Vietnam: What Have We Learned?

"Nothing is more precious than freedom and independence." --Ho Chi Minh

The victory of the Vietnamese people against first French and then American imperialism is the single most important event in world history since the end of the Second World War. Yet in our country there seems to be a growing unawareness of just what exactly happened in the last cataclysmic quarter-century in Vietnam. We offer this quiz as a way to both test and inform our readers.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1.) What is the official name of Vietnam today?

2.) When did the U.S. first become involved in Vietnam?

3.) What was the number of casualties in Vietnam from 1965 to 1975?

HISTORY OF VIETNAM

4.) Who were the Trung sisters, and what was the Tay-Son rebellion?

5.) When did the French colonize Vietnam?

6.) Why did many Vietnamese have to sell their children under French colonial rule?

7.) What is intriguing about the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence?

8.) How many peasants did the Viet Minh mobilize to help bring dismantled heavy artillery, piece-by-piece, over mountains for the final siege on the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954?

9.) What is the difference between the people living in the northern part of Vietnam and those living in the southern part?

THE U.S. WAR IN INDOCHINA

10.) When was the National Liberation Front (NLF) founded?

11.) When were U.S. military personnel first sent to Vietnam?

12.) How many U.S. troops were in Vietnam at the height of the war?

13.) How big was the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)?

14.) The U.S. policy-makers claimed again and again during the course of the war that the NLF gained its support through terrorism and assassination. How, in fact, did the NLF gain its popular support?

15.) What is a "mini-gun?"

16.) How did the NLF frequently neutralize electronic sensing devices American forces placed along trails?

17.) What major event in Vietnam strongly influenced LBJ to leave the presidency after his first elected term in office?

18.) Why did the NLF win in 1975?

WAR CRIMES

19.) What was Bach Mai hospital, and what did the Pentagon say about it?

20.) How many tons of bombs were dropped on Vietnam?

21.) What were anti-personnel bombs?

22.) What were the Tiger Cages and the Phoenix Program?

23.) What is a free-fire zone?

24.) What is napalm?

25.) How many people died at My Lai?

26.) Why did the U.S. bomb North Vietnamese dikes in 1972?

NOTABLE QUOTES

27.)Who said in October 1963 that "the major part of the U.S. military task [in Vietnam] can be completed by the end of 1965"?

28.) Who said, in 1964, that "Your boys will not go to Vietnam"?

29.) How did the Vietnamese assess the U.S. military's technical superiority?

30.) After reducing half of the city of Ben Tre to rubble in the counterattack to the Tet Offensive, what did one American officer say to an AP reporter?

31.) What is the significance of the following poem?

Liberation fighter, spring in Vietnam is ineffably beautiful

Tet is unbelievably epic

Apricot blossoms vie with each other to cheer your feats

Swallows take wing, telling our countrymen north and south of your deeds

Liberation fighter, let off your gun this spring instead of the usual firecrackers

And ornament Vietnam's spring with everlasting beauty.

32.) Who said, "What have I done to Nixon? My daughter died right here... She was so sweet... I'll give you my daughter's beautiful shirt. Take it back to the United States. Tell them what happened here... She will never wear the shirt again... It hurts so much..."?

33.) What did General William Westmoreland once say about the "Oriental" philosophy of life?

THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT

34.) Recite three antiwar chants.

35.) How did Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) express opposition in a major demonstration in Washington, D.C. in 1971?

36.) How many people turned out for the antiwar moratoria of 1967 and 1969?

37.) What was "fragging"?

38.) Name the first Buddhist monk to immolate himself in protest of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime.

PEOPLE

39.) Who is Ron Kovic?

40.) Who was Norman Morrison?

41.) Who is Madame Binh?

42.) Why did Henry A. Kissinger '50 win the Nobel Peace Prize along with Le Duc Tho?

43.) Who were Corporal Charles McMahon and Lance-Corporal Darwin Jones?

THE AFTERMATH

44.) Was there any blood bath in Vietnam after the NLF victory?

45.) Does the U.S. recognize the Socialist Republic of Vietnam?

46.) What is the situation of Vietnam veterans?

47.) Are there any good books on Vietnam?

48.) Why have Americans forgotten about Vietnam?