1. The primary goal of the United States in getting involved in Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism and contain it.

2. The policy of containment influenced the U.S. actions in Vietnam by saying that if South Vietnam fell, it would be a domino effect and other countries would also fall to communism.

3. The Gulf of Tonkin incident played a role in escalating the conflict because it provided a reason for the U.S. to send troops in Northern Vietnam.

4. The U.S supported South Vietnam and not North Vietnam because if South Vietnam were to fall, then other countries near Vietnam would also fall to communism and then it would spread throughout East Asia.

The significance of the Tet Offensive was that it was a major turning point in Vietnam which weakened public support in the United States which demonstrated North Korean forces.

2. How did guerrilla warfare tactics help the Viet Cong against U.S. forces?

The guerrilla warfare tactics VietCong used against U.S. forces ranged from surprise attacks, ambushes, booby traps, tunnels, etc. This way, they would avoid direct confrontation. A key element from their “camouflage” is that members of the VietCong would hide among civilians, making it harder for enemies to detect them.

3. What was the operation rolling thunder and what impact did it have?

Operation Rolling Thunder was a bombing campaign that started on February 24th 1965 and ended in October of 1968. This operation was designed to force Ho chi Minh out of hiding.

The U.S. Soldiers tried to destroy the Viet Cong tunnels with explosives, to blow up the tunnel systems. They did this by igniting a mix of gas and oxygen, this worked well for more shallow tunnels. They sent down Tunnel rats (American soldiers who were short so they could squeeze in the tunnels) who volunteered to clear out the underground tunnel networks. They were sent to face unpredictable booby traps, locate enemy forces, and destroy their supplies.

The Viet Cong had better knowledge and understanding of the terrain and placed traps in spots where the U.S. would be caught off guard. They could place these traps in hidden areas where the technologically superior U.S. troops couldn’t do anything against them.                                                                

-it gave a hidden network for movement 

-storage the tunnels contained storage depots and food caches 

-Communication and could provide resupply routes  

-surprise attacks US forces and retreat underground 

2.The 4 students who were shot and killed by the coast guard at kent state sparked a huge amount of protest that took place at colleges all over the US