Advantages Of The Vietnam War

Vietcong and North Vietnamese soldiers could see, hear, and even smell the Americans and place plans in action before the foreign fighters had any idea they were about to get ambushed. Going into the Vietnam War, the Americans had more advanced technology, firepower, and supplies. The one thing, the most important advantage the Vietnamese had more of was their determination. It was through that determination that thousands of American lives were lost in an undeclared war in a foreign nation that simply wanted to be free. Americans were easy for the guerilla soldiers to spot because they were foreigners, they used loud and heavy equipment, and they ate and drank unfamiliar food. Majority of the soldiers employed in the war were in their late …show more content…
Truman started off with supporting the French and by the time Caputo was there in 1965, it had become an American war. During Eisenhower’s presidency he greatly increased military support and financial aid to the French up until they agreed to leave in the 1954 Geneva Conference. Instead of following the agreements made in the peace accord between the two nations, President Eisenhower privately used deception in an attempt to create a democratic, pro-US South Vietnam. Like the French, America sent in a puppet leader, named Diem, unfortunately he was oppressive and ill liked in the nation so popular support for the North Vietnamese government with Ho Chi Minh increased. After, all the time and money Ike dedicated to Vietnam, following presidents saw no way of return and continued to go in further. Despite warnings from regional specialists posted in Vietnam, European allies France and England, and higher standing officials like George Ball, President John F. Kennedy refused to get out of Vietnam while American loses were not too high. Deception to the Congress, media, and public continued during Kennedy’s brief presidency as he increased financial aid, covert operations, military technology, and military advisors in South Asia. In every single term from the 1940s until the 1970s, each American president failed in …show more content…
The name of the nations changed from France to America, but the Vietnamese feelings towards foreign invaders did not, despite America’s hopes for brining democracy. Just before Kennedy’s assassination, Diem, the pro-US dictator that former President Eisenhower was murdered in a covert coup supported by the American government. This left the already struggling South Vietnam government in a weaker position that the Vietcong believed they could take advantage of in efforts to unite their country. President Lyndon B. Johnson and McNamara also say it as an opportunity to completely Americanize the war and send in more troops to assist the weak and corrupted South Vietnamese military, ARVN maintain control of the south. When Caputo arrived in 1965, he and his man were reminded that they were “not going in to fight, but to free the ARVNs to fight. It’s their war.” It was thought to be a easy and brief mission because at that time the United States had the world’s most powerful military. Today, it is clear that Americans severely underestimated the Vietnamese drive and determination to reestablish their country as a whole and millions of lives were lost due to that