The cartoon uses baseball as a metaphor for war. The smaller a person is in baseball the smaller their strike zone is, because it is measured from the bottom of the knees to the midpoint between the top of their pants and the top of their shoulders, over the plate. The tiny Asian looking person wearing a sedge hat, representing Vietnamese guerilla warfare, is dwarfed by the enormous white guy representing the U.S. army. Even though he’s big and strong, the difficulty of actually scoring a strike on the little guy is still tiny. The caption “Reduced Strike Zone” sums this up admirably.
Guerrilla warfare is the practice of using hit and run tactics paired with knowledge of the terrain to out maneuver a bigger, stronger force. The Viet Cong used it against the Americans in the Vietnam war because there were huge tracts of Jungle that the VPA knew how to navigate and the Americans did not. This advantage helped them negate the U.S.' numerical one. Another guerrilla tactic they used was the building of numerous tunnels that could hold soldiers and made great bases.
Based on some calculations not shown here (check first drafts if you really want to see them), not only were the American forces looking for a needle in a football stadium, spacewise, but opposing forces looked just like regular civilians; They were looking for specific needles that look like all the other needles spread around a football stadium in piles of varying sizes. The specific needles also moved, hid in the grass, built and hid in tunnels under the stadium, and had guns. Reduced strike zone indeed.
Griggs, Michael J. "Human Figure Average Measurements." Human Figure Average Measurements. Harvard, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~loebinfo/loebinfo/Proportions/humanfigure.html>.
PBS Staff. "Battlefield:Vietnam Guerrilla Tactis." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerrilla/>.
Spector, Ronald H. "Vietnam War (1954-75)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628478/Vietnam-War>.
Staake, Bob. "Karl Hubenthal - The Graphic Wit Of Karl Hubenthal." Karl Hubenthal - A Tribute to One of the All-Time Great Cartoonists and Illustrators. Bob Staake, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bobstaake.com/karl/hubenthal_importance.html>.
"The Strike Zone : A History of Official Strike Zone Rules by Baseball Almanac." Baseball Almanac. Baseball Almanac, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/strike_zone_rules_history.shtml>.
Traveler's Digest Staff. "How Big Is Vietnam in Comparison to the United States, Germany, Japan and UK?" Traveler's Digest. Traveler's Digest, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.travelersdigest.com/7024-how-big-is-vietnam-in-comparison-to-the-united-states-germany-japan-uk/>.
Guerrilla warfare is the practice of using hit and run tactics paired with knowledge of the terrain to out maneuver a bigger, stronger force. The Viet Cong used it against the Americans in the Vietnam war because there were huge tracts of Jungle that the VPA knew how to navigate and the Americans did not. This advantage helped them negate the U.S.' numerical one. Another guerrilla tactic they used was the building of numerous tunnels that could hold soldiers and made great bases.
Based on some calculations not shown here (check first drafts if you really want to see them), not only were the American forces looking for a needle in a football stadium, spacewise, but opposing forces looked just like regular civilians; They were looking for specific needles that look like all the other needles spread around a football stadium in piles of varying sizes. The specific needles also moved, hid in the grass, built and hid in tunnels under the stadium, and had guns. Reduced strike zone indeed.
Griggs, Michael J. "Human Figure Average Measurements." Human Figure Average Measurements. Harvard, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~loebinfo/loebinfo/Proportions/humanfigure.html>.
PBS Staff. "Battlefield:Vietnam Guerrilla Tactis." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerrilla/>.
Spector, Ronald H. "Vietnam War (1954-75)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628478/Vietnam-War>.
Staake, Bob. "Karl Hubenthal - The Graphic Wit Of Karl Hubenthal." Karl Hubenthal - A Tribute to One of the All-Time Great Cartoonists and Illustrators. Bob Staake, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bobstaake.com/karl/hubenthal_importance.html>.
"The Strike Zone : A History of Official Strike Zone Rules by Baseball Almanac." Baseball Almanac. Baseball Almanac, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/strike_zone_rules_history.shtml>.
Traveler's Digest Staff. "How Big Is Vietnam in Comparison to the United States, Germany, Japan and UK?" Traveler's Digest. Traveler's Digest, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.travelersdigest.com/7024-how-big-is-vietnam-in-comparison-to-the-united-states-germany-japan-uk/>.