If the costs of the Vietnam War were great to Americans and staggering to the South Vietnamese, they were even worse for the North. And those costs were borne largely by the individual soldiers—the soldiers who won the war. Based on interviews, soldiers’ diaries, letters, and government documents, this book, first published in 1992, gives a classic, soldier’s-eye account of the war our opponents fought and the men who fought it.

During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong (VC) main forces and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) were forced to hide weapons and supplies underground and to dig protective shelters to counter massive US firepower. Their field works defended villages, hidden base camps, and fortified complexes, and took the form of trench systems, individual fighting positions, crew-served weapon positions, bunkers, caches, and extensive tunnel complexes. Camouflage and deceptive measures, and the employment of obstacles and booby traps, went hand-in-hand with such works. This title takes a detailed look at the VC/NVA tunnel systems, field fortifications, base camps. and camouflage and concealment measures employed during the Vietnam conflict.

In 1965, despite pronounced disadvantages in firepower and mobility, the Communist Vietnamese endeavored to crush South Vietnam and expel the American military with a strategy for a quick and decisive victory predicated not on guerrilla but big-unit war. Warren Wilkins chronicles the formation, development, and participation of the Viet Cong in the opening phase of the big-unit war and shows how the failure of that strategy profoundly influenced the decision to launch the Tet Offensive. Unlike most books on the war, this one provides an authentic account from the Communist perspective, wi ...

Commonly mistaken for the locally raised Viet Cong, the NVA was an entirely different force, conducting large-scale operations in a conventional war. Despite limited armour, artillery and air support, the NVA were an extremely politicized and professional force with strict control measures and leadership concepts. Gordon Rottman follows the fascinating life of the highly motivated infantryman from conscription and induction through training to real combat experiences. Covering the evolution of the forces from 1958 onwards, this book takes an in-depth look at the civilian and military lives of the soldiers, whilst accompanying artwork details the uniforms, weapons and equipment used by the NVA in their clash against America and her allies.

Field gear and inert weapons and ordnance have long been popular items with militaria collectors. The Vietnam War by its very nature offers an incredible range and variety of these items for the interested collector. The North Vietnamese and their puppet troops of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong or VC) relied primarily on communist allies (Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and various Eastern Bloc countries of the era) for their weapons and field gear. For this reason, Vietnam represents a microcosm of gear from all of this century's wars, dating back to World War I, as well as a wide range of improvised weapons and equipment. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the variety of hand grenades used by the enemy, including Russian, Chinese, North Korean, Eastern European, French, Japanese and even modified, captured U.S. grenades. Although impossible to completely catalog the extreme variety of weapons and field gear used by the PAVN and VC, author Edward Emering has made a determined effort to present a wide overview of the weapons and field gear used from the late-1950s through the modern era. He has been aided in his goal by obtaining access to the world class collection of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, located in Chicago, Illinois and by material from a number of extensive private collections. This book will help both the serious collector as well as those individuals interested in acquiring only a token piece of history to avoid potentially costly mistakes. A value guide is included.

Here is real story of North Vietnam's armed forces. Lanning served as a platoon leader and company commander in Vietnam, and as public affairs officer for General Schwartzkopf. Now he and Cragg, a sergeant-major who served five years in Vietnam, tell how the communists won that conflict by using the individual soldier.

This book reveals the evolving US, Viet Cong and NVA tactics at battalion level and below throughout the Vietnam War. Beginning with a description of the terrain, climate and the unique nature of operations in this theatre of war, the author, a Vietnam veteran himself, goes on to explain how unit organisation was broken down by combatant forces and the impact this had on the kind of tactics they employed. In particular, the author highlights how units were organised in reality on the battlefield as opposed to their theoretical tables of organisation. US tactics included the standard US tactical doctrine as prescribed by several field manuals and in which leaders and troops were rigourously trained. But it also reveals how many American units developed innovative small unit tactics specifically tailored to the terrain and enemy practices. In contrast, this book also reveals the tactics employed by Viet Cong and NVA units including their own Offensive Operations, Reconnaissance, Movement Formations and Security, and Ambushes.

Osprey's study of the Viet Cong fighters of the Vietnam War (1955-1975). An enemy in the shadows, the Viet Cong was the military arm of the National Liberation Front, the Communist Party of the Republic of Vietnam. Often generally thought of as local guerrillas, they were also an important part of the North Vietnamese Army regular cadres. Packed with emotive and rare photographs, this book not only analyzes the skills and tactics of these fascinating fighters, but also takes a look at their social origins to interpret how this affected their behavior as warriors. Gordon L Rottman discusses the Viet Cong's recruitment and initial training, their unique motivation, their extensive political and psychological indoctrination, and their distinct equipment and weaponry, to provide a compelling and balanced account of these legendary guerrilla fighters.

"An absorbing and moving autobiography...An important addition not only to the literature of Vietnam but to the larger human story of hope, violence and disillusion in the political life of our era."—Chicago Tribune When he was a student in Paris, Truong Nhu Tang met Ho Chi Minh. Later he fought in the Vietnamese jungle and emerged as one of the major figures in the "fight for liberation"—and one of the most determined adversaries of the United States. He became the Vietcong's Minister of Justice, but at the end of the war he fled the country in disillusionment and despair. He now lives in exile in Paris, the highest level official to have defected from Vietnam to the West. This is his candid, revealing and unforgettable autobiography.

Along with a half million other young men, Mark Woodruff put his life on the line to serve his country in Vietnam. Like so many others, he returned home to find himself regarded not as a hero but as a humiliating reminder of the only war the United States ever lost. This Marine, however, is determined to set the record straight. Woodruff never wavers from the cold, hard facts in this riveting book. Battle by battle, Unheralded Victory provides incontrovertible proof that the United States won this war, from the vaunted 1968 Tet Offensive–in reality a shattering defeat that decimated the Viet Cong–to Linebacker II, the final knockout blow that forced North Vietnam to the table. Make no mistake: our warriors in Vietnam were victorious. It’s time America sat up and took notice.