Viet Cong Guerrillas
Southern insurgents forced America to commit ground troops to prevent South Vietnam’s collapse. The Viet Cong launched increasingly effective attacks on South Vietnamese forces and American advisors. They controlled significant territory by night even in areas claimed by the Saigon government. Their tactics neutralized American technological advantages through hit-and-run warfare. By 1965, their growing strength convinced Johnson that only U.S. combat troops could salvage the situation. This transformed a Vietnamese civil conflict into an American war.
