Vietnam: A War Without Support Essay, Research Paper
The Sixties are often described as one the most confusing, yet important decades in American history. The confusion surrounding this decade is, in no small part, due to the war in Vietnam. With over one hundred and fifty billion dollars spent by the military and over five hundred thousand American personnel overseas, it is difficult to understand why South Vietnam fell to the Communists. History has set a precedent that the economically superior side will always prevail in a war. America had not only economic superiority, but technological superiority as well. In a war where the expected result was decisive American victory, the final outcome was a protracted and bloody defeat (over fifty thousand American casualties were recorded), which turned into one of the most embarrassing chapters in American history. The defeat in Vietnam resulted from a lack of support coming from various directions including the very people America was trying to liberate. There are many factors that contribute to America’s defeat in Vietnam, but the most important are the lack of support for the war in America itself, the low morale and lack of combat effectiveness resulting from poor command of the Army’s resources, and the lack of support from the very people that America was trying to liberate.
Firstly, the problem of the anti-war movement contributed greatly to the failure in Vietnam. Without the support of their fellow Americans at home, it became increasingly difficult for soldiers at war to fight effectively. The anti-war attitude and the atrocious treatment of returning veterans, made young men much more likely to evade the draft. In the event that they ended up Vietnam, they would fight less effectively due to the fact that they did not support the cause they were fighting for. Undermining of the war by activists at home continued to increase with the increase in American casualties. This problem is best described by Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defence under both Kennedy and Johnson: ” A nation’s deepest strength lies not in its military prowess, but rather, in the unity of its people. We [America] failed to maintain it.” (p.322, McNamara). Without this vital unity, it was a near impossible task for America to win the war. As America became increasingly divided between anti-war activists and those who supported the war, soldiers became increasingly disillusioned with their role in the war. The soldiers realised that perhaps what they were fighting for was not a just cause. The moral high ground held by soldiers at the beginning of the war began to slip as more and more soldiers realised that they did not truly believe in they were fighting for. This, coupled with low morale that resulted from the fashion that new recruits were placed into combat secured the North Vietnamese victory.
Secondly, there is the low morale and lack of combat effectiveness resulting from poor command of the Army’s resources. One mismanagement that resulted in dire consequences for America was the fashion in which new recruits were introduced into the war. Instead of sending brand-new squads which had trained together, individual soldiers were sent to fill the space left by a soldier who had just been killed or injured. For the veteran soldiers, the new recruits served as reminders of fallen friends, and thus were never truly accepted into the unit: ” …the soldiers who received us looked on us sadly and did not really want to know us.” With this being the attitude of many soldiers, it was very difficult for an sort of esprit de corps to develop. The lack of comradery severely hampered the fighting ability of the army as a whole. The detrimental effects resulting from the lack of teamwork (around which every army needs to be based), were further confounded by a lack of commitment to the war it had become involved. Involvement in Vietnam was increased in very incremental fashion. ” Some…have criticized the Government’s…gradual force buildup…in lieu of striking the enemy with full force.” (p.362, Colby). Had the Government completely committed itself to the war, it may not have degenerated into a lengthy defeat from a decisive victory. The amount of fire power America could have brought to bear would have been near impossible to stand against. While it is easy to theorize the outcome of the war had the full might of the American Army been brought to bear at once, it is much more difficult for one to judge the reaction of the South Vietnamese people to an American victory.
Finally, and most important, the support given by the South Vietnamese was a deciding factor in the outcome of the war. It is logical that the support of those one is trying to liberate is required for liberation to be achieved. This is something that was, in part, lacking during the Vietnam War. A stable government was never established in South Vietnam, and therefore the people of the south did not feel that they had something worth fighting for. This opened a gulf between the Americans and the Vietnamese as described in the following:
” The Vietnamese people saw the Americans as perpetrators of the suffering
which the war had brought…the American soldiers did not want to know
the Vietnamese, but wanted only to use them for menial labour, self-
gratification, and often as scapegoats for the frustrations and anger they felt
against the enemy and the war…America gave them nothing and expected
loyalty in return. The Vietnamese people saw only one side of the American
people and the United States and most often it was the worst side.”
p.188, Welsh)
The lack of support from those the Americans were trying to save, coupled with increasing anti-war protest at home, created a climate unsuitable for winning the war. This situation only worsened as the war progressed up to American withdrawal and the eventual fall of Saigon. The final outcome of the war was inevitable without the full support of the South Vietnamese people.
Eventually, the United States had no choice but to withdraw and leave the war to the South Vietnamese. Even as the fall of Saigon was imminent, America would not re-enter the war despite the mass amounts of money and human life spent in an attempt to halt the spread of communism.
In conclusion, the most important factor in deciding the outcome of the Vietnam War was the lack of support that came both from South Vietnam and from activists at home. Billions of dollars and thousands of lives were sacrificed for a cause that was lost from the start: the liberation of a people who did not want the American brand of freedom being offered. The war left behind an embarrassing legacy as well as deep wounds which have yet to heal even today. Many veterans were left disillusioned as they returned home to be treated as villains rather than heroic defenders of freedom. Casualties were suffered even by those who did not fight in Vietnam, as protestors were shot at Kent State University. The United States had drastically altered its image throughout the world, driving away her allies as a result of the war. In a war without support, ” an entire American army was sacrificed on the battlefield of Vietnam”(p.368, Stanton), and “it will be at least a generation before Vietnam’ will mean anything but a war of agony, frustration, and humiliation.”(p.189, Welsh).
Works Cited
Colby, William. Lost victory. Markham: Beaverbooks, 1989.
McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. Toronto:
Random House of Canada Limited, 1995.
Stanton, Shelby L. The Rise and Fall of an American Army: US Ground Forces in Vietnam.
Novato: Presidio Press, 1985.
Welsh, Douglas. The History of the Vietnam War. Greenwich: Bison Books Corp,1981.