How was the Vietnam war different than other wars?

Answer 1

Real-time images of the war were broadcast on television.

APEXXX :)

Answer 2

The homefront was increasingly divided in support of overseas commitment. The North had done nothing to the US like Pearl Harbor in WWII or unrestricted U-boat activity that Germany threatened in WWI. The US had no trade with Vietnam that amounted to anything. The body bags were coming home for not percieved value to the US National interests.

Answer 3

WWII was fought in an age when ATOMIC/NUCLEAR WEAPONS did NOT exist. Consequently, any war could be fought with all out (total war) effort. Every possible weapon could be used, if that country wished to employ it. Secondly, and largely due to the above situation, the enemy (Axis powers) in WWII clearly and openly attacked other nations, provoking (starting) the war. The enemy was well defined (clearly known, and clearly identified). The Vietnam War, as the Korean War 1950-1953, before it, was fought during the "ATOMIC AGE" in which both the Communist world and the Free world possessed nuclear weapons. To "avoid" mutual destruction, war's now had to be fought with certain restrictions. We call them "Limited Wars" because they have limits put on them. Such as boundaries, and certain weapons are NOT allowed to be used, such as the "atomic bomb", etc. Vietnam and to an extent, Korea were not CLEAR cut and easily identifiable enemies, as WWII enemies had been. The North Vietnamese and North Koreans did not attack the United States, as the enemy in WWII did. Rather, the N. Viets and N. Koreans attacked THEIR NEIGHBORS, and because it was a COMMUNIST attack, the US went to their assistance. Thus creating the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Answer 4

In addition to the repeatedly stated traditional reasons, the Vietnam War was and still is the only war in military history in which a modern highly sophisticated jet powered air force (USAF & USN) conducted EXTENDED (over one decade when counting the deployment to Southeast Asia of the USAF F100 in 1961) aerial warfare/combat operations against an equally highly sophisticated enemy (NVAF) jet air force (MiG17s, MiG19s, and MiG21s) and ground defense system (SAMs and Radar).

Said another way: The war was, to date, the only modern jet & ground defense system war fought between two DETERMINED enemies that lasted YEARS!

Answer 5

Protests, draft riots, long hair & beards (a sign of rebellion against conforming to government standards-the police and military clean look); rock 'n roll music which many people over the age of 30 despised (the previous generation).

Answer 6

It was the first war fought by the US in which the US departed the field; and the nation that it was fighting (North Vietnam) won the war.

Previous to Vietnam, ALL NATIONS engaged in hostilities against the US either surrendered or negotiated a truce (Armistice-WWI and Korean War).

Other than war equipment differences (jets, planes, helicopters, tanks, etc.) that's what made the Vietnam War different.

Answer 7

The Vietnamese war was not a war fought between two military organizations in the traditional manner. The US did not originally participate as a military organization. We didn't always have the ability to identify who was a foe and who wasn't. There was no clear strategy defining what constitutes a victory.

In previous wars, we had knew who was the enemy. In the world wars it was the Germans and their allies, or the Japanese. In Korea, it was the North Korean or Chinese Army. The enemy wore uniforms and/or spoke a language clearly identifying them as the enemy. There were defined fields of battle, prisoners were taken and there were some rules about prisoner treatment, though it wasn't always being followed by the enemy especially in the southeast Asian environment where cultural ethics were different..

The US initially only sent advisors to assist the South Vietnamese in military matters. Then we sent more. When the advisors were being harmed, we sent soldiers to protect them. Then we sent more soldiers to fight the enemy and aircraft to attack enemy position. There were no tactical targets that would give the U.S. any military advantage and too often friendly positions were incorrectly identified as enemy leading to unwanted loss of life. It was called a war of attrition where we hoped to wear down the enemy into giving up their cause. The enemy rarely engaged as a military force. They used guerrilla hit and run tactics hiding in the jungle foliage and hidden tunnels.

Answer 8

The Vietnam war wasn't fought like traditional wars, the US would pull out every weapon in their artillery desperately trying to get rid of that lush forest that made it so easy to hide in. The US made napalm and agent orange for the specific reason of flushing out the guerillas. Specifically thought, the Vietnam war and WWll were different because of this key reason, in Vietnam we fought an uprising and in Europe we invaded hostile forces. In Vietnam our goal wasn't to take territory, rather to stop the uprising.

Answer 9

It was the first time the public saw real-time images of the war.

(APEX)

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Answer 10

For one we were fighting the vietkong in Vietnam instead of the Japanese. also we were fighting in Vietnam instead of Germany and Japan.