A Protracted War
by Military and political reasons for the National Liberation Front’s success in its struggle against the United States Military in South Vietnam, 1961-1973.
For the NLF, the war against American forces in Vietnam was both a military and political struggle. Expert manipulation of the political situation in Vietnam created an impressive resource pool and support base for revolutionary war. The war itself, fought with Mao’s principles in mind, was designed specifically to generate an American political response in an essentially Clausewitzian manner, thus ensuring eventual U.S. withdrawal.
Abbreviated Terms
ARVN = Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnamese Army)
COSVN = Central Office for South Vietnam (NLF command group)
GVN = Government of South Vietnam
NFL = see NLF
NLF = National Liberation Front (same as VC)
NVA = North Vietnamese Army
PLAF = People’s Liberation Armed Forces
PAVN = People’s Army of Vietnam (same as NVA)
PRP = People’s Revolutionary Party
VC = Vietcong (same as NLF)
Vietnamese Names
Ho Chi Minh = North Vietnamese President
Huong Van Ba = infiltrator in Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ngo Dinh Diem = President of the Republic of (South) Vietnam, 1955-1963
Nguyen Huu Tho = President of NLF in South Vietnam
Nguyen Van Thich = NLF Ranger Platoon Leader
Pham Van Dong = North Vietnamese Premier
Sau Thuong = political officer who travelled the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Trinh Duc = a village chief who fought for the NLF
Vo Nguyen Giap = ranking North Vietnamese military commander during the war
Xuan Vu = South Vietnamese war correspondent
Foreign Names
Clausewitz, Karl von = Prussian soldier, military historian and influential military theorist (1780-1831)
DuPuy, William = U.S. Major-General operating in South Vietnam
Johnson, Lyndon B. = U.S. President, 1963-1969
Kennedy, John F. = U.S. President, 1961-1963
Mao Tse-tung = Chairman of the Communist Party of China, 1945-1976
McNamara, Robert = U.S. Secretary of Defence, 1961-1968
Mansfield, Mike = Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1943-1953, and U.S. Senate, 1961-1977
Nixon, Richard M. = U.S. President, 1969-1974
Pearson, Willard = Brigadier General, Commanding officer of the 1st Bridage, 101st Airborne Division
Westmoreland, William = Senior U.S. General in Vietnam, 1964-1968, and U.S. Army Chief of Staff, 1968-1972
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