Why was Vietnam so hard to fight?

Why were the Vietnamese soldiers such a difficult opponent

The Vietcong had an intricate knowledge of the terrain. They won the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people by living in their villages and helping them with their everyday lives. Their tunnel systems, booby-traps and jungle cover meant they were difficult to defeat and hard to find.

Why didn t people want to fight in Vietnam

Many Americans opposed the war on moral grounds, appalled by the devastation and violence of the war. Others claimed the conflict was a war against Vietnamese independence, or an intervention in a foreign civil war; others opposed it because they felt it lacked clear objectives and appeared to be unwinnable.

How bad was fighting in Vietnam

The Vietnam War was a disaster from its bad beginning until its tragic end. It killed four million Vietnamese and over 58,000 Americans. Millions more, Vietnamese and Americans, were wounded by shell or shock and the war came close to ripping our country asunder.

Was Vietnam a failed war

Despite the decades of resolve, billions and billions of dollars, nearly 60,000 American lives and many more injuries, the United States failed to achieve its objectives. One factor that influenced the failure of the United States in Vietnam was lack of public support.

Who did the Viet Cong fear the most

South Korean troops

Tough, battle-hardened South Korean troops were justly feared by Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars alike during the Vietnam War.

Who is Vietnam’s closest ally

Vietnam has forged comprehensive strategic partnerships — the highest diplomatic designation — with China, India, Russia, and, most recently, South Korea. Many of Vietnam's strategic partners are U.S. allies, such as Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Could the US have won Vietnam

America did not experience a “lost victory” in Vietnam; in fact, victory was likely out of reach from the beginning. There is a broad consensus among professional historians that the Vietnam War was effectively unwinnable.

What happens if you refuse to fight in Vietnam

These young men were prosecuted criminally for refusal to comply with draft board orders calling them into military service for the Vietnam War. These were agonizing times. A conscientious objector faced with criminal prosecution had to choose between violating his conscience, going to prison, or fleeing the country.

Was Vietnam the bloodiest war

The Vietnam War was the deadliest war of the 1960s, extending into the '70s, according to the PRIO Battledeaths Dataset, produced by the Peace Research Institute Oslo, an independent conflict research and policy institute. An estimated 1,461,050 people were killed in the conflict, which lasted from 1965 to 1975.

What was so brutal about Vietnam War

An estimated 500 Vietnamese, mostly women, children, and the elderly, died in the massacre. The brutality has been well documented: American soldiers raped, mutilated, and tortured the villagers before killing them; families were dragged from their homes, thrown into ditches and executed.

Have the Vietnamese ever lost a war

More importantly, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam fought a border war with the People's Republic of China in early 1979 and while both sides claimed victory, it was Vietnam that lost territory—more than the U.S. lost in 1973. In other words, it is hard to put Vietnam in the undefeated category.

Were Koreans feared in Vietnam

An Integral Allied Force in the Vietnam War

South Korean units were as tough and professional as any in the United States Army or Marines, and came to be justly feared by the communists. More than 300,000 Korean troops passed through Vietnam at some point, and more than 5,000 were killed.

Was Viet Cong brutal

Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam use of terror in the Vietnam War. Murder, kidnapping, torture and intimidation were a routine part of Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) operations during the Vietnam War.

Is Vietnam a US or China ally

Vietnam is now considered to be a potential ally of the United States, especially in the geopolitical context of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and in the containment of Chinese expansionism.

What country is Vietnam rival

Thailand and Vietnam were major historical rivals in Mainland Southeast Asia and still have an intense rivalry with each other.

Why did the US fail to win in Vietnam

Failure in Vietnam was rooted in a misunderstanding of the type of conflict and a failure to adapt. US commanders continually attempted to make the war fit their understanding of operations, not a true understanding of the conflict itself.

Did the US lost against Vietnam

The conventional view remains that the United States lost the Vietnam War because our opponent, North Vietnam, conquered the side we backed, South Vietnam, which surrendered in April 1975.

Does Vietnam abuse human rights

Reports regarding human rights in Vietnam

In its 2004 report on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. State Department characterized Vietnam's human rights record as "poor" and cited the continuation of "serious abuses".

What did the United States fear would happen if they did not get involved in Vietnam

Many Americans feared communism as a different political system, and also because of their belief in the "domino theory." First voiced by President Eisenhower, the theory used the visual image of falling dominoes to represent the fear that if South Vietnam "fell" to communism, then Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma (now …

Was Vietnam a dirty war

The Vietnam War was called a dirty war for several reasons, most notably the brutality of the tactics used by the French and American militaries in the hopes of putting down the communist rebellion.

Who were the most feared in Vietnam

Tough, battle-hardened South Korean troops were justly feared by Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars alike during the Vietnam War.

Was Vietnam War cruel

An estimated 500 Vietnamese, mostly women, children, and the elderly, died in the massacre. The brutality has been well documented: American soldiers raped, mutilated, and tortured the villagers before killing them; families were dragged from their homes, thrown into ditches and executed.

Is Vietnam War the bloodiest war

The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Altogether, over 600,000 died in the conflict, more than World War I and World War II combined. A soldier was 13 times more likely to die in the Civil War than in the Vietnam War.

Could Vietnam have been won

America did not experience a “lost victory” in Vietnam; in fact, victory was likely out of reach from the beginning. There is a broad consensus among professional historians that the Vietnam War was effectively unwinnable.

What country lost the most soldiers in Vietnam

These are the most accurate estimates of the death tolls for each group of fighters:The United States lost 58,220 known military personnel.It is estimated that South Vietnam lost between 200,000 and 250,000 fighters.The Viet Cong lost around 1.1 million combatants.