us support and the turning point of vietnam chapter 19, section 2 & 3
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US Support and the US Support and the Turning Point of Turning Point of
VietnamVietnamChapter 19, Section 2 & 3
The War in the Air
• Bombing Campaign of North Vietnam– Operation Rolling
Thunder- March 1965– Attacked bases, airfields,
bridges, roads, train tracks, power plants, factories
– Major Target: Ho Chi Minh Trail• Way to get supplies to
Vietcong
• Destroying the Trail– Most of the trail was
through the jungles and forests of Laos and Cambodia• US started spraying the
trees to kill the plants so they could see the ground
• Other Air Weapons– Napalm– Cluster Bombs– Carpet Bombing
• Having no target
• This didn’t work– Supplies continued to
get to the Vietcong– Soviet Union and China
helping the North– Bombing increased in
the North, Laos, Cambodia, and South• This caused South
Vietnamese to join the Vietcong
War on the Ground
• The US Fight– William Westmoreland
• Commander of the US ground troops in South Vietnam
• Ordered search and destroy missions
– Pacification• “win the hearts and
minds” of the South• Relocate people and burn
the village
US Forces on the Move
• The Draft– Only about 45% of
registered men were called to duty• 25%- Bad Health• 30%- Deferments• Poorer families sent
troops
– Picked by B-Day– Ended in 1973
• Not Everyone Fought– Many Americans were
engineers, doctors, transportation
– Just because they didn’t have to fight doesn’t mean they were safe
– Women were there too
Public Opinion Changes
• Media Coverage– Reporters and
Photographers followed troops• This brought the war into
the living room
– Government thought TV coverage would help show that the US was doing good• Showed Vietnamese
villages being burned
• Hawks and Doves– Doves opposed the war– Hawks supported the war– Both groups criticized
LBJ’s approach to war
• Anti-War Movement– Student protest
• People fought against the draft and ROTC programs
• Students for a Democratic Society
– Opponents rallied for war
The Tet Offensive
• It Gets Started– Vietcong attacked the US
Embassy– Next, US notice more
movement on the trail– Attack on Khe Sanh by
the NVA and Vietcong• 77-Day siege• Americans still had the
base
• The Main Attack– January 30th, 1968 was
the beginning of Tet• Vietnamese New Year• In the past, there had
been a cease-fire so the Vietnamese could go home and celebrate
– No Celebration This Year• 84,000 North Vietnamese
troops attack 12 different US bases and 100 Southern Cities
– US fought back
Effects of the Tet Offensive
• People Were Upset– Communism wasn’t as
weak as the government told everyone
– Walter Cronkite went on TV and gave his opinion
– More and more media were showing doubts
– Robert S McNamara, Sec. of Defense, was discouraged
• Problem with the Party– Election of 1968, who
was going to be the democratic nominee• 3 out of 4 opposed
Johnson’s Vietnam policies
– Eugene McCarthy was very against Johnson and ran
– So did Bobby Kennedy– With all the people
against him, Johnson decided not to run
Johnson Seeks a Solution
• Westmoreland wanted to send more troops– 206,000 more– Americans found out
and were mad– Johnson said no– Delegates from the US
and North Vietnam met in Paris to talk about peace
Election of 1968
• With Johnson out of the race, his VP Hubert Humphrey ran– Against McCarthy and
Kennedy– People were afraid
things were going to get ugly
• The Democratic Primary– Kennedy wins major
primaries early on• Everyone was pretty sure
that he was going to be the nominee
• They were days away from the DNC
– Another Kennedy was shot• Sirhan Sirhan was a
Jordanian mad over Kennedy’s support of Israel
• 1968 DNC– Delegates met to debate
over McCarthy and Humphrey
– Neither were amazing choices
– Protests outside over the war• Became very violent• TV coverage showed
police brutality
• The Race Was On!– Nixon- Republican
• Easily won the nomination
• He had a secret plan to end the war
– Humphrey- Democrat– George Wallace-
Independent• Very conservative• Against civil rights
movement
• Nixon won!– Close popular vote
Get Out Your Books• Turn to page 619– Into groups of four or five– Do either Critical Thinking or Focus on Speaking in the
Section 3 Assessment– Work together on this and pick ONE person to come and
present your graphic organizer or news report
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