The Vietnam War (1954 - 1975)

Tales of a Vietnam Vet

Hi. My name is Lieutenant Green. I was in command of a platoon of American troops in Vietnam in 1959. A couple of years before I was sent to Vietnam, the country became divided. A civil war started between the north and south. The north was controlled by a communist government led by President Ho Chi Minh. And the south was led by Ngo Dinh Diem and wanted to be democratic (people power).

In our briefing of the war we learned that the north’s leader Ho Chi Minh launched attacks against the south. His goal was to control the south and make them communist. We didn’t like communism and were sent to stop the country becoming communist. Before we got involved, the country of France was already trying to help the south in resisting the north taking over.

In 1959, we (the USA) officially entered the war. We got word that some of our military advisers who were training the southern Vietnamese army were killed by the north Vietnamese. So, we jumped in to end the war. We thought that it would be quick, that we would be home in no time. Boy, were we wrong.

We weren’t prepared for the way they fought. The north (called the Viet Cong) used different fighting strategies and we were getting hammered. They used a style of combat called guerilla tactics. They would gather a small group of armed civilians to do surprise attacks on us, they did hit-and-run ambushes on us, and they destroyed our weapons.

Not only that, but the north created an elaborate network of underground tunnels, called the Cu Chi Tunnels, to transport weapons, supplies, and people to the south. It was like an underground city. When we tried to follow them into the tunnels we were met with booby traps that would wound or kill us. We quickly realized this was a different type of war. We never knew where or from whom an attack could come from.

One of the biggest problems was they looked like everybody else - we couldn’t tell who was on our side and who was on theirs because most fighters didn’t wear uniforms. Instead, people were wearing their everyday clothes, farming in rice paddy fields, going to school, caring for their children, etc. The North secretly lived among the people of the South. And at any moment, the workers in a rice paddy field could drop their farming tools and pull out a machine gun. This led to us being uneasy and trigger happy.

We were tired and wanted the war to be over, but the US intensified their fighting. We began dropping chemical weapon bombs, such as Napalm and Agent Orange on the North Viet Cong. These chemicals would burn, deform, and kill them. And, if you didn’t die from the chemical bombs, often your children would be born deformed. Some of our guys got exposed to the chemicals and ended up in the hospital.

President Johnson got a confusing message about the north attacking a US naval ship. In 1964, the president decided to step up the war and used the Air Force to attack North Vietnamese bases. The president believed that a massive show of force by our Air Force would convince Ho Chi Minh to back off. But, he was wrong and our situation worsened. We were getting attacked from all directions and losing ground.

Again, we increased our military efforts and recruited more and more troops. In 1965, we had 200,000 US combat troops in Vietnam to help us "root out" the enemy (Viet Cong). And, by 1967 we had about half a million troops fighting in Vietnam. Geez, did the people at home get mad. With more and more troops being drafted to fight in Vietnam, people started protesting. Most Americans thought we were there too long fighting a battle that wasn’t ours to fight. And,everyday thousands of soldiers were coming home in body bags.

1968 was the worst year. the north launched an all out surprise attack on us in a 100 different location during a holiday. We weren't expecting it; it was a total surprise. Plus, this time they didn’t do their normal sneak attacks, rather they did a full frontal attack and we were taken totally off guard. Although we held them off, it was a serious blow to our morale. Our anxiety and fear grew, we were alway on edge and suspected everyone of being an enemy. The president finally started peace talks with the north to end the war.

Later that same year, we had a growing suspicion that the north was working undercover in the village My Lai. Our platoon was ordered to “search and destroy.” When we got to the village it was mostly women and children as the men had gone off to work in the rice paddy fields. But the stress of the war had gotten to us, and we killed almost everyone - women and children - even though they never resisted or raised a weapon against us. Seeing what we did really messed with our heads. Not only did we have PTSD, but we were later tried in court for our crimes.

People back at home people were angered by the My Lai massacre and increased their protesting efforts to end the war. We felt hated, by the Vietnamese and our own people. When we returned back from war, protesters cussed, spit, and yelled hateful things at us. We felt rejected, when we needed to heal.

Eventually the war ended in 1973. We didn’t accomplish our task of keeping the south democratic. And, many of us feel that our soldiers died for no reason. In the end, we all lost and the trauma of this war lives on...

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