College Admission
History-of-the-Vietnam-War
DSST A History of the Vietnam War Exam
Latest Version: 6.0 100 Questions with Correct
Answers & Explanations | Graded A+ Study
Guide
Question: 1
One of the often-cited criticisms of the American viewpoint on North Vietnamese politics was:
A. That American policy approved of socialism but not full-scale communism.
B. That American officials wanted to restore the French colonial government.
C. That American policy was to make Southeast Asia dependent on its support.
D. That Americans viewed communism as a monolith.
, Answer: D
Explanation:
A common American belief during the Cold War period was that all communist countries had
compatible interests, objectives, and geopolitical designs. In other words, the US government tended
to equate Russian ambitions with those of the Chinese, the North Vietnamese, the Koreans, and
others. The other options are illogical. America had never owned colonies and did not favor colonial
governments. It wanted an independent Vietnam, free of communist rule. Option "a" is irrelevant in
that "socialism" was not on the agenda.
Question: 2
The NLF, an acronym for National Liberation Front, was:
A. A political and military unit comprised strictly of North Vietnamese soldiers who remained in the South after the
war with the French.
B. A strictly political organization of anti-Diem activists directed by the Hanoi regime.
C. A group of dissidents and former landowners who objected to the Diem governments land reform measures.
D. An autonomous political and quasi-military organization of former anti-French resistance forces.
Answer: D
Explanation:
The important thing to know here is that the NLF was an autonomous, or self-directed, group of
resistance fighters who had fought the French and now turned their attention to opposition to the
Diem government. Ho Chi Minh had been sometimes frustrated by his attempts to restrain the NLF
from going beyond his recommendations with regard to opposing the Diem government. "D" is the
correct answer. While the NLF may have contained a few regular troops, it was made up largely of
civilian forces who wanted reunification with North Vietnam and independence from foreign
control, and who had rejected Diem's government.
3
The Strategic Hamlet program is best described as a:
A. Systematic placement of fortified camps intended to be under the control and protection of the Diem
government.
B. Plan developed by Nhu Diem to capture villages controlled by the Viet Cong.
C. Ring of forts surrounded by well-trained South Vietnamese troops.
D. Plan to bait the Viet Cong into entering hamlets in South Vietnam where they could be identified and
eliminated.
Answer: A
Explanation:
,One of the greatest difficulties in the Vietnam conflict was the challenge of knowing friend from
foe in a population that was integrated and often
infiltrated by NLF and Viet Cong elements. The
Question: Strategic Hamlet program was devised by President
Diem's brother Nhu and employed as a means of separating and protecting villages that
supported the Diem government. Government- protected villages were often surrounded by
ditches, mounds, barbed wire, or other obstacles to
infiltration. The best answer is There would not have been enough "well-trained South Vietnamese
troops" to protect the hamlets, as suggested in answer.
Question: 4
When President John F. Kennedy took over from President Eisenhower in 1961, Eisenhower's advice to Kennedy
was:
A. To beware of Laos, because that's where the greatest challenge to democracy by the communists would
occur.
B. To beware of Vietnam, because that's where the greatest challenge to democracy by the communists would
occur.
C. To beware of right-wing elements in the military-industrial complex who wanted an unnecessary war in
Southeast Asia.
D. To beware of Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who had geopolitical ambitions of his own.
Answer: A
Explanation:
Be aware that there are lots of "conspiracy" theories and that all of them rely on half-truths.
Eisenhower did once warn of the "military-industrial complex," but not to Kennedy, and he
wouldn't likely have used the term "right wing." Equally misleading is answer "d," which would have
been unheard of in politics. Interestingly, Eisenhower warned Kennedy of Laos, where the
communist Pathet Lao was in open warfare against the royal Lao Army. Therefore, choice "a" is the
correct one, though it is easy to see why one might be lured to option.
, Question: 5
Prime Minister Diem's response to the growing NLF insurgency was to:
A. Demand that President Kennedy send troops to train his own people and deploy forces to protect
friendly hamlets from attack.
B. Request help from the US with troop training and economic assistance, but keep US forces out of
Vietnam.
C. Request NATO forces to form a defense line between the 16th and 17th parallels.
D. Initiate a broad re-education program for NLF sympathizers.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Re-education programs seem to have been a communist strategy' during the Cold War era, and the
methods were typically brutal. Knowing that would eliminate answer "d." The initial predominant
feeling among Diem and his family allies is that the US should assist with economic and training
missions from a remove. Because of past resentment to French colonial rule, there was a justifiable
perception that the presence of US troops would catalyze further resistance from the anti-Diem
forces. Choice "b" is the correct answer. Choices "c" and "a" are wrong because those things didn't
happen.
Question: 6
Among the weaknesses of the Strategic Hamlet program were:
A. They were protected by untrained and incapable "militias" with little motivation to protect.
B. There were too many hamlets and villages to protect and too few had been incorporated into
strategic hamlets."
C. Disagreement among US diplomats about the efficacy of the Strategic Hamlet program.
D. They were susceptible to North Viet propaganda campaigns that characterized them as "concentration
camps." E. All of the above.
Answer: E
Explanation:
Divisiveness often occurs when military decisions must be made. Interestingly, Kennedy's Assistant
Secretary of State, Roger Hilsman, agreed with the North Vietnamese that the strategic hamlets
had been made into concentration camps; on the other hand, the US ambassador to South
Vietnam (Noting) believed the strategic hamlets were an effective way to protect the portion of the
population that supported Diem. The other answer options are also true. The Strategic Hamlet
program, by 1962, had constructed only 4,000 of 11,000 planned villages, and the existing ones
History-of-the-Vietnam-War
DSST A History of the Vietnam War Exam
Latest Version: 6.0 100 Questions with Correct
Answers & Explanations | Graded A+ Study
Guide
Question: 1
One of the often-cited criticisms of the American viewpoint on North Vietnamese politics was:
A. That American policy approved of socialism but not full-scale communism.
B. That American officials wanted to restore the French colonial government.
C. That American policy was to make Southeast Asia dependent on its support.
D. That Americans viewed communism as a monolith.
, Answer: D
Explanation:
A common American belief during the Cold War period was that all communist countries had
compatible interests, objectives, and geopolitical designs. In other words, the US government tended
to equate Russian ambitions with those of the Chinese, the North Vietnamese, the Koreans, and
others. The other options are illogical. America had never owned colonies and did not favor colonial
governments. It wanted an independent Vietnam, free of communist rule. Option "a" is irrelevant in
that "socialism" was not on the agenda.
Question: 2
The NLF, an acronym for National Liberation Front, was:
A. A political and military unit comprised strictly of North Vietnamese soldiers who remained in the South after the
war with the French.
B. A strictly political organization of anti-Diem activists directed by the Hanoi regime.
C. A group of dissidents and former landowners who objected to the Diem governments land reform measures.
D. An autonomous political and quasi-military organization of former anti-French resistance forces.
Answer: D
Explanation:
The important thing to know here is that the NLF was an autonomous, or self-directed, group of
resistance fighters who had fought the French and now turned their attention to opposition to the
Diem government. Ho Chi Minh had been sometimes frustrated by his attempts to restrain the NLF
from going beyond his recommendations with regard to opposing the Diem government. "D" is the
correct answer. While the NLF may have contained a few regular troops, it was made up largely of
civilian forces who wanted reunification with North Vietnam and independence from foreign
control, and who had rejected Diem's government.
3
The Strategic Hamlet program is best described as a:
A. Systematic placement of fortified camps intended to be under the control and protection of the Diem
government.
B. Plan developed by Nhu Diem to capture villages controlled by the Viet Cong.
C. Ring of forts surrounded by well-trained South Vietnamese troops.
D. Plan to bait the Viet Cong into entering hamlets in South Vietnam where they could be identified and
eliminated.
Answer: A
Explanation:
,One of the greatest difficulties in the Vietnam conflict was the challenge of knowing friend from
foe in a population that was integrated and often
infiltrated by NLF and Viet Cong elements. The
Question: Strategic Hamlet program was devised by President
Diem's brother Nhu and employed as a means of separating and protecting villages that
supported the Diem government. Government- protected villages were often surrounded by
ditches, mounds, barbed wire, or other obstacles to
infiltration. The best answer is There would not have been enough "well-trained South Vietnamese
troops" to protect the hamlets, as suggested in answer.
Question: 4
When President John F. Kennedy took over from President Eisenhower in 1961, Eisenhower's advice to Kennedy
was:
A. To beware of Laos, because that's where the greatest challenge to democracy by the communists would
occur.
B. To beware of Vietnam, because that's where the greatest challenge to democracy by the communists would
occur.
C. To beware of right-wing elements in the military-industrial complex who wanted an unnecessary war in
Southeast Asia.
D. To beware of Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who had geopolitical ambitions of his own.
Answer: A
Explanation:
Be aware that there are lots of "conspiracy" theories and that all of them rely on half-truths.
Eisenhower did once warn of the "military-industrial complex," but not to Kennedy, and he
wouldn't likely have used the term "right wing." Equally misleading is answer "d," which would have
been unheard of in politics. Interestingly, Eisenhower warned Kennedy of Laos, where the
communist Pathet Lao was in open warfare against the royal Lao Army. Therefore, choice "a" is the
correct one, though it is easy to see why one might be lured to option.
, Question: 5
Prime Minister Diem's response to the growing NLF insurgency was to:
A. Demand that President Kennedy send troops to train his own people and deploy forces to protect
friendly hamlets from attack.
B. Request help from the US with troop training and economic assistance, but keep US forces out of
Vietnam.
C. Request NATO forces to form a defense line between the 16th and 17th parallels.
D. Initiate a broad re-education program for NLF sympathizers.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Re-education programs seem to have been a communist strategy' during the Cold War era, and the
methods were typically brutal. Knowing that would eliminate answer "d." The initial predominant
feeling among Diem and his family allies is that the US should assist with economic and training
missions from a remove. Because of past resentment to French colonial rule, there was a justifiable
perception that the presence of US troops would catalyze further resistance from the anti-Diem
forces. Choice "b" is the correct answer. Choices "c" and "a" are wrong because those things didn't
happen.
Question: 6
Among the weaknesses of the Strategic Hamlet program were:
A. They were protected by untrained and incapable "militias" with little motivation to protect.
B. There were too many hamlets and villages to protect and too few had been incorporated into
strategic hamlets."
C. Disagreement among US diplomats about the efficacy of the Strategic Hamlet program.
D. They were susceptible to North Viet propaganda campaigns that characterized them as "concentration
camps." E. All of the above.
Answer: E
Explanation:
Divisiveness often occurs when military decisions must be made. Interestingly, Kennedy's Assistant
Secretary of State, Roger Hilsman, agreed with the North Vietnamese that the strategic hamlets
had been made into concentration camps; on the other hand, the US ambassador to South
Vietnam (Noting) believed the strategic hamlets were an effective way to protect the portion of the
population that supported Diem. The other answer options are also true. The Strategic Hamlet
program, by 1962, had constructed only 4,000 of 11,000 planned villages, and the existing ones
