Moby Traps In The Vietnam War

The Vietnam conflict began in the late 19th Century. France forcefully took ownership of the islands and made the Vietnamese islands a protectorate of France. The Viet Minh, or the League Of Independence was formed sometime around 1940. They were a group of people seeking independence from France. The French Government opposed this action and decided to try and stop the Viet Minh from advancing their political ideals into the rest of Vietnam. In the city of Dien Bien Phu, the Viet Minh surrounded the French Expeditionary Force, and after a fifty-five day siege, the French surrendered (1). After the French pulled out of Vietnam, there was a conference held in Geneva to decide the fate of the small nation. Vietnam was divided into two parts along
Between January 1965, and June 1970, booby traps and mines caused 12 percent of the fatalities and 18 percent of the wounding that were inflicted on American soldiers (9). Booby traps were used mainly to delay and disrupt the movement of American troops, divert manpower towards clearing traps and mines, and also to fill up American field hospitals. Booby traps were a key component in pre-arranged killing zones. The use of booby traps also had a psychological effect on Marines. The fear of booby traps was so great that even Platoon Commanders were reluctant to send Marines into Vietnamese territory. Many materials that were used for the mines and booby traps were of American origin. These parts included unexploded bombs and captured or abandoned munitions. They would also use bamboo and venomous snakes in their traps. One historic example of the effectiveness of such traps was when Charlie Company of the First Battalion, 20th Infantry sustained over 40 percent of their casualties in 32 days without ever seeing their enemy. The effect on their morale was so great that it was the surviving marines who committed the My Lai
He said this about the Vietnam conflict. While president Johnson did have the country's support at the beginning of the war, as Americans began to realize that the war was a lost cause, the President's support began to decline. With a mortality rate of 1-5 men who were drafted, people began openly protesting the war by burning their draft cards, organizing walk-outs, and holding anti war rallies. Why did the Americans continue to fight? Because of General Westmoreland. General Westmoreland would change the body counts from both sides to make it look like the Americans were being triumphantly victorious. Along with these lies, General Westmoreland also failed to mention that while the Americans were killing many enemy soldiers, the draft pool from which the Vietnamese were able to draw from included almost all of Northern Vietnam. From a soldier's point of view, the Government was downplaying their efforts and their sacrifices by manipulating body counts. In the field, morale suffered greatly due to daily engagements, friends dying all around, and officers being replaced every week. Most Marines would do drugs before their patrols to take their mind off what they were doing and where they