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Physical challenges: rough terrain and climate made it difficult to navigate.

Psychological challenges: the line between civilians and soldiers began to blur due to Viet Cong soldiers pretending to be harmless villagers.

Logistical challenges: there was no clear goal for the soldiers. There was no front lines because anyone could be ambushed from anywhere, which made strategizing difficult.

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US soldiers in Vietnam often listened to music to distract themselves from their harsh realities.

Albums, cassettes, tapes, tape decks, and the Armed Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) were all used to listen to music from the US.

Sometimes, soldiers would play guitars and sing along to their favorite tunes.

Songs took on new meanings in the war, and most of the music that was popular to soldiers in Vietnam focused on going home, as most soldiers so desperately wanted to do.

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Beginning on March 2, 1965, the US began bombing North Vietnam.

This was a joint Navy-Air Force campaign that lasted for over three years.

US forces were afraid of bombing too intensely because they didn’t want to anger China or the Soviet Union.

Operation Rolling Thunder caused great destruction, but ultimately didn’t affect the outcome of the war.

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In March of 1965, the first group of US Marines landed in Vietnam.

Whereas, in the the past, the US had propped up the Southern Vietnam government through financial support and military advisors, they were now sending military aid.

Originally, the US didn’t want to use military force in the war to avoid involving the USSR and China, but after the attack on the USS Maddox, President Johnson began sending soldiers and bombers to fight alongside the South Vietnamese against the invading North.

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In 1967, General William Westmoreland told the US people that the US was winning the war.

He said: “I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing.”

US citizens would later learn, after the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, that the US was no closer to winning than it was in 1965.

This left Americans feeling lied to, and turned public opinion against the war.

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Two US naval destroyers stationed off Vietnam’s coast (the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy) were allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was the US response to the attacks.

It gave LBJ the power to use military force against the North Vietnamese if necessary.

This was the beginning of US military involvement in the war.

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Tet, the lunar new year celebrated in Vietnam, was the day the North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong decided to launch a surprise attack on the South.

American and South Vietnamese troops ultimately held off the attack, but the Tet Offensive showed that the North Vietnamese were capable of strong, organized blows against Southern forces.

Seeing the strength of the North Vietnamese shocked many Americans and contributed to the decision to pull US troops out of the Vietnam War.

While the North Vietnamese were defeated in this attack, the Tet Offensive is considered the turning point for North Vietnamese victory.