1965
DESCRIPTION
1965. NLF. National Liberation Front Political group operating in South Vietnam Wanted to overthrow the south government. Vietcong. Military Branch of NLF Relied on Ho Chi Minh Trail Consisted of a regular army and a guerilla army. Where are they fighting?. Ho Chi Minh Trail. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
1965
National Liberation Front
Political group operating in South Vietnam
Wanted to overthrow the south government
NLF
Military Branch of NLF
Relied on Ho Chi Minh Trail
Consisted of a regular army and a guerilla army
Vietcong
Where are they fighting?
Supply route for the Viet Cong
Brought supplies from the North to the South
Ran through Laos and Cambodia
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Bicycles on the trail
A new type of warfare
U.S. would spot Vietnamese forces from air
Would then drop soldiers into area with helicopters
Air Cavalry
Command of People’s Army and Viet Cong
Task is to draw the air cavalry into battle
Learn how they fight
General Chu Huy Man
Attacked by North Vietnamese soldiers
Causes the US to send in the air cavalry to locate and destroy the Vietnamese
Plei Mai Special Forces Camp
Battle of La Drang Valley
American Commander at La Drang
Colonel Hal Moore
Aka Battle of Ho Bo Woods
Objective was to destroy the underground Vietcong headquarters
Operation Crimp – Jan. 1966
120 miles of tunnels
They led to the underground headquarters of the Viet Cong
Underground tunnels
Troops were flown to Cu Chi
Engineers mapped and laid out the tunnels
The task was then to destroy the tunnels
Crimp
American soldiers
Tasked with going into the tunnels
Armed with a pistol and a flashlight
Tunnel Rats
Punjabi Stakes
Booby Traps of course
Cleared and destroyed miles of tunnels
Captured documents and intelligence reports
Americans claimed it as a military victory
Outcome of Crimp