2011 Vietnam War Unit Test Study Guide
1. Who was the political leader of North Vietnam for most of the war, Vietnam's leading
communist, as well as a passionate nationalist and anti-colonialist?
2. What was the name given to the logistical supply route for the NVA & Viet Cong?
3. What was the basic U.S. infantry weapon used after 1965?
4. What was the acronym for the South Vietnamese Army?
5. What was the acronym used by the U.S. Military for the headquarters of NVA/VC
operations in South Vietnam?
6. What was the name given to the idea that if Vietnam became communist, other
countries would too?
7. What was the term used to describe the tactics employed by Westmoreland to defeat
the NVA?
8. What is the word that means the practice of killing more soldiers than the enemy does?
9. What was the nickname for the famous helicopter used in the Vietnam War?
10. What was the name given to the massive bombing campaign conducted against North
Vietnam?
11. What was the name given to what the U.S. believed was the headquarters of NVA/VC
operations in South Vietnam?
12. What was the acronym for the South Vietnamese army?
13. What was the term used for the concept of winning over the civilian population's
allegiance to anticommunist ideals, rather than controlling territory or killing the most
people?
14. What was the term used to describe the training of ARVN troops to take over after the
withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam?
15. What was the name of the North Vietnamese communist resistance forces in the 1st
Indochina war?
16. Who was the first American soldier killed by hostile action in Vietnam October 21,
1957?
17. Who was the last American soldier to die in combat in Vietnam, January 27, 1973?
18. Who was the only person ever convicted of war crimes in the My Lai massacre trial?
19. Who was the U.S. General constantly pushed for more American ground troops in
Vietnam. He believed a battle of attrition would win the Vietnam War and instituted
“Search-and-Destroy” missions?
20. Who was the U.S. Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy & Johnson administrations
(1961- 1968) who had been president of Ford Motor Company, and had advocated
increasing US involvement in Vietnam?,
21. Who was the Defense Department analyst who worked for the Rand Corporation, &
secretly copied Top Secret U.S. government documents and revealed their contents to the
newspapers?
22. Who was the commanding General MACV 1965-68?
23. Who was the US Ambassador to S. Vietnam (1964-65)?
24. Who was the President of the US from 1963-68?
25. Who was the Secretary of Defense under Kennedy & Johnson?
26. Who rose to power in South Vietnam in 1965 and was made its President?
27. Who was the Communist leader of the Viet Minh & North Vietnam?
28. What was the name of the Old imperial capital of Vietnam?
29. What was the name of the place where the US Marines first landed in Vietnam
in March of 1965?
30. What was the name given to the area between North Vietnam & South Vietnam?
31. What was the site of first major battle between US & regular NVA troops?
32. What was the location of the attack on the USS Maddox & USS Turner Joy?
33. What was the importance of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
34. After the 1968 Tet Offensive, what did many Americans, including respected
newsman Walter Cronkite, begin to believe about the outcome of the war?
35. What was the name of the isolated U.S. Marine base in the northern part of South
Vietnam which was beseiged in late December 1968 by the NVA?
36. What was the name of the battle in 1954, where the Viet Minh defeated the French to
end the First Indochina war?
37. What was the name of the battle which was a part of the 1969 U.S. operation in the A
Shau Valley officially known as “Operation Apache Snow”, in which 241 U.S. soldiers
were killed while trying to capture a position from the NVA?
38. On January 30, 1968, the Viet Cong launched a general offensive throughout South
Vietnam. What was this offensive called?
39. What was the mission of American troops when they were sent to South Vietnam in
1961?
40. What was Lyndon Johnson’s chief aim in Southeast Asia?
41. What was the primary reason President Johnson chose not to run for reelection in
1968?
42. Why did the United States get involved in the Vietnam?
43. What were the “lessons learned" from the Vietnam war?
44. When the United States took charge of the war, what was the major impact on
Vietnamese society?
45. What was the “War Powers Act” was designed to ensure?
46. The shooting of students at Kent State University came during demonstrations against
what specific American military action in Southeast Asia?
47. What European colonial power had held Vietnam (or Indochina) since the late 1800's,
causing widespread support for Nationalist movements?