Ryan Gaffney, 8B
April 10, 2017
Vietnam War
What is the Vietnam War? How did it start? Who was involved in it? These are all questions people have about the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is a war like no other that the United States had fought in. So read below to find out more interesting facts about the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War started as a fight between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. This fight started in 1959. It started when men from North Vietnam entered South Vietnam with multiple weapons. With these weapons, the northerners tried to take over the South. In 1962, South Vietnam started to bring the United States into the war. The United States brought 12,000 advisors into South Vietnam to start. In 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin …show more content…
During those nineteen years, 2.5 million Government Issues (G.I’s) served in Vietnam. ⅓ of the people serving in the Vietnam War were drafted, as the other ⅔ of the people serving were volunteers. Out of the 2.5 million Government Issues in Vietnam, 11,000 of them were women. The women’s roles in the war were nurses, translators, flight controllers, and military bandleaders. 12.5% of the United States troops were African Americans, and 85% of the United States troops were white. The average age of the troops were 21 years old. On average, an infantryman, which is a soldier belonging to an infantry unit, saw 240 days of combat in a year. With so many days they needed to work, the soldiers were only allowed one 5 day rest and relief leave during the year-long tour of duty. With all these young men fighting, 58,214 of them died throughout the nineteen years. One in every ten american soldiers was killed or wounded in the Vietnam War. Not only did many die, but more than 1,700 missing Americans are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. In 1969, Ho Chi Minh dies. President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows. Over the next four years United States troops continued to leave Vietnam until 1973 when the ceasefire agreement happened in Paris, and the United States troops pullout completed by …show more content…
It was hard for them to occupy the land because of the North Vietnamese’s unique defense war tactics. They set up many booby traps that were not seen in wars at that time. One of the many booby traps the Northern Vietnamese used was the punji sticks. This is a trap made with sharpened bamboo stakes. The stakes would usually be be covered in urine, feces, or another substance that would cause an infection in the victim that was stabbed with it. This trap would go in a hole they dug out then cover it with a thin frame. Since they covered it with a thin frame, once someone stepped on it, the person would fall onto the sharp stakes and be cut, but also infected. Another type of booby trap was the snake pits. The Northern Vietnamese would carry Bamboo Pit Vipers in their packs so when someone went through their bag, the deadly snake would bite them. A grenade-in-a-can was also a booby trap that the Northern Vietnamese used in the Vietnam War. This booby trap was a grenade that was put in a can without its safety pin, also connected to a wire. This worked when a soldier tripped over the connected wire and the wire would pull the grenade out of the can and blow up. There was also flag bombs. Since U.S. troops liked to capture enemy flags, the North Vietnam Army would rig the flags with explosives so when they take the flags down, a bomb would go off. One of the most difficult traps to
April 10, 2017
Vietnam War
What is the Vietnam War? How did it start? Who was involved in it? These are all questions people have about the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is a war like no other that the United States had fought in. So read below to find out more interesting facts about the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War started as a fight between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. This fight started in 1959. It started when men from North Vietnam entered South Vietnam with multiple weapons. With these weapons, the northerners tried to take over the South. In 1962, South Vietnam started to bring the United States into the war. The United States brought 12,000 advisors into South Vietnam to start. In 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin …show more content…
During those nineteen years, 2.5 million Government Issues (G.I’s) served in Vietnam. ⅓ of the people serving in the Vietnam War were drafted, as the other ⅔ of the people serving were volunteers. Out of the 2.5 million Government Issues in Vietnam, 11,000 of them were women. The women’s roles in the war were nurses, translators, flight controllers, and military bandleaders. 12.5% of the United States troops were African Americans, and 85% of the United States troops were white. The average age of the troops were 21 years old. On average, an infantryman, which is a soldier belonging to an infantry unit, saw 240 days of combat in a year. With so many days they needed to work, the soldiers were only allowed one 5 day rest and relief leave during the year-long tour of duty. With all these young men fighting, 58,214 of them died throughout the nineteen years. One in every ten american soldiers was killed or wounded in the Vietnam War. Not only did many die, but more than 1,700 missing Americans are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. In 1969, Ho Chi Minh dies. President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows. Over the next four years United States troops continued to leave Vietnam until 1973 when the ceasefire agreement happened in Paris, and the United States troops pullout completed by …show more content…
It was hard for them to occupy the land because of the North Vietnamese’s unique defense war tactics. They set up many booby traps that were not seen in wars at that time. One of the many booby traps the Northern Vietnamese used was the punji sticks. This is a trap made with sharpened bamboo stakes. The stakes would usually be be covered in urine, feces, or another substance that would cause an infection in the victim that was stabbed with it. This trap would go in a hole they dug out then cover it with a thin frame. Since they covered it with a thin frame, once someone stepped on it, the person would fall onto the sharp stakes and be cut, but also infected. Another type of booby trap was the snake pits. The Northern Vietnamese would carry Bamboo Pit Vipers in their packs so when someone went through their bag, the deadly snake would bite them. A grenade-in-a-can was also a booby trap that the Northern Vietnamese used in the Vietnam War. This booby trap was a grenade that was put in a can without its safety pin, also connected to a wire. This worked when a soldier tripped over the connected wire and the wire would pull the grenade out of the can and blow up. There was also flag bombs. Since U.S. troops liked to capture enemy flags, the North Vietnam Army would rig the flags with explosives so when they take the flags down, a bomb would go off. One of the most difficult traps to