US Response to Guerrilla Tactics Flashcards
When was Operation Rolling Thunder?
1965 (the year my dad was born, shoutout to u dad).
Which incident spiked the introduction of Operation Rolling Thunder?
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1964.
What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident? When did it happen?
1964.
American soldiers claimed that North Vietnamese patrol boats had fired on the US ship the ‘Maddox’ in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Lyndon Johnson used this as an excuse to launch a massive attack on Vietnam.
How did the USA respond to the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
With a bombing raid.
In 1965, a more serious incident happened, what did the Vietcong do?
They attacked the American base at Pleiku.
How did the USA respond to the Attack on Pleiku?
With a massive bombing raid on North Viertnam, code-named Operation Rolling Thunder.
What was the aim of Operation Rolling Thunder?
Destroy railways, road, VC bases and
THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL.
What type of bombing was Operation Rolling Thunder?
Saturation bombing.
Was Operation Rolling Thunder successful?
No. By 1965, there were still 180,000 US troops in South Vietnam and the VC had not been defeated.
What was Hearts and Minds?
Whilst attempting to bombing NV into submission, the US spent money on trying to win over the support of South Vietnam. They helped build hospitals and schools to win over SV support, but it was only slight effective in towns and cities. Not in the countryside because the VC had all the control there.
What was Search-and-Destroy?
Search-and-Destroy missions involved US troops flying in, via helicopter, into SV villages in the countryside and attempting to search out and destroy VC members.
Why did Search-and-Destroy missions fail?
They were useless because:
-Americans couldn’t efficiently work in jungle conditions
-Impossible to tell who was VC and who wasn’t
-Helicopter sounds gave VC members time to run away and hide.
These missions made the USA less popular because whole villages were sometimes destroyed, innocent lives lost.
What was Agent Orange?
A chemical that destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest in an attempt to expose the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
It led to birth defects and cancer and it still affects Vietnam today. Affected US Forces and Vietnamese Forces.
What was napalm?
An incendiary weapon which contained petrol, chemicals and phosphorus. It burnt skin down to the bone.
Why was America’s use of chemical warfare disadvantageous?
- Turned world opinion against US involvement in Vietnam, it was inhumane
- Increased SV’s support for the VC.
