In many ways the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War which led to the withdrawal of American troops; however there is also evidence to suggest otherwise. This is caused by the undeniable fact that America suffered a major loss during the surprise attack but, they also came out on top and survived the ambush. The main reason to agree with this statement is that America heavily suffered from the attack in which many lives were lost, ammunition wasted and the government was shown in a new light. This light was that they were not on top of the Vietcong’s tactics and did not know what they were planning. As well as this the fighting itself was filmed and broadcasted in North Vietnam to show that they had successfully attacked and breached the American defences.
Given the right circumstances anyone can be capable of evil. In 1967, the height of the Vietnam War thousands of young men, (eighteen, nineteen, and twenty years old), were sent to Fort Benny Georgia for basic training. They were trained to fight and kill the enemy, Viet Cong. The men of Charlie Company, 11th light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, United States Army were assigned to a temporary battalion- sized unit, Task Force Barker, led by Captain Ernest Medina (Kendrick p.37). Lieutenant William Calley was in charge of the 1st Platoon.
Law of War During war, the soldiers exposed to too much pressure. Most of them try to deal with the enemy according to the law of jungle “kill or you’ll be killed”. They try to dehumanize the enemy to give themselves the right to kill him without felling guilty. However, after the application of this rule, most of the soldiers feel compunction because they realize that they kill a human been. In the story “The Main I Killed”, the author Tim O`Brien illustrates to us the reaction of three American soldiers after killing a Vietnamese man during the Vietnam War.
It can be argued that by this stage, US objectives in Vietnam had not been completed and any further involvement would have only been causing more damage to the current situation. However, it is important to understand the factors leading to failure in this period in the war. Throughout US involvement in Vietnam, the military faced the clear problem of destroying Vietcong insurgency in the South. This was no easy task as the enemy they were up against was resilient, and highly intelligent in many aspects that were not initially recognised. The first major engagement in Ia Drang may have proved ultimately to be an American victory, but it presented the fact that fighting the VC would not be won through area wars, but purely a through test of which side could drain enemy troop numbers fastest in an attritional war.
When the war started many American people was against it and want this to end son as possible. They were against it because United States didn´t have any trade with Vietnam or something like that. Many people give their opinions about the war in Vietnam. In the next paragraphs I am going to talk about two American groups fell about the war, the two groups are the American public and the soldiers. The first group the American public at the beginning of the war agreed with the fact that Us was helping South Vietnam, this because the president of the united States in this year told the people that they need to go to war and they have to go even if they don´t like the idea.
My Lai Massacre Leading up to the massacre: In March 1968, Charlie Company of the American Division’s 11th Infantry Brigade received word that VC guerrillas had taken control of Son My. * Led by Lieutenant William L. Calley, the unit was sent to the village on a search-and-destroy mission on March 16. * At the time, morale among U.S. soldiers on the ground was dwindling, especially in the wake of the North Vietnamese-led Tet Offensive, which was launched on January 31 1968 * Army commanders had advised the soldiers of Charlie Company that all who were found in Son My could be considered VC or active VC sympathizers, and ordered them to destroy the village. * When they arrived, the soldiers found no Viet Cong, but rounded up and murdered hundreds of civilians–mostly women, children and old men–in an extremely brutal fashion, including rape and torture. * Calley was reported to have dragged dozens of people, including young children, into a ditch before executing them with a machine gun.
“You never know who your enemy is.” I found this statement to be a reoccurring theme in “The Sniper” while reading. I believe this is a perfect theme because the sniper had no idea who was on the other side and would not have known if he didn’t look at the dead body. The main character in this selection was not officially named but was referred to as the sniper. In the selection the sniper had both an internal and external conflict. The external conflict was that he was fighting in the middle of the war and the only way to survive was to kill all the opponents.
Although the Tet Offensive was unsuccessful for the North Vietnamese Army, they showed that United States had seriously underestimated them and their capabilities. The United States boasted prematurely that the war was nearing its end and the North Vietnamese were all but defeated. However those statements were discredited by the media who brought the Tet Offensive into the homes of millions of Americans which resulted in the highest disapproval of any war amongst American citizens in the history of the United States. In addition the Tet Offensive also showed that the North Vietnamese were willing to fight until the last man and that regardless of how many casualties they suffered, they would fight the United States until the end. SGT Jordan Alvarado SFC Delong 13F ALC Class 017-13 19 July 2013 The
So many friends and family had been lost, people were angry and wanted someone to blame, so when the time came and the war of terror was announced many civilians were for it. There was not a doubt in their mind that they needed to be protected. Americans first resort was guns, what better way to kill the enemy. They were angry and acceoted the message given to them by the mass
The war began due to North Vietnam being a communist country, while the US wanted to prevent a communist country taking over the south part of Vietnam. The media played an important role in the war, as the media brought the war into the American’s homes, showing the Americans all the realities of warfare. Many things were showed to the Americans. The coverage that the media showed to the Americans horrified them in many ways: wounded civilians, children who had lost their parents, many villages destroyed, search and destroy missions etc. The war was pointless in the American’s eyes and they thought that America had no right to impose its views on Vietnam.