Why America Lost the Vietnam W essays

Why America Lost the Vietnam W essays Comm 111 Assessment 1 Crafted Writing Nigel Good evening, I am Nigel Billing and welcome to Historys Hallmarks. Vietnam was Americas most unpopular and protracted war, extending two decades and symbolising the rivalry between the superpowers, anti-Communist America and Communist Russia. At its height more than 500,000 American troops were engaged in the conflict, and in excess of 58,000 Americans were killed on the battlefields. The American withdrawal in 1973, saw people question how the most powerful country in the world was defeated. Secretary of State, Dean Rusk claimed; President Kennedy should have put in a hundred thousand troops immediately. General Westmoreland, commander of the US military in the early stages of the conflict, blamed President Johnson for not consenting to Americas attack of North Vietnam, arguing that the South Vietnamese lacked fighting spirit. Keegan, another American General stated that the Americans had equipped the South Vietnamese Army with the wrong equipment, wrong tactics and maybe even the wrong doctrines. North Vietnamese chief, General Van Tein Dung a lleged American soldiers failed to become accustomed to guerrilla warfare stating; They applied a lot of new strategies such as Special War, Local War and Vietnamisation, but the result of it all was the biggest failure in the history of the United States. Todays program features a glimpse into the haunting truisms of the Vietnam War as told by historian and Vietnam veteran Kenneth Ballard. Good evening Kenneth. Kenneth Good evening. Nigel When did you tour of duty in Vietnam occur? Kenneth I was sent to Phu Cat Province in Vietnam in October 1968, stationed with the 7th Battalion, 15 Artillery. Nigel &...