To date, Vietnam is still considered the greatest blunder in the glorious history of the United States of America. The Vietnam War, which took place from 1954-1975, was a long, impossibly drawn out war. From the very beginning, U.S soldiers were barely welcome in an area they deemed necessary to protect from the evils of Communism. Calamity ensued as American soldiers battled not only the Vietnamese guerrillas, but also the harsh and unfamiliar jungle that is Vietnam. Chaos followed as more and more U.S soldiers were shipped home in body bags, causing President Lyndon B. Johnson to institute a draft on young American boys. This created uproar on U.S soil and events only became worse. Yet, through the underestimation of Viet Cong military and tactical power; the U.S conscription and lack of public support; and American pride were the predominant reasons the United States lost the war in Vietnam.

Historians can agree that the miscalculation of Northern Vietnamese military and tactical power (i.e. soldiers and land) was one of the principal reasons the United States lost the war in Vietnam. Previously, when presidents Truman and Kennedy were in office, there were an estimated 900 ‘military advisors’ in Vietnam (Lieber 184). When the United States took an active role in Vietnam from 1960 to 1968, the number rose from roughly 15,000 soldiers to a whopping 8,744,000 soldiers in active battle (Lieber 184). By these numbers alone, it was evident that the Viet Cong faction was incredibly outnumbered and outgunned by American forces (Sauvain 168). Even though Americans had the number advantage, they had not counted on the rough jungle terrain, humid weather and marshy lands, which put them at a huge disadvantage, for U.S soldiers were misinformed and unequipped to fight in such conditions (Sauvain 168). The Viet Cong had a deadly advantage of knowing their terrain and utilized it mercilessly as they fought as guerrillas, choosing to engage in small battles against isolated groups, rather that fight a full scale war they were positive they would lose (Sauvain 168). The Viet Cong slowly picked away at American soldiers, reducing their numbers exponentially (Lieber 185). Northern Vietnamese superiority was continually reaffirmed as the Viet Cong delivered blow after devastating blow to American soldiers. No matter how much land U.S troops would bomb or how many Viet Cong soldiers they would kill, American soldiers never seemed to gain the advantage over their Asian foes (Beresford 148). The fights and killings of Americans escalated to such a level, that President Lyndon B. Johnson had to institute a conscript in order to meet the quota of soldiers necessary to win Vietnam (Lieber 187). The Tet Offensive, which happened on January 31, 1968, (the Vietnamese New Year or, Tet) seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back (Lieber 187). The Viet Cong launched an all-out attack on an American base and hundreds of dead soldiers were being sent back to the United States each month (Sauvain 169). It was only after this bloodbath, that Americans realized the war was truly pointless and impossible to win (Sauvain 169). The Viet Cong had greatly over preformed and out powered the Americans, thus leading to the America’s inevitable loss in the Vietnam War.

Moreover, trouble erupted on American soil when Lyndon B. Johnson instituted a draft on young men. When faced with the starling reality that American soldiers were perishing in groves, President Johnson had no other choice but to pass a conscription bill in order to meet the quota of soldiers needed to continue fighting (Lieber 187). Although public opinion of the war started off strong, (having triple the amount of supporters as opposing), by the time 1971 came, the numbers had shifted to double the amount opposing the war (Lieber 188). This incited major riots as Americans, mostly students, from all across the country began protesting American involvement in Vietnam (Kolko 130). Young men who refused to join the war would either burn or tear their draft papers, not wanting to be a part of the futile war (Kolko 130). Protestors mocked Johnson with slogans like, “Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today? We don’t want your war. Draft beer, not boys. Eighteen today, dead tomorrow.” (Sauvain 169). To make matters worse, the Vietnam War was the first war to be televised to American households (America’s Reaction). People, for the first time in history, were witnessing the horrors of war and the public saw, that no matter how many men were shipped over to Vietnam, America could not win (America’s Reaction). The combination of the draft and television led protests to become angry and increasingly violent; so much so, that police were continually called to halt demonstrations (Sauvain 170). All the protesting, picketing and riots culminated to a tragedy, which in essence, was the wakeup call America desperately needed. On Monday, May 4, 1970, students at Kent State University were protesting the war when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fired (Kent State University). For thirteen seconds, twenty-eight Guardsmen released a barrage of bullets, instantly leaving four students’ dead, one permanently paralyzed and eight wounded (Kent State University). After this catastrophe, it became painstakingly obvious that something had to be done. It was almost as if Nixon was fighting a war on two different fronts, having to not only deal with the situations in Vietnam, but as well, what was happening in his country (Lieber 189). It was through this split that Nixon realized Vietnam was lost, thus pooling all his efforts into removing remaining soldiers from the country America had previously spent ten years occupying.

Yet one of the principle reasons the United States lost the war in Vietnam, was due to American Pride. Since the beginning of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam in 1954, America saw four Presidents come and go, before one put forward a remedy to the situation. It was only when President Richard Nixon and his national security advisor Henry Kissinger came to office, did the Vietnam War come to an end (Stoessinger 174). In the spring of 1964, the United States rejected a political compromise on South Vietnam, insisting that their method of direct bombing would persuade Hanoi to pull out of the war (Porter 196). As a response to American threats, the Northern Vietnamese fired on US naval ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, destroying the US warship Maddox (Porter 196). Stoessinger claims, “His [Johnson] enormous ego and machismo played a considerable role” as to why President Johnson refused to pull out of the war at that point (102). Even later on, in 1968, when Northern Vietnamese brutally massacred America soldiers in the Tet Offensive, America’s position was unwavering (Porter 197). When finally given the ultimatum of, ‘get out or we will kill every soldier here’ by Vietnamese leaders, Nixon and Kissinger created a strategy called Vietnamization (Lieber 189). Although it was obvious that the United States no longer had the manpower to continue the war, Vietnamization allowed American soldiers to slowly retreat, (while the U.S supplied Southern Vietnamese with weapons of their own to continue fighting that battle), without admitting to a defeat (Beresford 196). To further emphasize the stubborn nature of the Americans, one must look at the events that occurred during the Paris Peace Accords, after a ceasefire had been reached (Porter 200). Hostility existed even during the peace talks, as political leaders from both Vietnam and America refused to admit to being the loser in the war (Porter 200). As further proof of America’s stubborn side, as is typical of a ceasefire, the victor of the war marches in first, followed by the loser (Porter 200). Yet, during the Vietnam War, the Americans refused to walk in second, thus the French had to create two doors that opened simultaneously in order for both parties to enter at the exact same time (Porter 200). This stubborn refusal to look weak in front of the world was a key reason in why the United States lost the war in Vietnam.

As one can see, Vietnam almost seemed like a doomed war right from the very beginning. By miscalculating the power of the Viet Cong military and tactical power, not having enough American encouragement, conscription of American men and the stubborn nature of the U.S, it is no wonder the United States lost the war in Vietnam. To this very day, Vietnam is still littered with craters from the reckless bombings and the once lush forests have yet to return to their former glory, and all for what? Over twenty years of violence, death and mass destruction all culminated to a disastrous loss that left scars on all those who were either forced into battle or happened to be caught in the crossfire, even to this very day.

[ main page ] . [ guestbook ] . [e-mail ]