The Yankees are Coming! The Yankees are Coming!: A Comparison Between The American Revolution And Vietnam’s War For National Unification

By Major Jeffrey M. Dunn USMC

This paper compares British involvement in America’s struggle for independence in the late eighteenth century with the United States’ immersion in North Vietnam’s struggle for national unification in the twentieth.

Many similarities exist between the American Revolution and the Vietnam War. Five of the most apparent similarities are examined. First, Great Britain and the United States made similar fundamental assumptions, in their respective conflicts, which proved equally flawed. Second, the distances between the combatants in both conflicts were vast. The lines of communication were extremely long. Third, similarities abound between the people involved, both generally and specifically. Fourth, both wars have a single campaign that can be described as the turning point. Though Saratoga and Tet occurred at relatively early stages in the respective conflicts, the outcomes of the wars were arguably decided after those campaigns. Fifth, the southern strategies in both wars are remarkably analogous. Both Great Britain and the United States succeeded in alienating the undecided, and arousing animosity among the common people.

1. The United States became the oppressor in Vietnam, and closely emulated its enemy, Great Britain, in the Revolutionary War.
2. Many patterns repeat themselves through history and within those patterns are keys to success in the future.
3. The United States needs to become more proficient at searching for patterns in history (not just its own). By learning from the mistakes made by itself and others, the U.S. will make fewer mistakes in the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Normanby Press
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786250087

Major Jeffrey M. Dunn USMC

See Book Description

Book preview

This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – [e-mail]

Or on Facebook

Text originally published in 2002 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

THE YANKEES ARE COMING! THE YANKEES ARE COMING!

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND VIETNAM’S WAR FOR NATIONAL UNIFICATION

by

Major Jeffrey M. Dunn, United States Marine Corps

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

CHAPTER ONE — INTRODUCTION 6

CHAPTER TWO — FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS 7

The Domino Theory 7

Perceived Welcome 8

Technology 9

Summary 9

CHAPTER THREE — TIME AND DISTANCE 10

Communications 10

Beans, Bullets, and Band-Aids 11

Summary 12

CHAPTER FOUR — PERSONALITIES 14

The Americans 14

The Vietnamese 14

The Revolutionary Leaders 15

Summary 16

CHAPTER FIVE — LINCHPIN BATTLES 17

Saratoga 17

Tet 18

Summary 19

CHAPTER SIX — THE SOUTHERN STRATEGIES 20

Americanization Vs Vietnamization 20

A Policy of Alienation 21

Guerrilla Wars 22

Summary 24

CHAPTER SEVEN — Conclusion 25

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 26

BIBLIOGRAPHY 27

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Thesis: This paper compares British involvement in America's struggle for independence in the late eighteenth century with the United States' immersion in North Vietnam's struggle for national unification in the twentieth.

Discussion: Many similarities exist between the American Revolution and the Vietnam War. Five of the most apparent similarities are examined. First, Great Britain and the United States made similar fundamental assumptions, in their respective conflicts, which proved equally flawed. Second, the distances between the combatants in both conflicts were vast. The lines of communication were extremely long. Third, similarities abound between the people involved, both generally and specifically. Fourth, both wars have a single campaign that can be