There have been many battles, movements and wars in United States history. However one of the most awkward conflicts was the Vietnamese war. The United States supported an anti-communistic regime called the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in its fight against communist take-over (Raskin& Fall 56). Because South Vietnam had its own enemy within country borders, neighboring North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) prevented South Vietnam from falling to the communist's, which ultimately led the United States to fight a major amount of battles in Southeast Asia (Raskin& Fall 117). Unfortunately it would not be an easy win for the United States because North Vietnam received outside assistance from the Communistic powers of the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China. The United States fighting strategy in Vietnam proved to be unsuccessful due to unrestricted guerilla warfare.
Weaponry of the United States military was far superior to that of any Vietnamese population. U.S soldiers received a standard issue "pot" or steel helmet that not only protected them from shards or bullets but also served multipurposly as a chair or cooking pot. Also given to them was a G.I military uniform (Bernard 98). Made with 94% cotton these outfits quickly disintegrated in the hot and humid jungle climates. An M60; a general purpose machinegun that was light enough to be carried on patrol but proved deadly in a firefight, and/or an M16 which fired .223 caliber bullets at a rate of 750-900 rounds per minute on an automatic setting. A new kind of cartridge was developed for the m16 that came in 20-30 round "clips" which quickly popped out and could be reloaded into the rifles loading port (Bernard 99-100). A Mark 2 anti personnel fragmentation grenade was among the favorites a soldier could use.