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Position:Home>History> Need info on what fighting was like in the Vietnam War: tactics, weapons, etc.?Question: Need info on what fighting was like in the Vietnam War: tactics, weapons, etc!.!? I need information on what the fighting was like in the Vietnam War!. Just general information on it!. For example I know no actual battles took place but it was more like skirmishes!. Just info on how they fought, what the skirmishes were like, how unpredictable they were, etc!. Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Well!.!.!. There were, indeed, battles!. Among the most famous and certainly the largest scale was the Tet Offensive in 1968 and the seige of Khe Sanh!. We'll get back to that, ok, since it's really atypical of the fighting!. The majority of combat during vietnam was (from the American and Allied perspective) small unit actions!. The enemy (whether VC or NVA) mainly fought as guerillas, sniping, ambushing and then backing away before the Americans' superior firepower could be brought to bear!. Booby traps were used extensively as a method of slowing American forces movements and causing demoralizing casualties!. Occasionally, larger units of VC or NVA would carefully plan a major action, taking into account the Americans strengths with the intention of causing large scale casualties on the Americans and forcing a change in politics, strategy or tactics!. The Ai Drang Valley campaign is one of those (see "we Were Soldiers Once, and Young (H G Moore)) or Hamburger Hill!. In general, American air and fire superiority won the day, however!. American tactics: Small unit Search and Destroy patrols in areas surrounding a fire base (which housed artillery and often helicopter facilities), looking for the VC and trying to bring them to battle!. Secondarily, Army SF and the Marines, too, initiated programs of arming villages and living in them as a way of defending the villagers and denying their food and support to the VC!. This was far more effective than blindly wandering around!. Thirdly, the quintessential American tactic may be summed up as "Find the Bastards, and then Pile On!" In other words, once a fairly large sized NVA or VC unit was located in the field, helicopters began moving large numbers of American and Alliedf troops in, aircraft being piling up in orbits over the battlefield waiting to be used!. In addition, of course, there was the strategic war, in which the US bombed North Vietnam, interdicted the waterways and bombed the main supply route from North to South through Cambodia and Laos (and known to the Americans as the Ho Chi Mihn Trail)!. Now, in a few cases (Ahn Khe, Khe Sanh, Tet, and Dak To, as examples), the NVA / VC massed and made large scale, conventional attacks!. Tet and Khe Sanh are the most significant and are linked!. In both cases, although there were doubts early on, American fire power (in terms, primarily of artillery) and air power were the deciding factors, and the enemy was broken and driven from whatever gains thjey had initially made!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The idea that no true battles took place is a fallacy that many people believe!. It has been perpetuated by movies like Platoon and Apocolypse Now!. Even though terrain limited their use, both sides had and used armored vehicles like tanks and half tracks!. In fact, the Vietnam war saw a larger deployment of ground forces than the Korean War!. The US used more artillery during the Vietnam Conflict than in WWI, WWII and the Korean war combined!. The marine corps fought the longest continuous battle of the war when the NVA besieged one of their firebases!. This battle went on for more than 15 weeks and consisted of daily firefights!. It only ended when the Navy and Airforce were able to evac the marines from the base!. My father was on a combat search and rescue team in the 1st air cav that flew in to rescue downed pilots!. While he didn't go on foot patrols, his base was shelled and fired on several times and his chopper was shot down twice!. The History Channel (and if you get it, the Military Channel) have some very good documentaries on various aspects of the Korean war!. I would suggest you check some of them out!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The above answers are all correct and good information!. I will add one item!. The Army doctrine was "Search and Destroy", but the Marine Corps doctrine was "ink blot"!. Marines would enter a remote area and stay there as a forward base, patrolling nearby villages and showing the flag!. This same doctrine is now followed in Afghanistan, except they do not show the flag!. Special forces blend in there!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |