100 Objects
North Vietnamese Army bamboo camouflage ring
The Vietnam conflict began in 1954 with the end of French involvement in Indochina, and the division of the country into communist North Vietnam and the more Western-leaning government of South Vietnam. The conflict was the result of North Vietnam’s desire to unify the entire country under a single communist regime. In 1955 the U.S. began to aid the South Vietnamese. By 1961, military advisers were introduced on a larger scale, and by 1965, active combat units numbered more than 500,000. Opposition to the war bitterly divided Americans and in 1973, President Richard Nixon ordered the withdrawal of U.S. forces. With the fall of Saigon to Communist forces in 1975, the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Over 58,000 members of the U.S. armed forces died in the war. Vietnam’s estimation of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war.
The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were masters of camouflage. The 6- to 12-inch rings were made of two twisted bamboo circles, bound together with a crossbar to stabilize the frame. Twigs and foliage were pulled through the spaces and the circular design allowed the branches to be affixed at any angle. The rings were attached to back packs or tied to the front of the body, breaking up a soldier’s outline.
This item is part of a collection of Vietnam War memorabilia donated to the historical society by Gist Wiley, who served as first lieutenant, Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, from Aug. 14, 1967 to June 6, 1968.
“After some period of time I was able to look back on my tour … I felt that my year had not really mattered in the big picture. It had not been a waste of time for me but it had been a waste for those who died or were seriously maimed” (from Gist Wiley’s “Memories of Vietnam”).
Alice Burroughs is a volunteer at the Washington County Historical Society.