The Korean and Vietnam war are very similar in that both were the US's attempt to fight communism by waging war in a distant third world country. Both wars were unpopular in the US and both led to a lack of victory.
In fact, remarkable similarities exist between the Korean War and the Vietnam War; from the US support of a dictatorial and corrupt anti-communist regime to its conception of communism as a monolithic entity, under which all communist nations were necessarily allies, rather than individuals to be dealt with separately. However, though those parallels, Vietnam era policy-makers did not apply the lessons of the Korean War to the Vietnam War. Rather, they did not seem to recognize those lessons as lessons at all, and repeated in …show more content…

Another reason why America lost Vietnam and not Korea, was that the Vietnamese turned the war into a "people's war". The Chinese mainly fought the US in Korea without much popular support from the people. In Vietnam, however, everyone joined the war effort. One motto of the communist Vietnamese was, "If the truck is struck, tear down the walls of your house." Americans had no way of telling between neutral civilians and Viet Cong supporters. This is one of the main reasons why America could not defeat the Viet Cong. The difference in the fighting methods of
The desertion rate for the Korean War (1950 – 1953) was 22.5 per 1,000
Vietnam war (1954 – 1975) 1966 the rate was 14.7 per 1,000 and in 1970 desertion rate got as high as 52.3 per 1,000. | | Months of combat
Korea - 37
Vietnam - 101Battle Deaths
Korea - 33,629
Vietnam - 47,321Other Deaths
Korea - 20,617
Vietnam - 10,700Wounds
Korea - 103,284
Vietnam - 153,303Total Casualties
Korea - 157,530
Vietnam - 211,324Battle deaths per month
Korea - 909
Vietnam - 469Other deaths per month
Korea - 557
Vietnam - 106Wounds per month
Korea - 2,791
Vietnam - 1,518Total per month
Korea - 4,257
Vietnam - 2,092 | | *These statistics are based on the 1954 Department of Defense data base and the 37 month breakdowns reflect information based on the period of hostilities between June 25, 1950 and July 26, 1953 when the Armistice was signed. |

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