The U.S. Struggles Against the Communists in Vietnam

Step 2: Using pages 356-61 in the Vietnam War Reading, make notes in columns 2 (US Army) and 4 (Viet Cong) to record how far each side had each quality.



Stage 2: Thinking it through

Step 3: in each row of column 3, draw some scales to show which way the balance falls for this quality. Did the USA or the Viet Cong have the advantage?

1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.

a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
The US had an advantage as far as armies go because they outnumbered and outgunned the Viet Cong. However, the Viet Cong army was more devoted to the the war, and o Chi Minh continued to sacrifice soldiers to the war.

b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
I believe that the one determining quality in who won the war was effective tactics. Although US tactics were able to kill Viet Kong, they were also very expensive and, witch chemical weapons, extremely gruesome. The US tactics were not only inefficient but in some cases, but when the press got a old of them they shocked the American public. The Veit COng on the other hand used guerilla warfare to terrorize the US.The Tet offensive, although it was in some ways a disaster, was a turning point in the war.

Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions
The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.

2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:
a. The U.S. weaknesses were: A lack of soldier's and public moral, inefficient and costly tactics.

b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: Highly motivated (refused to give in) and had better tactics like guerilla warfare.

c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: Operation Rolling thunder.

d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The My Lai Massacre (this is not so much a defeat as bad press for the US), Operation Rolling thunder did work but could not defeat communists, search and destroy was not a good tactic.

e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:the Tet offensive (was a turning point in the war),

f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
The US of chemical weapons by the US, keeping the Ho Chi MInh trail open cost many soldiers' lives

g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [Insert weakness here] because:
American tactics because the Americans were not prepared to deal with the guerilla war tactics of the Viet Cong. Their tactics such as bombing were unable to defeat a guerilla army.

h. The key Viet Cong strength was [their use of guerilla warfare] because: guerilla warfare made them impossible to defeat with bombing raids and traditional battles, both of which the US would have won. Even though the US troops outnumbered and outgunned them, they were not able to defeat them because guerilla warfare made the Viet congs so difficult to find and often caught US soliders off guard with attacks.