The Vietcong were strong due to mastering guerrilla warfare, leveraging deep local support and knowledge of the terrain, utilizing vast tunnel systems and booby traps, possessing fierce nationalist motivation, and employing effective tactics like hit-and-run attacks, blending seamlessly with the civilian population, and receiving external aid through the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Their strength lay not in conventional firepower but in unconventional tactics that exploited the environment and the political situation.
For destroying armored vehicles or bunkers, the Vietcong had highly effective rocket propelled grenades and recoilless rifles. Mortars were also available in large numbers and had the advantage of being very easy to transport. Many weapons, including booby traps and mines, were homemade in villages.
MACV has tentative evidence of as many as 43,000 Viet Cong regulars, and ARVN J-2 holdings--considered realistic by many US observers--put Viet Cong regular strength at between 50,000 and 60,000. In addition, the Viet Cong are variously estimated to have between 80,000 and 120,000 irregular forces. 4.
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.
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.
While most people haven't heard of them, MACV-SOG was an elite organization tasked with the Vietnam War's most dangerous missions.
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.
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.
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.
Calling them the “men with green faces” because of the face camouflage they used, the VC feared SEALs and often put bounties on their heads. After about six years of heavy involvement in Vietnam, the relatively small group of SEALs accounted for 600 confirmed VC killed and 300 more almost certainly killed.
Yes, $100 USD (around 2.5 million VND) is a significant amount for a short trip in Vietnam, enough for budget-to-mid-range travel for several days, covering delicious street food, comfortable guesthouses, and local transport, though it can be spent quickly on high-end dining or luxury hotels, with average monthly incomes being much lower.
The United States is consistently ranked as having the #1 most powerful military in the world for 2025 by organizations like Global Firepower and Business Insider. This ranking stems from its massive defense budget, advanced technology, global power projection, and dominance in air, sea, and cyber warfare, though China has the largest number of active personnel.
The Viet Cong were supported and trained by the government of communist North Vietnam. Some served as guerrilla fighters and spies in South Vietnam and in neighboring Cambodia, while others fought alongside North Vietnamese troops in the PAVN.
According to US National Archives, between 25-50 American soldiers were bitten by snakes annually during Vietnam War.
The US army had superior conventional weapons but they were ineffective against a country that was not industrialized and an army which employed guerrilla tactics and used the dense jungle as cover.
There were a variety of tunnel types: squad-size tunnels generally were less than 6-feet deep and 100-feet long; company-size tunnels were wider but not extensively compartmented; and battalion-size tunnels could burrow 50 feet underground and sometimes contain up to four different levels.
WW2 soldiers carried condoms primarily for disease prevention (STDs like syphilis and gonorrhea) and for practical combat uses, such as keeping sand and mud out of their rifle barrels, protecting small items, or even as makeshift waterproof bags, although the weapon-protection use is sometimes exaggerated in popular culture. The military distributed them widely (often in "prophylactic kits") to maintain troop strength, recognizing the significant manpower lost to venereal diseases in past conflicts.
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.
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.
1957: Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke said to the people of Australia: "It is my official duty, and my personal desire, to express to you and through you to the people of Australia, our heartfelt sorrow for what occurred in the war."
It was the rival Weltanschauung, Marxism (which for him embraced social democracy as well as communism), with its insistence on internationalism and economic conflict. Beyond Marxism he believed the greatest enemy of all to be the Jew, who was for Hitler the incarnation of evil.
While the United States (US) is Australia's key strategic ally and often seen as a very close partner by leaders, public opinion polls consistently show New Zealand as Australia's "best friend" in the world, followed by the US and then the United Kingdom, reflecting deep cultural and historical ties with both neighbors.
Boo Koo (Boo Coo): Bastardized French from beaucoup, meaning “much” or “many” Boom-Boom: Slang for sex with a prostitute. Boonies: Any area outside a city or a base camp; colloquialism for “boondocks”; also called the “bush”
An expression commonly used in Vietnam was, "boocoo dinky dow", spelled correctly would be "beaucoup dien cai dau" meaning much crazy in the head or perhaps as the Vietnamese may have said, crazy as a kicking rooster, much like the American expression, "mad as a wet hen."