How the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Won the Vietnam War

Thousands of soldiers and other military assets were moved to the isolated base of Khe Sanh, away from arguably more useful bases throughout the rest of the country. When viewed on its own, the strategic military advantages of a victory at Khe Sanh were relatively inconsequential. “Khe Sanh had little impact on the outcome of the Vietnam War. Seen in this context, and given the intentions of the participants at the beginning, Khe Sanh was an overall failure for both sides” (“The Battle of Khe Sanh”). The true significance of the battle at Khe Sanh is the fact that it laid the groundwork for the Tet Offensive, and thus for the psychological turning point of the war.

The Vietnam War – the most despised war in America’s history – began earlier than many people realize. Troop involvement first appeared in 1965, but the United States had been sending supplies to the South Vietnamese since the beginning of 1953. During this time leaders of SEATO, South East Asia Treaty Organization, joined forces to prevent the spread of communism. This fear was propelled by something known as the Domino Theory which states that once a country falls into communist clutches then other countries are like wise to follow. The assassination of both John F. Kennedy and Ngo Dinh Diem pitched both countries into a time of turmoil as they attempted to grieve the deaths of their

The year was 1968. The United States had just been blindsided by one of the bloodiest sneak attacks of the Vietnam War, known as the Tet Offensive. Arthur J. Dommen, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, wrote an article titled, “Hanoi Says U.S. Can’t Win War-- And Knows It.” According to the author, an undisclosed North Vietnamese source boldly stated that the United States was no longer “invincible,” and that the Vietnam War would be an undoubted Communist victory. The North Vietnam Defense Administrator Giap also asserted that, “After the Tet offensive, the men in the Pentagon understood they could no longer win the war militarily.” In a review of the Tet Offensive, however, American military commander General Westmoreland stated that “The enemy failed to achieve his initial objective” and that their “losses have been heavy.” Conflicting reports such as these were troublesome to American citizens. Many wondered why the media and government contradicted each other, and could not determine who was telling the truth.

While not the standardized Northern Vietnamese Army (NVA), the NLF were a ideological driven force which perfected hit-and-run raids against U.S. forces and were made infamous by their all-black battle garb. The common belief was that these peasants were impressionable and naive serfs who readily absorbed Communist and anti-democratic doctrine. After all, the peasants of My Tho, the region in which RAND conducted its operations, were living in relative squalor by modern standards and most had surprisingly little communication with the world beyond their insular and isolated communities. Hunt’s goal is to dispel this popular belief. To the surprise of the RAND corporation, the citizens of My Tho were often more worldly than

For people with ideas like this the soldiers and commanding officers were hamstrung by politicians and traitors back home who kept America from unleashing the true might of its military and crushing the North Vietnamese. While the facts of this type of thinking are debatable and ultimately impossible to prove these are memories that still persist. General William C. Westmoreland who was the commanding general for much of the Vietnam war wrote an account saying just how much he was hindered by weak willed politicians in Washington. Westmoreland’s views are made abundantly clear in his article where he states his beliefs that the United States could have handily won the war in Vietnam. Just one excerpt from the beginning of Westmoreland’s article states the following, “...I underwent many frustrations, endured much interference, lived with countless irritations, swallowed many disappointments, bore considerable criticism. I saw any number of my proposals, which I was convinced were legitimate and would speed the conclusion of the American assignment, disapproved.”(Westmoreland,

The Vietnam War escalated tension and anxiety in America and South Vietnam after North Vietnamese commander, Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive in the early morning of January 30th 1968. The traditional Buddhist New Year’s holiday, Tet, called on a day of ceasefire between the two Vietnamese nations, as it had in previous years. Vo Nguyen Giap aimed to extinguish the war in a ‘single blow’ and cause an uprising, effectively leading the Americans to withdraw and retreat South Vietnam into communist hands. After multiple surprise attacks on American strongholds and populated South Vietnamese cities, the anti-communist forces were caught, ‘unprepared’. American’s were initially called to Vietnam to contain the spread of communism into

The Vietnam War is a book authored by Mark A. Lawrence. He is an associate professor and distinguished fellow at Roberts

In contrast the North Vietnamese had strong political and military leadership mounting a cohesive and determined campaign. North Vietnam’s growing economy and political stability was effective placing it in a strong position to pursue unification. In addition many of the generals in the North had fought in the First Indochina war benefiting the North with guerrilla experience and strategists. Historian Stanley Karnow refers to Vo Nguyen Giap a military leader in the North as ‘a brilliant organizer and strategist.’ While the US was unsuccessful in ‘winning the hearts and minds’ of the Vietnamese the North was able to harness nationalism to recruit fighters and maintain morale. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was successfully able to infiltrate

The North Vietnamese soldiers were dedicated to fight for their independence and for communism. They were conscripted forces and they were aggressively faithful to their leader, Ho Chi Minh. The Viet Cong were more motivated to fight and win the war than the Americans as they were defending their own motherland. The Viet Cong were aided by the North Vietnamese leaders with military supplies and philosophy support. They also had the backing from China and the Soviet Union who were also communist

The major problems with the effort of the South Vietnamese and Americans in preventing an eventual North Vietnamese takeover was a fundamental lack of understanding that the South Vietnamese government was corrupt and incapable of governing. The South Vietnamese people were never truly supportive of the South Vietnamese government or of an alliance with America. The US government’s decision to use ineffective warfare tactics was the final nail in the coffin of any chance America may have had to succeed against North Vietnamese troops. While the Americans believed they were entering the war to prevent the further spread of communism, the reality was that America was fighting an unwinnable war. The South Vietnamese people themselves did not see

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. was faced with an unfamiliar, grueling environment. The hot, humid forests and jungles combined with deadly animals like the infamous “Two-step snake” were radically different compared to the European city warfare experienced in World War II. Because of this, the country developed new strategies and tactics to accommodate this new environment. The Viet Cong, the main military force of North Vietnam, however, were in their element, and used several guerilla tactics to try to overpower the United States. Strategies ranging from spike pits to surprise attacks at night, were all commonly used. In the end, the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam in 1973 and in 1975, the capital of South Vietnam (The U.S.’s allies during the war) was captured by North Vietnam. Therefore, it is important to know if America’s

The Cold War played a significant part in the beginning of the Vietnam War. With the Cold War intensifying, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union, and by 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower had pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam. With training and equipment from American military and police, Diem’s security forces cracked down on Viet Minh consoles in the south, arresting some 100,000 people; many who were tortured or killed. By 1957, the Viet Cong and other opponents of Diem’s began fighting back with attacks on government officials and other targets, and by 1959 they had begun engaging South Vietnamese Army forces in firefights. Another interpretation has recently emerged, now that the Vietnam War is history and can be studied by scholars with greater, though not unlimited, access to records on all sides. The emerging scholarly interprets the war in the global context of the Cold War that

Being a Vietnamese, I always take great pride in my nation, whose peasantry army defeated imperialism. Vietnam has endured many hardships throughout its course of history, suffering the Chinese one-thousand-year occupation, the colonial rule of French and the involvement of America in Vietnam’s war. Although it was believed that an underdeveloped country like Vietnam couldn’t have vanquished these brutal enemies, they inflicted a heavy defeat on these invaders. Bravery, strategic-thinking and solidarity were what contributed to all the stunning victories that the Vietnamese gained. One of the most remarkable victories was the conquest of America in the spring of 1975, which significantly marked the end of the Vietnam war and the start of national

How did the Unites States of America win all wars, but lose the war in Vietnam? The war in Vietnam lasted from November 1, 1955 till April 30, 1975. The War was between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese. The Vietnam War all began with the government trying to unify Vietnam once again. The Unites States wasn't planning to join the war. Their original hope was for the French to defeat the North Vietnamese, but the French got defeated at Dien Bien Phu. By 1945 the French pulled out their army from the region and the U.S made the decision to take action.

To a large extent, the Viet Cong tunnel system did contribute to the defeat of the Americans during the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1969. This was so because of the many problems that were facing the US forces when fighting the war in Vietnam. It could be possible that one of the problems was the fact that the Viet Cong were fighting using guerilla tactics. However, it led to a great lack of trust among the Vietnamese and the Americans as it was difficult to distinguish between the real Vietnamese civilians and the Viet Cong soldiers in disguise. This essay will aim to discuss the Viet Cong tunnel system and how they contributed to the Americans defeat and we will have close reference to this essay.