The Viet Cong used any available tactic to demoralize and intimidate the population, including the assassination of South Vietnamese commanders. Disappointed with the results of the 1964 U.S. presidential election, the Kremlin did not try to influence the election of 1968. However, research suggests that it was the civilian population who suffered most from the poor rice harvests that followed the spraying. Few members of Charlie Company protested that day. It happened slowly and gradually so no one noticed when it happened. Example: Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Sources-personal narratives. (8) To teach the population the national script and elementary hygiene. The name is said to have first been used by South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem to belittle the rebels. [71] In May 1968, Trường Chinh urged "protracted war" in a speech that was published prominently in the official media, so the fortunes of his "North first" fraction may have revived at this time. A very plentiful source of information form 1981 and was close enough to the event so that I can call it a primary source written from the viewpoint of an American a little bit after the Vietnam War. [80] With U.S. bombing ended, communist logistical preparations could be accelerated. Carter recalled that some GIs were shouting and yelling during the massacre: "The boys enjoyed it. The Vietnam War was the first conflict that saw wide scale tactical deployment of helicopters. Secondary . [57] General William Westmoreland, the U.S. commander, received reports of heavy troop movements and understood that an offensive was being planned, but his attention was focused on Khe Sanh, a remote U.S. base near the DMZ. Charlie Company had suffered 28 casualties, including five dead. I realised what we were doing. The North Vietnamese leadership approved tentative measures to revive the southern insurgency in December 1956. [23] In early 1958, Lê Duẩn met with the leaders of "Inter-zone V" (northern South Vietnam) and ordered the establishment of patrols and safe areas to provide logistical support for activity in the Mekong Delta and in urban areas. A. If at the height of the Vietnam War (1965-76) you had asked an American who their country was fighting in Vietnam, most would have said the Viet Cong. [13] In May 1959, Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh trail, at this time a six-month mountain trek through Laos. Viet Cong were suspected of hiding inside the homes of elderly people, who would not normally be suspected by U.S. troops. After the debacle of the broad Tet Offensive, the Viet Cong had returned to guerrilla tactics and tended to avoid direct encounters with U.S. forces. The killings began without warning... Stanley saw "some old women and some little children - fifteen or twenty of them - in a group around a temple where some incense was burning. Primary Source: Statement by John Kerry of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1971) ... We saw Vietnam ravaged equally by American bombs and search and destroy missions, as well as by Viet Cong terrorism – and yet we listened while this country tried to blame all of the havoc on the Viet Cong. The term Việt Cộng appeared in Saigon newspapers beginning in 1956. Nguyen Tuong Lai was a Viet Cong guerrilla. The country doesn't know it yet but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and trade in violence. As one pointed out: "Peasants resented working without pay to dig moats, implant bamboo stakes, and erect fences against an enemy that did not threaten them but directed its sights against government officials.". In some cases, the peasants also agreed to take up arms with the NLF and help 'liberate' other villages. It is a contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản, (Vietnamese communist), or alternatively Việt gian cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam"). On July 8, the Viet Cong killed two U.S. military advisors at Biên Hòa, the first American dead of the Vietnam War. Type in your name to start the game. Viet Cong Soldier Stands Beneath a Viet Cong Flag Carrying His AK-47 Rifle. Carter thought: "You can tell when someone enjoys their work." These were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day to day basis with a full awareness of officers at all levels of command. Based on some 800 documents captured in battle and on interviews with 100 ex-Viet Cong, much of the primary source material is reproduced, and all of it is interpreted in the light of the author's broad knowledge of Vietnam and its people. In March, Trà was recalled to Hanoi for a series of meetings to hammer out a plan for an enormous offensive against Saigon. The level of violence in the South jumped dramatically in the fall of 1961, from 50 guerrilla attacks in September to 150 in October. "[59] The offensive included a commando raid on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and a massacre at Huế of about 3,500 residents. Note the curated subject guides on many topics for help digging into the wealth of … He does not think he screamed when the Vietnamese twisted and bent his shattered leg. [13] COSVN was initially located in Tây Ninh Province near the Cambodian border. [57] Funeral processions were used to smuggle weapons into Saigon. The earliest citation for Viet Cong in English is from 1957. I refused to make such a statement and so they stuck needles under the tips of my ten fingers saying that if I did not write down what they wanted and admit to being a member of the Vietcong, they would continue to torture me. 'Agent Orange', the chemical used in this defoliation programme not only destroyed trees but caused chromosomal damage in people. My wrists and arms were tied behind my back. This was a secondary source but I cited it as a primary source because the only thing I used from the website was the primary source picture. "[6] Thọ, a lawyer and the NLF's "neutralist" chairman, was an isolated figure among cadres and soldiers. Some of Calley's men thought it was breakfast time as they walked in; a few families were gathered in front of their homes cooking rice over a small fire. The NLF's solution to this problem was to take the property of the large landowners and distribute it amongst the peasants. The Viet Minh had become the government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam since the Vietnamese 1946 general election, and military forces of the communists regrouped there. Public Opinion & the Anti-war Movement. North Vietnamese leaders debated the issue of "quick victory" vs "protracted war" (guerrilla warfare). The most feared mine was the Bouncing Betty. It therefore concentrated on attacking small patrols or poorly guarded government positions. We didn't tiptoe in there.". People considered tainted by association with the former South Vietnamese government were sent to reeducation camps, despite the protests of the non-communist PRG members including Tạng. B. [6] It is a contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản (Vietnamese communist),[6] or alternatively Việt gian cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam"). In the latter role it was outfitted with a variety of armaments including M60 machine guns, multi-barreled 7.62 mm Miniguns and unguided air-to-surface rockets. Virtual Vietnam Archive. The LASV's best-known action was the Tet Offensive, a gigantic assault on more than 100 South Vietnamese urban centers in 1968, including an attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigon. Thus the NLF, who were based in the thick forests of South Vietnam, began by taking control of the villages in the rural areas. [14] He argued adamantly that war with the United States was necessary to achieve unification. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Gale Primary Sources is a universal research experience that combines Gale's acclaimed digital archives in a single cross-search interface. I was extremely outraged and would never come out with any information. Provides primary source information on the popular culture of the U.S. and U.K. from 1950 to 1975. ... For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. [24] French scholar Bernard Fall published an influential article in July 1958 which analyzed the pattern of rising violence and concluded that a new war had begun. The official Vietnamese history gives the group's name as the Liberation Army of South Vietnam or the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (NLFSV; Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam. ", To defeat the more powerful enemy, the guerrilla needs to dictate the terms of warfare. The most feared mine was the 'Bouncing Betty'. [73] COSVN rejected this view as "lacking resolution and absolute determination. Beginning in February 1970, Lê Duẩn's prominence in the official media increased, suggesting that he was again top leader and had regained the upper hand in his longstanding rivalry with Trường Chinh. Between 1962 and 1969, 688,000 agricultural acres were sprayed with a chemical called 'Agent Blue'. They all dressed alike." It has been estimated that 800 tons of bombs dropped on Vietnam every month failed to explode. A landmark party meeting was held in December 1963, shortly after a military coup in Saigon in which Diệm was assassinated. This was achieved in 938 AD. About an hour later, the same thing happened again; this time I only saw a glimpse of a black jersey through the rice. These materials were then used to make booby traps. [28] Moscow favored reducing international tensions in 1960, as it was election year for the U.S. The two arms were close together which pulled my shoulders out of joint. 6. [12] France withdrew its last soldiers from Vietnam in April 1956.[13]. It meant a lot of bad things I didn't want to think about, based on stories I wasn't sure were true. Its the awesome power that you have in your hands. But there were a wide variety of targets, including clinics and medical personnel. National Public Radio, "Cronkite: Gulf of Tonkin's Phantom Attack Faulty Intelligence Played Role in Decision to Engage Viet Cong, 2 August 2004. In an effort to discover information about the NLF, the peasants were sometimes tortured. This they agreed to do and in December, 1960, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) was formed. They also contained caverns where they stored their printing presses, surgical instruments and the equipment for making booby traps and land mines. I felt sorry for those children (soldiers arriving in Vietnam for the first time) knowing that they would all grow old in the land of endless dying. It meant if I decided not to do my job anymore I would be sent to jail and court-martialed. Primary Resources - free worksheets, lesson plans and teaching ideas for primary and elementary teachers. [63], The offensive was undertaken in the hope of triggering a general uprising, but urban Vietnamese did not respond as the Viet Cong anticipated. (4) Not to do or speak what is likely to make people believe that we hold them in contempt. It is a contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản, (Vietnamese communist), or alternatively Việt gian cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam"). [6] Seventeen civilians were killed by machine gun fire at a bar in Châu Đốc in July and in September a district chief was killed with his entire family on a main highway in broad daylight. And then I came more closely to consciousness and found out it was me. Viet Cong, the guerrilla force that, with the support of the North Vietnamese Army, fought against South Vietnam (late 1950s–1975) and the United States (early 1960s–1973). The LASV had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory the Viet Cong controlled. We couldn't fire at them, because we would have been firing into our own platoon. [60] House-to-house fighting between Viet Cong and South Vietnamese Rangers left much of Cholon, a section of Saigon, in ruins. A Viet Cong is a man, woman, or child a tough fighter, with words or weapons, for what he is taught to call the "liberation" of South Vietnam-the Republic of Vietnam. The second immediately answered all the questions. [69] The breakup of larger Viet Cong units increased the effectiveness of the CIA's Phoenix Program (1967–72), which targeted individual leaders, as well as the Chiêu Hồi Program, which encouraged defections. I would like to talk to you a little bit about what the result is of the feelings these men carry with them after coming back from Vietnam. Just a mess. Others simply said, "No. [34] About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated the South in 1961–63. The NLF put forward a ten-point programme. The archive was formed by Vietnam veterans in 1989 with a mission to “collect and preserve the documentary record of the Vietnam War.” The center holds annual guest lectures as well as regular conferences and other events. The NLF called for southern Vietnamese to "overthrow the camouflaged colonial regime of the American imperialists" and to make "efforts toward the peaceful unification". Ironically, most of the explosives used for these mines came from unexploded bombs dropped by the United States. A newspaper written about Ho Chi Minh after the Vietnam war. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation. The truth was that Tet cost us half our forces. Still, some of the Central Files are useful for political, economic, and military developments in Southeast Asia from 1969 to 1974, including POL 27 CAMB/KHMER, POL 27 LAOS, and POL 27 VIET S. While ostensibly the designation for military operations in Vietnam, and to a lesser extent Laos and Cambodia, POL 27 became a catchall file. When it became clear that President Ngo Dinh Diem had no intention of holding elections for a united Vietnam, his political opponents began to consider alternative ways of obtaining their objectives. [78], In response to the anti-war movement, the U.S. Congress passed the Case–Church Amendment to prohibit further U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in June 1973 and reduced aid to South Vietnam in August 1974. It provides excellent information on the usage of children in propaganda, which was definitely not exceptions to this conflict. 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