Viet Cong facts for kids
The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), was a communist army based in South Vietnam that fought against the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War (1955-75). The group is better known as the Viet Cong (Việt Cộng) or V.C., short for "Vietnamese Communist." American soldiers called the Vietnamese communist forces Charlie, no matter whether North Vietnamese or Vietcong.
The group was made up of people from both South and North Vietnam. The Vietcong used guerilla warfare, including terrorist bombings, assassinations, and ambushes. The group is best known for the Tet Offense, an assault on many South Vietnamese cities staged in February 1968. The group was closely allied with the government of North Vietnam, which conquered the South in 1975.
According to 'Re-thinking Camelot' (Noam Chomsky 1993) the NLF resistance was, in part, the result of terror inflicted upon them by the US backed and guided government of South Vietnam, carried out while the NLF were peacefully awaiting elections promised by the Geneva Accords of 1954.
Images for kids
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Soldiers and civilians took supplies south on the Ho Chi Minh trail (1959)
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Situation of the Communist forces in South Vietnam in early 1964
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U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1E Skyraider drops a white phosphorus bomb on a Viet Cong position in South Vietnam in 1966.
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Viet Cong soldier stands beneath a Viet Cong flag carrying his AK-47 rifle.
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General Hoàng Văn Thái, Viet Cong leader during the time the U.S army took part in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1973, also Tet Offensive main leader. From 1973 to 1975, he returned to the North in charge of making plans leading to the fall of Saigon in 1975.
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Viet Cong soldiers carry an injured American POW to a prisoner swap in 1972. The VC uniform was a floppy jungle hat, rubber sandals, and green fatigues without rank or insignia.
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The alleged 1966 martyrdom of Viet Cong soldier Nguyễn Văn Bé is much celebrated in Vietnam, despite the fact that he later turned up alive.
See also
In Spanish: Frente Nacional de Liberación de Vietnam para niños
