Operation Rolling Thunder: A Vietnam War strategy by the U.S.

They used Guerrilla Warfare: A type of warfare that uses unusual tactics, and in-depth knowledge of local surroundings to defeat opponents both physically and psychologically. In other words, they had the advantage of playing on home turf. They mingled with the peasants and wore like clothing to make it difficult for American Soldiers to identify them.

China & Russia both supplied them with rockets and weapons, and they used jungle paths that were familiar to them such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail to supply their armies in South Vietnam.

They intentionally stayed close to the American Soldiers so that we could not easily bomb them without killing our own.

War is never fair, but when left with no other choice, each side must create strategy that will defend against the others.

It's no secret that Puff, or call sign "Spooky" is at the top of my personal list of amazing highlights of the U.S.'s war tactics. The very experience of listening to a Vietnam Vet describe the Majestic, but deadly presence it created sends my heart soaring, pulse racing, and tears of pride at it's job done over there. Please understand that I do not condone the U.S.'s participation of sending our troops there to fight someone else's war, but if you've ever listened to a Vietnam Veteran talk about their experiences there, you would understand me better. If you haven't, then I urge you to never pass up an opportunity to listen to them. Good experience on their part, or bad. If they're willing to talk about it, please listen to them.

One of the tactics that the U.S. deployed was Operation Rolling Thunder.

As a result of a reported attack on U.S. Warships in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnam in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson authorized retaliatory air strikes against them. Later that same year, Johnson gave the ok to a number of limited attacks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a group of jungle paths that connected North Vietnam and South Vietnam. President Johnson's Goal: To disrupt the flow of manpower and supplies between North Vietnam and it's Viet Cong allies in South Vietnam.

The Rolling Thunder campaign began on March 2, 1965 and was a result partly in response to a Viet Cong attack on a U.S. air base at Pleiku. Other reasons the Johnson administration gave for this shift in U.S. strategy (which included aerial assaults on North Vietnam), included the idea that heavy and sustained bombing might encourage the North Vietnamese leaders to accept the Non Communist government in South Vietnam. The administration also hoped to reduce North Vietnam's ability to transport supplies and aid to it's Viet cong insurgency and finally, they hoped to boosts morale in the South Vietnam while destroying the Communists will to fight.

During the 3 year time line of Rolling Thunder, it's area of target expanded to the point that by mid 1966, the only areas considered off limits for the bombing raids were the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong and a 10-mile buffer zone along the border of China.

Failure is in the mind of the observer, but as far as the U.S. was concerned, Rolling Thunder may have made a mark during the war, but did not fully achieve it's intended purposes.

North Vietnam had never had much of an air force to reckon with, but leaders managed to create an effective defense against the U.S.'s bombing raids. They enlisted the assistance of both China and Russia for weapons, including rockets to construct a more sophisticated defense than they had ever utilized. They now were capable of using surface-to-air missiles and radar controlled anti-aircraft artillery, allowing them to shoot down hundreds of American planes over the period of Rolling Thunder's campaign.

Johnson finally halted the campaign on October 31, 1968, in order to pursue a negotiated settlement with the Communists.

Shortly after taking office in 1969, President Richard Nixon resumed the bombing campaign. In 1972, he unleashed another massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam called Operation Linebacker. At the time the last American combat troops left Vietnam in 1973, the U.S. had dropped some 4.6 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, destroying a large amount of the nation's towns & killing an estimated 2 million Vietnamese.

The Rolling Thunder festival is held on Memorial Day weekend every year as thousands of bike riders and military veterans travel from across the country to Washington, DC to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay tribute to our country’s finest military members and those who gave their lives. The ride actually forms in areas all across the country, but the original ride started in New Jersey.

I would like to once again state that information in all of my Vietnam War articles is not from first hand experience, unless noted such as references to conversations I've had the honor of sharing with the men who were there. I was born in 1962, the year Agent Orange was first used in Vietnam and most memories were those of watching news on a black and white tv about the time I started first grade.  If you find error in my writings, I welcome you to help out by mentioning them, but please be kind in doing so. Right or wrong, the Vietnam War happened and will forever be a part of our history. Heroes or not in your eyes, American Soldiers went there, fought, and served, whether against their beliefs or not, they had no choice and deserve our respect.