1. Air and Ground War
EQ: What strategies were used by both sides during the Vietnam War?

2. The Air War N. Vietnamese attack American bases
Johnson starts Operation Rolling Thunder: massive air strike in the North
Concentrated on Ho Chi Minh trail
Unsuccessful?

3. Operation Rolling Thunder
More bombs dropped on Vietnam than all the bombs dropped by the Allies during WWII

4. Defoliants Used to expose enemy supply routes
Agent Orange stripped leaves and shrubs

5. Effects of Agent Orange
Vietnamese babies deformed and stillborn after exposure to Agent Orange
A Vietnamese general exposed to Agent Orange

6. Defoliants Napalm Fire Napalm Burn Victims
Napalm: jellied form of gasoline used to destroy farms and forests
Napalm Burn Victims

7. The Ground War Search and destroy missions No territorial goals
Who is the enemy?
Farmers by day; guerillas at night.
Very patient people willing to accept many casualties.
The US grossly underestimated their resolve.
The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win.

9. The Ground War cont.
Vietcong lived in complex tunnel systems under ground
Effective for guerilla warfare

10. Cassava diet
Vietcong Tunnel for tourists

11. Punji stick/booby traps: sharpened bamboo sticks hiding under foliage