Why did the US lose in Vietnam? – The Americans LO: analyse the American failings that lead to defeat in Vietnam

Overview Failure to understand the enemy. Couldn’t work well with the S-Vietnamese government – Diem, Thieu, etc all poor leaders who didn’t listen to US recommendations. Too much emphasis on technology and not on the people. High tech weapons distanced troops from the people. Too much time spent thinking about other things e.g., sex, drugs, partying, rest and relaxation, etc. ‘Comfortable war.’ No historical understanding of the country or the situation. Poor relationship with the S-Vietnamese people. Soldiers and officers not on duty for long enough – serve their time, leave, then a new lot in to be trained. (365 day tour of duty) High turn over and many incidents of ‘Fragging’. Problems for Officers and Grunts. US soldiers had difficulty telling who was a genuine communist or peasant farmer. (Targets to fill!)

What motivated American Soldiers? Of 26.8m American men of fighting age in the 1960s, 10.93m served in the military; 2.2m were drafted, but 8.7m were volunteers. They were inspired by a sense of duty, patriotism, family tradition or a belief in the rectitude of America’s cause. Recruiters played on the ‘John Wayne Syndrome’. “Fear nothing, and either emerge with the medals or the girls, or die heroically”.

American Disunity In Vietnam American and allied forces were disunited; marines were linked with the Navy and not keen to obey orders from Westmoreland’s army. Unconventional Green Berets aroused antagonism. Americans distrusted the ARVN; at Khe Sanh Westmoreland sent for ARVN representation as an afterthought then deployed them somewhere less important. Ordinary soldiers served 365 days, marines 13 months. There was not time to build up the espirit de corps vital to moral and performance. Racial Divide: 13% of Americans in Vietnam were black, but 28% were in combat units. Disagreement with the war and tactics led to indiscipline. At Home Anti-war feeling grew at home in the late 1960s. Soldiers became confused about what they were fighting for. Unlike soldiers during WWII who were treated like heroes, those in Vietnam were treated as villains. Many were jeered, ostracised and spat on upon their return home. Soldiers fought hard for ground and had to leave it knowing that the VC would move in again. Meanwhile they were called ‘baby-killer’ at home. The collapse of the home front was crucial; it damaged troop morale and hampered the government in Vietnam.

Trying to Fight a ‘Comfortable’ War “If we fail it will be because the American way simply isn’t as effective as the Communist way... I have an uneasy feeling that this may be the case. We give them the most modern arms, we emphasise the material to the exclusion of the spiritual and the Spartan life, and it may be that we soften them up rather than harden them up for the battle” President Nixon

Trying to Fight a ‘Comfortable’ War “You ask me what I thought of the Americans. We thought the Americans were handsome soldiers but looked as if they were made with flour... It was difficult for them to suffer all the hardships of the Vietnamese battlefront. When we had no water to drink, they had water for showers! We could suffer the hardships much better than they could. That was probably the main reason we won.” The opinion of an NVA soldier.

Sex and Drugs d d Drugs In 1970 approx. 58% of Americans in Vietnam smoked marijuana and 22% shot up heroin. In ,000 needed treatment for combat wounds and 20,529 for serious drug abuse. Hard to take action over the drug market as so many government officials in Saigon were involved. Sex In 1966 there were over 30,000 war-orphaned child prostitutes, but they could not cope with American demand! Around 25% of American soldiers caught sexually transmitted diseases.

Problems for the Officers Americans of different ranks had different experiences. An army officer did 5 months in the front line and would probably be less experienced than some of the soldiers under his command. It wasn’t enough time to get to know the men. Between 1969 and 1971 there were 730 ‘fraggings’, killing 83 officers.

Military Strategy Failed to defeat Giap’s army and guerilla’s. ‘Search and Destroy’ was not successful in destroying a guerilla force. Superior technology alienated the Vietnamese and did not halt the flow of men and supplies coming from the North. The wrong strategy? Years later, McNamara admitted that US tactics were wrong!

Task Work your way through the sources and use them to explain why US forces were unable to win in Vietnam.

Homework Create a summary diagram like that on page 130. Use the information on pages 122 to 129 to capture historical detail as evidence to support the reasons listed.