Team 19 in Vietnam: An Australian Soldier at War

2. The Big Picture: 1950–1968

7 2 The Big Picture 1950–1968 Resistance to foreign occupation in Vietnam had been growing steadily since well before World War II. Aspirations for selfdetermination for countries under colonial rule had been pursued and rebuffed after World War I. Vietnamese resistance during the Japanese occupation had been supported by China and the United States. A nationalistic alliance within Vietnam evolved after 1945 with an emphasis on anti-imperialism and land reform. When the war against the French concluded in 1954, representatives of the Vietminh and the French signed a cease-fire agreement in July.1 Thereafter the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) gradually developed policies to unite the two Vietnams. The political vehicle of communism was adopted by the Northern leadership (and some Southerners) to achieve a grand strategy of undermining the weakening central government in South Vietnam and bringing about reunification. Strategically, a succession of events in the 1940s and 1950s brought about a U.S. commitment in South Vietnam. In July 1950 the United States began sharing the financial burden with the French in the conflict against the Vietminh. The next month a U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group of thirty-five men arrived in Vietnam. The advisory organization was to grow in numbers and scope over the next two decades. Vietnam was provisionally partitioned at the 17th parallel into North and South Vietnam. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) was created. Gradually the North moved toward a war of national liberation against the South, with guerrilla warfare escalating to wider warfare in South Vietnam by 1965. A limited ground war within the boundaries of South Vietnam gave the VC and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) flexibility in 8 TEAM 19 IN VIETNAM the prosecution of their war effort in the South. This boundary limitation was adopted by the United States for sound policy reasons. The prospect of having other nations join forces with the North Vietnamese government was of major concern to the United States. Warfare over a land area beyond South Vietnam could have led to foreign ground forces supplementing the NVA in an expanded conflict . This restraint on the U.S. ground forces to remain within land boundaries could arguably be likened to self-imposed leg chains. The relative strengths of the belligerents can give one a sense of the size and scale of the military activity in this theater of war. The population of South Vietnam was about 16 million. In 1968 the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was composed of ten infantry divisions, two independent regiments, and Ranger and Airborne units.2 In addition, each of the forty-four provinces of South Vietnam had Territorial Forces under the control of the province chief. By early 1969 the U.S. Army in South Vietnam comprised the equivalent of three corps headquarters, seven divisions, four independent brigades, and advisory groups in each of the four regions of South Vietnam. Additional combat support and logistic services provided for the force needs. The U.S. Marines Corps’ contribution was made up of the Third Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF), comprised of a headquarters, two infantry divisions, an air wing, and two regimental landing teams afloat. Marine landing force elements afloat were deployed as required. The marines were deployed in Region 1, the northern of the four regions of South Vietnam. In addition, the United States had out-of-country military support from the U.S. Navy, the Strategic Air Command, the U.S. Merchant Marine, the Strategic Air Transport, and the Studies and Observation Group. The Republic of Korea provided a field force of forty-eight thousand men. Thailand provided a force of up to twelve thousand. Australia, with New Zealand support, provided a task force of eight thousand men. The Philippines was a significant support base for the United States. The American, Korean, and Australian forces in South Vietnam at the end of 1968 are shown in table 2.1. In 1968 and 1969 the main force ARVN, U.S. Army, USMC, and allied formations (divisions, brigades, and regiments) were provid- The Big Picture 9 ing a security shield to the populated areas of South Vietnam while waging a limited war of attrition against the VC and the NVA main forces. Simultaneously, other U.S. military elements (including advisors ) were involved with Republic of Vietnam agencies and people in counterinsurgency and pacification. The enemy military forces included approximately fifty VC battalions and...