Was there a difference between the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese? I always assumed they were basically synonomous until I read an article about a guy on patrole who came upon some enemy troops and said, “At first we thought they were Viet Cong, but they turned out to be North Vietnamese” or something to that effect.
I hesitate to respond, because I know we have members who actually served in Vietnam, but until they arrive, as I understand it, in broad terms:
“Vietcong” were South Vietnamese communists, fighting a guerrilla/terroist style war;
“North Vietnamese” were regular army soldiers from, well North Vietnam, fighting a more convential style war.
I believe that later in the war, after the Viet Cong had been decimated, North Vietnamese often filled out VC units – I could be way off about that.
The Viet Cong were South Vietnamese communist insurgents.
Viet Cong = South Vietnamese guerillas, supported by North Vietnam.
NVA = North Vietnamese Regular Army. A trained, equipped, regular fighting force.
No reason to hesitate - you did fine. You can define the terms as well as any of us who were there. For that matter you’re entitled to any opinion on the thing too, but we love to play the “I was there, so I know” card.
There were always rumors about this, but I’ve never known how valid they were or seen any actual verified statistics.
One of the frustrating things about Charlie is what I imagine the troops in Iraq are finding. During the day, he could be the guy sell you fruit in the market or sitting beside you at one of the side-walk cafes but at night, he became one of the guerillas who were so illusive.
–just occured to me, Charlie = Victor Charlie (which is the phonetic alphabet for VC which of course stood for Viet Cong).
TV
Which brings up my favorite joke, now that the question has been answered:
Me: “What’s the difference between a Viet Nam vet and a boy scout?”
Other: “I don’t know.”
Me (screaming, with veins popping): “THAT’S BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T THERE, MAN!!!”
So who were the Viet Minh?
They were Ho Chi Minh’s army that first fought the Japanese and then the French from the 1940s to 1950s. Once North Vietnam became an official country, they became the NVA.
I understand that the Viet Cong was actually begun as a religous “war” (or rather native religious groups that fought against Diem’s (who happened to be a Catholic who oppressed certain native sects) rule. Viet Cong being the military arm of the National Liberation Front, which had a broad spectrum of support.
The Viet Minh were fought against the French and then the Japanese. They were later absorbed into the Viet Cong.
Viet Minh being started by Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh not necessarily being all-Communist.
The Viet Minh were communist from the beginning. The non communist resistance, sponsored by the Chinese Nationalists, was the Dong Minh Hoi. Ho would go on, after being released from prison by the Chinese, to head the Dong Minh Hoi, bringing the Viet Minh into it (His famous quote “I am Vietnamese first and Communist second”)
Ho and the Viet Minh would go on between 1946-1948 to purge the other Vietnamese resistance groups, killing off the non-Communist nationalists.
Oh, OK. I had been under the uninformed impression that the VC were (initially anyway) Northern guerillas, later supplemented by Southern recruits, whereas the NVA were regular army. But if the VC were virtually entirely Southerners, well, you learn something every day don’t you.
I do recall reading in my limited research of the Tet offensive that the VC were virtually destroyed as a fighting force, and basically all activity fron then on was done by the NVA, was that true?
THE ENEMY NUMBERS IN 111 CORPS (unofficial)
This is from an unofficial website about the Australian part in the war in Vietnam.
FWIW - I’ve also heard that the VC itself was split into two different forces.
Part was a local village VC, a sort of casual, part time group who operated in and around their own villages and rarely ventured further.
The second, more dangerous part of the VC were the VC Main Force, a semi-regular force, better equipped, better trained, better motiviated who were organised into more formal units and operated throughout the provinces rather than just hanging out in their own backyards, although with their local knowledge they probably didn’t venture too far outside their own province.
The NVA were from North Vietnam and were usually tougher opponents than VC - uniforms, better paid, better trained, better fed and much more likely to stand and fight rather than melt away. Their leaders were combat veterans with years of experience in pitched battles, etc.
From Delta Four by Gary McKay;
All of my knowledge is from listening to guys on the Australian side and reading stuff based on our own intelligence reports, which are educated guesses at best.
I am told by a Vietnamese co-worker that the Viet Cong were looked upon by NVA regulars as something less than peers and equals, and that after the war, the VCs were shut out of the choicer political and patronage postions.
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing]
The Viet Minh were communist from the beginning. The non communist resistance, sponsored by the Chinese Nationalists, was the Dong Minh Hoi.
[QUOTE]
I’m just going from what the good ol’ EB DVD tells me. Viet Minh:
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