In 1965, General William Westmoreland developed the aggressive strategy of 'search and destroy'. [8] American soldiers referred to the Viet Cong as Victor Charlie or V-C. "Victor" and "Charlie" are both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet. Are the following sources primary or secondary? One of the major problems of the US forces was the detection of the NLF hiding in the forests of Vietnam. The NLF also employed booby traps against US and South Vietnamese troops. I found I could not be tortured to death. After the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the PRG moved into government offices there. The peasants were angry at having to travel longer distances to reach their rice fields. The Viet Cong (Vietnamese: Việt Cộng; pronounced [vîət kə̂wŋmˀ] (listen)), also known as the National Liberation Front of Southern Vietnam or NLF (Vietnamese: Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam), was an armed communist political revolutionary organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia. After Diem had gained power in South Vietnam, he forced the peasants to pay for the land they had been given. [63], The offensive was undertaken in the hope of triggering a general uprising, but urban Vietnamese did not respond as the Viet Cong anticipated. Subjects: Primary Sources Tags: history , primary sources , war Trible Library provides links to other websites to aid in research and is not responsible for the content or privacy policy of those sites. When someone laughs and jokes about what they're doing, they have to be enjoying it." Print. Late in January 1968, Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese soldiers had launched attacks on urban areas across South Vietnam. [85], Anti-communists countered that the Viet Cong was merely a front for Hanoi. Primary Sources “South Vietnamese Officer Executes a Viet Cong Prisoner” Photograph (1968) Combat Area Casualties (1998) Memorandum for the President from Henry Kissinger: “Possible Responses to Enemy Activity in South Vietnam” (1969) Agenda and Testimony of William Colby (1970) Quang Nam Province: Phoenix/Phung Hoang Briefing (1970) Our losses were so immense that we were unable to replace them with new recruits", said PRG Justice Minister Trương Như Tảng. Includes new content for 2013 on popular entertainment, mass media and consumer culture. At this point, there were about 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam,[44] as well as 900,000 allied forces. [22] The launch of Sputnik in October boosted Soviet confidence and led to a reassessment of policy regarding Indochina, long treated as a Chinese sphere of influence. It is a contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản, (Vietnamese communist), or alternatively Việt gian cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam"). In the villages they controlled, the NLF often built underground tunnels. [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. Provides primary source information on the popular culture of the U.S. and U.K. from 1950 to 1975. Tales of sensational murder and mayhem soon crowded the headlines. (5) To help them in their daily work (harvesting, fetching firewood carrying water, sewing, etc.). Desiring "businesslike" relations, the Kremlin favored incumbent, Trà begins, "How did the B2 theater carry out the mission assigned it by the Military Commission of the Party Central Committee?" ... For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. When there was no U.S. response to a successful communist attack on Phước Bình in January 1975, South Vietnamese morale collapsed. Later communist offensives were conducted predominantly by the North Vietnamese. [55] Convinced that 1968 could be the last chance for decisive victory, General Nguyễn Chí Thanh, suggested an all-out offensive against urban centers. National Public Radio, "Cronkite: Gulf of Tonkin's Phantom Attack Faulty Intelligence Played Role in Decision to Engage Viet Cong, 2 August 2004. [67] U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and Westmoreland argued that panicky news coverage gave the public the unfair perception that America had been defeated. I was the one who was doing the screaming. [47] Rice procured at gunpoint sustained the Viet Cong. This involved the spraying of chemicals from the air in an attempt to destroy the NLF hiding places. Its the awesome power that you have in your hands. Major reversals in 1966 and 1967, as well as the growing American presence in Vietnam, inspired Hanoi to consult its allies and reassess strategy in April 1967. 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. 10 Questions | By Dbspence | Last updated: Feb 22, ... A 2007 journal article about the Viet Cong with a formal writing style, bibliography at the end, and lots of analysis and interpretation. One chap got a chest wound, we had to go into the bush. JUSPAO was also responsible for providing overall policy guidance to and co-ordination of US psychological operational efforts through analyses of captured Viet Cong and North Vietnamese papers. A US army survey of weapons in 1964 discovered that 90% of weapons taken from the NLF had previously belonged to the ARVN and the US army. National Liberation Front (NFL) (Vietcong). University Publications of America, Inc., Bethesda, MD, with fully indexed guide edited and compiled by Robert E Lester. U.S. [48] Squads were assigned monthly assassination quotas. Names [edit | edit source]. The term Việt cộng appeared in Saigon newspapers beginning in 1956. An oil pipeline was built from North Vietnam to Viet Cong headquarters in Lộc Ninh, about 75 miles northwest of Saigon. Rights Advisory: Publication may be restricted. [56][nb 7] He submitted a plan to Hanoi in May 1967. In 111 BC, Vietnam became part of the Chinese Empire. [65] Earle G. Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that Tet resulted in 40,000 communist dead[66] (compared to about 10,600 U.S. and South Vietnamese dead). Military forces of the non-communists regrouped in South Vietnam, which became a separate state. In March 1956, southern communist leader Lê Duẩn presented a plan to revive the insurgency entitled "The Road to the South" to the other members of the Politburo in Hanoi. [nb 8] Trà himself was deputy chief of staff for the PAVN before being assigned to the South. This view was re-inforced if the NLF left the village to escape advancing US or South Vietnamese troops. But he, too, was thrown out. [6] In October 1957, a series of bombs exploded in Saigon and left 13 Americans wounded. [57] Funeral processions were used to smuggle weapons into Saigon. [23] In June 1958, the Viet Cong created a command structure for the eastern Mekong Delta. Texas Tech University’s Vietnam Center and Archive is the largest online source for information on the Vietnam War. [42] Soviet aid soared following a visit to Hanoi by Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in February 1965. Innocent civilians were often killed by mistake. In 1962, the Strategic Hamlet programme was introduced. Given this situation, it is not surprising that the peasants saw the NLF as their friends and the US Marines/ARVN as the enemy. It happened slowly and gradually so no one noticed when it happened. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the past and Vietnam in the present did not and do not recognize the division of Vietnam into two countries. The long period of Chinese rule had left its mark on Vietnam. [6] Front groups were favored by the Viet Cong to such an extent that its real leadership remained shadowy until long after the war was over, prompting the expression "the faceless Viet Cong". These took the form of sharpened bamboo staves and fragmentation mines. (COSVN was moved back to South Vietnam following the Easter Offensive.) [52] Viet Cong death squads assassinated at least 37,000 civilians in South Vietnam; the real figure was far higher since the data mostly cover 1967–72. About an hour later, the same thing happened again; this time I only saw a glimpse of a black jersey through the rice. [33] For Chinese leader Mao Zedong, aid to North Vietnam was a way to enhance his "anti-imperialist" credentials for both domestic and international audiences. The evidence shows that the hard core of the Communist forces attacking South Vietnam were trained in the North and ordered into the South by Hanoi. It made sense then... You don't take a person's life and not have guilt feelings about it. "It is a major irony of the Vietnam War that our propaganda transformed this debacle into a brilliant victory. Dir. [84] They claimed that the Viet Cong was composed of several parties—the People's Revolutionary Party, the Democratic Party and the Radical Socialist Party[2]—and that NLF Chairman Nguyễn Hữu Thọ was not a communist. The NLF was told not to go into combat unless it outnumbered the enemy and was certain of winning. Was I going to make a fight of it. [68], Aside from some districts in the Mekong Delta, the Viet Cong failed to create a governing apparatus in South Vietnam following Tet, according to an assessment of captured documents by the U.S. Viet Cong guerrillas in small boats patrol the Saigon River in South Vietnam Created / Published 1966. After a minute the platoon ceased fire in our direction and we got up and moved on. Others were upset for religious reasons for they believed that it was vitally important to live where their ancestors were buried. This source was very helpful to me with my research. Largest online source for information on the Vietnam War. Vincent Voice Library: Recordings on anti-war protest movements. BACK; NEXT ; Historical documents. More Primary And Secondary Sources Quizzes. [37] U.S. President John F. Kennedy decided in November 1961 to substantially increase American military aid to South Vietnam. During the war, communist insurgents and anti-war activists claimed that the Viet Cong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of North Vietnam. Vietnam War theatre A map of North and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War showing major air bases and the communists' supply routes, including the … No.". [18] Nguyễn Hữu Xuyên was assigned military command in the South,[19] replacing Lê Duẩn, who was appointed North Vietnam's acting party boss. Public Opinion & the Anti-war Movement. Although this source is not primarily focused on North Vietnam it does provide an interesting look from one of its primary supporters and the Viet Cong, which is the NLF. An excerpt from the transcript of 1970 hearings investigating the My Lai incident, the mass slaughter of unarmed citizens by US soldiers. The 1972 Easter Offensive was a direct North Vietnamese attack across the DMZ between North and South. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation. Elections on reunification were scheduled for July 1956. The earliest citation for "Vietcong" in English is from 1957. (4) Not to do or speak what is likely to make people believe that we hold them in contempt. The year following the cancelled elections saw a large increase in the number of people leaving their homes to form armed groups in the forests of Vietnam. About 90,000 Viet Minh were evacuated to the North while 5,000 to 10,000 cadre remained in the South, most of them with orders to refocus on political activity and agitation. In March, Trà was recalled to Hanoi for a series of meetings to hammer out a plan for an enormous offensive against Saigon. A man with a gun can do anything. The strategy and tactics of the National Liberation Front were very much based on those used by Mao Zedong in China. This article is a good mix of primary and secondary sources, as the article provides numerous images from the Viet Cong and North Vietnam, as well as providing images of the Viet Cong leaflets. By the terms of the Geneva Accord (1954), which ended the Indochina War, France and the Viet Minh agreed to a truce and to a separation of forces. The Viet Cong arose after the defeat of the French colonial forces at Dien Bien Phu, which prompted the United States to become gradually more and more involved in Vietnam. In 1959, Ho Chi Minh sent Le Duan, a trusted adviser, to visit South Vietnam. 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. Ho Chi Minh agreed to supply the guerrilla units with aid. Since this testament was written by Ho Chi Minh himself, it was very convenient to find direct quotes from him that showed his thoughts about the war. . It was about nine o'clock in the morning. No doubt (I thought later) that was why they had the nerve to pop up in the midst of a reinforced battalion and fire away with American troops on all sides. According to Mao Zedong, the peasants were the sea in which the guerrillas needed to swim: "without the constant and active support of the peasants... failure is inevitable. Knowing that Vietnamese soldiers were often very young, from ages 14, they need to find a way for the U.S. The NLF's solution to this problem was to take the property of the large landowners and distribute it amongst the peasants. Tet was a great loss for the NLF forces. I had to make a decision. This was often more than the peasants could afford and it caused a considerable amount of suffering amongst the peasant community. [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. The most popular aspect of the NLF programme was the promise to take the land from the rich and to distribute it amongst the peasants. Governments of South Vietnam... United Press International photo from an official communist.. Is said to have motivation to win the war & the Gulf of Tonkin incident 45! 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