VIETNAM: THE PERFECT NAPALM TARGET CHRISTIAN HAVILAND

“You smell that. Do you smell that. Napalm, son “You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning” (Apocalypse Now).

WHAT IS NAPALM? NAPALM IS COMPOSED OF A THICKENING AGENT MIXED WITH PETROLEUM FOR USE IN ANTI-PERSONNEL WEAPONARY (PIKE). THE NAME “NAPALM” IS FROM THE COMBINATION OF TWO OF THE CHEMICALCOMPONENTS OF THE GEL: NAPTHENIC ACID AND PALMITIC ACID (PIKE).

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE’S DEFINITION OF NAPALM THE OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEFINITION OF NAPALM IS “1. POWERED ALUMINUM SOAP OR SIMILAR COMPOUND USED TO GELATINIZE OIL OR GASOLINE FOR USE IN NAPALM BOMBS OR FLAMETHROWERS. 2. THE RESULTANT GELANTINIZED SUBSTANCE” (PIKE).

ADVANTAGES OF NAPALM WHEN HANDLING AND STORING NAPALM, THERE IS LESS RISK OF ACCIDENTAL IGNITION THAN LIQUID PETROLEUM (NAPALM). NAPALM CAN BE SPRAYED TO COVER A LARGE AREA AND ITS ADHERENCE INCREASES ITS BURNING POWER (NAPALM).

NAPALM’S USE NAPALM WAS FIRST USED FOR FLAME THROWERS. ITS ABILITY TO BE SPRAYED ALLOWED IT TO BE IGNITED FROM NAVAL SHIPS (NAPALM). PEOPLE FEARED LOW FLYING PLANES BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY MIGHT BE SPRAYING NAPALM (NAPALM). IT BECAME A PSYCHOLOGICAL WEAPON OF WAR.

NAPALM’S EFFECTS ON PEOPLE NAPALM’S MAJOR EFFECT IS SEVERE BURNS. DUE TO THE INTENSE HEAT AND SPEED OF ITS BURN, OTHER EFFECTS INCLUDE ASPHYXIATION, UNCONSCIOUSNESS, AND DEATH (PIKE). ITS PRIMARY FEATURE IS ITS ABILITY TO STICK TO HUMAN SKIN WITH NO WAY TO REMOVE THE BURNING SUBSTANCE.

THE U.S. MILITARY RESPONSE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NAPALM “WE SURE ARE PLEASED WITH THOSE BACKROOM BOYS AT DOW. THE ORIGINAL PRODUCT WASN’T SO HOT-IF [THEY] WERE QUICK THEY COULD SCRAPE IT OFF. SO THE BOYS STARTED ADDING POLYSTYRENE-NOW IT STICKS. BUT IF [THEY] JUMPED UNDER WATER IT STOPPED BURNING, SO THEY STARTED ADDING WILLIE PETER (WHITE PHOSPHORUS) SO’S TO MAKE IT BURN BETTER. AND JUST ONE DROP IS ENOUGH, IT’LL KEEP ON BURNING RIGHT DOWN TO THE BONE SO THEY DIE ANYWAY FROM PHOSPHOROUS POISONING” (PIKE).

HUMAN REACTION TO NAPALM THE HUMAN DEVASTATING EFFECTS WERE MADE FAMOUS BY THE PHOTOGRAPH OF KIM PHUC. KIM SURVIVED A NAPALM BOMBING AND HAS SAID THAT “NAPALM IS THE MOST TERRIBLE PAIN YOU CAN IMAGINE. WATER BOILS AT 100 DEGREES CELSIUS. NAPALM GENERATES TEMPERATURES OF 800 TO 1,200 DEGREES CELSIUS” (OMARA).

INTERNATIONAL LAW REGARDING USE OF NAPALM IN 1980, THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS STATED THAT IT DID NOT PROHIBIT THE USE OF NAPALM ON MILITARY TARGETS, BUT IT DID BAN ITS USE AGAINST CIVILIAN POPULATIONS (PIKE).

VIETNAM BECOMES A NAPALM TARGET VIETNAM HAS A TROPICAL CLIMATE WITH A TERRAIN OF HILLS AND DENSE JUNGLES. THE NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY WAS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE TERRAIN. THIS ALLOWED THEM TO HAVE AN ADVANTAGE OVER THEIR ENEMIES. THE NVA DEVELOPED A SYSTEM OF UNDERGROUND TUNNELS THAT ENABLED THEM TO AVOID DETECTION BY ENEMY FORCES.

WHEN AMERICAN FORCES FELT “OVER-RUN” IN VIETNAM, THEY WOULD CALL IN AIR STRIKES THAT DELIVERED NAPALM. THESE AIR STRIKES WERE TARGETED AT TROOPS, TANKS, BUILDINGS, OR JUNGLES.

NAPALM COULD CONSUME ACRES OF JUNGLE IN A MATTER OF MINUTES NAPALM COULD CONSUME ACRES OF JUNGLE IN A MATTER OF MINUTES. THIS DEFORESTATION ASSISTED AMERICAN TROOPS IN BEING ABLE TO NAVIGATE THE JUNGLE TERRAIN OF VIETNAM SINCE THEY WERE UNFAMILAR WITH THE COUNTRY’S GEOGRAPHY.

NAPALM WAS ALSO EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE “DUG-IN” ENEMY NAPALM WAS ALSO EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE “DUG-IN” ENEMY. THE BURNING NAPALM COULD FLOW INTO FOXHOLES, TRENCHES AND BUNKERS. EVEN SOLDIERS HIDING IN TREES COULD NOT ESCAPE THE REACH OF NAPALM.

AFTER SEVERAL AIR STRIKES, NAPALM BECAME A PSYCHOLOGICAL THREAT AFTER SEVERAL AIR STRIKES, NAPALM BECAME A PSYCHOLOGICAL THREAT. AS ENEMY TROOPS SAW THE LOW-FLYING PLANES, THEY WOULD HOLD UP WHITE FLAGS OF SURRENDER FEARING THAT THEY WOULD BE ENGULFED IN A BALL OF FIRE.

AMERICAN FORCES USED OVER 400,000 TONS OF NAPALM IN VIETNAM (PIKE). THIS AMOUNT SIGNIFIES HOW IMPORTANT NAPALM WAS AS A WEAPON FOR THE AMERICAN TROOPS. MANY TIMES, NAPALM BOMBINGS HELPED STABILIZE A RISING THREAT BY THE VIET CONG.

NAPALM IS A POWERFUL AND DEVASTATING WEAPON NAPALM IS A POWERFUL AND DEVASTATING WEAPON. ITS EFFECT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS “A FIERY BLANKET THAT BURNS EVERYTHING THAT IT HITS” (PIKE).

WORKS CITED Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall. Paramount. 1979. Film. “Napalm.” United States History. 2012. Web. 8 June 2012. Omara-Otunnu, Elizabeth. “Napalm Survivor Tells of Healing After Vietnam War.” University of Connecticut Advance. 8 November 2004. Web. 8 June 2012. Pike, John. “Napalm.” GlobalSecurity.org. 2012. Web. 8 June 2012. Silverman, Jacob. “How Napalm Works.” HowStuffWorks, Inc. 2012. Web. 8 June 2012. Ut, Nick. Napalm Girl. 1972. London’s Science Museum, London.