The Vietnam War

AP US History· difficulty 3/5

Vietnam War Theater, c. 1968 17th Parallel (DMZ, 1954) N. Vietnam S. Vietnam Hanoi Saigon Hue Ho Chi Minh Trail Laos Cambodia Khe Sanh '68 Tet '68 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Aug 1964 Peak U.S. troop strength: 549,000 (1969)

The features of this map best help explain which difficulty faced by U.S. forces?

  • A

    The U.S. lacked any naval access to the region

  • B

    South Vietnamese terrain prevented helicopter operations

  • C

    The Ho Chi Minh Trail through neutral countries enabled North Vietnamese resupply that air power could not stop

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  • D

    The Soviet Union directly invaded along the 17th parallel

Explanation

The Ho Chi Minh Trail wound through Laos and Cambodia, allowing North Vietnam to supply the Viet Cong despite U.S. bombing. The trail's location in nominally neutral countries complicated U.S. operations until the controversial 1970 Cambodia incursion.

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