Veitnam and teh TET offensive
 

Hey Folks, I had to step away for the last week. I have been helping my son with a presentation/history assignment on Vietnam and the TET offensive.

I was wondering if I could get some comments and thoughts from those of you who are old enough to have been there and remember this.

I understand the coordinated attack and how the VC and the North Vietnamese had hope to quickly overthrow the south and thus win the support of the south. Supposedly, as I have read, their hopes were that the South would rise up against us and join the North.

I also understand how this led to the escalation in 1968, despite that we had quelled the attempts of the VC/NV in a matter of hours to within a few weeks of the attacks. Finally, as I have read, the American people and the generals in command, realized that the VC/NV had the ability to carry on a long drawn out war of guerilla tactics, that we would likely never win. This is what is actually being taught, if I understand correctly.

We have also covered the Gulf of Tonken too.

A few things I did not cover yet and was wondering about. What was the "civil war" in Vietnam about? Was it a civil war? Was it an invasion from China and Russia, or did they just happen to support the north? When di this "civil war" or invasion begin? Were there any American influences that caused this war or invasion to happen? Was this related to Korea at all?

I'll dig more and learn more, just thought I would share what I was doing and ask for some first hand opinions if possible.

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Hi Mark, See the French Indochina war and colonialism in SE Asia in general for the roots of it.

I wasn't old enough to be drafted and I sure as hell wouldn't have volunteered but then I'm a pinko soshulist. ;)

I was in Vietnam later.

From Aug. 1970-Aug 1971.

But as an REMF medic with two stripes on my arm I didn't have a clue what the fuck was going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj5k6toS7i8

http://www.katzy.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/link.gif

No first hand knowledge available. But I can recommend the small book of a man with first hand experience, tremendous intellectual honesty, and, unlike most Lieutenants in the US Army at the time, the ability to speak Vietnamese. Check out "War Comes to Long An" by Jeffrey Rice. If pressed for time, concentrate on chapter 4.

Added note: this relates basically to the "What was the "civil war" in Vietnam about? Was it a civil war? " question.

"Sand in the Wind" by Robert Roth was pretty good too.

http://www.amazon.com/Sand-Wind-Robe...pr_product_top

It was actually a tactical defeat for the Viet Cong. However, Americans watching the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese infiltrating Saigon on TV realized there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

This was the beginning of the end. A very long, costly end that cost way too many American lives.

If you want to understand Vietnam read Graham Greene's The Quiet American written 10 years before we arrived in Da Nang. The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam and Frances Fitzgerald's Fire In The Lake are very good books.

google the term "Mandate of Heaven"

The most trusted reporter in America, Unca Walter Cronkite's reports from 'Nam during and after put him squarely on Nixon's 'Enemies List'.

'That's the way it is' Walter had every ear in the country back in those days and he was brutal in his own inimitable way about the progress, prospects and ultimate failure of our involvement in Vietnam.

We probably have the largest concentration of Vietnamese immigrants here in Orange county California. That old devil, General Nguyen Cao Ky lived here in Westminster until his death, IIRC.

BTW Mark, I lived in the DC suburbs from '68 to '80. My friends and I were downtown protesting at most every anti war demonstration. May Day 1970 was particularly interesting. We called the D.C. Mounted Park Police 'Cossacks' and the regular cops 'fascist storm troopers', deservedly so.

The French were the colonial masters in Viet Nam. There was a rebellion against them led by the Vietnamese communists. The Vietnamese against all odds and with true grit surrounded a French major strong point Dien Bien Phu and forced them to surrender. This was a major humiliation for a western power.

The Americans were pissed, especially the American Secretary of State Foster
Dulles. He believed in the domino theory: that if Viet Nam went communist the rest of neighboring countries would fall.

That is how the Americans got sucked in. They believe that they could do much better than the French and misread the historical anti foreigner nature of the Vietnamese people.

Do research on
Dien Bien Phu

and John Foster Dulles: He was a very powerful Secretary of State, a staunch anti communists and so was determine to replace the French.

Lots of EXCELLENT tips and info here. Obviously going to take me some time, but I will give a good look at all of this.

Any opinions on Ho Chi Min? I think he was the guy in the north that started the communist movement in "Indo-China" at the time.

I thought I read he was kind of brutal.