Chapter : 2. The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
The Entry of the US into the war & The Ho Chi Minh Trail
(ii) The Entry of the US into the war :
(1) The US watched this alliance with fear. The main worry was that the communists were gaining power; so it decided to input decisively sending in troops and arms.
(2) From 1965 to 1972 US fought in Vietnam. the phase of struggle with the US was brutal. Thousands of US troops equipped with heavy weapons and tanks and backed by the most powerful bombers of the time B52s. The massive attacks and indiscriminate use of chemical weapons–Napalm, Agent Orange and Phosphorous bombs – destroyed innumerable villages and decimated jungles. Innocent civilians died in large numbers.
(3) The war grew out of a fear among us policy planners that the victory of the Ho Chi Minh government would start a domino effect communist governments would be established in other countries in the area. They under estimated the power of nationalism to move people to action inspire them to sacrifice their home and family, live under horrified conditions and fight for independence. They under estimate the power of a small country to flight the most technologically advanced country in the world.
(iii) The Ho Chi Minh Trail :
The story of the Ho Chi Trail is one way of under. Standing the war that the Vietnamese tought against the US. The trail, an immense network of foot paths and roads was used to transport men and materials from the north to the south. About 20,000 North Vietnamese troops come South each month on this trail.
The trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. In some parts supplies were transported in trucks, but mostly they were carried by porters, who were mainly women.
Most of the trail was out side Vietnam in neighbouring Laos and Combodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam. The US regularly bombed this trail trying to disrupt supplies, but efforts to destroy this important supply line by intensive bombing failed because they were rebuilt within not time.
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