How and why did the US forces change as a result of the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War started in 1955 and finished in 1975. Over this time, the US army changed dramatically, mainly because the troops lost hope that the US would win soon. It changed in terms of composition, morale, motivation, recreation, equipment used and quality of soldiers. In this essay, I will go into detail about how and why the US forces changed in terms of the motivation, composition and morale. I will conclude at the end.
Firstly, as a result of the Vietnamese War, US forces lost their motivation to fight. In 1965, the troops were highly motivated. This is partly due to the army’s composition: many were professionals or volunteers - they had chosen to fight in Vietnam. …show more content…
In 1965, the morale was high as the troops had a positive outlook on the war: the US won the 1965 Battle of la Drang with a 11:1 loss ratio on the NVA. The soldiers may have thought they would soon return victorious and see their families. However, by 1969, their morale was very low. This is shown by their recreation: it is estimated that in 1970 58% of the US troops used marijuana and 22% heroin. Additionally, roughly 500,000 soldiers deserted. All of this evidence shows that by 1969, the troops were dissatisfied and depressed. This may be because they too many of their comrades had died, the war was unpopular at home, they were led by unqualified leaders and they had been in Vietnam for too long (13 years), with no sign of victory. There was no sign of victory because the Vietcong were an invisible, elusive enemy: the US troops had little idea of how many Vietcong fighters existed, as they merged into village populations and retreated to Cambodia, where the US would not touch them because Cambodia was neutral. An example of an event which worsened morale is the May 1969 Battle of Hamburger Hill. The aim of this battle was to win Hamburger Hill for strategic advantage. The US won the battle after killing 630 North Vietnamese, but soon abandoned the hill. 72 US soldiers were killed, as well as 372 wounded. The battle may have worsened troops’ morale through reducing confidence in the men in charge of the US army. If they realised that the US effort in Vietnam was becoming badly organised, run by desperate officers who did not know what they were doing, they would have little hope as to whether they would get out of Vietnam, so their morale would be very low. The soldiers may also have been harrowed by things they saw or did during the war (US forces killed around 1 million North Vietnamese people and 273,000 Cambodians, many of them civilians); this combined with fatigue and fear may have made
The Vietnam War started in 1955 and finished in 1975. Over this time, the US army changed dramatically, mainly because the troops lost hope that the US would win soon. It changed in terms of composition, morale, motivation, recreation, equipment used and quality of soldiers. In this essay, I will go into detail about how and why the US forces changed in terms of the motivation, composition and morale. I will conclude at the end.
Firstly, as a result of the Vietnamese War, US forces lost their motivation to fight. In 1965, the troops were highly motivated. This is partly due to the army’s composition: many were professionals or volunteers - they had chosen to fight in Vietnam. …show more content…
In 1965, the morale was high as the troops had a positive outlook on the war: the US won the 1965 Battle of la Drang with a 11:1 loss ratio on the NVA. The soldiers may have thought they would soon return victorious and see their families. However, by 1969, their morale was very low. This is shown by their recreation: it is estimated that in 1970 58% of the US troops used marijuana and 22% heroin. Additionally, roughly 500,000 soldiers deserted. All of this evidence shows that by 1969, the troops were dissatisfied and depressed. This may be because they too many of their comrades had died, the war was unpopular at home, they were led by unqualified leaders and they had been in Vietnam for too long (13 years), with no sign of victory. There was no sign of victory because the Vietcong were an invisible, elusive enemy: the US troops had little idea of how many Vietcong fighters existed, as they merged into village populations and retreated to Cambodia, where the US would not touch them because Cambodia was neutral. An example of an event which worsened morale is the May 1969 Battle of Hamburger Hill. The aim of this battle was to win Hamburger Hill for strategic advantage. The US won the battle after killing 630 North Vietnamese, but soon abandoned the hill. 72 US soldiers were killed, as well as 372 wounded. The battle may have worsened troops’ morale through reducing confidence in the men in charge of the US army. If they realised that the US effort in Vietnam was becoming badly organised, run by desperate officers who did not know what they were doing, they would have little hope as to whether they would get out of Vietnam, so their morale would be very low. The soldiers may also have been harrowed by things they saw or did during the war (US forces killed around 1 million North Vietnamese people and 273,000 Cambodians, many of them civilians); this combined with fatigue and fear may have made