ested in the history of American warfare.Other difficulties with weapons were rampant. The M-16, a revolutionary new infantry rifle, was prone to frequent jams as well as water damage. And in a country when it rains almost every day, that wasn't good news. Also, U.S. commanders underestimated the power of the Viet Cong's weapons, thinking that they only had muskets and bolt-action rifles. But since the Chinese and Russians were supplying the VC with modern AK-47s and other similar arms, the officers were faced with one nasty surprise after another. Weapons, though new and advanced, can still have weaknesses, and the battlefields in Vietnam exploited almost all the weaknesses of our weapons. However, with tactics that could use the strengths and all but eliminate the weaknesses, the ground war would have also been a snap. This shows that relying too heavily on technology and not enough on battle-tested weapons can be downright deadly.Leaders, Washington, and the Morale IssueWhile Johnson and Westmoreland had loads of support at the beginning of the war, as the American people started to see that the war was unwinnable, their support began to decline. 1 in 5 of every soldier who fought- and died- was drafted, 1 and this caused distress among the public. Draft cards were burned publicly, schools walked out in protest of the war, and even large music events were held to somehow stop the fighting. With all this public opinion against the war, one would wonder why the fighting continued. The reason is evident to us now, considering that hindsight is 20/20. General Westmoreland manipulated the body counts for both side to make it look like we were always winning. Not only did Westmoreland lie, but he failed to mention that the pool from which VC and NVA soldiers came from was almost the entire country. With lawmakers telling you one thing and the television telling you another, what would you think. Obviously, it is extremely hard to fight a w...
