Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know

by Dunnigan, James F.; Nofi, Albert A.

• ISBN13: 9780312252823
• ISBN10: 031225282X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-05
• Publisher: Griffin

Summary

Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War allows us to see what really happened to American forces in Southeast Asia, separating popular myth from explosive reality in a clear, concise manner. Containing more than two hundred examinations of different aspects of the war, the book questions why the American military ignored the lessons taught by previous encounters with insurgency forces; probes the use of group think and mind control by the North Vietnamese; and explores the role technology played in shaping the way the war was fought. Of course, the book also reveals the "dirty little secrets," the truth behind such aspects of the conflict as the rise of the Montagnard mercenaries-the most feared group of soldiers participating in the secret war in Laos-and the details of the hidden struggle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. With its unique and perceptive examination of the conflict, Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War offers a critical addition to the library of Vietnam War history.

Author Biography

James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi are the authors of hundreds of books and articles on military affairs. Dunnigan has been a consultant to the State Department, the CIA, and the Army War College. Nofi is the editor of the series The Great Campaigns of Military History.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	xv
A Word on Usage	xvii
Abbreviations	xix
The Enduring Myths of the Vietnam War	1	(24)
America Suffered a Military Defeat	1	(1)
The American Soldier Was ``Different'' in Vietnam	2	(6)
Vietnam Was a War of Communist Aggression	8	(2)
It Was Just Another War	10	(4)
The Vietnam War Was Not as Intense as World War II	14	(4)
Who Served and Who Got Hurt?	18	(3)
Those Traumatized Vietnam Vets	21	(4)
The Forty-Year War	25	(34)
What Is Vietnam?	25	(2)
Where the French Came In	27	(1)
Uncle Ho, General Giap, the Red Menace, and Power Politics	28	(7)
The French Campaigns	35	(3)
The Viet Minh--Japanese Alliance	38	(1)
The Viet Minh's Foreign Legion	38	(1)
Lessons Forgotten: The American Military and Insurgency	39	(5)
Communist Insurgencies, 1945--65	44	(1)
The Official American Army Campaigns in Vietnam, and the Unofficial Ones at Home	44	(10)
A Strategy of Uncertainty	54	(5)
In the Bush (Ground Combat)	59	(47)
First Impressions	59	(1)
The Nature of Combat	60	(1)
Air Assault	61	(2)
Trashing the Battlefield	63	(1)
Allied Forces in Vietnam	64	(1)
A Plague of Radios and the ``Flying CP''	65	(2)
Infantry Weapons	67	(3)
The Big Guns	70	(1)
Armor in Vietnam	71	(4)
Body Counts	75	(1)
Thunder Run	76	(1)
FNGs, Getting Short, and Staying Alive	77	(2)
LRRPs and Rangers	79	(3)
LRRP Rules	82	(3)
Creating ARVN	85	(3)
Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps	88	(1)
The ARVN Rangers	89	(1)
The Popular Forces	90	(1)
Marine Combined Action Platoons	90	(2)
General Monsoon	92	(1)
Ground Radar	92	(2)
Plastic on Fire	94	(1)
Road Warriors	95	(1)
Some Useful Field Expedients	96	(2)
Tigers, Elephants, Poisonous Reptiles, and Determined Vermin	98	(5)
Tunnels and Tunneling	103	(3)
Slicks, Puffs, and Fast Movers (War in the Air)	106	(33)
The Largest Bombing Campaign in History	106	(1)
U.S. Combat Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia	107	(2)
Helicopters Everywhere	109	(3)
Helicopter Operations and Losses	112	(2)
Helicopter Sorties Are Different	114	(1)
Those Daring Young Men in Their Flying Machines	115	(2)
Air Combat	117	(5)
Antiaircraft Defense	122	(3)
Light Airplanes in Vietnam	125	(1)
``Puff the Magic Dragon''	126	(1)
The B-52 and Arc Light Missions	126	(1)
Principal Combat Aircraft of the Vietnam War	127	(5)
RVN Air Force	132	(1)
Aces of the Vietnam War	133	(1)
Assault Helicopter Units	133	(1)
Napalm	134	(1)
Agent Orange and ``Operation RANCH HAND''	135	(2)
The Kingbee	137	(2)
Blue Water, Green Water, Brown Water (The Naval War)	139	(15)
Aircraft Carriers in the War	139	(7)
The Battleship Returns	146	(1)
The Green Water Navy	147	(3)
The Brown Water Navy	150	(2)
The Coast Guard	152	(2)
Base Camp Follies	154	(14)
Uncle Sam's Way of War	154	(1)
Let's Make a Deal	155	(2)
Good Morning, Vietnam	157	(2)
``Bloomin' Good Pay''	159	(2)
American Women at War	161	(2)
The Chaplaincy	163	(1)
The Class of '66	164	(1)
VD and Vietnam	165	(1)
Pacific Idylls	166	(2)
War in the Shadows	168	(35)
The Special Forces	168	(2)
The Secret War in Laos	170	(3)
SOG's War Against the Ho Chi Minh Trail	173	(4)
Undercover for Uncle Ho	177	(1)
SOG Recon Teams	178	(1)
The Montagnards	178	(6)
The Hmong	184	(1)
The Cambodian Connection	185	(4)
The North Vietnam Counter-Recon Program	189	(2)
Playing on Paranoia	191	(3)
Sniff This, Fido	194	(1)
The Problem of Moles	194	(1)
Flight of the Phoenix	195	(1)
Paper Paratroopers	196	(1)
Strata	196	(1)
The Lifeline from Above	197	(1)
The Religious Factor	198	(1)
The Ultimate Killing Machine	199	(1)
Bright Light	200	(1)
Dead Plants and Bitter Rice	201	(1)
The Real Rambo	201	(2)
Leadership	203	(37)
``Follow Me!'' Leadership Problems in Vietnam	203	(3)
The Mismanagement of ARVN	206	(4)
The ARVN Officer Corps	210	(2)
The First ``Hollow Army''	212	(2)
``They Also Serve Who Only Stand and Wait''	214	(5)
The Communist Advantage	219	(2)
Fragging	221	(1)
The Medal of Honor and Other Decorations	222	(8)
The Drug Problem	230	(1)
Looting	231	(2)
The My Lai Massacre	233	(2)
American War Crimes Trials	235	(1)
Some Questionable Weapons of the Vietnam War	235	(5)
Numbers and Losses	240	(17)
American Casualties	240	(6)
Casualties Compared	246	(1)
Allied Combat Battalions in Vietnam	246	(1)
Eye Injuries in Vietnam	247	(1)
Psychoneurotic Casualties	248	(2)
Prisoners of the North Vietnamese	250	(1)
The Garwood Case	251	(1)
Treating the Wounded	252	(2)
Blood	254	(1)
Hospital Ships	255	(2)
The Home Front	257	(10)
Getting In and Getty Ready	257	(1)
The Media	258	(2)
Some Notable Blunders of the Peace Movement	260	(1)
Things Are Not Always As They Seem---Nor Are People	261	(2)
The Conspiracy of the Moment	263	(1)
Kent State	264	(2)
Jackson State	266	(1)
Peace with Honor	266	(1)
The Other Side	267	(24)
Born in the North to Die in the South	267	(2)
A Day in the Life of Uncle Ho's Nephews	269	(2)
Group Think and Mind Control	271	(1)
The Other Side's Draft Dodgers	272	(1)
Training	273	(1)
Bad Medicine	274	(1)
The Sappers	275	(6)
Electronics	281	(1)
The Well-Clad Guerrilla	282	(1)
North Vietnam's Allies in the War	283	(2)
The Pathet Lao	285	(1)
Enemy Atrocities	286	(1)
The Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam	287	(4)
Logistics	291	(11)
Creating the Infrastructure for War	291	(2)
Merchant Shipping	293	(1)
Revolutionary Logistics	293	(2)
The Ho Chi Minh Trail	295	(5)
The Cost of the War	300	(2)
The Combat Units	302	(27)
The Principal American Ground Combat Units in Vietnam	302	(8)
ROK Forces in Vietnam	310	(1)
Australia and New Zealand in the War	311	(2)
Thai Forces	313	(1)
The Philippine Contingent	314	(1)
South Vietnamese Army and Marine Units	315	(5)
South Vietnamese Corps Areas	320	(1)
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Combat Units	321	(8)
The Aftermath	329	(16)
The Era of the ``Hollow Army'' and Military Reform	329	(3)
The MIA Problem	332	(2)
MIA Sightings	334	(1)
The Amerasians	335	(1)
The Reorganization of the Defense Establishment	336	(2)
The Vietnam War Deserters	338	(3)
Some Notable Americans Who Served in Vietnam	341	(1)
Some Notable Americans Who Didn't Serve in Vietnam	342	(1)
The Sino-Vietnamese War	342	(3)
Appendix: A Vietnam War Glossary: Acronyms, Code Words, and Slang	345	(10)
Recommended Reading	355

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