North Vietnam and Allied Armed Forces
This page provides links to Keever’s articles and photos about North Vietnamese troops and their allies. Keever did not cover all combatants equally and left Vietnam in 1968 before significant Cambodian and Laotian involvement, so not every combatant is listed here.
Royal Australian platoon sergeant removes Viet Cong tunnel cover, undated
Viet Cong
The Viet Cong, aka the National Liberation Front (NLF) for South Vietnam, was made up of pro-communist forces in South Vietnam. Viet Cong comes from a shortening Viet Nam c0ng s?n (Vietnamese communist), and the group is often know as either VC or Charlie (from a shortening of call sign “Victor Charlie”) amongst American armed forces. The goal of the Viet Cong was to wage guerilla warfare against ARVN and U.S. forces, to foment revolution in the Vietnamese villages, and to eventually reunite Vietnam under Hanoi’s control. North Vietnam provided training and generally directed the activities of the Viet Cong.
Read the articles here.
See the photos here.
A captured PAVN soldier, Le Phan Hung, 1964
People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), North Vietnam
In 1958, as it became increasingly clear that South Vietnam did not intend to follow the 1954 Geneva Accords, North Vietnam began to prepare for war. While the North Vietnamese government claimed that they were not in South Vietnam and that military actions were only being carried out by the Viet Cong, in reality PAVN troops were infiltrating into the South as early as 1959 and PAVN directed the Viet Cong’s activities. PAVN was also responsible for the defense of the North, especially in the use of anti-aircraft missiles against American jets.
Read the articles here.
See the photos here.
Soviet Union
While the Soviet Union was often pressuring North Vietnam behind the scenes to end the war, they were also one of North Vietnam’s most important allies. The Soviet Union sent weapons, radar equipment, tanks, and aircrafts. They also supplied training on how to use the weaponry. Most of Keever’s articles on Soviet involvement in the war are either speculation or reports of captured equipment.
Read the articles here.
See the photos here.
China
China was an early supporter of North Vietnam, and they supplied troops, weapons, and rations to PAVN starting in 1964. Chinese troops largely stayed in North Vietnam, training PAVN soldiers and defending against U.S. air strikes. In 1968, China was dealing with mounting troubles at home, including growing tensions with the Soviet Union and the failures of the cultural revolution. China began to decrease their support, although they wouldn’t completely pull all troops from Vietnam until the war ended in 1975.
Read the articles here.