NAPALM IN VIETNAM

NAPALM IN VIETNAM

Lawson Clapton-Caputo

Napalm Being Sprayed From U.S River Boats

The Development of Napalm

WWI – Gasoline was first used in flame throwers.

1942 – Scientists at Harvard University found the first effective way of gelling gasoline by mixing it with Naphthene and Palmitate.

1944 – Napalm was used by the Allies in WWII

Korean War – Bombs containing 165 gallons of Napalm were used to great effect

Vietnam War – A new formula called Napalm B was created mixing polystyrene and benzene with gasoline. This new formula was far less hazardous to those using it and was much easier to manufacture.

WIDELY MEDIARISED IMAGE OF BURNED CHILDREN RUNNING FROM

NAPALM BOMBING

HOW TO CREATE NAPALM

Ingredients - Gasoline- Styrofoam

Instructions - Fill a 10L bucket with 7.5L of Gasoline.- Break styrofoam into small, rough pieces. - Add styrofoam to the gasoline until dissolved- Continue adding styrofoam until mixture thickens.- Allow mixture to sit and stabilize for approximately 1 hour.- Light by throwing 1 match onto the mixture which should burn for up to 4 hours.

*** This recipe is for theoretical purposes only and should not be replicated in any form by anyone ***

HOMEMADE NAPALM

RULES REGARDING THE USE OF NAPALM IN

WARFAREAll civilians should be evacuated from areas where

napalm is intended to be used.

Napalm should not be used in areas where critically endangered wildlife are known to inhabit.

If napalm is used for defoliation it should only be used with handheld flamethrowers rather than high capacity bombs.

The napalm formula should be redeveloped to use a different gelling agent rather than polystyrene.

Napalm bombs should be designed to only have a blast radius of 20 metres.

COST EFFECTIVENESS OF NAPALM IN THE VIETNAM

WAR

Napalm was a cheaper alternative to a large number of other weapons used in the Vietnam War.

In the 1960’s oil was extremely cheap compared to today’s standards and therefore kept down the price of production of napalm as both gasoline and polystyrene are oil products

Very little manpower was needed to drop napalm bombs and thus reduced the cost of soldiers needed to use napalm compared to artillery and infantry attacks.

Napalm was also a much faster method of defoliation compared to Agent Orange and could be used as both a defoliant and anti-personnel weapon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Napalm at the Fallbrook Weapons Station, T. Chester (1998),

http://tchester.org/fb/issues/napalm.html

Napalm, New World Encylopedia (2008), http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Napalm

How to Make Napalm (And How to Test Free Speech), Tainted Thoughts (2006), http://www.taintedthoughts.com/item.php?id=21233

Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety, Volume 1; Volume 5, Jeanne Mager Stellman (1998) http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vW6rXFvm4sQC&pg=PT636&lpg=PT636&dq=cost+effectiveness+of+napalm&source=bl&ots=MHE2GkyZm7&sig=g6Dr8QZryYj-SqnW1JkpNLAjsAo&hl=en&ei=e4pwTpmyA6i0iQee5vmgBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=cost%20effectiveness%20of%20napalm&f=false