How Napalm Went From Hero to Villain During the Vietnam War

How Napalm Went From Hero to Villain During the Vietnam War

John killerlane - September 13, 2017

Lauded as a success story following its use in the Korean War and the latter stages of World War II, napalm’s reputation as a weapon changed dramatically from its early years of acclaim to one of notoriety, most notably during the Vietnam War. Jungles engulfed in flames became iconic images of the conflict, but it was the images of napalm’s civilian casualties which led to a national campaign calling for a ban on its use and a boycott of its manufacturer, the Dow Chemical company.

During the early months of World War II, the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service used latex from the Para rubber tree to thicken gasoline for incendiaries. By the time the U.S. entered the war in the Pacific, natural rubber was in short supply due to the capture of rubber plantations in Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand by the Japanese Army. Research teams at Harvard University, Du Pont, and Standard oil competed to develop a replacement for natural rubber for the United States government.

Napalm was first developed by a team of chemists led by Louis F. Fieser in 1942 at Harvard University in a top-secret war research collaboration with the United States government. Napalm in its original composition was formed by mixing a powdered aluminum soap of naphthalene with palmitate, from which napalm gets its name. Naphthalene, also known as naphthenic acids is a corrosive found in crude oil while palmitate, or palmitic acid, is a fatty acid which occurs naturally in coconut oil.

When added to gasoline it acted as a gelling agent which allowed for more effective propulsion from incendiary weapons. Napalm tripled the range of flamethrowers and increased the amount of burning material delivered to a target almost tenfold. However, the devastating effects of napalm as a weapon were fully realized when it was used as an incendiary bomb.

How Napalm Went From Hero to Villain During the Vietnam War
Sergeant Robert E. Fears using a napalm flamethrower to clear an area in Da Nang, Vietnam, May 1970. Pinterest

Napalm became a very popular choice of weapon with the military due to its many advantages. Napalm burns for longer and at a higher temperature than gasoline. It was relatively cheap to manufacture, and its naturally adhesive properties made it a more effective weapon, as it stuck to its target. A napalm bomb was also capable of destroying a 2500 square yard area. Napalm was lauded as much for its psychological effects of instilling terror in the enemy as for its effectiveness at breaching fortifications or destroying targets.

The U.S. Army Air Force first used a napalm bomb in an attack on Berlin on March 6, 1944 during World War 11. American bombers went on to use napalm against Japanese fortifications, such as bunkers, pillboxes, and tunnels, in Saipan, Iwo Jima, the Philippines and Okinawa between 1944-45. But it was on the night of March 9-10, 1945, in one of the most destructive bombing raids in human history, where napalm realised its true devastating potential. 279 American B-29 bombers dropped 690,000 pounds of napalm on Tokyo, engulfing the city’s wooden buildings in an inferno which destroyed 15.8 square miles of the city and killed approximately 100,000 people while leaving over one million people homeless. For the next eight days, U.S. bombers targeted every major Japanese city (with exception of Kyoto) until stocks of napalm ran out.

Napalm was seen as a vital strategic weapon in the Korean War where it was used to support Allied ground forces locally outnumbered by North Korean and Chinese forces. American bombers dropped approximately 250,000 pounds of napalm per day during the Korean War.

How Napalm Went From Hero to Villain During the Vietnam War
A napalm strike near a U.S. patrol in South Vietnam in 1966. Pinterest

After the Korean War, a safer but equally effective napalm formulation was developed, which used a combination of polystyrene (46%) and benzene (21%) added to gasoline (33%). The newer formulation was known as Napalm-B, Super Napalm, or NP2, despite containing neither naphthalene nor palmitic acids. Therefore, the United States Army technically speaking did not use napalm during the Vietnam War, rather the newer formulation Napalm-B. In 1965, the Dow Chemical Company began manufacturing Napalm-B for the United States military which ultimately led to a nationwide campaign of protests against the company. Despite the protests, Dow Chemical continued to manufacture Napalm-B for the U.S. military until its contract expired in 1969.

Napalm-B had one major advantage over its predecessor, its ignition could be readily controlled. It was more difficult to ignite due to the inclusion of polystyrene in the compound. Napalm-B was typically combined with thermite, sodium, magnesium and phosphorous and could produce temperatures ranging from 1500-2000 degrees Celsius (2732-3632 degrees Fahrenheit). It was relatively easy to manufacture and could be used in grenades, aerial bombs, flamethrowers, artillery shells, missiles and tank canons.

Napalm-B was first used by American and South Vietnamese Army soldiers to clear out bunkers, foxholes, and trenches. Napalm fires rapidly deoxygenate the air around them and increase the amount of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the air, so even if its flames were unable to penetrate deeply enough into an enemy bunker, trench or foxhole, it would suffocate those inside.

One of the principal uses of Napalm-B in the Vietnam War was to destroy forest cover and food supplies. It was also used for close air support during search-and-destroy operations and against North Vietnamese troops and material marshaling areas. American bombers dropped Napalm-B bombs in large canisters which exploded on impact, engulfing the surrounding area in flames.

Napalm bombs were preferred to conventional high explosive bombs where careful targeting was required, as they could be dropped from a much lower altitude. One drawback of dropping Napalm-B from high-speed jet aircraft was that it wasn’t a very accurate way of targeting enemy positions and occasionally resulted in cases of “friendly fire” where Allied forces would inadvertently become its victims. North Vietnamese forces quickly learned that the best tactic to deploy was to stay close to Allied targets in combat, to avoid being bombed.

Napalm-B was also used by Vietnamese fighter escort aircraft to clear landing zones for helicopters, often just a short time before the helicopter arrived, making landing hazardous. Napalm-B was also used in a defensive capacity during the Vietnam War by Allied forces, in base camp and fire base perimeter defense. Barrels containing napalm would be buried under concertina wire (coils of barbed wire approximately two to three feet high) around the perimeter of the defensive position. These barrels would be detonated when under attack, incinerating the enemy.

Between 1963-1973, the U.S. dropped 388,000 tons of napalm on North Vietnamese targets. The prevalence of napalm as a weapon during the Vietnam War can be seen when compared with figures in previous wars which saw American involvement, 32,357 tons were dropped during the Korean War, and 16,500 tons in the Pacific.

How Napalm Went From Hero to Villain During the Vietnam War
Jungles ablaze following napalm strikes became iconic images of the Vietnam War. Pinterest

On March 29, 1964, after a photograph of a badly burned small child appeared in the American press, the Department of Defence admitted that napalm bombs had been supplied to South Vietnamese forces, and had been used in aerial bombardments with U.S. instructors on board. As American casualties and fatalities increased and more and more images of civilian casualties resulting from napalm bombings were broadcast around the world, popular opinion in the United States and abroad turned increasingly against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

The fact that the Vietnam War was broadcast widely on television, meant that the true horror of napalms devastating effects was seen by the public and became one of the key factors in shifting public opinion against its use in combat. Napalm was seen as a particularly inhumane weapon. Due to its adhesive properties, it stuck to human flesh, causing deep burns. Smothering the flame was the only effective way to extinguish the fire. Trying to wipe it off only spread the burning material and expanded the burn area.

Over 85% of napalm burn victims experience fourth-degree burns to the deepest hypodermic layer and fifth-degree burns which burn right down to the muscle. Secondary effects of napalm include burns in the upper part of the windpipe from heat fumes, as well as carbon monoxide poisoning, shock, mental disorder and nervous prostration.

Perhaps, Nick Ut’s 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, “The Terror of War” best encapsulates why napalm came to be so reviled during the conflict. On June 8, 1972, Associated Press photographer Nick Ut captured the iconic image of a naked and badly burned nine-year-old girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, fleeing a napalm attack by South Vietnamese forces following a “friendly fire”. The expression of agony and terror on that little girl’s face revealed the true horror of napalm’s effects on its victims.

Ut recalls how he had seen a group of children running down the highway toward him in terror. After Ut took his iconic image, he tended to Kim Phuc’s wounds. He poured water over her body, before taking her to a hospital, where he discovered that she had sustained third-degree burns covering thirty percent of her body and that she might not survive.

Ut, with the help of his colleagues, transferred Kim Phuc to an American treatment facility which ultimately saved her life. Kim Phuc underwent seventeen operations and lay in a coma for six months and spent a total of fourteen months in the hospital. Kim Phuc became a potent symbol of civilian suffering during the Vietnam War and the horrible reality of napalm as an indiscriminate weapon.

In 1980, the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCWC) declared the use of napalm against civilian populations a war crime. It became law in 1983, but it wasn’t until January 21, 2009, President Barack Obama’s first day in full office, that the United States signed up to the Convention. The United States signature contains a reservation where at its discretion, it can choose not to adhere to the treaty in situations where it believes that by doing so would save civilian lives.

 

Sources For Further Reading:

Naplam Biography – Born A Hero, It Lives a Pariah

The Asia Pacific Journal – Napalm in Us Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975

National Archive – Napalm Bomb Exploding

Smithsonian Museum – A F-100D Aircraft Dropping a Napalm Bomb Near Bien Hoa, South Vietnam

Robert M. Neer – Napalm: An American Biography

How Stuff Works – How Napalm Works

War History Online – Liquid Fire – How Napalm Was Used in The Vietnam War

Time Magazine – The Story Behind the ‘Napalm Girl’ Photo Censored by Facebook

The New York Times – Why Napalm Is a Cautionary Tale for Tech Giants Pursuing Military Contracts

History Collection – The Ongoing Devastation of Agent Orange is a Cruel Legacy of the Vietnam War

Department of Defense – The War in South Vietnam

International Committee of The Red Cross – 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

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