US tactics in the Vietnam War included search and destroy missions, carpet bombing campaigns, and the use of chemical weapons like napalm and Agent Orange. Search and destroy missions often resulted in high civilian casualties and turned local villagers against the US, while bombing campaigns targeted North Vietnamese supply lines and potential Viet Cong strongholds. The immense financial cost of these tactics was unacceptable to the US public. Viet Cong tactics focused on guerrilla warfare through ambushes and booby traps, which accounted for over half of US casualties and instilled great fear in US troops.

1. Tactics of the Vietnam War
US and Viet Cong

2. US tactics included:
- Search and Destroy
- Bombing
- Chemical Weapons

3. Search and Destroy
• This involved sending in the infantry (soldiers) to
search out Viet Cong guerrillas and destroy them.
• Nicknamed ‘Zippo Raids’ due to the fact that they
burnt down many villages.
• Many innocent people were killed. In fact for every
Viet Cong guerrilla killed there were 6 other
innocent deaths.
• 1968 My Lai Massacre is the worst example of this
(300-400 innocent villagers killed, 3 weapons
found).
• This caused the local people to turn against the US
troops and to stop helping them against the Viet
Cong.
• When reports reached the US the general public
were horrified and stopped supporting the war.

4. Bombing
• A key tactic of the Americans in
Vietnam.
• Started in 1965 with Operation
Rolling Thunder.
• This was the carpet bombing
(heavy bombing) of Vietnam.
• They targeted the Ho Chi Minh trail
in an effort to stop the North
Vietnamese supporting the Viet
Cong.
• They also used it to try to kill
potential Viet Cong strongholds.

5. Chemical Weapons
• There were two main types
used:
1. Napalm – a sticky substance
that burned for a long time.
2. Agent Orange – a herbicide
that destroyed the vegetation
of Vietnam (used to try to find
the Ho Chi Minh trail).

6. Don’t forget
• The cost of these tactics was
immense. I’d remember at least
one of these:
• $2000 per second over the
duration of the war
• $400,000 to kill each Viet Cong
soldier
• $110 billion over 10 years
• The cost of the war was
unacceptable for the US public.
They wanted to see this money
spent on other things (eg. Solving
poverty in the US)

7. Viet Cong tactics included:
- Ambush
- Booby traps

8. Ambush
• The main tactic of the Viet Cong
focused on guerrilla warfare.
• ‘Hanging onto American belts’ was
a key tactic – this meant staying
clos to the US troops so that they
couldn’t use their superior air
power.
• The Viet Cong travelled light and
used the local villagers to hide
them.
• Ambushes accounted for 51% of US
causalities in Vietnam.

9. Booby Traps
• Not only did these kill and injure
the US troops, but they also caused
a great deal of fear.
• ‘Point’ became the most feared
position on a US patrol (the one
who looked for booby traps)
• Bouncing Betty – this was a trap
that sprung a grenade up so that it
exploded in the stomach area of
the soldier.
• Booby traps accounted for 11% of
US casualities.