Sunday, March 29, 2009
vietnam war pictures
vietnamese woman holding a gun
map of the vietnam war
vietnamese villagers killed by the US soldiers
Posted by HarassedBoy at 9:23 AM
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Dog Soldiers
Dog SoldiersTrained to fight in Nam
Alongside the infantryman
Four legs and a wagging tail
Devoted to serve and not fail
Dog handlers by their side
Closest friends on this ride
On a chopper in the sky
Hitching rides on boats nearby
Dogs or soldiers just the same
In a war so full of shame
Going home to try and forget
What war has done to these pets
- Paul Cameron -
Analysis:
This poem about the K-9 warriors (specially trained dog) in Vietnam.
I think this poem is trying to say that the Vietnam war is "so full of shame", the dogs should not be trained to fight in a war, that's why the poet wrote "What war has done to these pets"
Posted by HarassedBoy at 3:43 AM
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Background Information of Vietnam War
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959[1] to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other member nations of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
The Vietcong, the lightly armed South Vietnamese communist insurgency, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large-sized units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search-and-destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and air strikes.
The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. Despite a peace treaty signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. In April 1975, North Vietnam captured Saigon. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.
The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.
Posted by HarassedBoy at 11:07 PM
War poem
Bald patches of foliageLike soldiers of the cruel war
Posted by HarassedBoy at 9:00 AM
Friday, March 20, 2009
Points 4 5 6
[b]What countries/armies fought in this war?[/b]The following :
People's Republic of China
South Korea
Australia and New Zealand
Philippines
Thailand
Soviet Union
North Korea
Canada and the ICC
Spain
Nicaragua] and Paraguay
[b]When did the war begin and end officially?[/b]
1. It started in 1959,
2. and ended in April 30, 1975
[b]How was the war fought? With what technology?[/b]
The Vietnam war was to be fought as a limited war as to not set off a chain of events to start the a nuclear war with the communists. The idea was to bomb the North Vietnamese back to the bargaining table. Weapons of the United States and South Vietnam
• M-14 Rifle
• M-16 Rifle
• CAR-15 Assault Rifle
• M-1/M-2 Carbine Rifle
• M-67 Recoilless Rifle
• M-72 Light Anti-tank Weapon
• M-20 Rocket Launcher
• M-79 Grenade Launcher
• M-203 Grenade Launcher
• Browning .50 Cal Machine Gun
• Browning .30 Cal Machine Gun
• M-60 Machine Gun
• M-3 A-3 Grease Gun
• M-1928 Thompson Sub Machine Gun
• M-1911 Handgun
• M-36 Handgun
Weapons of the Vietcong and North Vietnam
• AK-47 Assault Rifle
• Chicom Type-56 Rifle
• Simonov SKS Rifle
• RPD Machine Gun
• Type-24 Heavy Machine Gun
• PPSh41 Sub Machine Gun
• MAT-49 Sub Machine Gun
• RPG-7 Rocket Launcher
• 81 mm Mortar
• 75 mm Recoilless Rifle
• Tokarev Handgun
• Makarov Handgun
Also with chemical warfare - "Rainbow Herbicides"—Agent Pink, Agent Green, Agent Purple, Agent Blue, Agent White and, most famously, Agent Orange
For enemies hiding their activities under triple-canopy jungle. it was a useful first step might be to defoliate certain areas.
Posted by HarassedBoy at 8:08 AM
Who were the key players involved in Vietnam War?
* North Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh
* South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu
* Chairman of China Mao Ze Dong
* USA president Truman
* USA president John F. Kennedy
* USA president Lyndon B. Johnson
* USA president Nixon (guilty of Watergate case )
* USA president President Gerald R. Ford
Posted by HarassedBoy at 8:04 AM
what cause vietnam war
Among the reasons/causes of the Vietnam War:
- As for why the US got involved, Americans feared the "domino theory" of expanding communist empires. The Truman doctrine stated that America would assist governments resisting communism.
- French rule was harsh: only the government was allowed to produce/sell alcohol & salt; rice was exported from huge French-owned plantations while many Vietnamese did not have enough to eat; workers in mines and rubber plantations could be jailed if they tried to leave their jobs; and taxes of every kind multiplied. Then during WW2, the French shared control of Vietnam with the Japanese.
- In 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam a free and independent country. However, the British and Chinese helped the French to return and the USA did nothing to stop them.
- In 1954, after a massive Viet Minh victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu, peace talks were held in Geneva and Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel. Elections were planned for 1956 but the South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, refused to hold these.
- The USA was worried about the spread of Communist power in Asia and Ho Chi Minh was a member of the French Communist Party.
Posted by HarassedBoy at 8:01 AM
The Vietnam war timeline
September 1974 - The U.S. Congress appropriates only $700 million for South Vietnam. This leaves the South Vietnamese Army under-funded and results in a decline of military readiness and morale.
September 16, 1974 - President Gerald R. Ford announces a clemency program for draft evaders and military deserters. The program runs through March 31, 1975, and requires fugitives to take an oath of allegiance and also perform up to two years of community service. Out of an estimated 124,000 men eligible, about 22,500 take advantage of the offer.
October - The Politburo in North Vietnam decides to launch an invasion of South Vietnam in 1975.
November 19, 1974 - William Calley is freed after serving 3 1/2 years under house arrest following his conviction for the murder of 22 My Lai civilians.
December 13, 1974 - North Vietnam violates the Paris peace treaty and tests President Ford's resolve by attacking Phuoc Long Province in South Vietnam. President Ford responds with diplomatic protests but no military force in compliance with the Congressional ban on all U.S. military activity in Southeast Asia.
December 18, 1974 - North Vietnam's leaders meet in Hanoi to form a plan for final victory.
1975
January 8, 1975 - NVA general staff plan for the invasion of South Vietnam by 20 divisions is approved by North Vietnam's Politburo. By now, the Soviet-supplied North Vietnamese Army is the fifth largest in the world. It anticipates a two year struggle for victory. But in reality, South Vietnam's forces will collapse in only 55 days.
January 14, 1975 - Testifying before Congress, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger states that the U.S. is not living up to its earlier promise to South Vietnam's President Thieu of "severe retaliatory action" in the event North Vietnam violated the Paris peace treaty.
January 21, 1975 - During a press conference, President Ford states the U.S. is unwilling to re-enter the war.
February 5, 1975 - NVA military leader General Van Tien Dung secretly crosses into South Vietnam to take command of the final offensive.
March 10, 1975 - The final offensive begins as 25,000 NVA attack Ban Me Thuot located in the Central Highlands.
March 11, 1975 - Ban Me Thuot falls after half of the 4000 South Vietnamese soldiers defending it surrender or desert.
March 13, 1975 - President Thieu decides to abandon the Highlands region and two northern provinces to the NVA. This results in a mass exodus of civilians and soldiers, clogging roads and bringing general chaos. NVA then shell the disorganized retreat which becomes known as "the convoy of tears."
March 18, 1975 - Realizing the South Vietnamese Army is nearing collapse, NVA leaders meet and decide to accelerate their offensive to achieve total victory before May 1.
March 19, 1975 - Quang Tri City falls to NVA.
March 24, 1975 - Tam Ky over-run by NVA.
March 25, 1975 - Hue falls without resistance after a three day siege. South Vietnamese troops now break and run from other threatened areas. Millions of refugees flee south.
March 26, 1975 - Chu Lai is evacuated.
March 28, 1975 - Da Nang is shelled as 35,000 NVA prepare to attack.
March 30, 1975 - Da Nang falls as 100,000 South Vietnamese soldiers surrender after being abandoned by their commanding officers.
March 31, 1975 - NVA begin the 'Ho Chi Minh Campaign,' the final push toward Saigon.
April 9, 1975 - NVA close in on Xuan Loc, 38 miles from Saigon. 40,000 NVA attack the city and for the first time encounter stiff resistance from South Vietnamese troops.
April 20, 1975 - U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin meets with President Thieu and pressures him to resign given the gravity of the situation and the unlikelihood that Thieu could ever negotiate with the Communists.
April 21, 1975 - A bitter, tearful President Thieu resigns during a 90 minute rambling TV speech to the people of South Vietnam. Thieu reads from the letter sent by Nixon in 1972 pledging "severe retaliatory action" if South Vietnam was threatened. Thieu condemns the Paris Peace Accords, Henry Kissinger and the U.S. "The United States has not respected its promises. It is inhumane. It is untrustworthy. It is irresponsible." He is then ushered into exile in Taiwan, aided by the CIA.
April 22, 1975 - Xuan Loc falls to the NVA after a two week battle with South Vietnam's 18th Army Division which inflicted over 5000 NVA casualties and delayed the 'Ho Chi Minh Campaign' for two weeks.
April 23, 1975 - 100,000 NVA soldiers advance on Saigon which is now overflowing with refugees. On this same day, President Ford gives a speech at Tulane University stating the conflict in Vietnam is "a war that is finished as far as America is concerned."
April 27, 1975 - Saigon is encircled. 30,000 South Vietnamese soldiers are inside the city but are leaderless. NVA fire rockets into downtown civilian areas as the city erupts into chaos and widespread looting.
April 28, 1975 - 'Neutralist' General Duong Van "Big" Minh becomes the new president of South Vietnam and appeals for a cease-fire. His appeal is ignored.
April 29, 1975 - NVA shell Tan Son Nhut air base in Saigon, killing two U.S. Marines at the compound gate. Conditions then deteriorate as South Vietnamese civilians loot the air base. President Ford now orders Operation Frequent Wind, the helicopter evacuation of 7000 Americans and South Vietnamese from Saigon, which begins with the radio broadcast of the song "White Christmas" as a pre-arraigned code signal.
At Tan Son Nhut, frantic civilians begin swarming the helicopters. The evacuation is then shifted to the walled-in American embassy, which is secured by U.S. Marines in full combat gear. But the scene there also deteriorates, as thousands of civilians attempt to get into the compound.
Three U.S. aircraft carriers stand by off the coast of Vietnam to handle incoming Americans and South Vietnamese refugees. Many South Vietnamese pilots also land on the carriers, flying American-made helicopters which are then pushed overboard to make room for more arrivals. Filmed footage of the $250,000 choppers being tossed into the sea becomes an enduring image of the war's end.
April 30, 1975 - At 8:35 a.m., the last Americans, ten Marines from the embassy, depart Saigon, concluding the United States presence in Vietnam. North Vietnamese troops pour into Saigon and encounter little resistance. By 11 a.m., the red and blue Viet Cong flag flies from the presidential palace. President Minh broadcasts a message of unconditional surrender. The war is over.