Vietnamese Aircrafts

(INTRODUCTION) In August 1964, Vietnamese DRV torpedo boats attacked two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. President London B. Johnson ordered the retaliatory bombing of military targets in North Vietnam. Shortly after the incident, U.S. congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Johnson war-making powers, and U.S. planes began regular bombing raids (Reference http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history ). In Vietnam, the US enjoyed virtual air supremacy. Nevertheless, Air Defense Artillery (ADA) units were able to distinguish themselves and prove their versatility by providing fire support to ground forces. ADA earned more than 450 medals for valor, receiving more than 1000 Purple Hearts, and one Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to SGT Mitchell Stout (Reference http://www.usc.edu/dept-00/dept/armyrotc/branches/air_defense.html ). Despite there being no confirmed aerial engagements, Air Defense Artillery played a vital role in the Vietnam War, and were at times crucial to battle success, proving their versatility, adaptability, flexibility.

The Battle of Midway was fought with a variety of naval ships such as battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers, as well as naval planes and submarines. Many of these ships and planes were lost during this battle especially for the Japanese.(Cressman, Robert J., "No End Save Victory", Naval Historical Center, June 1998)

During the Vietnam War the M42 (Duster) tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) vehicle influenced the future versatility and capabilities of the Air Defense Artillery systems of today’s United States Army. This system put a lasting impression on the minds and confidence of the American Army Soldiers. These Soldiers actively participated in defending the South Vietnamese from the North Vietnamese and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong (or Vietnamese Communist). Not only did the M42 Duster (SPAAG) raise the moral and boost confidence with the American Soldiers, it instilled fear and discouraged the enemy from attacking positions that were fortified with versatile air defense systems. This

Vietnamese army had a major advantage over the U.S; they knew the forests well, and had

During World War II, a Vietnamese man named Ho Chi Minh began to organize his "Viet Minh" armies to fight the French. In

Furthermore, “on October 31, 1941 the Reuben James, a United States destroyer, was torpedoed by a German U-boat” (Bailey and Ryan 205). Reuben James was one of a group of five United States destroyers who was escorting a convoy of forty-four ships. Reuben James was the first American naval vessel to be lost by enemy action in this battle. Only forty-five of the one hundred and sixty men on board survived the battle (Bailey and Ryan 205).

The Americans were not the only ones to lose people and equipment. The Japanese lost about 30 planes, five submarines, and less than 100 men (history.com). Though almost all of our fleet was destroyed, we had three fleet carriers out at sea. The carriers were not hit by anything

But with all this damage done, Japan didn’t destroy the pacific fleet. All but two ships damaged in the attack were repaired. Luckily for America, two aircraft carriers that were supposed to be at the harbor weren’t. What Japan forgot to destroy was all of the facilities such as oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards, and submarine docks.

Wheeler Field, Schofield Barracks, Bellows Field, Kaneohe Naval Air Station, Hickam Field, and Ewa Field were among the other military locations attacked (p.76-79 WL). A few pilots from Kaneohe Naval Air Station managed to make it to the hangars, only to discover destroyed and damaged planes (p. 79 WL). While at Ewa Field all but 16 planes had been destroyed by 8:05, roughly just ten minutes after the attacks began (p. 80 WL). At Wheeler field getting the planes off the ground was all but impossible, they were under attack, the planes were too close together, and many had no fuel (p. 250 SW). They and other bases were prepared for sabotage, not an attack (p. 250 SW). By 8:30 all of the planes at Wheeler were either destroyed or damaged (p. 109 WL). The situation was similar at the other bases and by the end of the attack a total of 347 planes would be damaged or destroyed (212

loyal members of Osama Bin Laden and his very violent terrorist group “Al-Qaeda”. The planes

The jet fighter planes ended up playing a large role throughout the war. The use of helicopters was used throughout the war for resupply missions and they started using the helicopters as a medevac for wounded personnel. Since time is of the essence these new helicopter medevac’s saved a lot of people by getting them to a location for medical help significantly faster than previous methods. This method also became incredibly crucial during the Vietnam War along with the helicopters being armed with missiles and machine guns to cause damage and be able to evacuate the

At one point of the Korean War they had several helicopter crashes that killed 1000

The attack was said to be a huge success. In the end five American battleships were sunk, three were damaged, and eleven other cruisers, destroyers and auxiliaries were sunk or seriously damaged.

In the vietnam war they used heavy duty equipment like tank.”M48 Patton medium tank, M551 Sheridan, Centurion main battle tank (Australia). The American used a few Sherman M4A3-M4A6 medium tanks in Vietnam (The M4 Sherman medium tank was the most common Allied tank used in World War II.) However, by the time the Korean War had ended, the Americans had, for the most part, replaced the Sherman with more modern tanks. The North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong were supplied with Soviet tanks: the T-34/85 medium tank, which was first used during World War II, the T-54 main battle tank and the PT-76 light amphibious tank. The Chinese supplied the North Vietnamese with the the Type 59 main battle tank (their version of the T-54), the Type 62 light

The helicopter played a huge role in The Vietnam War, both as a transport and combat aircraft. Helicopters were a huge method of transportation for troops in Vietnam. The attack helicopter was also introduced as a vital weapon and it gave a new strategy for the U.S. military. These attack helicopters intimidated enemy ground forces while giving close air support to troops on the ground. The strategy behind conventional bombing in World War Two was to drop a large amount of bombs and destroy large areas. During the Cold War there was a lot of nuclear tension between the US and USSR. The Cold War was a massive show of force, competing for the superior aircraft. During World War Two, bombers had supportive aircraft but in the Cold War aircraft