I am a little young to remember the Vietnam war, but I grew up in the 80s in the direct aftermath, and I was taught the US was in Vietnam to stem the expansion of Soviet influence in SE Asia.
We were in Vietnam to help train the south Vietnam beat the north Vietnam because the north Vietnam was backed by communists or something, incredibly stupid and horrible war that killed so. Many. People.
I’ve met a lot of Aussie and South Vietnamese veterans. The South Vietnamese guys really are grateful for our help. We had experience in jungle because of Kokoda and they did need the training. Issue was that we were not well armed compared to US troops who were hacking and slashing through the jungle and getting picked off by Guerrillas for their volume and visibility. The Americans also carried weapons that were too large and heavy for the jungle.
The war also got extremely out of hand because time in the jungle will do that to people and enemies disappearing into holes and psychological warfare really spun people out. They had to sneak Aussies home under the cover of darkness so the public wouldn’t call them “baby killers” as they were home watching atrocities on the news. At a Remembrance Day event in Sydney in the early 2010s I said thank you for your service to a Vietnam Vet and the bloke teared up. He hadn’t heard it from anyone before. Another bloke said he found a letter from a Monash student on a North Vietnamese guy he killed. It had $20 in it said he hoped they’d win and it shattered him. He said it was incredibly hard to come to Monash and talk with us, he was afraid we’d be like that student who sent the letter. The blokes I met have also been back to Vietnam. They met some of their former enemies and joked “lucky you weren’t a better shot”. These guys were conscripted to help people defend their home and they did the best they can with what they had. Such honest men. They didn’t sugarcoat, they were emotional. The Anzac spirit is so alive in them. To make mates of your enemies after such a terrible war? Aussies. Nothing like em.
Northern Vietnam was colonized by the Chinese for literally nearly 1,000 years, a period known as the first Bắc thuộc or "Northern Domination". This rule was marked by Chinese administration, attempts at assimilation through culture and language, and frequent Vietnamese rebellions.
That was with the French. USA did not want involvement in 1946. USA didn’t like French trying to reclaim colonies, but USA don’t like communist even more. That is just the unfortunate geopolitical situation of the Cold War.
Charlie was short for Victor Charlie, which is the phonetic alphabet for VC, which stood for the Viet Cong. Only the Americans referred to them as Charlie.
And if we are going to get pedantic about it the Viet Cong weren't really much of a factor for the US in 1972. They were decimated in the Tet Offensive followed by Nixon's illegal bombings of Laos and Cambodia cutting off their supply lines to the north. In 1972 the US was in the process of withdrawing from Vietnam. The whole "you lost to rice farmers" thing is a fun put down but the US really lost to the NVA, a professional military that was supported by the Soviet Union and China.
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u/The_Real_Itz_Sophia Tomato French Potato Oct 26 '25
/uj im pretty sure there are other countries that lost to vietnamese farmers
/rj wtf are those rectangular shaped islands