France ruled Vietnam then called Indochina from the late 1800s. Between 1946 and 1954 the French fought a long and brutal war with the communist Vietminh led by Hochi Minh. In 1954, after discussions in Geneva, Switzerland, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel. The communists dominated the northern zone, Ngo Dinh Diem.

Communist guerrillas called the Vietcong, began to attack the government of the south in 1957. United States troops secretly began take a part in the fighting. In 1963 and 1964 there were two military takeovers in the south. General Nguyen Khanh took power. The south Vietnamese government remained unstable during the war.

America joints the war

In 1964 US aircraft began bombing North Vietnam, and in March 1965 President Lyndon Johnson sent ground troops into South Vietnam. By 1969 there were 554,000 US troops in South Vietnam.

In early 1968 the communists launched the Tet offensive, a series of attacks on cities in the south. They were not successful, but the attacks showed that in three years of fighting US troops had no defeated the Vietcong.

Peace talks began in Paris, France, in May 1968 but with little success. The war was becoming increasingly unpopular in the US, which was spending nearly $30 billion a year on the conflict.

Richard M. Nixon became president in 1969. He announced that US troops would withdraw from Vietnam. The last US troops left the country in 1972. A peace treaty was agreed on in 1973 but neither side kept to its term. In 1975 forces from North Vietnam invaded and the South Vietnamese government surrendered. Vietnam was united under communist rule in 1976. More than 58,000 Americans died or disappeared in the war. More than a million Vietnamese also cost their lives.

SUSAN Travers was an absolutely unique woman.  An Englishwoman, born in 1909, she is the only woman, ever to have served in the French Foreign Legion.  Her regimental number was 22166.

She spent a great deal of her youth in France and her father gave her driving lessons when she was 17.  He also taught her mechanics, both of which were to prove useful in her Legion career.

Miss Travers was in France when the second World War broke out.  She joined the Croix Rouge, the French Red Cross as an ambulance driver.  Following her training, she was sent to Finland as part of the French Expeditionary Force.  It was her that she first encountered the Legion.  Later she reached England after the fall of France.

After her arrival in London, she joined De Gaulle’s Free French Forces with the rank of Sergeant.  Miss Travers was sent to Freetown as part of the Spears Military Mission with the Free French Forces.  13 DBRE, the Demi-Brigade of the French Foreign was with this force.

The original idea had been to capture the Vichy French colony of Senegal, but this failed.  The free French Forces moved on to Eritrea.  Miss Travers acquired a Humber staff car and became the driver to Commander Medicin Dr Andre Lotte.  The legion was living on bully beef and poor quality wine during this campaign.  The legionnaires would swarm into every captured Italian position to commandeer all their provisions, wine and spirits.

The free French forces moved to Gaza.  Miss Travers was dining with the Legion when they gave her one of their greatest honours, a Legion nickname.  From that day, her nom de guerre was La Miss.  She was the only mademoiselle ever to serve with the Legion.  She became driver to General Marie-Pierre Koenig, but was then taken to hospital, suffering from jaundiced.

La Miss returned to duty and found that her carefully collected set of tools had disappeared.  She stormed into the workshop and angrily demanded their return.  She was embarrassed when a corporal took them from a locker and explained that he had put them in there for safety.

After Eritrea and Syria had been made secure, the Legion returned to its spiritual homeland, the Western Desert.  Rommel had arrived in North Africa and was racing east to take Egypt and the vital Suez Canal.

Th Allied policy was to hold a series of defensive infantry boxes, covered by artillery.  The Legion was ordered into the abandoned Italian fort of Bir Hakeim in Cyrenaica.  They entered it on February 14, 1942, taking over from the British 150 Infantry Brigade.  There was only the Great sand Sea to the South of them.

Rommel’s army moved on to invest Bir Hakeim in May.  The Legion watched as convoys of German tanks manoeuvred to surround them.  The Afrika Korps attacked the position and were repulsed.  The Legion even took some prisoners.  Rommel demanded that the garrison surrender.  Koenig acted in the traditions of the Legion and replied, “My troops have arms and ammunition and are prepared to fight.”  Rommel gave the garrison a second ultimatum, which was contemptuously rejected with the words.  “I am very sorry, but please tell the Colonel-General that the Legion did not come here to Surrender.

General de Gaulle sent a telegraph to the beleaguered garrison saying, “General Koenig, know and tell troops that whole of France is looking at you and that you are her pride.”

Attack followed attack.  Only the severest sand storms stopped the fighting.  The water ration was cut to a quarter litre per man per day.  Koenig radioed Middle east Headquarters on June 9.  “Water and ammunition virtually exhausted.  Can not hold out much longer.2 Later the Legion received orders to break out.  Koenig decided to go out with all his wounded, heavy weapons and vehicles, saying, “For a Legionnaire, there is no other option.”

The Legion broke out of Bir Hakeim on June 10.  Koenig led the way in his Ford Utility, driven by La Miss.  He sat on the roof and gave her directions by tapping her shoulders with his feet.

It was a long, hard, savage night.  Often the Legion battle cry of “A moi, la Legion, to me, the Legion,” would ring out.  At one stage the legion fixed bayonets and changed.  They later drove through a German tank laager.

The Legion eventually reached the Eighth army lines and took up their new post south of El Alamein.

Adjutant Travers served as an ambulance driver with the Legion throughout the Italian Campaign, including Monte Cassino.  She was promoted to adjutant-chef (warrant officer class one) in October 1944.  La Miss was awarded the Order de l’Armee in 1945. Later the French Croix de Guerre 1939-45, the Military Medal, and the Colonial Medal.

The Legion was preparing to attack German positions in the hills near Nice when the news arrived that the war was over.  Adjutant-chef Travers went with the Legion to Indo-China in 1946.  She married Nicholas Schlegelminch, a Legion NCO in Hoc-Mon and left the Legion, following the birth of her son in 1947.

Miss Travers moved into sheltered accommodation south of Paris in 1995.  There was a greater honour to come.  The Legion had not forgotten La Miss.  Senior Legion officers and former legionnaires crowded into her tiny flat, where she was presented with France’s highest military award, the Legion d’Honneur.

Adjutant-chef Susan Travers, La Miss, who died in December, 2003 led an eventful life that earned her many honours.

Many say that the United States should never have gotten involved in Vietnam and aided in the Vietnam War, yet there are several strong reasons why the United States did the correct thing and stepped in.  Some reasons to start the war were long-term, while others were short-term.  The major long-term reason was that the United States needed Vietnam to be a capitalist-democracy in order to trade with, and benefit from them.  Another long-term reason was the fear of communism spreading in all of south Asia. This idea of, if Vietnam falls to communism all of south Asia will as well, was known as the “Domino Theory” and was first created by President Eisenhower.  Other short term effects include North Vietnam’s attacks on US naval forces in the Tonkin Gulf, and North Vietnam’s communist aggression in South Vietnam.

The North Vietnamese attack on US naval forces in the Tonkin Gulf was the first step to American military action in Vietnam.  The North Vietnamese aggressions in the Tonkin Gulf lead to the signing of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This resolution stated President Johnson would be able “to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States.” With President Johnson’s new power he began Operation Rolling Thunder. Operation Rolling Thunder was a series of airstrikes that were intended to stop North Vietnam’s war industries, including the large supply route, the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  The weapons used in the airstrikes were not only explosive weapons, but chemical. Agent Orange and Napalm was dropped on North Vietnam in an attempt to destroy the vast thick jungles. Through the policy of escalation Johnson sent a large amount of American troops to fight in Vietnam and defend South Vietnam from the north.  Often times in Vietnam American troops would carry out “Search and Destroy Missions.” This strategy produced by General William Westmoreland was done by small groups of US patrols who would search for enemy camps or supplies hidden in the jungle, and if they were found they would be destroyed.  The American troops were not popular in the Vietnamese cities and villages so in an attempt to defuse the situation the citizens would be temporarily moved to a secure village and defended by troops, this was known as pacification.  Up to this time US troops were on offence and defense but on the Vietnamese New Year known as Tet the Americans thought they could finally rest and have a peaceful holiday, they were wrong.  On the Vietnamese holiday of Tet the North Vietnamese carried out heavy attacks on major US targets, such as the US embassy, fortunately no attack resulted in a high loss. These series of attacks carried out on Tet by the North Vietnamese was known as the Tet Offensive. Soon after in 1968 another presidential election was held.  The two candidates were Hubert Humphrey as the democratic candidate and Richard Nixon as the Republican candidate. Republican Richard Nixon won the election with 302 electoral votes and a low 43.4% of the popular vote.  After the 1968 elections protests in America were larger and more frequent than ever.  Many college students got involved in these protests and many were carried out at schools.  At one student protest at Kent State University in Ohio police attempted to break it up with tear gas, this was unsuccessful and the students became aggressive resulting in the police firing on the crowd killing 4 and injuring 9.  Originally Nixon planned on continuing the war and escalating it to larger than ever, but perhaps as a result of the protests, Nixon looked toward peace and a way out of the war.  Nixon wanted out of the war, but he did not want America to appear weak or defeated, as a result national security advisor Henry Kissinger created the plan of Vietnamization.  This plan would systematically hand all fighting in Vietnam over to the South Vietnamese army.  Also at this time Kissinger was attending secret meetings with North Vietnamese leaders in Paris speaking of a peace treaty.  From these meetings came the Paris Peace Accord which officially ended the war for America. It stated that all American troops will be removed from Vietnam and all American POWs will be released.  Though the war was over it did not appear as an American victory. 

The Vietnam War resulted in tremendous losses on both sides, the casualties were severe.  On the American side about 58,000 American soldiers were killed and 2,500 MIA along with the Americans were 185,000 South Vietnamese casualties.  North Vietnam lost the greatest number of about 1,000,000 dead. Yet the worst of all were the civilian casualties, 500,000 civilians were killed leaving around 1,000,000 children orphaned.  As a result of the American’s withdrawing in South Vietnam their capitol, Saigon, was taken over and Vietnam was united under a Communist-Dictatorship.  As the domino theory had predicted all of Indochina fell to communism, which is a grave loss for America.  Fortunately as a result of the war the War Powers Act was made. This act prevents undeclared wars by forcing congress to pass approval before the president can be allowed to send troops into an armed struggle. Now the Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands to honor those who lost their lives fighting for their country in the Vietnam war.

The United State’s involvement in Vietnam can be traced back to the immediate results of the First Indochina War, which led to a humiliating defeat of the French and their withdrawal from North Vietnam, which came under communist forces. The Geneva Accords, which ended the First Indochina War, temporarily divided Vietnam into two sections: a communist north and an anti-communist south, pending a national election to unify them. The United Stated, fearing a communist victory in national elections and a communist takeover of South Vietnam, supported the South Vietnamese government to elect Ngo Dinh Diem, a staunch anti-communist, as Prime Minister.

The United States feared if South Vietnam were to fall to communism; the rest of Indochina would follow. They believed a “domino effect” would follow any small communist changes in South Vietnam or any concessions made to communists. The United States believed the best way to prevent this from happening was to contain communism. Various American politicians argued to prevent a domino effect, the United States must contain the spread of communism at any cost. This theory fueled much of the United States policies toward Vietnam, such as their support for Diem.

Diem’s rein was repressive at best. He canceled the nation-wide elections that were to unify Vietnam and instead rigged election in South Vietnam to elect himself president and create the Republic of Vietnam. However, Diem retained the United States backing because he was staunchly anti-communist. As Diem’s regime became increasingly repressive, resistance to his government increased, especially in rural areas. The Unites States, in an attempt to prevent Diem’s government from collapsing sent military advisors and financial consultants to aid Diem’s regime. However, the resistance was strong, so United States created the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which Diem used to crush communist and other rebels.

However, when Kennedy took office in January 1961, he faced an increasingly unsuccessful policy in Vietnam. The ARVN faced desertion, corruption, double agents, and a lack of effectiveness. Kennedy, however, believed that the ARVN could still become effective with proper steps. Kennedy increased the number of American advisors to the ARVN from 800 in January 1961 to 16,700 in November 1963. Kennedy believed if the ARVN could win the support of the Vietnamese villages the National Liberation Front (NLF) insurgency could be defeated. Kennedy began The Strategic Hamlet Program, which was an attempt to resettle villagers into fortified camps. The aim was to isolate the population from the insurgents, provide education and health care, and strengthen the government’s hold over the countryside.

However, Kennedy’s policy was largely unsuccessful. The peasants usually resented being resettled, and the resentment only added to the NLF’s support base. Diem’s government was highly corrupt, and Diem appointed his brother Nhu to administer the program. Nhu, a corrupt official himself, undermined the program by his harsh policies. For example, he often charged villagers for material the United States had donated and many peasants were forced to leave their hamlets. The effect of Kennedy’s and Diem’s Strategic Hamlet Program was more harmful the helpful.

The Kennedy Administration began to blame Diem’s incompetence for the failure of the South Vietnamese government. Diem was urged to remove his brother, but he refused to. When the United States was informed that a military coup was planned against Diem, it did not act. The confusion following Diem’s assassination led to deteriorate, the NLF gained more ground in South Vietnam. Soon after Kennedy, was assassinated and Johnson took office.

If Kennedy had not been assassinated, the course of Vietnam could and would have been dramatically different. Before his death, Kennedy had clearly expressed the intent of withdrawal and had already acted upon it by removing 1000 advisers. However, he was not able to act upon the rest of his plan. Johnson had a very different view on the war. He believed he needed to take forceful action against the NLF to scare the North Vietnamese and other communists from acting. Johnson began a covert bombing campaign, known as Rolling Thunder, against North Vietnamese and other communist targets in Indochina. Johnson approved commando raids, navy surveillance, and secret bombings against targets in North Vietnam and Laos (the NLF were belied to be supplied from Laos). Johnson also increased the number of advisors in Vietnam to about 27,000 reversing to what his predecessor had done.

The involvement of the US was greatly escalated by the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August of 1964. According to President Johnson, the North Vietnamese had fired on the USS Maddox and Turner Joy without provocation. As a result, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave Johnson authority for the use of military force without an official declaration of war from Congress. Johnson would use this resolution as the legal basis for the dramatic escalation of US involvement. It basically gave Johnson a “blank check” to do as he wished in Vietnam, which protesters began to complain in a short time.

Soon after, Johnson utilized Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in his policy of escalation. The idea that the South Vietnamese government could manage the affairs of the country was abandoned. The US adopted the strategy of creating a war of attrition, upon General William Westmoreland’s advice, who took over Military Assistance Command in Vietnam in 1964. The strategy required escalation of US troops to wear down the other side. It was decided in March 1965 that the United States Air Force could not handle the war alone, so 3,500 US Marines were sent as aid. A staggering 200,000 Marines were in Vietnam in December of the same year, showing the dramatic effect of the war of attrition. Westmoreland had a three point plan to win the war which included “major offensive actions” for the “final destruction of enemy forces.”

The turning point in the war for the American public was the Tet Offensive in 1967. During the traditional cease-fire of Tet, or the Vietnamese observance of the lunar New Year, the Vietcong led a surprise attack on American and South Vietnamese forces mainly in the cities of Saigon and Hue. The city of Hue experienced the bloodiest fighting, and American onlookers watched on in horror as they received images through photographs and videos on television. There were massive killings of NLF by US soldiers and the massive casualties sparked controversy over the war.

Public opinion of the war had been favorable at first, because they had seen the war in the larger effort against communism. However, public support waned as scandals began to be exposed in the government. Many did not come to believe Johnson, seeing him as a lying politician typical of those days and began to mistrust the news as they believed there was a “credibility gap.” Especially after the Tet Offensive, there was a battle between hawks, those who supported war, and doves, those who opposed it. A greater number of Americans supported a complete withdrawal from the war, after seeing how many casualties it would take to end. A greater amount of doves were also more outspoken. In fact, the stress of the war and the hostile public opposition led Johnson not to run again in 1968.

Johnson’s unsuccessful policy was caused by numerous factors, especially the underestimation of the North Vietnamese people. Operation Rolling Thunder was not a success because North Vietnam was highly agrarian, and as a result, there were not many heavily populated or industrial areas which the US could target. Also, the Viet Cong were much more resilient than Johnson had expected. Their motivation, willingness, and dedication were higher than those of the American soldiers. Vietnamese soldiers were more willing to die, a major setback in Johnson’s strategy. The US was forced to fight an offensive war, and as a result, they would have to pay the higher price. The terrain was unfamiliar, and the US soldiers could not differentiate between friend and foe. The US was simply not prepared for this kind of war, and Johnson’s greatest mistake was to escalate involvement instead of reducing it like his predecessor had wished. As a result, he was haunted by Vietnam for the rest of his life.

A new face would enter the war: Richard Nixon, who promised “peace with honor” in Vietnam with his policy of Vietnamization. It was the process of training South Vietnamese soldiers to fend for themselves. Nixon also pursued negotiations, which were marginally successful because he signed an arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union in his policy known as détente, but he failed to stop them from continuing to support North Vietnam. Although to the public he seemed to be ending the war, Nixon actually did some of the opposite. He escalated the Phoenix Program, where the CIA killed 20,000 suspected NLF members, many of whom were actually innocent and ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969. While the four years of bombing did upset the Cambodian people’s lives, it was a failure because NLF base camps were not destroyed. He also had Laos secretly bombed, which also led to the destruction and upheaval of the natives.

Public opposition soared during Nixon’s presidency, as a result of the exposure of several scandals. The My Lai Massacre, the killing of 300 innocent Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers, polarized many against the war as they saw the brutality and the murder involved. The Pentagon Papers were not much of a help either as these papers exposed the President’s secret bombings of Cambodia and Laos, sparking outrage across the country. These papers also showed that the real motive of the war was to uphold the US’s reputation instead of trying to help a nation in need. As a result, protests dramatically increased. One notable one in Kent State University resulted in four civilians being shot by the National Guard. The nation had become divided, yet the movement to end the war had gained a loud voice.

Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization was tested in the Easter Offensive, an invasion of South Vietnam, when it was made clear that South Vietnam would need US help to survive. Nixon even reverted to the first bombing of Vietnam since 1969, showing the recession into aggressive military tactics. The bombings, popularly known as the Christmas Bombings were meant to intimidate North Vietnam into agreement with American terms for a cease-fire, and the campaign was successful. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973 ended direct US involvement in the war. In its terms, American POWs were released, fighting was temporarily ended between North and South Vietnam, the US had sixty days to leave, and the reunification of Vietnam was encouraged.

However, the Paris Peace Accords were not upheld by the Vietnamese. By then, Nixon had resigned after Watergate and Ford had taken office. The North Vietnamese invaded the South in 1975, but Ford was unable to act because of the majority of Democrats in Congress. Without US aid, South Vietnam began to crumble rapidly as it flew deeper into a pit of despair. The North Vietnamese continued with their offense, capturing cities and towns along the way. Finally they arrived at the capital city of Saigon, and the South Vietnamese were powerless to defend it. The fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War.

Nixon, promising peace, did succeed in that effort, but his foreign policy was a failure. The corruption during his presidency contributed to the loss of public support, thus sealing in defeat. His unwise decisions to bomb the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos were only in successful in alienating the public. His policy of Vietnamization was a failure; the South Vietnamese were not adequately prepared to hold up on their own, which is indicated by the quick fall of Saigon.

The aftermath of the war was enormous. Many soldiers returned home, their lives having been scarred forever and forced to deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many families had to endure the loss of a loved one – at least 58,000 American troops had died. The nation was now in a deep federal deficit, spurred by military spending in the Vietnam War and Johnson’s Great Society programs. The US economy had to suffer as soaring inflation and a stagnant economy led to a new economic problem – “stagflation.” There was a growing resentment and mistrust of the federal government, caused by all the secrecy and lies the government had been involved during the war.

Whether or not the US made the right decision with increased involvement is highly debated. Their involvement should have never been expanded, because anything further than that became an American war, because they would have been too involved. The Marines should have never been sent in, and Johnson should have followed Kennedy’s plan. South Vietnam ultimately did fall to North Vietnam, meaning the war would have had the same outcome whether the US left in 1975 or in 1963. Even after Operation Rolling Thunder, the US should have calculated how difficult a land war would have been. US involvement was not justified, because the nation even ended up committing horrible crimes against the South Vietnamese.

American failure in Vietnam was caused by numerous factors, most namely difficulties of fighting an offensive war, poor leadership, and unexpected North Vietnamese morale resulting in countless deaths that could have been avoided. The war would drag on for what felt like centuries, claiming around 58,000 American lives and countless Vietnamese. It would leave a beautiful nation in tatters, just to fight communism.