supplied American and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, Communist guerrilla troops known as Viet Cong (VC) dug tens of thousands of miles of tunnels, including an extensive network running underneath the Cu Chi district northwest of Saigon. Soldiers used these underground routes to house troops, transport communications and supplies, lay booby traps and mount surprise attacks, after which they could disappear underground to safety. To combat these guerrilla tactics, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces trained soldiers known as “tunnel rats” to navigate the tunnels in order to detect booby traps and enemy troop presence. https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/cu-chi-tunnels Soviet How the Soviets fought against the Americans in Vietnam (PHOTOS) HISTORYJULY 07 2020RUSSIA https://www.rbth.com/history/332396-how-soviets-fought-against-americans Excerpt: In April 1965, just a month after the United States had started sustained aerial bombardment of North Vietnam, known as ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’, the first Soviet air defense missile systems and military specialists servicing them began arriving in the country, at the request of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Chinese https://modernmilitaryhistory.com/2021/02/09/chinese-involvement-in-the-vietnam-war-1950-1975/ In April 1965, just a month after the United States had started sustained aerial bombardment of North Vietnam, known as ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’, the first Soviet air defense missile systems and military specialists servicing them began arriving in the country, at the request of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Comments July 18, 2022 We cannot study the Iraq and Afghanistan wars without studying Vietnam as the two are more related than many think. Week of July 15, 2022 I was a little girl during the Vietnam War, which lasted my entire growing up years in the United states. I had an uncle who was in the Navy and Marines in Vietnam, I believe he was last a Navy medic. His mother my grandmother was always very worried about him. Unfortunately and very sadly, I never got to know him well and missed out on important stories about what he actually did, what happened in his sphere of activity, and how it was for him when he returned. I lost out on stories and insights. He was an FBI agent for the rest of his adult life after coming home from Vietnam, and was near retilrment when a terrible tragedy occurred. He allegedly lost it and shot his ex and her boyfriend before committing suicide. The issues seem to be over money and that he had had some level of alcohol in his system influencing his mood and judgment. Although I was originally prepared to take this pointblank as presented, in later years I have often wondered if something else was going on. Uncle Mike will be moved to this website Updates: 2022/07/15; 2022/07/14; 2022/07/13 PAGE STARTED-Vietnam
Key battles o Intensification Gulf of Tonkin August 1964 o Battle of Ap Back o Battle of Pleiku o Battle of Van Tuong o Battle of Ia Drang o The Tet Offensive o Battle of Khe Sanh o Battle of Hamburger Hill o Fall of Saigon o Easter-probably most violent o Hue o Rolling Thunder A difficult divide in the country Vietnam and inside the US o S. and N. Vietnam - Geneva Accords split country meant to be temporary post first Indonesia-French War o US divided over whether to “do” Vietnam civil rights, anti-war groups, media Guerilla Warfare o Viet Cong o Tunnels - Cu Chi My Lai: Sadly Infamous Slaughter by US troops Ngo Dinh Diem o Assassination, o US support of Coup in general Kennedy not likely to have directed kill Kenny killed shortly later Ho Chi Minh o studying the Ho issue is considered vital here on PF multiple associations and travels abroad French socialists lived and worked in USA for awhile British Communist umbrella o Soviets inspired by Boshevik Revolution spent serious time in Russia o Chinese Ho’s earlier link to western security services US in Vietnam he asked for help from US for his revolution at first o
French Indochina Wars war-time bridge for Vietnamese between WWII and Vietnam War 1946 to 1954, right before Vietnam War Japan o Sept 1940-1945 o Japan was working with Hitler and had long-term imperial plans. o spurred Vietnamese desire for independence longterm desires o from Chinese (longest subjection but ended up working with them) o from French o from Japanese Comments
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Military/War Iraq Afghanistan Vietnam See also Case-Studies- John Lennon o Yoko Ono ties to Japan and Vietnam John Kennedy