1965

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