confrontation, called the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, was a major loss for the French, and a decisive victory for the army of Northern Vietnam, the Viet Minh. The French made several misjudgments in the battle, one was to tempt the Viet Minh’s General Giap into a frontal assault at Dien Bien Phu (Prados). This was a mistake as Dien Bien Phu was located at a valley, most of which was surrounded by the Viet Minh (Prados). The French also unassumingly believed that the Viet Minh did not possess a large
The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that
There are many books on military strategy and ways to win wars or battles in the world. Every book, manuscript, poem, song or play written on winning wars in the world has a history. In this case study, I will address the 'Art of War' written by Sun Tzu as it is regarded as one of the best and most successful documentation of military strategies. I will also compare and contrast Sun Tzu’s leadership strategies as compared to and contrasted with those of great military leaders throughout history;
During the Vietnam War General Westmoreland and General Vo Nguyen Giap were very different, but despite their differences they ultimately have the same goal. General Vo Nguyen Giap was a very highly regarded General during this war, but he was not born into the military like some other Generals from the Vietnamese war. One General That was born into the military was General Westmoreland. He was the general for the U.S. and Unlike General Vo Nguyen Giap Westmoreland knew he was going to be a part of the
MNIH Ho Chi Mnih "Uncle Ho" : Carroll, Michael. "Ho Chi Minh: A Biography." Canadian Journal of History 43.2 (2008): 355-7. ProQuest. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. is mostly known as the president of northern Vietnam or Viet Mnih in 1941. Ho chi minh was born Nguyen Sinh Cung on May 19, 1890 in central Vietnam "he was a seasoned revolutionary and passionate nationalist obsessed by a single goal: independence for his country" Karnow, Stanley. "Ho Chi Minh." Time. Time Inc., 13 Apr. 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. IN
Immediately following the struggle of World War Two another great conflict was heating up in Vietnam. Revolution was in the air and was being led by the communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of independence of Vietnam from French rule on September 2nd, 1945 was the first step in securing a Vietnam free from colonization and a Vietnam of complete independence. Ho Chi Minh’s education in communist teachings pulled him to align with the French Communists which helped thrust him into
the beginning of this battle the North Vietnam and Vietcong had the advantage because many allied forces were caught off guard by this sneak attack. General Vo Nguyen Giap planned this attack. Despite heavy losses from the North Vietnamese army, they achieved a victory. They even attacked and overrun the United States embassy in Saigon. Giap had hopped to drive a wedge between the South Vietnam forces and the North Vietnam forces (Tet Offensive). Trying to drive a wedge between South Vietnam and
persuading the Americans to withdraw troops. After being newly appointed as the NVA leader, Vo Nguyen Giap felt the necessities of a major victory. He planned an enormous surprise attack against the US and SVA during Tet, considered to be Vietnam’s most important holiday (Willbanks). Southern Vietnamese and American assumed NVA and Vietcong would set the war aside for couple of days to celebrate the traditional holiday. Giap had three expectations from the attack. His goals were to: cause a public uprising
The Battle of Khe Sanh was a military siege during the hottest year of the Vietnam war, 1968. General William C. Westmoreland’s decision to protect the small airstrip at Khe Sanh was met with controversy. After the siege, both the Americans and the North Vietnamese claimed victory for different reasons. Khe Sanh’s effect will eventually bring about American withdrawal of Vietnam. The Khe Sanh combat base was located in the northernmost section of South Vietnam close to the Laotian border. The
series of attacks against the forces in the south and the US, known as the famous “Tet Offensive.” The name “Tet Offensive” is derived from the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar. It is a celebration of the lunar New Year. General Vo Nguyen Giap, along with the forces in the north, decided to attack on this day because it is supposed to be a “truce period” between the north and south. On this day, the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) was at its lowest level of alertness. (Dunn,
Ho Chi Minh’s father, Nguyen Sinh Huy, was a teacher and aspiring politician. Minh’s father refused to learn French despite it being required by the ruling French government. Because of Minh’s father’s reluctance to adhere to French rule, Nguyen Sinh Huy was unable to teach in French run schools. Nguyen Sinh Huy instead traveled around Vietnam offering peasants his services. Nguyen wrote letters for poor peasants and provided basic medical care for people
Ho Chi Minh was born on 19th of May, 1890 in the village of Hoàng Trù in Vietnam during the time of the French colonisation, his given name was Nguyen That Thanh. His father, Nguyen Sinh Sac, was a district magistrate during the early 19th century, who was openly critical of the French policies that had infiltrated the executive arms of the country's ruling elite. Such political ideas were passed down to his son Ho Chi Minh who became of one of the most influential, nationalistic political leaders
doubt about the incident such as the Vietnamese vessels actually attack the Maddox after they were being fired by the US destroyer. Many question of whether all of this was set up just for the US to have an excuse to attack North Vietnam. General Vo Nguyen Giap had mention that the Us sent the DeSoto patrol to the Tonkin Gulf just for provocation and hope to get an excuse for escalation of the
Nuclear Dilemma. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1987. 14-16. Sharp, Ulysses. Strategy For Defeat: Vietnam in Retrospect. San Rafael: Presidio, 1978. 267-71. Schechter, Danny. “Introduction: The Fall of Washington.” How We Won the War. Vo Nguyen Giap. Philadelphia: RECON, 1976. 13-14. Summers, Harold, G. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War. Novato: Presidio, 1982. 63-9. “Vietnam War.” Microsoft Encarta 1999 Multimedia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Redmond: Microsoft Corporation
faced the reality of why were they really fighting. From the soldier’s perspective, Pres. Johnson's own personal ambition, given his domestic success within the Great Society reforms, was hardly a moral justification (Dallek, 183). For the North, Nguyen Tan Than described how he morally believed he was doing the right thing by joining the Vietcong when he said that “we had to get rid of the regime that allowed a few people to use their money and authority to oppress the others” (Than, 284). From
My Lai Massacre was a horrifying attack U.S soldiers of Company Charlie committed on March 16, 1968. This dark day occurred during the Vietnam War, the American soldiers were helping anti-communist South Vietnam. Americans main motive was to defeat the Viet Cong and they were advised by the military intelligence that Viet Cong headquarters were located at My Lai. My Lai is a village located in northeast of Vietnam. The American soldiers were ordered on a search and destroy mission by their leader
battles were like nothing they had seen before and it was very difficult for the soldiers to differentiate between the enemies and civilians. To make it even more difficult for the soldiers, their “information was based on faulty intelligence”. Võ Nguyên Giáp, a northern Vietnamese general, believed that the US and the southern Vietnamese had an unstable relationship. He hoped that through the Tet Offensive the US would believe they were no longer worth defending. Fighting
On the thirtieth of January, 1968, as the sun set over South Vietnam, nothing seemed out of place. A cease fire had been declared in observation of the Tet holiday and the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces welcomed the break. The latter half of 1967 had been filled with violent, bloody and perplexing battles for the anti-communist troops. For the last three months the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) were launching regimental sized suicide attacks against remote U.S. outposts near the
that the Vietnamese "themselves escalated the hostilities". The incorrect news reports were reported to have all come from "almost exclusive reliance on government officials as sources of information. In reality, Retired Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap, in a 1995 meeting with former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, denied that the North Vietnamese had attacked the U.S. destroyers on Aug. 4, 1964, and in 2001 it was exposed that President Johnson, in a taped conversation with McNamara several
was to stop the spread of an ideology. The Viet Cong had also prepared for the previous war, which was counterinsurgency against the French from 1946 to 1954. Krepinevich says, "The strategy of the Viet Cong again under the direction of General Vo-Nguyen Giap was an adaptation of Mao Zedong's people's war in China. Insurgency is done in three phases: First, mobilize the masses against the occupying force; second, guerrilla operations and direct violence; third, the organized open warfare against the