The US involvement in Vietnam was spearheaded by a number of reasons, one of which is to avoid the spread of communism. The War began in 1955 stretching until 1975 when the US finally acknowledged failure. Despite the size and military might of the US, she was not able to win against the Vietcong. The group was also known as the National Liberation Front, a communist military wing led by Ho Chi Minh. The military wing fought against the South Vietnamese who, together with the US, were determined to stop the communist North. However, both the Southerners and the US failed in the War because of a number of reasons. The discussion below is a report on various reasons that led to the defeat of the US by the Vietcong.
Reasons for the Defeat of the US
The first reason that led to the defeat was the tactics the Vietcong used. In particular, the Vietcong employed Guerrilla warfare against the US which proved to be effective in many ways. Firstly, it enabled the Vietcong to organize surprise and irregular attacks against the US. Therefore, it became difficult for the US to not only prepare for the attacks but also stay in fear. Also, the Vietcong could hide in holes covered with leaves, like invisible opponents, and as a result, the US army found it hard to pin them down (Wiest, 2003). Moreover, the Vietcong did not put on a uniform, as opposed to the US who were always on the uniform. This strategy made it easier for the Vietcong to identify their enemy but very difficult for the US army to differentiate between Vietcong and Vietnamese civilians. This is another advantage that Vietcong had that made their defeat so difficult.
In addition to the Guerilla tactic employed, the Vietcong had an extensive underground tunnel system they could remain hidden. The tunnel, estimated to be 250 kilometers in length had all necessary items they needed for survival (Summers, 1995). Moreover, the Vietcong fought with a lot of determination for they were defending their homeland. The spirit and morale the Vietcong had could not be compared to that of the US army who often fell sick and depressed. The Vietcong got support from China and USSR, regarding money, weapons and other necessary items. This support and fighting spirit made it difficult for the US to break of win the war (Summers, 1995). It is for these reasons, among many others, that the US was unable to defeat the Vietcong, thus, ending the war in 1975.
Another reason for the US failure was their military failings. In that, they came up with a number of military strategies which, instead of crashing their enemy, made Vietcong stronger. To start with, Operation Rolling Thunder, it was meant to bomb specific area in the North of Vietnam to stop the supply of materials, that is, weapons and troops, coming from the North to the South. Unfortunately, this approach was not effective as the bombs often hit hospitals and schools instead of intended targets (Record, 1998, August, p. 85). These acts were hugely unpopular and helped rally the Vietnamese against the US army. Another military failure employed by the US was the search and destroy mission, which aimed at weeding out the Vietcong (Walton, 2013). In regards to this strategy, they aimed at weeping out the Vietcong by unexpectedly landing in the southern hamlets by helicopter and killing all those they suspected to be Vietcong. This was a huge blunder for the US army as they could not identify Vietcong among civilians, and therefore, led to killings of innocent civilians. For instance, in 1968 on a similar mission, they landed on a village called My Lai, killing a huge number of innocent civilians, some of whom were children and women. This action, spearheaded the call not only to end the war, but also rally Vietnamese civilians against the US army (Clodfelter, 2006, p. 45). For these reasons, among many others, the US army could not defeat the Vietcong, but instead, opted to end the war in 1975.
Lastly, the war was covered by the media, becoming the first war to be televised (Hallin, 1989, p. 21). The media coverage acted in favor of Vietnamese. In particular, the images of innocent civilians being tortured, maimed and killed became horrific to the American public (Hammond, 1989, pp.312-323). Moreover, the South Vietnamese Government was portrayed as corrupt and undemocratic. The US entered the war for various reasons, among which was to fight for democracy and freedom. The two factors made the US public opinion to shift, from supporting the war, to demonstrating against the war. For instance, Boxing Champion Muhamad Ali refused to join the war, acting as a symbol and example of the many Americans whose stance on the war shifted in favor of the Vietcong. Without local support, and later on, opposition from the American public, made fighting a difficult undertaking for the US army (Shaplen, 1966, p. 67). The Vietcong were supported by China and USSR, while the US had to budget for their war, which proved to be expensive foreign policy. Therefore, all the factors were against the US army winning the war, and as a result, they decided to end the war in 1975, making the Vietcong, led by the communist revolutionary and patriot, Ho Chi Minh, the champions.
Conclusion
The discussion above has clearly illustrated that there were a number of factors that made it difficult for the US to win the Vietnamese war that lasted for about 20 years. Some of these reasons are credited to Vietcong while others resulted from poor military strategies employed by the US. In regards to those credited to the Vietcong, they include but are not limited to the use of Guerrilla tactics, having the morale and spirit to fight and the use of a tunnel from where they could hide. On the other hand, the US use of operation rolling thunder, the search and destroy and allowing journalist and the media to cover the war turned against the US, calling for the end of the war, in both Vietnam and US.
References
Clodfelter, M., 2006. The limits of air power: the American bombing of North Vietnam. U of Nebraska Press.
Hallin, D.C., 1989. The uncensored war: The media and Vietnam. Univ of California Press.
Hammond, W.M., 1989. The press in Vietnam as agent of defeat: A critical examination. Reviews in American History, 17(2), pp.312-323.
Record, J., 1998, August. The wrong war: Why we lost in Vietnam. In US Naval Institute Proceedings (Vol. 124, No. 8, p. 85).
Shaplen, R., 1966. The Lost Revolution: The US in Vietnam, 1946-1966 (Vol. 92). Harper " Row.
Summers, H.G., 1995. On strategy: A critical analysis of the Vietnam War. Random House Digital, Inc..
Walton, D., 2013. The Myth of Inevitable US Defeat in Vietnam. Routledge.
Wiest, A., 2003. The Vietnam War 1956-1975. Routledge.
