A nasty little episode...

[Max2147]

Originally Posted by Tribesman

It always confused me.
Why on earth did Oz and NZ get involved in that fiasco?

The US put a lot of pressure on them. The US never invoked ANZUS, but it was understood that, as American allies that were close to Asia, they were supposed to send forces.

Australia's leaders were pretty enthusiastic about the war, and actually pushed the US to get even more involved. New Zealand was more reluctant, and they only sent a token force.

[JHuschke]

Sigh...

[bookworm_020]

A terrible thing to happen, but in war many things like this happen. Only when people address it will there be any form of closure.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by Max2147

The US put a lot of pressure on them. The US never invoked ANZUS, but it was understood that, as American allies that were close to Asia, they were supposed to send forces.

Australia's leaders were pretty enthusiastic about the war, and actually pushed the US to get even more involved. New Zealand was more reluctant, and they only sent a token force.

The Vietnam conflict was the first in which New Zealand did not fight alongside the United Kingdom, instead following the loyalties of the ANZUS Pact. New Zealand and the Australian troops in Vietnam were given the nickname 'Great Ghosts of the Forest' by the Vietcong because the troops were the only army able to walk through the forest without being heard.

I remember my uncle speaking about how he was proud of been named a ghost by the Vietcong even if he did collect their ears!

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

The Vietnam conflict was the first in which New Zealand did not fight alongside the United Kingdom, instead following the loyalties of the ANZUS Pact. New Zealand and the Australian troops in Vietnam were given the nickname 'Great Ghosts of the Forest' by the Vietcong because the troops were the only army able to walk through the forest without being heard.

I remember my uncle speaking about how he was proud of been named a ghost by the Vietcong even if he did collect their ears!

I remember seeing this one short documentary about a US infantry squad in the jungles of Vietnam. In the documentary they were shot at by a Vietcong sniper who wasn't much of shot but laid a booby trap for them. The Americans had a kind of jungle specialist guide from Guam, who subsequently ran into booby trap. One of the Americans lost his foot below the ankle and the guide died. The whole thing was caught on film.

I've been looking for that documentary for awhile but I'm not sure where it is. I saw it in a bigger collection of similar footage when I was in the UK. Lots of footage from the Vietnam war just kind of lost in time or never made public especially if it somehow made the US troops look bad.