Why did the USA lose the Vietnam War?

USA Tactics
1. Vietnamisation 1969
2. Young, inexperienced soldiers
  1. Average age of soldiers 19
  2. Replaced every year, just as they've got used to it
3. Not used to terrain
4. Bombing ineffective against Ho Chi Minh trail
Failure to Win Hearts and Minds of Vietnamese
1. My Lai Massacre 1968
2. Zippo Raids - Search and destroy missions
3. Napalm and Agent Orange
4. Killed innocent civilians
5. Fundamental misunderstanding that the Vietnamese just wanted to be independent
Protest in USA
1. Media
  1. First televised war
    1. Report of Tet, 1968. Obvious to public USA were losing
  2. Protest songs e.g Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die and Ohio
2. Kent State Protest/Massacre
3. Students burnt draft cards
4. Veterans Against Vietnam War (VAVW)
5. "Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"
Vietcong's Guerilla Tactics
1. Effective against US Soldiers
  1. Ho Chi Minh Trial
  2. Surprise ambushes
  3. Dressed like peasants, so US soldiers couldn't differentiate between civilians and Vietcong

Resource summary

	Created by a deleted user almost 9 years ago

	Copied by chloevictoriacoo almost 9 years ago