The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a war between Southern and Northern zones of Vietnam. It began gradually during 1959-60. In the early 1960's the United States was worried about the situation in South Vietnam. They believed there were over 20,000 Viet Cong guerillas in the south and about another 100,000 of the population were on the Viet Cong side. The United States believed the Viet Cong controlled nearly one quarter of the villages and had supporters in three quarters of them. Most non-Communist countries were worried that the communist giants, China and the Soviet Union wanted to dominate the world. The governments of the United States and Australia thought that China was using the Communist Government in North Vietnam to first conquer South Vietnam and then the whole of South East Asia. Australia became involved in Vietnam because the Australian government believed the best way to protect Australia from the
The moratorium movement was very successful and in street marches throughout Australia huge crowds demonstrated their opposition to Australian involvement in the war. They had been fighting for over four years and there seemed no end in sight. Late in 1969 peace groups influenced by what had happened in the United States had joined together to form the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign - they wished to see all foreign troops withdrawn from Vietnam. The living conditions were very different from what they were used to. The last of the troops left in March1972 and the Training Team came home in December. The 8th Battalion returned home in November 1970 and in 1971 another 1000 men were withdrawn. Two other Australian companies were successful in a battle at Binh Ba in 1969 and the Task Force turned back an attack north of Bien Hoa in 1968 after the Tet offensive. Australia had indicated in 1968 that no more Australian Soldiers would be sent to Vietnam, and that when one of Australia's three battalions completed it's tour of duty it would not be replaced. In August 1966 Australians fought a battle in a rubber plantation near Long Tan. News from the war was reported on television almost every night and people could see what it was really like where the soldiers were living and fighting, and the effects it was having on the Vietnamese people and their villages. The Vietnam War was the longest war that Australian's were involved in, before this many Australians had never heard of Vietnam. Australian soldiers had to fight small groups of the enemy and they were subject to surprise attacks and raids by small groups of soldiers using fairly simple weapons. communist threat in South East Asia was to make sure that the United States stayed on its side. They won this battle and lost 18 men and had 21 wounded.
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