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The Vietnam War

Can you answer these questions about the Vietnam War (mostly from an American perspective)?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 14, 2017
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First submittedApril 14, 2017
Times taken28,489
Average score65.0%
Rating4.35
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Question
Answer
Which European country colonized Vietnam?
France
What was the capital of South Vietnam?
Saigon
What was the capital of North Vietnam?
Hanoi
What did the initials VC stand for?
Viet Cong
What future U.S. Presidential nominee was tortured by the Vietnamese?
John McCain
What naval attack brought the U.S. into the war - but may have never happened?
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
What was the preferred rifle of the Communist forces?
AK-47
What theory said that if Vietnam became communist, other countries would fall as well?
Domino Theory
What communist group massacred millions of people in Cambodia?
Khmer Rouge
Who was the leader of that group?
Pol Pot
On what holiday did Communist forces launch a devastating offensive in 1968?
Tet
What American herbicide caused negative health consequences to those exposed?
Agent Orange
What terrifying flammable gel did the U.S. drop on its enemies?
Napalm
Who was the President of North Vietnam from 1945-1969?
Ho Chi Minh
What ethnic group of hill people emigrated in large numbers to the U.S. after the war?
Hmong
What military strategy did American troops use to fight guerrillas?
Search and Destroy
What country did the U.S. invade in 1970?
Cambodia
What infamous massacre involved U.S. troops killing civilians in 1968?
My Lai Massacre
At what Ohio University were 4 protestors killed in 1970?
Kent State
What is the Vietnam War known as in Vietnam?
Resistance War
against America
+3
Level 72
Apr 14, 2017
Good quiz. Although I struggled with the 15th and penultimate questions. They aren't things we hear about in Britain when the Vietnam war is discussed.
+8
Level 82
Apr 18, 2017
I know Hmong from Eastwood's Gran Torino.
+2
Level 75
Jul 20, 2017
Same here.
+4
Level 63
Jul 22, 2017
I guessed the Montagnards.
+3
Level 88
Jul 7, 2018
Hmong m.f.'s according to the rap coming from their car.
+1
Level 54
Mar 29, 2022
I used to work with a bunch of them in California.
+3
Level 61
Jul 20, 2017
The Hmong aren't much known even in the US.
+4
Level 54
Jul 21, 2017
There's a Hmong among my co-workers
+6
Level 67
Jun 7, 2018
Huge communities and relevant people/business owners in the Midwest (esp. Minnesota).
+13
Level 67
Aug 2, 2021
They live a Hmong us
+2
Level 72
Nov 9, 2017
Almost finshed watching a very good ten part documentary on the war that was shown on BBC4 in Britain, i got the penultimate question this time, but still hadn't a clue on the 15th one.
+3
Level 59
Jul 4, 2018
Was it the Ken Burns' one?
+1
Level 70
Oct 10, 2023
I only know about them thanks to a Hmong contestant being cast on Survivor.
+6
Level 75
Apr 14, 2017
For the last question, in Vietnam the war is more commonly known as just the American War.
+2
Level 85
Apr 15, 2017
You sure seem to know a lot about Vietnam. When was the last time you were here?
+3
Level 85
Jul 20, 2017
Frayz: I have lived here a long time myself. Wasn't saying he was wrong. Next time either of you is in Saigon, let me know and we can hit up a local quiz night.
+4
Level 82
Sep 26, 2017
I was last there in 2013 I think and before that in 2008. Saigon changed so much in that time. Nice country. I might go back soon. I'm in Thailand right now.
+2
Level 56
May 12, 2017
The Hmong were also known as the Montagnards.
+4
Level 84
May 28, 2017
Only 3 protestors were killed at Kent State in 1970. Sandra Lee Scheuer wasn't one of the protestors. She was simply walking between classes when she was fatally struck.
+2
Level 82
Jul 20, 2017
My dad was there and slept through the incident.
+3
Level 82
Jul 20, 2017
Resistance War Against America... not catchy, but easy to guess.
+4
Level 74
Nov 20, 2018
In Vietnamese, it's fewer syllables than "Vietnam War" actually...
+3
Level 82
Jul 28, 2019
How is that even possible? Is the Vietnamese name for Vietnam a whole bunch of syllables?
+13
Level 64
Jul 20, 2017
Too Vietnam-centric
+12
Level 67
Jul 20, 2017
When I was in Vietnam, I was amazed at how good-natured the Vietnamese were about the whole thing. My tour guide said "Oh, you're American! Here's where an American shot me!" and then showed me the bullet wound on his shoulder as though he was recalling a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge. They were very matter-of-fact about the incident, and seemed to have put it squarely in the past. Of course, it's probably a little easier to be gracious when you know you have successfully resisted the world's most powerful military...
+3
Level 75
Jul 20, 2017
At least he had the opportunity to be gracious. My brother's best friend who was killed there in the war didn't get that opportunity.
+12
Level 72
Jul 26, 2017
Many people on both sides of the war were deprived of that opportunity.
+10
Level 82
Sep 26, 2017
Maybe shouldn't have been there? Though it's more France's fault than the Americans or the Vietnamese. Let's all point fingers at them.
+2
Level 88
Jul 7, 2018
Blame Canada.
+10
Level 66
Feb 5, 2020
The Vietnamese experience a lot more casualties than any of the foreign forces fighting there.
+2
Level 50
Feb 5, 2020
@stubart, that's true, but every loss is one too many.
+1
Level 76
Mar 29, 2022
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
+4
Level 75
Mar 29, 2022
That's true, but at somewhere between 55:1 and 80:1, it does provide some perspective on the relative costs of the war.
+2
Level 76
Mar 30, 2022
@tshalla

Not to mention that the US military had no right to be in Vietnam, whereas the Vietnamese had every right to repel the invaders.

+2
Level 82
May 19, 2022
The US army was invited there. Just because you always root blindly for the Communists doesn't mean that they're the only true Vietnamese people.
+3
Level 75
Jun 7, 2022
Pretty sure you can find some puppet anywhere anytime who will invite you to "help." Wouldn't that be your take on the Soviets in Afghanistan? It would be for me - as it would be for the contrived country and government of "South Vietnam" after the Geneva Conventions of '54.

(Cue the seven-post, 1,000 character each, furious response...)

+1
Level 75
Jul 20, 2017
Only missed one because I misspelled it as Tonqin.
+1
Level 72
Jul 26, 2017
Maybe accept "Lunar New Year" for Tet?
+1
Level 59
Jul 4, 2018
Really? Pretty sure everyone who gets it has heard the term "Tet Offensive".
+4
Level 65
Aug 3, 2017
36% got Resistance War against {America}?? Surely guessable?
+4
Level 82
Nov 4, 2017
Do the Vietnamese know how much their name for the war is offensive to a handful of salty Colombians?
+1
Level 82
Mar 20, 2018
Let's not reignite that one.
+3
Level 75
May 29, 2018
The Ak-47 answer is technically wrong. Kalashnikov would be a better answer, because the Viet Congs' primary rifles were thhe Chinese Type-56 assault rifle.
+3
Level 59
Jul 4, 2018
Question doesn't say "primary". It says "preferred".
+1
Level 66
Aug 4, 2023
They literally mean the same thing in the context of the question AND the comment, stop being pedantic.
+2
Level 88
Jul 7, 2018
How about Jim Morrison? Which iconic counterculture singer's father was in charge of the Gulf of Tonkin operations? There is a famous picture of a short haired Jim on the bridge of a Navy ship with Admiral Morrison.
+1
Level 74
Nov 20, 2018
Wow, didn't know that.
+1
Level 89
Mar 29, 2022
I was kinda half hoping for a Jane Fonda question...
+2
Level 74
Mar 29, 2022
Because who on earth would know that?
+1
Level 53
Nov 11, 2019
The U.S. Presidential question could also be answered with James Stockdale, as both of the criteria given apply to him.
+1
Level 88
Feb 5, 2020
Stockdale was Ross Perot's vice presidential running mate.

Why are you here?

+1
Level 77
Feb 5, 2020
You could perhaps point out that the Hmong people who were relocated were mostly Laotian and not Vietnamese. Their relocation to the US, I believe, was because of North Vietnam invading Laos? Anyway, I was quite frustrated that Montagnard didn't work since the US relocated thousands of them to the US as well. And I feel it's the better answer...

Anyway... please accept montagnard. :)

+2
Level 82
Mar 29, 2022
Montagnard isn't really a distinct ethnic group, though. It's a catch-all colonial exonym for highland-dwelling minority groups. By contrast the Hmong are a distinct ethnic group. That said, while no one in Vietnam really identifies as 'Montagnard', it is used as a self-identifier in the US, so arguably has become an ethnic group there. I dunno, I think whether it should be accepted or not is up for debate, but I don't think it's the better answer.
+1
Level 77
Jun 23, 2023
Well put.
+4
Level 72
Nov 10, 2020
I don't think the Cambodian questions are appropriate for this quizz. Maybe the American involvement with bombings in Cambodia would be of better interest...
+4
Level 71
Mar 29, 2022
Agree, especially since the US and the West supported Pol Pot's claim to Cambodia until the 1990's and it was the Vietnamese that stopped him.

Maybe the CIA bombings in Laos should be added instead?

+1
Level 72
Feb 8, 2024
Interestingly enough, China supported him too. (I'm not what-about-ing this, to be clear, I just find it interesting that both the US and China supported him.)
+1
Level 24
Oct 31, 2021
I think the more common name among the Vietnamese is the 'American War'
+1
Level 76
Feb 24, 2022
Please accept Saloth Sar for the Khmer leader question.
+1
Level 67
Mar 29, 2022
Got 'em all! I read a travel book on Vietnam, watched a doco on Vietnam, and read the wikipedia page for Vietnam a year ago, so that probably helped.
+3
Level 69
Mar 30, 2022
The fact that I've never heard of the My Lai Massacre until now says a lot about the US education system. Just hush hush so the citizens will remain docile
+1
Level 80
Jul 20, 2023
I learned about Mai Lai in public school. Stop generalizing.
+1
Level 47
May 20, 2022
I kept trying different spellings of Montagnard, looked it up and it seems all Hmong are montagnards but not all montagnards are Hmong.
+1
Level 21
Oct 17, 2022
Never knew the montagnards were just a group of many tribes, thats interesting.
+1
Level 80
Jul 20, 2023
AKM should be accepted, as it had replaced the 47 in the late 1950s and was more common. Also faster to type :)