American troops had won every major battle they fought, and General Nguyen Van Thieu had come to power in South Vietnam in September; he would remain in office until , bringing a new measure of stability to the government, though he could not end its endemic corruption.
Antiwar protests continued across America and in many other countries, but on April 28, , Gen. Westmoreland became the first battlefield commander ever to address a joint session of Congress in wartime, and Time magazine named him Man of the Year. In an interview he was asked if there was light at the end of the tunnel, and he responded that the U.
They struck at least 30 provincial capitals and the major cities of Saigon and Hue. American intelligence knew an attack was coming, though the Army had downplayed a New York Times report of large communist troop movements heading south.
The VC was effectively finished; it would not field more than 25,—40, troops at any time for the remainder of the war. The NVA had to take over. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military history—until it became a victory. News footage showed the fighting in Saigon and Hue.
The Tet Offensive shocked Americans at home, who thought the war was nearing victory. Initially, however, homefront support for the war effort grew, but by March Americans, perceiving no change in strategy that would bring the war to a conclusion, became increasingly disillusioned. In a February 27, , broadcast he summed up what he had found during his return trip to the war zone.
He closed by saying:. To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.
Tensions between blacks and whites had been intensifying for years as African Americans sought to change centuries-old racial policies. That disparity would decline before the war ended, but the racial tensions at home began to insert themselves into the military in Vietnam, damaging unit morale. Even white troops were beginning to protest. One day in October , fifteen members of the Americal Division wore black armbands while they were on patrol, the symbol antiwar protestors wore in the states.
Earlier, in March , the Americal Division had been involved in what became known as the My Lai Massacre , in which over men, women and children were killed.
Similar, even larger, atrocities were conducted by VC and NVA units—such as an NVA attack on a Buddhist orphanage at An Hoa in September or the execution of 5, people at Hue during the Tet Offensive—but the concept of American soldiers killing civilians in cold blood was more than many Americans could bear.
Support for the war eroded further. Some antiwar protestors blamed the men and women who served in Vietnam, taunting them and spitting on them when they came home. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States.
However, polls consistently showed the majority of Americans supported the war. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. Creighton Abrams. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. Then, on March 30, , the North Vietnamese attacked across the 17th parallel with 14 divisions and additional individual regiments.
Better armed than ever before, thanks to increased aid from the Soviet Union, they employed tanks for the first time. The ARVN bent but did not break. By June they had stalled the invasion, with the help of American airpower.
Like in America, Britain witnessed plenty of anti-war action. They all received substantial backing from China and the Soviet Union, too. Then as the war went on, another enemy to the American effort emerged: a vociferous anti-war movement back home.
A: Young, inexperienced US troops quickly became bogged down in short bursts of action against guerrilla forces deep in unbearably hot jungle and swamp terrains. They grew demoralised carrying out search-and-destroy missions or being used as bait for aerial firepower. More than 35, of those who died were aged 21 or under. It passed the House of Representative and got through the Senate The Papers consisted of 47 volumes and 7, pages. Marches took place around the world, including London, Paris and West Berlin.
Here, writer Jem Duducu, author of a new historical novel set during the Vietnam War, shares seven lesser-known facts about the conflict.
The name itself shows a non-native understanding of the conflict. The Vietnamese made the assumption that the foreign forces who fought in that war were all Americans, but they were not: large numbers of Thais, South Koreans and Australians, to name but a few, fought on the side of South Vietnam.
This started a century of French occupation, and most of the south-east Asian peninsula including Vietnam was renamed French Indochina. The indigenous population was never completely cowed, so rebellions and guerrilla attacks were regular occurrences. The Vietnamese rebels used the dense jungles and mountainous terrains to their advantage in order to attack French forces and escape detection.
During the Second World War the region came under the control of pro-Axis Vichy forces and Japan, so the Americans armed and trained local forces to fight against them. After the war France tried to reclaim the area, but the better-trained and better-equipped guerrillas defeated France once and for all at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in Listen: Lynn Novick describes the making of an epic documentary series on the conflict in Vietnam, which she co-directed with Ken Burns, on this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast:.
The poor choice of name for the war fails to reflect how much of south-east Asia it affected. The country grew quite divided, and massive protests by the anti-war movement became quite prevalent. President Johnson was forced into retirement in and by , the United States left Vietnam.
It was a tragic ending to a very unpopular war. One of the lessons the American military drew from Vietnam was the need for military successes to be clear and visible, and the necessity of exercising tight control over the press. With virtually unlimited press access in Vietnam subject only to the willingness of individual reporters to risk their lives , journalists reported bad news and persuaded the general public that the war was not going well.
The Pentagon resolved never to make that mistake again. It was important to wage war quickly and show victories before negative media coverage could generate a public backlash. Only in that way could an anti-war movement be stifled and the military have time to produce a victory. These lessons were applied with military precision during the Persian Gulf War.
Before the war barely was started, the public was bombarded with military-provided video footage showing smart bombs going down the chimney of targeted buildings and blowing them up. Movements by reporters were controlled so as not to expose them to battlefield dangers. This tight control also had the virtue of monitoring how reporters did their jobs. Coverage at the front lines generally was restricted to pool coverage, whereby a few reporters were brought together to record footage and information for everyone else.
This "fast war" strategy proved to be remarkably successful in forcing Iraq out of Kuwait and back toward Baghdad. The American public reacted in a classic "rally-round-the-flag" effect and pushed President George Herbert Walker Bush's job approval numbers to nearly 90 percent, making him the most popular president in American history until his son, George W.
Bush, bested those numbers after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The interesting question about war with Iraq is whether it will turn out to be a "good" war, a "bad" war, a "fast" war, or something completely different. As noted at the beginning of this essay, each war has its own idiosyncracies in terms of how it is conducted and the manner in which the public responds. Notwithstanding the uncertainties surrounding Iraq, some things are clear.
As of early March, the American public is significantly divided on this war. The increasingly unpopular war had created deep rifts in American society. President Nixon believed his Vietnamization The United States and many other countries intervened, propping up both sides—but especially South Vietnam—with troops, weapons and From air power to infantry to chemicals, the weapons used in the Vietnam War were more devastating than those of any previous conflict.
United States and South Vietnamese forces relied heavily on their superior air power, including B bombers and other aircraft that dropped Women in the Vietnam War served as soldiers, health workers, and in news-gathering capacities. The bloody conflict had its roots in French colonial rule and an independence movement driven by communist leader Ho Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Vietnam War: The Fall of Saigon. Vietnam: Anti-War Protests. Vietnam War: Tet Offensive.
Vietnam War: Presidents and Policy Makers. Vietnam War. Weapons of the Vietnam War. Westmoreland on the Vietnam War. Adlai Stevenson on Vietnam War. Vietnam War Timeline The Vietnam War started in the s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the s.
Vietnam War Protests Vietnam War protests began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses but gained national prominence in , after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest. Vietnamization Vietnamization was a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam.
Weapons of the Vietnam War From air power to infantry to chemicals, the weapons used in the Vietnam War were more devastating than those of any previous conflict. Women in the Vietnam War Women in the Vietnam War served as soldiers, health workers, and in news-gathering capacities. See More.
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