Communist People or Viet Cong

[hornet32]

Viet Cong hard core were professional soldiers not to be confused with the paddy hopping S.Vietnamese who were recruited at the point of a gun , a VC / NVA Division was made up of three regiments of 3000 soldiers each = 9000 men in most cases 2 VC regiments and one NVA Regiment , loss of 110,000 during tet is a loss of 11+ divisions quite a lick for any Army , Gaip was willing to sustain loses but not that much , 11 highly trained divisions , the tet was a political move on 'ho's part  but there's no doubt he under estimated the U.S. Army who were quite willing to get it on and the enemy who made contact with the U.S. couldn't break contact and were for the most part annihilated they were hammered day and night 24/7 for close to 8 weeks . 

[Swampy]

Giap was willing to sacrifice the VC, so they would not be a threat to the NVA and Hanoi.

[hornet32]

Not quite the VC hardcore were people with a mission , they were sick and tired with the corruption and direction that the south was taking , they felt that the North was corruption free and would live by the standard of their ancestors .

[Swampy]

What's your basis for saying that?

[hornet32]

I could say because they were equipped armed an trained in the same manner as the NVA by the NVA and they were very tough or as tough as the NVA , the Vietnamese have a history of some 3000 years an are proud of their heritage , the French were successful because they controled all the trade centers in indo china and actually did something for the people and Country .

[Swampy]

They may have been trained with the same tactics and equipment as the NVA, but that is not to say they were sick and tired of the corruption - one does not lead to the other.

And I don't think they could use the same tactics and equipment as the NVA, because the NVA had heavy duty armored and artillery units, while the VC were irregular fighters.

[jerryfmcompushaft]

Armor was of little use in much of Vietnam....

[Swampy]

In the final offensive, I understand the NVA used armored units to roll down South Vietnam. In any case, APC's are also considered armored units of a sort, which were better than hiking the trails.

[hornet32]

The VC hardcore were not irregulars they were highly trained soldiers and were much respected by the NVA , Armor was basically useless for both sides for much of the war APC were death traps and no one would ride inside of one no even the driver who use extended laterals to operate the thing , when the U.S. Departed they left SVN with an Army Air Force and Navy with plenty of armor , the South had an Air Force and Navy that the North did not have and still got their ass kicked .

[dontom]

Oct 16, 2013 10:44:18 GMT -5 Swampy said:

Giap was willing to sacrifice the VC, so they would not be a threat to the NVA and Hanoi.

Many here have been saying that the VC was under total control of the north. If that's the case, how could the VC be a threat to who controls them?

BTW, I finally remembered where I got my info that most of the VC (NLF members) were NOT commies. It was the old CompuServe Encyclopedia, which explained that the NLF wanted us out for various reasons, such as our first Catholic government we started in their mainly Buddhist country when we decided our puppet government that would first be ran by Diem.

And Diem coined the name "VC" meaning "Vietnamese Communists" only because he knew we were brainwashed back then to hate the commies, not that they really were commies.

Now you're even saying the VC was a threat to the Northern Commies. If they are both fighting to be commie, Why would the VC be a threat to the north?

-Don- SSF, CA

[Swampy]

The VC were NOT under the control of the north; they were the communists of southern Vietnam. That was why the NVA was so anxious to get them destroyed at Tet.

[dontom]

Oct 19, 2013 20:45:12 GMT -5 Swampy said:

The VC were NOT under the control of the north; they were the communists of southern Vietnam. That was why the NVA was so anxious to get them destroyed at Tet.

If both the VC and North wanted the same thing for Vietnam (a united commie country) , why would the north want them destroyed?

And what makes you believe the VC were commies? Because Diem said so?

-Don-

[Swampy]

Communism isn't a monolithic whole; the North didn't want a potential power that could threaten it. As for the VC being communists, that's what I've read - I've never met a VC, and I've never been to Vietnam.

[dontom]

Oct 19, 2013 21:50:18 GMT -5 Swampy said:

Communism isn't a monolithic whole; the North didn't want a potential power that could threaten it. As for the VC being communists, that's what I've read - I've never met a VC, and I've never been to Vietnam.

Well, I have done both, met VC (our Chieu Hoi scout used to be a VC)and I spent a year in Vietnam.

But I think we can agree on one thing. When we read about the NFL/VC, there is a lot of conflicting info. out there. I don't know which is right either, when they don't agree.

Seems there is a lot more consistency when reading about the NVA than VC.

Perhaps because the NVA was very well organized, and the NLF was more "anything goes". Perhaps even what they were fighting for was different, in some cases, but they all mainly wanting the USA out of there.

One thing for sure, if we think of Vietnam as one country, by far, more Vietnamese people wanted the USA out of Vietnam than wanted us to stay.

-Don-

[hornet32]

When the French occupied indo china they brought the Catholic faith with them every provincial capital had a huge cathedral built , the French were smart enough not to push the true faith off onto the populace , but the populace soon found out that becoming a Catholic things happen good things , after the French got the boot the Country was divided , this did not sit well with many in the North or South , the Viet Minh or Minh's people were on a roll having kicked the French's ass so many in the South joined up to get all foreigners out which included the U.S. .
I have meet a number of VC and NVA but unfortunately they were dead , most inconvenient .