Five life lessons from the Vietnam War
Recently I watched a mini TV series called “The Vietnam War” a production of Front Line films which is written by Geoffrey C. Ward and directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Miniseries Itself is a master piece If you like History/ War documentaries I strongly suggest you to add this to your watch list. From the Vietnam War there are lots of valuable lessons to be learned I thought worth while sharing.
1. Don’t stick your nose in to other problems
After the French occupied forces left the Vietnam country was divided into parts North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and a communist backed government and the south Vietnam backed by the western front. Soon after the French left a civil war escalate between north and south Vietnam. And the US thought that it is their duty to intervene in countries internal civil war which they had no business affiliating with. During the war in Vietnam 58,318 Americans were KIA (Killed in Action) and 153,303 WIA (wounded in action)excluding 150,332 persons not requiring hospital care, all because some higher ups in the American government thought that if Vietnam becomes a communist state, rest of south-east Asia would be communist controlled countries as well. In our lives also We have come across many situations where we have intervened in others problems and in the end you are the one who getting the blame, specially in love affairs as such ;-) it is better to let them settle their own problems rather than getting involved in those situations and caught in middle of the cross fire.
2. Not only you are correct
At the time of the Vietnam War most of the US troops thought that they are the angels and the NVA(North Vietnamese army) or the Vietcong as evil, and they try to justify whatever the action took by them saying that they are the good guys, and they were unable to saw the war from the opposition or from the civilians of the Vietnam perspective what was a major reason why they lost in Vietnam. Not only that back in the United States their war two movements which anti-war and pro-war both the groups thought that they are the real patriots of their country. As humans, we mostly see the world only from our perspective but it is worth remembering the fact that just because I think I am right doesn’t mean you are wrong. We both can be right, or we both can be wrong.
3) Learn from your mistakes
If you are a war movie fan it is almost certain that you have watched the movie “We were solders” which represent the fist major battle between the NVA and the American infantry . U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore and around take his 400 men send in to Ia Drang Valley to find the enemy and kill them where they encountered veteran North Vietnamese army division of 4,000 men. Colonel more and his outnumbered troops manged to come out victories with the immense fire support from the Helicopter gunships , bombers and a massive artillery barrage.
Even tough NVA lost the battle they learned a valuable lesson from that battle which is, if you want to defeat Americans you have to grab them by their belts and kill them which means the NVA and Vietcong should get closer to the American troops undetected to make sure that they can use their fire superiority to ineffective. After the first successful operation US army commenced several raids like the one in Ia Drang Valley all ended in miserable failures because of the lessons learned by the NVA in Ia Drang Valley. As they say in life it ain’t about how hard you can hit its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
4. Fight smart
During the war US had over 0.5 million troops, Most advanced tanks, APCs (armored personnel carries) transport and attack helicopters , fitter jets and a impeccable navy which managed outnumbered the NVA and Vietcong considerably. But the NVA was patient they pick the battles they want to fight they waited the troops to spread too thin before start attacks they dug in mountains months before and fortified their defenses and patiently waited till the Americans to arrive that was the case in both fights in Hill 1388 and Hill 818. It is important to understand your strengths and your weaknesses and the plan accordingly to achieve victory
5. To succeed dedication to win is a must
Major difference between the US and Vietnamese forces were that their desire to win and the willingness to sacrifice. For the NVA and Vietcong it was their motherland, and they were prepared to sacrifice every single one of their lives to victory during latter parts of the war most of the US troops doesn’t saw any purpose of them being there rather than protecting someone’s political image.
You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.
HO CHI MINH, a warning to French colonialists, 1946
During the war effort NVA used a narrow trail to provide troops and logistics towards the south and bring back the wounded to the north , which was known as the Ho-Chin-min trail which was consistently bombed by the US air force to stop the troops and logistic flow. But the north Vietnamese people were determined after a air strike they would repair the road immediately to keep the traffic moving then the same place was hit again they repaired the road back again and again and again which was essential for the war effort unless that dedication North could have fallen very easily.
“There’s never been a noble war except in the history books and propaganda movies. It’s a bloody, dirty, cruel, costly mistake in almost every case, as it was in this war that would end so badly. But the young soldiers can be and often are noble, selfless, and honorable. They don’t fight for a flag or a president or mom and apple pie. When it comes down to it they fight and die for each other, and that is reason enough for them, and for me.”
― Harold G. Moore, We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
For me war is a crime war brings devastation and distraction to this world For me There are no winners or looser in a war. War brings out the worst and best in humanity. What is the most important thing is to learn your lesson from the past and move forward keeping mind that we should try to avoid war at all costs.
