Why did the US lose the Vietnam War?

To this day, Americans and mainly American historians are still vaguely contradictory to why did the US lose the Vietnam war? The following general article of us is the most remarkable ideas and views about the cause of the failure of the US during the Vietnam War. 

1. Green Forest Hell

This is the name used by soldiers and US military officers to talk about the battlefield in Vietnam. Despite their overwhelming power, they can’t win against guerrilla forces. (In 1968, there were 540 thousand soldiers in Vietnam.) Even 6.7 million tons of bombs that US aircraft have poured into Vietnam can not “bring Vietnam back to the Stone Age.”

Consequently, the losses and losses of the US military and its allies continued to rise. After the war, Americans have lost 58,000 soldiers, missing 2300 people, and over 150,000 injured. Not to mention mercenaries, such as Puerto Rican or South Korean militants, are omitted. President Richard Nixon found it impossible to win the final battle despite several successful individual events. 

2. The Dismay of American Soldiers.

The escape from military service to not have to Vietnam is common. Enough to say, the famous American boxer Cassius Clay at the height of his career, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali to not participate in the Vietnam War.

Because of this, he was stripped of all the titles and banned for more than three years. After the war, in 1974, President Gerald Ford acquitted all those who fled and deserted. More than 27,000 people are forgiven.

3. The Courageous Spirit of the North Vietnam Army

Veteran VietCong Cao Bay told the American historian, veteran war veteran Indochina David Hackforth. We know that our fighting spirit will deplete the bombs and missiles of enemies. He added. Yes, we have weaker firepower, but our fighting spirit is higher than yours. Our war is righteous, and you are not. Your soldiers know that, just as the American people know it.

4. People’s War.

Most of the Vietnamese are on the guerrilla and North Vietnamese Army side. They provide food guerrilla, news situations, help recruit troops, and labor. David Hekvort’s study cites Mao’s statement: “People are water, Army is fish. No fish water will die.”

5. Vietnam War Protest in American Society

Hundreds of thousands of anti-Vietnam protesters shook America. The new hippie movement emerged in youths protesting the war. The movement’s climax became the so-called “White House Parade” in October 1967, in Washington gathering up to 100,000 youths protesting the war.

6. The help of China and the Soviet Union.

While the Chinese provided essential economic assistance and human resources, the Soviet Union provided Vietnam with the most weapons.

Preliminary calculations, the help of the Soviet Union was about 8-15 billion USD while the US financial expenditures on the war, according to the current estimate, has exceeded 1000 billion dollars. But the corruption problem of the Republic of Vietnam government made US economic aid and weapons useless, even though they received more assistance than the North of Vietnam.

Besides weapons, the Soviet Union sent experts to Vietnam. From July 1965 to 1974, 6.5 thousand officers and more than 4.5 thousand servicemen participated in training activities.

With the six reasons listed above, I think you understand: “Why did the US lose the Vietnam War.” If you can backpack in Vietnam, you should visit some historical sites to understand more about this war.