This war showed that having the largest, most advanced, military in the world known to man (U.S) doesn't mean shit when you're fighting guerrilla warfare tactics in a country where you're the invader.
On paper you would think:
USA or North Vietnam (Its a no-brainer USA).
But the U.S. was fighting an enemy in the north vietnamese who knew the terrain, defended it at every cost, and were very skilled in guerrilla warfare tactics.
Another thing, this is the first war that has been broadcast live to the American public and showed on TV. Never before have Americans seen people get shot, die, children getting killed, villages burned, and dead soldiers coming home in caskets, during a war. Which helped change public opinion and made it hugely unpopular with Americans.
The broadcasting of the Vietnam War on television had a profound impact on how Americans viewed war. So much so that in 2003 during the Iraq War, the Bush administration asked the media not to show caskets of American soldiers coming home from Iraq. Obviously the corporate media happily obliged. Once Americans start seeing the amounts of bodies coming back in caskets, support for the war in America dwindles.
![[Image: coffins_04.jpg]](http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2009/coffins/coffins_04.jpg)
![[Image: 2f45a1d4d452dda7ec9608e7eb75766b.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/45/a1/2f45a1d4d452dda7ec9608e7eb75766b.jpg)
On paper you would think:
USA or North Vietnam (Its a no-brainer USA).
But the U.S. was fighting an enemy in the north vietnamese who knew the terrain, defended it at every cost, and were very skilled in guerrilla warfare tactics.
Another thing, this is the first war that has been broadcast live to the American public and showed on TV. Never before have Americans seen people get shot, die, children getting killed, villages burned, and dead soldiers coming home in caskets, during a war. Which helped change public opinion and made it hugely unpopular with Americans.
The broadcasting of the Vietnam War on television had a profound impact on how Americans viewed war. So much so that in 2003 during the Iraq War, the Bush administration asked the media not to show caskets of American soldiers coming home from Iraq. Obviously the corporate media happily obliged. Once Americans start seeing the amounts of bodies coming back in caskets, support for the war in America dwindles.