Viet Cong Research Paper

The Viet Cong: America’s Nightmare The United States has been known as one the world’s greatest powers. The U.S. has earned this title from its strong government, strong economy, technological advances, and it’s strong military. The U.S. is not known to “lose” many of the wars and battles, we have taken part in. Our military is one of the greatest in the world, and is feared by many smaller army units. One military group that didn’t fear the U.S. and stood up against us, is the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong was a guerilla group that fought against South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War. With the support of North Vietnamese forces, the Viet Cong would “strike from the shadows” and compete in acts of guerilla warfare. That …show more content…
actually “lost” the war to North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. Some say yes, because the United States supported the losing side, yet some no, based on the fact that President Nixon began pulling troops out of Vietnam before South Vietnam lost the war (Hall). A poll was taken on thevietnamwar.info to see how Americans believe the U.S. performed in the Vietnam War. The question was “Did the U.S. lose the Vietnam War?” The question had four choice answers. The answer with the least amount of votes was “No, the U.S. won every major battle in Vietnam. They left undefeated.” That answer was picked by only 13% of voters. Second least, was the choice, “No, it was South Vietnam, not the U.S, who lost the war,” which was picked by 17% of the choosers. Next, was the option, “Yes, the U.S. lost the war politically to their “democratic” media.” This answer received 29% of the votes, the second highest. The fourth and most-voted answer was, “Yes, the U.S. abandoned Saigon in 1973 because they knew they would lose.” It received a whooping 41% and dominated the other options. Based on this poll, it is easy to see that the United States citizens who have answered this poll believe that the United States did lose the war in Vietnam, as shown by the top two answers chosen were both the “yes” answers. Many historians would agree that, even though the U.S. hasn’t accomplished it often, they “lost” the war in Vietnam …show more content…
Yet, it seems to me that it makes sense. The United States has been known for great battles, with all kinds of firepower, but was the U.S. really prepared to fight against guerilla fighters? It seems that it could make sense that the U.S. didn’t know how to counter-attack the random ambushes and bombs set up by the Viet Cong. The U.S. was used to full-scale attacks, but maybe it was just the fighting style of the Viet Cong that the U.S. just could not beat. Even when it comes to sports, for example, the 2004 Detroit Pistons were the most talented group of gentlemen, certainly not as talented as the Kobe and Shaq led Los Angeles Lakers when it comes down to raw talent. The Lakers and Pistons met in the Finals that year with the Lakers the favorites to win. The Pistons played the series with such a different type of play than the Lakers were used to that they just couldn’t beat the Pistons, and they ended up losing the series 4 games to 1. This just goes to show that the United States and it’s military may have looked more like “champions,” but the heart and fight the Viet Cong warriors possessed was far more superior than the U.S, at least judging based on the outcome of the war. The Viet Cong were even loosely trained by it’s northern companions, while the U.S. troops had great training back home. My take from the facts is that