Formerly dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge of American History students at Lincoln County High School in Eureka, Montana; NOW dedicated to the educational pursuit of anyone interested in American polity.
Monday, October 15, 2012
American History II
American History II is discussing the U.S. effectiveness in our war in Vietnam. EXTRA CREDIT: What would you say is the most problematic policy or strategy in our involvement in Vietnam?
I would have to say that the biggest problem with strategy was winning the war with how large of a body count there was. This not only put many many people at risk, it also lead to a very large increase in conflicts. When you are running search and destroy missions almost 24/7, you have to realize that there is going to be a much larger amount of casualties on our side as well. Puting our troops into combat for so many hours day after day, those who survive are very likely to develop PTSD. From developing PTSD means that the soldiers will more than likely be put on a prescription drug after the war which can be pricey when you have to purchase a bottle of pills once a month. In many different ways, the act of fighting the war on shear body count made the war extremely expensive! Even years after it was over and done with. That is why I believe fighting the war based on body count was the most problematic strategy.
The Vietnamese ultimately wanted independence when China and the Soviet Union backed them into that struggle. The United States was afraid that this could lead to the "domino effect" where if one country fell to communist control then the other surrounding countries would fall to communism as well. Because the war was not based on territory or rights, many people were confused to why we were fighting in it. This caused problems within the United States along with the war in Vietnam. I think that the "domino effect" was not really relevant to the surrounding countries. Many of them had there own governments and ruling territory to where it would be hard to take over my communism. The reasoning to the war is still opinion and fact bases opinions. I think it is hard to justify the meaning if one of the only goals was to kill.
I think it was the U.S. helping the Vietnamese. When they went over there they did help them out by gaining power, but the U.S. men did get killed. There were men who did get killed in it. They went over there to help out the Vietnamese and the did, but when they helped them out they went out and killed people and they got killed also. Ho Chi Minh asked for there help, they came in boats to help to stop the transporting systems, they killed innocent people then the "sv" came out and killed them. Richard Roo
Our most problematic strategy in Vietnam was the way in which we ran our results. Fighting a war with the only result being a body count is a futile way run your offensive. Putting the troops out in the middle of enemy territory without giving them proper jungle warfare training and telling them to kill as many of the enemy as they can is no way to gain control of another army. Especially when the people we are attempting to help are among those killed. The inability to know the enemy we are trying to kill for results allows for error in the fact that we will kill innocents in order to achieve a higher body count which in result creates resentment among the people and they shall turn on us and join the Vietcong in attempt to avenge their fallen friends on the murders they feel U.S. troops are. This way in which we ran results on the war in effect helped the enemy greatly causing us to lose a great amount of soldiers and people to communism in Vietnam. Ashton Dierman
In my opinion our most problematic strategy in the Vietnam war was the way we considered winning the war. In this war we used body count as a way to tell if we had won a battle or not. Most other wars were won on the area of land that is controlled. This war was looked at in a completely different way, the new technology that was used, helicopters, and the body count didn't allow the South Vietnamese to expand and have a area of land that they fully controlled they just knew how many of the North they had killed and this just accomplished knowing how many people where dead. Jenna Peterson
I would have to say that the biggest problem with strategy was winning the war with how large of a body count there was. This not only put many many people at risk, it also lead to a very large increase in conflicts. When you are running search and destroy missions almost 24/7, you have to realize that there is going to be a much larger amount of casualties on our side as well. Puting our troops into combat for so many hours day after day, those who survive are very likely to develop PTSD. From developing PTSD means that the soldiers will more than likely be put on a prescription drug after the war which can be pricey when you have to purchase a bottle of pills once a month. In many different ways, the act of fighting the war on shear body count made the war extremely expensive! Even years after it was over and done with. That is why I believe fighting the war based on body count was the most problematic strategy.
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnamese ultimately wanted independence when China and the Soviet Union backed them into that struggle. The United States was afraid that this could lead to the "domino effect" where if one country fell to communist control then the other surrounding countries would fall to communism as well. Because the war was not based on territory or rights, many people were confused to why we were fighting in it. This caused problems within the United States along with the war in Vietnam. I think that the "domino effect" was not really relevant to the surrounding countries. Many of them had there own governments and ruling territory to where it would be hard to take over my communism. The reasoning to the war is still opinion and fact bases opinions. I think it is hard to justify the meaning if one of the only goals was to kill.
ReplyDeleteI think it was the U.S. helping the Vietnamese. When they went over there they did help them out by gaining power, but the U.S. men did get killed. There were men who did get killed in it. They went over there to help out the Vietnamese and the did, but when they helped them out they went out and killed people and they got killed also. Ho Chi Minh asked for there help, they came in boats to help to stop the transporting systems, they killed innocent people then the "sv" came out and killed them.
ReplyDeleteRichard Roo
Our most problematic strategy in Vietnam was the way in which we ran our results. Fighting a war with the only result being a body count is a futile way run your offensive. Putting the troops out in the middle of enemy territory without giving them proper jungle warfare training and telling them to kill as many of the enemy as they can is no way to gain control of another army. Especially when the people we are attempting to help are among those killed. The inability to know the enemy we are trying to kill for results allows for error in the fact that we will kill innocents in order to achieve a higher body count which in result creates resentment among the people and they shall turn on us and join the Vietcong in attempt to avenge their fallen friends on the murders they feel U.S. troops are. This way in which we ran results on the war in effect helped the enemy greatly causing us to lose a great amount of soldiers and people to communism in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteAshton Dierman
In my opinion our most problematic strategy in the Vietnam war was the way we considered winning the war. In this war we used body count as a way to tell if we had won a battle or not. Most other wars were won on the area of land that is controlled. This war was looked at in a completely different way, the new technology that was used, helicopters, and the body count didn't allow the South Vietnamese to expand and have a area of land that they fully controlled they just knew how many of the North they had killed and this just accomplished knowing how many people where dead.
ReplyDeleteJenna Peterson