As war rages on, there is a special breed of man who puts everything on the line for the safety and preservation of his country. These men operate behind the scenes without any conventional help available to them and with no need of meritorious recognition. These men are the most elite branch of the United States military: the Navy SEALs. As mentioned in their ethos, they are ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve their missions and the goals established by their country. They are trained not to fail; this legacy has been fulfilled since their creation during the Vietnam War. This conflict tested both their strength and values as modern day conflicts do today. The United States Navy SEALs evolved their credibility throughout the Vietnam War into the elite warriors they are now in the modern day battlefield.
During the 1970s, tensions increased between the country of South Vietnam and the Vietcong rebels and eventually broke out into what is commonly referred to as the Vietnam War. The United States government decided to give aid to South Vietnam against those tunnel dwelling guerrillas. This agreement led to an influx of money given to the South Vietnamese Army and also the movement of United States advisors to the field. At the start of the conflict, the Vietcong used a series of submissive and guerrilla type tactics that were both confusing and abnormal to both the conventional Vietnamese Army and the United States military. The U.S had a unit of the military that specialized in this style warfare known as the Green Berets. However, the Vietnam War was fought both on jungle terrain and delta/marshy environments.
This water element presented a problem; thus, President Kenn...
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...erous and elite warriors into a well respected and highly decorated military unit. The SEALs involvement in the Vietnam War was highly based on clandestine and unconventional style missions which allowed them to be used for a variety of tactical and strategic uses. As time went on, the United States Navy SEALs played a role in a variety of conflicts all over the world. Present day conflicts in the Middle East are utilizing the SEALs more than they have ever been used. This is particularly true in the regions of Iraq and Afghanistan where the war on terror still occurs today. Since their creation and evolution during the Vietnam War, the SEALs have basically been completing missions and operating under the same style of warfare. The SEALs presently carry on the legacy that their brothers back in the Vietnam War forged for them with blood, sweat, and pure firepower.
The North Vietnamese Communist leadership's ability to reassess and adapt during the Vietnam War was reflected in how well they combined guerilla and conventional operations to achieve their strategic goal of unifying Vietnam under communist rule. Throughout the conflict, the Viet Cong (VC) were employed to conduct guerilla operations while North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and VC "main force" units were used to transition to conventional operations. Guerilla operations enabled Hanoi to inflict a steady flow of casualties on US forces which increased anti-war sentiment in America. NVA and VC main force conventional operations reinforced the US Army's conventional approach to the fight which caused the Americans to alienate the people of South Vietnam. By alienating the South Vietnamese people, the Americans enhanced the VC's ability to conduct guerilla operations and control rural population centers which weakened the credibility of the Government of South Vietnam (GVN). The combined effects of guerilla and conventional operations supported the North Vietnamese strategy of a protracted conflict that was sure to weaken the resolve of the United States and eventually defeat the GVN.
The Vietnam War, a counter-insurgency conflict waged between North Vietnamese Communist forces and their South Vietnamese opposition, was one that many of its participants are not like to forget.
From Sea, Air, and Land, the U.S. Navy Seal Teams are the most feared and respected commando forces in the U.S military if not the world. The Seal Teams are the most elite and highly trained forces on the face of the earth. President John F. Kennedy formed the teams in 1962 as a seagoing counterpart to the U.S Army Special Forces.
The Vietnam War to this day is thought of as a grim, long-lasting battle that took place between 1955 and 1975. The American people were never fond of this war, as they polled and constantly spoke out against the idea of being involved in Vietnam throughout the entire duration it took place. This war was fought between North Vietnam (with their Soviet, Chinese and other communist allies) and South Vietnam whose main supporter and ally was the United States. This paper will validate what this war was like for the American troops and all the diversity they were able to overcome. Ranging from the lack of American support, to the physical combat and hardships the soldiers had to face while on the battleground.
The Vietnam War (1965-1975)was fought between the North and South Vietnam. The North was called Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the South was the Republic of Vietnam which was supported by the United States. On August 2nd, 1964 the USS Maddox was on a secret intelligent mission on the North Vietnamese coast where in the Gulf on Tonkin they were attacked by torpedo boats. The USS Turner Joy was attacked in the same area two days later. Due to the second attack Congress declared the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which led to air strikes.In 1959 there were 5,000 guerilla fighters and in 1964 the numbers jumped to 100,000. At Pleiku on March, 1965 U.S Marine barracks were attacked causing the three stage escalation bombing of North Vietnam to begin. The 3 year lasting bombing was used to force North Vietnam to stop supporting the "National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam" by destroying their industrial infrastructure and Vietnam's air defenses. Unfortunately this did not stop the North's support for the NLF. The U.S. Air Force bases were constantly being attacked so the U.S. on March 8, 1965 the 3,500 U.S. Marines was deployed to South Vietnam. At this point in time, the U.S. public supported the dispatch because the Vietnam War had been portrayed to the American people as a war against the spread of Communism. Johnson was president at the time and he kept adding more and more troops as the war went on. As the draft quotas increased, the American public protests started. When Nixon came into presidency his policy towards the Vietnam War was "peace with honor" in other words he wanted to widen the war. After more bombing and fighting, on January 27, 1973 the Paris Peace Accords was signed, restoring peace in Vietnam and U.S. forces pulled out. Nixon stopped all American attacks on Vietnam. The condensed summary of the Vietnam War is to see what presidents were involved in this war (Johnson, and Nixon) and what foreign policies were taken towards Vietnam mostly before the protests began.
...all themselves United States Marines, forever a member of the warrior society. Still a part of American society, yet forever changed: re-socialized for a higher purpose.
The Vietnam War was one of the most prolonged wars in US history. Although there were no exact dates, it is believed that US involvement lasted for around 20 years. The US went into this war hoping they could stop the spread of communism and defeat the northern Vietnamese. The 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 was done using guerrilla warfare which blurred the lines of legitimate and illegitimate killings and this had effect of bringing peoples morales down. Support for the war had always been split but this battle caused even the government to reconsider their involvement. The Tet offensive changed the US's attitude towards the Vietnam war by leading to further anti-war protests, a credibility gap in America, and for President Johnson to negotiate peace and not seek reelection.
Lorenzo M. Crowell discusses the lessons that Americans have learned from the Vietnam conflict in his article "The Lessons and Ghosts of Vietnam." Crowell analyzes the lessons learned from Vietnam and applies them to the military strategies of today. Crowell does overlook some problems involving the power of Saddam Hussein after Desert Storm and the comparison of two dissimilar wars. Crowell is effective in his arguments with the use of first-hand viewpoints, current newsprint, and political figureheads. Although the article "The Lessons and Ghosts of Vietnam" had some weak points, overall the article is effective and informative.
The United States Marine Corps is known as one of the worlds most elite fighting groups. Marines are looked highly upon by most people in American society. However, The Marine corps has had a rough journey since their birth date on November 10th, 1775. While the American people felt and still feel that the Marine Corps are vital in our military. Though the Marine Corps was formed originally for amphibious warfare they have proven themselves powerful “in every clime and place”. Some however feel the United States should integrate the Marine Corps into the United States Army believing that both are performing the same tasks and that having another branch is just causing the defense budget to be stretched out amongst all branches. This is one of the reasons the Marine Corps has been disbanded in the past along with peace time movements were the United States Navy was also disbanded. Even with the Marine Corps’ struggle to remain one of Americas elite fighting forces the people have always rallied behind them to keep them afloat.
In 1961 John F. Kennedy secretly sent in 400 Special Operations Force trained soldiers – known as Green Berets -- taught South Vietnamese how to fight against the communist Guerillas in South Vietnam. On September 2, 1963, in an interview Kennedy said, “We need to send our men as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communist, we’re prepared to continue to assist them.” After Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon Johns...
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam. Sadly, this is not what happened. The Viet Cong (VC) had far better tactics than the US. The VC was told to 'nibble at the enemy' so that he could 'neither eat or sleep'. This worked very well. Another demoralizing tactic the VC used was their landmines; they were designed to blow the limbs off the soldiers without killing them. This tied up hospital beds and meant the soldiers had to carry the wounded back to the base.
The Northern Vietnamese Army, NVA, used many war tactics that helped them with the war but the most notable was the use of guerrilla warfare. “By 1961, guerrilla warfare was widespread in South Vietnam” (Anderson). This made
After Vietnam erupted into civil war, both sides started employing clever tactics and new t...
The Navy is very flexible having its own Special Forces team too. The U.S. Navy Seals are one of the most elite fighting forces in the world. They are able to operate in all environments, including sea, air, and land. Their training is some of the most advanced in the entire world taking some, thirty months of blood sweat and tears. Only around 25% of prospect Navy Seals will make it through the vigorous training (Luttrell). The Navy Seals normal missions consist usually of, recon, capture/kil...
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States Armed Forces whose sole purpose is to provide an assault force from the sea and to be the initial strike force of the United States Military. The USMC is currently under the Department of the Navy but is recognized as its own branch of the military. The USMC has served in every major war since the Revolutionary War in 1775. (Corps, History and Heritage-Our Purpose, 2014)