Preview

Search And Defoliation In Vietnam

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
676 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Search And Defoliation In Vietnam
How effective were the us tactics of search and destroy and defoliation in the Vietnam war?

During the Vietnam War, the tactic of Search and destroy was overall - an ineffective tactic to use. Though the tactic of search and destroy did manage to achieve some minor successes, the overall outcome achieved the complete opposite of the US government’s goal which was merely to prevent the spread of communism. The reason search and destroy was used was because of many things. The major cause for the use of this tactic, is that the US army’s bombing campaign did not succeed in triumphing over the Guerilla Attacks. In addition the domino theory caused the public citizens of America to become scared due to the theory that if Vietnam was to become powered by communism, countries like Cambodia and Indonesia would all follow in Vietnams lead, therefore overpowering America. The tactic of search and destroy also appealed to the Americans as being an effective to use, as it had a powerful psychological impact on the Vietnamese, as the Guerilla
…show more content…
However, by using the chopper as a way of travelling to and from villages, this resulted as an effective and ineffective form of travel. Using the chopper was an effective part of search and destroy, because it allowed the American soldiers to be able to get to the villages in a short period of time. However, using the chopper was ineffective, because the very sound of the chopper approaching the villages resulted in instantly notifying the civilians and villagers of the American soldiers whereabouts, which meant that the Vietnamese could easily find somewhere to hide, which made finding Vietnamese to interrogate and kill harder for the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In 1964, General Westmoreland was sent to Vietnam and placed in charge of the U.S. forces, replacing General Harkins. Right off the bat, General Westmoreland used a “search and destroy” combat plan to locate enemy troops and inflict as heavy losses as possible, in an attempt to break the spirit and the will of the North Vietnamese troops and National Liberation Front (NLF) forces. He counted on the heavy firepower of the United States arsenal to pound the enemy into…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Richard Nixon, President of the United States from 1969 -74, introduced a new strategy called Vietnamization in which had the purpose of ending American involvement in the Vietnam War(1954-75). Nixon's administration was deeply engaged in geopolitics and had aims with global dominance, the United States involved in the Vietnam war is an example of this goal. The war had gradually become unpopular in which had started to create deep divisions within American society. President Nixon's administration masterminded this strategy soon to be known as Vietnamization. The construction and strengthening of the South Vietnamese military would soon allow gradual withdrawal of U.S milita from Vietnam.…

    • 104 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietcong were a communist movement in the South who were against the South Vietnamese government and the USA's involvement with the civil war. The use of tactics (the plans, weapons and battle strategies used in war) were prime in minds of the Vietcong and they went to all means to gain the upper hand in the conflict. For example the use of booby traps, tunnels and trails. Some like the Ho Chi Minh trail were a huge success among the Vietcong whereas things like booby traps had less of an affect on the opposition.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite being a small-scale battle it taught American servicemen how difficult it would be to fight a war involving guerilla tactics. The Vietcong used strategies such as digging in behind a row of trees and shrubs, hiding from view, and attacking from that position. The loss of lives on both sides was minor. However, it was apparent that the Viet Cong was more than the South Vietnamese could handle, even with American…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietnam War involved many decisions and outcomes, many of which have latter been reviewed with more uncertainty then confidence. With this Michael Hunt, the author uses both American and Vietnamese resources, some which before the book were never heard from. He uses these sources to try to explain how the United States of America was sucked into involvement with Southeast Asia. The overall conclusion of the book does not bring to many new views on why the United States involved itself with the issues of Vietnam but more confirms already believed views that they began in the conflict with comprehension of Vietnam’s problem other than the issue of the cold war.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam DBQ

    • 650 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With the enemy being communist, North Vietnamese guerilla soldiers, the United States forces burned down villages and even killed civilians for cautionary purposes. This part was hidden from the civilians at home. But when the people found out about how the army is killing the people they are supposed to be…

    • 650 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    My Lai Massacre - History

    • 4262 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Before the My Lai massacre, the United States tactic was to kill ‘Viet Cong members’ until they gave up. Entire villages were destroyed to abolish Viet Cong sanctuaries and support. Civilian casualties in Quang Ngai reached 50,000 each year. 70% of villages in the province were already ruined by American air attacks. The Americans fought an industrialized war. They used B52 bombers, artillery, helicopters, Agent Orange and napalm. The Americans forced civilians to leave Viet Cong controlled areas to create ‘free fire zones’. The idea of ‘free fire zones’ was that it was an area where civilians had been removed. The people left behind were thought to be part of the Viet Cong. The tactic of the Americans is to have ‘search and destroy’ missions in these areas. The Viet Cong took advantage of the jungle, hiding behind trees and hedges.…

    • 4262 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam War Dbq

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The soldiers were simply told to wander around the country looking for the enemy, and when the find him, try to take him out. Once the soldiers won the battle or skirmish and gained the territory, they could not feel any source of pride as they were quickly transported by helicopter out of the newly gained territory to go search for the enemy again. This life for the every day soldier made it seem like no tangible progress was being made, and the promise of success from the generals appeared more and more empty. Enemy casualties were being over estimated, and despite the still massive enemy casualties, 75% of all fighting was engaged by the Viet Cong as this “war of pin pricks” was beginning to takes it toll. The unclear mission and lack of leadership communication would lead to a severe drop in soldier morale and was another significant failure of the US military…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For three years US airstrikes hit Vietcong bases and convoys. Airstrikes were accompanied by ground assaults in to enemy villages and defenses. Operation rolling thunder had four main goals first, was to boost the united stated moral and public opinion at home. The Vietnam War was very unpopular at home, because American citizens didn’t understand why we were involved in a country that many Americans had never even heard of. Second, was to end South Vietnamese civilian support for the Vietcong.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    My Lai Massacre

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The US military methods failed, but still had an effect on the war. The main reason that they failed was because they couldn't find the enemies. The Viet Cong hid in under ground tunnels, in the jungle or in the villages with the normal innocent civilians, so the US couldn't differentiate between them. Napalm failed because it hardly killed any enemies, and burnt many innocent people alive, this made the Vietnamese civilians disapprove of the Americans. So they thought that they would use defoliants to destroy the jungle, they used a defoliant called 'Agent Orange'. But even after they had destroyed the jungle they still couldn't find the enemies, and because Agent Orange got into the water supplies and cause many birth defects this, again annoyed the civilians. Rolling Thunder failed because it was very expensive and would have been useful but they couldn't hit the target. Search and Destroy missions failed because they were always ambushed. Because of all of the methods used by the Americans, the Vietnamese had stopped supporting them and started to support the Viet Cong, this then made it harder for the US to fight the Viet Cong as they had more support. After the My Lai massacre on the 16 March 1968, the US had killed over 347 innocent civilians and raped and mutilated many of them.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The government had underestimated the enemy, leading them to believe they could easily defeat the communists. Vietnam experienced a strong will to rid their country of foreign rulers and The U.S presidents were not ready to lose. However, simply because of the increasing pressure from the military industrial complex arms industry, the U.S got stuck in what was referred to as a ‘Guerrilla Warfare’. Strategies which the Vietcong used included attacking as soon as the enemy tires, retreat whenever the enemy attacks, pursue the moment the enemy retreats and raid when the enemy tires. The guerrilla tactics they used caused it to be impossible to defeat Vietnam.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietnam war is an incredibly controversial topic; some say America won, while others say that they lost. In this case, America took a major loss, they were never winning at any point. The reason the Americans officially lost the war is because they were unable to achieve their goal which was to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam. In fact, the exact opposite happened, after the American forces left South Vietnam in January of 1975, communism immediately overran it. Along with the reasoning behind why the Americans lost are 3 points which will give a deeper explanation on why the U.S lost the Vietnam war. First of all the Americans lost because the North Vietnamese wanted to win more than they did. Following this is the American’s bombing strategies that proved to be horrendously ineffective because they were choosing to bomb locations that would end up giving them no real advantage. Thirdly, and quite possibly the biggest reason that lost America the war was their attempt to fight a war of Attrition against the North Vietnamese strategy of Guerilla warfare…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    US troops used helicopter gunships as well as aircrafts, allowing them to have total control of the air, this being helpful for destroying Vietnam's jungle with chemicals like Agent Orange, killing large areas of their jungle and forcing Viet Cong troops to move further inland. America entered the war with an idea of using traditional methods to conquer land in order to win the war.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Vietnam War is referred to as the “longest and most unpopular American War of the 20th century”(Overview), that lasted from 1955 to 1975. In the US, the war began as a result of the U.S. policy of Containment. This policy’s goal was to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. The Viet Minh is a communist led…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnamization

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is has been about thirty-five years since the last American soldier set foot on Vietnamese soil, but the Vietnam War still remains to cast a dark shadow on American history. During the war, the United States fought to protect South Vietnam from the terrors of North Vietnam and the threat of turning to communism. Despite America’s valiant efforts, it lost about $150 billion on the war, as well as about 58 thousand American soldiers (Gilbert 377). Many people believed when President Lyndon B. Johnson stepped down from office in 1969, that the war was coming to an end, however it was far from over.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics