Vietnam- it was your grandpa's Afghanistan.
But we bet even you didn't know these dirty secrets about the second-greatest folly in
US war history.
1.
The US Was Winning
Vietnam remains singular in US history as the one conflict where the United States snatched
defeat from the jaws of victory.
At almost every possible opportunity, the US did all it could to not win the war- and
despite this, was still winning until the day it decided to pull out.
By 1968 the war had ground to a stalemate- though really only because the US wanted it
to be a stalemate.
Forbidden from taking and holding ground in North Vietnam due to miscalculated fears of
Chinese and Soviet involvement, American ground forces were basically sitting in fortified
areas while the countryside around them swarmed with guerilla and NVA forces.
Even so, the NVA couldn't make any progress in actually defeating South Vietnam.
So both sides clashed occasionally as battlelines budged by a few hundred meters occasionally.
The North knew that if it was going to win the war, it needed to split the US off from
its South Vietnam allies.
The South Vietnamese government was a hodgepodge of despots and autocrats, and wielded its
military forces so ineptly that it stood little chance against the North on its own.
The relationship between the US and South Vietnam was severely strained, owing to the
heavy lifting done by US troops in defense of the country, and the South Vietnamese government's
sheer incompetence, corruption, and ineptitude.
If the rapidly fraying ties of the alliance could be severed completely, the US would
leave the country and the North would win.
In order to achieve this, NVA general Vo Nguyen Giap came up with a bold military attack which
would become the infamous Tet Offensive.
The plan was simple- for the duration of the war both north and south had observed an unofficial
cease fire during the January 31st lunar new year celebrations.
With the South and its US allies not expecting major military activity during the traditional
cease fire, the North would be able to launch a volley of surprise attacks across the countryside.
The resulting chaos would dissolve the morale of the South Vietnamese army- a fighting force
already perilously low on morale and discipline- and force the US to abandon the South.
Early in the morning of January 30th, 1968, Viet Cong forces- under the command of the
NVA- attacked 13 cities in central South Vietnam.
Many families and soldiers were preparing for the lunar new year, catching the south
completely by surprise.
As the South and US forces reeled from the surprise attack, the North launched its own
attacks against South Vietnamese cities, government targets, and joint US-South Vietnamese military
bases.
The ferocity of the dual-pronged offensive rocked even battle-hardened US forces on their
heels.
The most iconic moment of the Tet Offensive, and the moment it became clear for many Americans
that the war was lost, was when Viet Cong forces breached the US embassy in Saigon.
Journalists famously snapped many images which were quickly sent around the world, highlighting
the brutality and hopelessness of the massive attack
There was just one problem with that narrative- the entire platoon of Viet Cong that assaulted
the US Embassy was annihilated by American forces.
That story would repeat itself in over 120 enemy actions throughout the Tet Offensive,
as US and ARVN forces crushed the Viet Cong and their NVA allies.
The North suffered massive casualties in the failed attacks, with the Viet Cong bearing
a particularly grisly toll.
The plan to collapse the demoralized South Vietnamese people had completely failed, and
zero strategic objectives were seized.
It was an utter military disaster for the north- but the US did its best to turn that
disaster into one of the greatest victories of the 20th century.
Newsreels of the fierce fighting showed dozens of dead US troops to audiences back home.
The Battle of Hue, which would last three weeks and be the fiercest battle of the Tet
Offensive, saw 150 US Marines killed alongside 400 South Vietnamese.
News cameras were there to document the carnage.
What audiences in the US missed was that nearly 5,000 enemy forces had also been killed.
Thanks to scenes like this, supplied with no context, the war which seemed to finally
be drawing down was suddenly an 'unwinnable quagmire', and continued support for it was
tantamount to political suicide.
The North had failed at winning any military victory, but won the greater public opinion
victory.
In a bid to hasten along a peace deal, the US limited bombing into North Vietnam- bombing
campaigns which had unknowingly almost brought the North to the point of complete collapse.
Just in time though, the US gave the north a much-needed lifeline, and ensured it would
live to fight for another five years until the inevitable US pull-out.
2.
The Key To Victory Was Not In Vietnam At All
After the war was officially over and the North was victorious, one northern general
was asked what his greatest fear was throughout the war.
His answer?
US ground forces attacking the Ho Chi Minh trail.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was actually a mishmash of roads, footpaths, and unmarked trails that
crisscrossed Laos and Cambodia, allowing North Vietnamese forces to slip into South Vietnam
while avoiding US forces completely.
It also allowed for the critical reinforcing and resupply of the Viet Cong, with hundreds
of tons of materials traversing the trail every month.
The US was fully aware of the existence of the trail, but limited its attempts to interrupt
it to small-scale raids and air power.
With no ground forces to hold and secure territory, the thousands of bombs dropped by US planes
did little to stem the rushing tide of weapons and manpower into South Vietnam.
Yet the US was afraid of escalating the war should it use ground forces to secure the
trail, and was already facing criticism for its use of air power outside of Vietnam's
borders.
These would have been perfectly valid complaints, had North Vietnam not already escalated the
war outside of Vietnam's borders.
Instead of fighting the war that existed, the US tried to fight the conventional war
that it believed in- and gave free reign to the North to resupply its forces and allies
in the south.
3.
The NVA was one of the few armies in history to lose most battles and still win the war
The NVA was a professional and well trained fighting force, at the time fielding one of
the largest armies in the world.
Despite this, they lost nearly every battle they engaged in against US forces.
Superior US equipment, tactics, air support, and training is part of the answer, but so
is the low quality equipment being mass produced in China and provided to the North on the
cheap.
In the end though, despite losing nearly every battle it engaged in, the NVA still won the
war- without achieving any real military strategic objectives in two decades of fighting.
4.
US Troops Hated Their Rifles
When US forces first set foot in Vietnam in force, they were immediately overwhelmed by
superior NVA firepower.
The North was supplied with the infamous AK-47, which while lacking in accuracy, was rugged,
reliable, and could deliver an overwhelming amount of fire.
The US meanwhile had failed to learn anything from World War II or Korea, and brought along
the M14 battle rifle, successor to the M1 Garand.
The M14 was in fact, a fine rifle.
Its 7.62 round could penetrate even thick jungle cover to deliver a killing blow, and
it was an extremely accurate rifle.
However, it was completely uncontrollable in full auto mode, and too large and unwieldy
in a jungle environment.
Its extremely limited magazine size, in comparison to the AK-47's, also gave the tactical advantage
to the enemy, as well as the fact that the wooden stock of the rifle would swell and
expand in the jungle moisture, adversely affecting accuracy.
With US troops completely outclassed in firepower, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara immediately
approved the M16 as the new replacement for the M14.
The M16 could not only match the AK-47 in volume of fire, but was lighter, more accurate,
and easier to manufacture.
Yet its first deployments to Vietnam were an immediate disaster.
In order to reduce cost, McNamara had approved the use of an alternate gunpowder which hadn't
been tested for jungle use.
This caused the M16 to suffer frequent misfires, leaving soldiers weaponless in the middle
of a battle.
To further compound the disaster, the rifles had been billed as a 'self-cleaning gun',
an absolutely lunatic statement, but one that led to cleaning kits not being issued to soldiers.
While the M16 eventually redeemed itself and became one of the world's best assault rifles,
US troops had so little confidence in their own weapons that they often pilfered the AK-47s
from dead enemies.
The weapon was actually preferred by US special forces, who would often surprise enemy troops
who wouldn't realize they were under enemy attack until too late.
However, it also led to many friendly fire incidents as American and South Vietnamese
forces fired on friendlies using an AK.
5.
A fourth country matched- and maybe even exceeded- the US, South Vietnam, or North Vietnam in
number of civilian massacres.
Bring up the topic of massacres in Vietnam and you'll likely hear all about US troops
and events such as the massacre of My Lai, where US troops killed as many as 500 Vietnamese
civilians.
You might even hear about the Hue massacre, where the Vietcong killed up to 6,000 US and
South Vietnamese government supporters.
What you likely won't hear is about the country that committed an estimated 80 massacres and
had over 300,000 troops fighting alongside the US.
The Republic of South Korea saw a communist Vietnam as an imminent threat right in its
own backyard, and was quick to lend aid to the US effort to defeat the North.
To that end it would send over 300,000 soldiers to assist the coalition during the fighting,
but ROK forces quickly grew a bad reputation amongst US leadership for their treatment
of civilians.
Less scrupulous American commanders however endorsed the ROK's rough tactics, and over
all US leadership worked to help cover up South Korean massacres- both out of a sense
of practicality in ensuring the continued help of an ally, and because an investigation
into South Korean troops massacring civilians would no doubt also bring attention to US
massacres.
An estimated 8,000 to 9,000 civilians died at the hands of South Korean forces- and not
as collateral damage, but as outright massacres.
That figure might make South Korea the largest perpetrator of civilian massacres in the conflict,
with the Viet Cong giving them a fair run for their money.
Today, while South Korea has never formally acknowledged the massacres, it has spent millions
in aid grants to Vietnam- with areas where South Korean troops committed known massacres
receiving significantly greater funds.
6.
The US faked its way into the war
On August 2nd, 1964, an American destroyer, the USS Maddox, was performing routine signals
intelligence patrols off the coast of Vietnam.
North Vietnamese forces were on high alert due to raids by South Vietnam in the region.
Upon spotting the Maddox, she was shadowed by North Vietnamese torpedo boats, with intercepted
radio chatter indicating the boats were preparing to attack.
The Maddox changed course and accelerated, but the torpedo boats sped up to match course
and speed.
As the boats neared, the Maddox fired three warning shots, landing splashes in the water
in front of them.
That's when the boats loosed a volley of torpedoes, which the Maddox easily avoided.
In response, the Maddox opened fire with its five-inch guns, hitting one and forcing the
other boats away.
A nearby patrol of F-8 Crusaders responded to the Maddox' location, sinking one of the
torpedo boats and severely damaging a second.
Two days later, Maddox and Turner Joy returned to the area in a show of force.
The two American vessels were immediately attacked by North Vietnamese ships, prompting
a four hour battle that resulted in two sunk torpedo boats.
The attacks would prompt President Lyndon Johnson to ask for, and receive, authorization
to enter the war in Vietnam, as well as take any necessary action to halt the expansion
of communism in SouthEast Asia- infamously known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
There was just one problem- the second incident which spurred the US to war never happened.
Both the Maddox and the Turner Joy had in fact engaged in a four hour gun fight on the
fourth of August, 1964- but they were firing on ghosts.
Despite the official account relayed back to fleet headquarters and then to the White
House indicating visual, radar, and sonar contacts which were then engaged and destroyed,
a closer investigation revealed that nobody on the Maddox had ever actually acknowledged
a visual sighting on an enemy vessel.
Further, bad weather was believed to be responsible for the fake radar contacts that the Maddox
and Turner Joy took to be enemy ships, and anxious sonar operators likely mistook natural
contacts for North Vietnamese vessels.
A laundry list of mistakes that sent the US to a disastrous war- except many in both the
US government and military suspected that the second attack never actually took place.
One senator even asked for time to verify the data received from the Maddox, and the
account of the battle- but all warnings were ignored.
Johnson was actively looking for a reason to get into Vietnam out of fear of the equally
infamous 'domino theory', which stated that if one nation fell to Communism in SouthEast
Asia, the rest would quickly fall as well.
In 2003, former Secretary of Defense Robert S McNamara- possibly one of the most infamous
men to ever hold that title- admitted that the second attack never happened.
Whether he knew this or not on August 5th, 1964 as the US prepared to enter its second-most
disastrous war is still unknown- but highly likely.
Now go watch Soldiers Encounter Mysterious Monsters in Vietnam War, or click this other
video instead.