View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. President Diem's younger brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, is relied upon for his military and political advise despite the fact he has a(n) _______________ dependency.

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

3. 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:

4. Which event during the Vietnam War is used to discredit General Westmoreland's overall strategy and cause many Americans to demand an end to U.S. involvement there?

5. During the early 1960s, the Vietcong forces are _______________ in comparison to the ARVN troops.

Short Essay Questions

1. Briefly describe who the National Liberation Front (NLF) are.

2. Why is the use of terminology in reference to Ho Chi Minh's forces important for the Americans and South Vietnamese to establish?

3. 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?

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

5. What political policies of Diem in particular lead to growing dissatisfaction with him and his regime among the South Vietnamese people and, eventually, the Americans as well?

6. What types of people come to pay their respects to John Paul Vann in Arlington in 1972? Why do you think they are there?

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

8. From this brief vignette of the funeral of John Paul Vann, what facts can we glean about his life and personality?

9. In what ways does John Paul Vann interact with his superior officers during his assignment to Vietnam?

10. In what ways does John Paul Vann's life embody the spirit of the United States in the Vietnam War?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There were many reasons why the United States decided to directly involve our military in Vietnam. Chief among them was the performance of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN). Briefly describe the condition of the ARVN that prompted many American advisers and military intelligence personnel to recommend "sending in the Marines"? If the United States hadn't sent in fighting men and women, how do you think South Vietnam might have fared on its own?

Essay Topic 2

From what you recall in the book, please outline a brief background of the events before, during, and immediately after the tell-tale Battle of Ap Bac. Be sure to include the major events that led directly to the outcome of the confrontation, as well as the overall significance for this battle to the rest of the war.

Essay Topic 3

What role did the reporting (or misreporting) of information have during the Vietnam War? How was propaganda used by the ARVN, American, and North Vietnamese, respectively, to further their causes? Please provide 2-3 specific examples for each.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,061 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample