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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following helicopters are newly introduced to the ARVN/U.S. forces by the time of the Battle of Ap Bac?
(a) Cobras.
(b) Hueys.
(c) Flying Bananas.
(d) Sea Bees.

2. Which city in North Vietnam is the base for Ho Chi Minh's government?
(a) My Tho.
(b) Hanoi.
(c) Phnom Penh.
(d) Khe Sanh.

3. How many Viet Cong guerrillas are entrenched in defensive positions at Ap Bac?
(a) 700.
(b) 2,500.
(c) 350.
(d) 5,000.

4. John Paul Vann is born during what era?
(a) The Spanish-American War.
(b) The 1950s.
(c) The Great Depression.
(d) The Alaskan Gold Rush.

5. The name for the pro-North Vietnamese forces based in South Vietnam is the ___________________.
(a) National Liberation Front.
(b) Communist Army of South Vietnam.
(c) People's Liberation Army.
(d) The Resistance.

Short Answer Questions

1. The protagonist of the book, John Paul Vann, is killed in 1972 while serving what organization?

2. After numerous wars with the Chinese and the French, the Vietnamese adopt the following military philosophy which gives the forces of Ho Chi Minh courage during the First and Second Indochina Wars:

3. John Paul Vann requests the following equipment to help the M-113s navigate across the various canals in the battlefield:

4. How many ARVN helicopters are downed by the VC forces during the battle?

5. Which of the following generals is the commanding officer of U.S. personnel in Vietnam in 1962?

Short Essay Questions

1. What other significant figures are introduced during this introductory section of the book? List two or three of them.

2. Briefly describe some of the things John Paul Vann did that get him categorized as lucky by those with whom he served.

3. Why is General Huynh Van Cao's chief-of-staff, Lt. Colonel Bui Dinh Dam, selected, even though he is a North Vietnamese and General Huynh Van Cao is a general for the South?

4. Why are the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) referred to as "Viet Cong"?

5. How does the United States initially get more involved in South Vietnamese politics in 1962?

6. What do you think John Paul Vann's motivations are when he is first sent to Vietnam to advise the South Vietnamese military in 1962?

7. What are the key components of Ziegler's battle plan? How many men and how much air and armor support are sent to Ap Bac?

8. Why is the Battle of Ap Bac considered perhaps the most important confrontation of the entire Vietnam War?

9. What is one of the secret desires of the American military advisers with regard to the Viet Cong's fighting tactics?

10. Why do you believe General Harkins and others in the United States' military and intelligence communities put so much stock into the opinions of Vietnamese military leaders like General Huynh Van Cao, often at the expense of more sound advice from their own people, like John Paul Vann?

(see the answer keys)

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