The U.S. couldn't win in Vietnam due to a combination of factors: North Vietnam's fierce nationalism, effective guerrilla tactics using the jungle terrain (tunnels, ambushes, traps) against superior U.S. firepower, political limitations that prevented total war, weak South Vietnamese government, lack of popular support for the U.S. and its allies, and growing anti-war sentiment at home fueled by media coverage of atrocities and the war's brutality.
Fighting in Vietnam was difficult because a convergence of terrain, climate, enemy tactics, political constraints, logistics, and domestic/international politics created persistent operational and strategic friction. The difficulty was systemic: tactical successes rarely translated into strategic gains.
US strategy relied on superior firepower – especially bombing and search and destroy missions – which caused civilian deaths but did not defeat the guerrilla enemy. Hearts and minds campaigns were too often undermined by the violence of other operations and included 'pacification' and surveillance.
While obviously not every event or conversation in the movie is 100% accurate, Hamburger Hill was the first Vietnam movie to actually portray an actual battle. The acting is solid all around, with Courtney Vance's portrayal of Doc, the unit's combat medic, being my favorite overall, and the soundtrack is excellent.
Who did the Viet Cong fear the most? Tough, battle-hardened South Korean troops were justly feared by Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars alike during the Vietnam War.
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel held great respect for Australian soldiers, viewing them as tough, skilled, and formidable fighters, especially in attack, famously stating he'd use Australians to take hell and New Zealanders to hold it, though some historians question the exact phrasing while confirming his admiration for their fighting prowess in North Africa, documented in his letters.
As the most common cause of death outside the first 24 hours in Vietnam was secondary to sepsis, understanding the bacteriology of war wounds was of vital importance.
January 30, 1968 the TET offensive begins in South Vietnam. The battle for Hue was the longest and deadliest battle during TET. January 30 to March 2 with an estimated 10,000 military and civilian killed.
This had happened in Eastern Europe after 1945. China had become communist in 1949 and communists were in control of North Vietnam. The USA was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. It decided to send money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Government.
For the most realistic Vietnam War movies, Hamburger Hill, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket are consistently cited for capturing combat, soldier psychology, and boot camp intensity, with Hamburger Hill praised for its raw depiction of battle, Platoon for its gritty, vet-driven perspective on the soldier's experience, and Full Metal Jacket for its brutal boot camp realism, while The Deer Hunter offers deep psychological impact and We Were Soldiers details early engagements and the home front.
One of the problems was mirror imaging the enemy and, in fact, applying, in this case, the rational man theory of English common law to Ho Chi Minh. In fact, there were memos written in this period of time that they would establish a common law pattern of attacks to convince Ho to do the rational thing.
Those who supported the war resented the veterans for losing the war, which left Vietnam veterans feeling like outsiders to veterans of other wars. The Vietnam War divided American society. Those who served were often treated as traitors instead of heroes, and found it difficult to adjust to life back home.
Some of the United States' most prominent defeats include the American-Algerian War, the War of 1812, Red Cloud's War, the Formosa Expedition, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Bay of Bigs Invasion, and the War in Afghanistan.
The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Altogether, over 600,000 died in the conflict, more than World War I and World War II combined. A soldier was 13 times more likely to die in the Civil War than in the Vietnam War.
Well, since about 98% completed their 12 to 13 month tour and returned to the States alive, even though possibly wounded or otherwise injured, the average “lifespan of a soldier in Vietnam” would have been about 11.75 to 12.75 months.
Since the war's end, official U.S. government investigations have consistently concluded that no military personnel remain alive in Vietnam.
Having rebuilt their forces and upgraded their logistics system, North Vietnamese forces triggered a major offensive in the Central Highlands in March 1975. On April 30, 1975, NVA tanks rolled through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, effectively ending the war.
The Marine Corps re- ported that 228 marines in Viet- nam were 17. From the foregoing estimates, it appeared that about 1,200 Army men in Vietnam were un- der 18.
In early August 1964, two U.S. destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam radioed that they had been fired upon by North Vietnamese forces. In response to these reported incidents, President Lyndon B. Johnson requested permission from the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. military presence in Indochina.
The tonnage of bombs including chemical arms used by the US in Vietnam exceeds that was used throughout the Second World War. This is the reason why some historians consider this war more brutal than the Second World War.
Charles Benjamin Mawhinney (February 23, 1949 – February 12, 2024) was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed kills with 103, and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War. Lakeview, Oregon, U.S. Baker City, Oregon, U.S.
Collectively the United States often called them the Viet Cong. It was commonly shortened to VC, which in military alphabet code was spoken as Victor Charlie. It was further shortened to just Charlie.
While most people haven't heard of them, MACV-SOG was an elite organization tasked with the Vietnam War's most dangerous missions.
“Hamburger Hill” was a Movie based on the true story of an American airborne unit that fought the North Vietnamese Army to take a hill in 1969 during the Vietnam War. They went up and down and up and down, losing friends to finally occupying the hill.