The Vietnam War

A History of

U.S. involvement

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Vietnam: colony of France

• Indochina (Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia) was part of the French Empire

• Japanese invaded Indochina during WWII

• When Japanese are defeated, France wants Vietnam back

Ho Chi Minh resists French Rule

• Nationalist/ Communist• Helped the U.S. use guerrilla warfare to defeat the Japanese

• Declared Vietnam independent after WWII

• Western nations, led by France, refuse to recognize independent Vietnam

FIRST Vietnam War

• France v. Vietnam• War lasts from 1946-1954• Fall of Dien Bien Phu (1954)• Round One: Minh • US backed France with $2B in aid, pointing to the policy of containment and the domino theory

Geneva Accords• Geneva Accords

– End First Vietnam War; France defeated– Elections are promised in 1956– Temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel

• North Vietnam – Communist government under Ho Chi Minh– Pushing for independence, united Vietnam, and elections

• South Vietnam – Pro-Western government under Diem

Ngo Dinh Diem

• Aristocratic, Catholic family with ties to Emperor Bao Dai

• Anti-communist

Vietnam Divided

1956: No democracy for you!

• Elections, while promised by the US and France at Geneva, were never held in 1956

• 1955-1960: US sends $1B in aid to Diem as civil war breaks out

• Diem is a repressive and brutal leader

Buddhist Monk protests Diem

US Involvement Escalates• John F. Kennedy 1961-1963

– Sent 16,000 advisors– Diem assassinated, with US support– Kennedy assassinated 13 days later

• Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 - 1969

–Sent more Green Beret “advisors”

–By 1964, North Vietnam controlled almost half of the South

US Involvement Escalates• Gulf of Tonkin Incident - August 1964

– U.S. ships “attacked” in the Tonkin Gulf

– LBJ asks Congress to authorize use of military to prevent further aggression

– Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

– Resolution gives LBJ power to take “all means necessary” to protect US interests

US Involvement Escalates

• December 1965 – The Draft– 2.6 million will serve in Vietnam– Average age was 19 – younger than WWII

– The poor and uneducated were drafted at higher percentages

US Involvement Escalates

• The War Intensifies (1965 – 1967)– U.S. ground troops: 500,000– Many civilian casualties – it was hard to tell who was an enemy

“If it’s dead and Vietnamese, it’s Vietcong.” - Army Officer

Tet Offensive• Turning point in the Vietnam War

• U.S. involvement started little then escalated

• Began on January of 1968

• Vietnam’s Lunar New Year (most important holiday to them)

“It’s silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home for Christmas” -Ronald Regan 1965

Viet Cong will not surrender

• Tet Offensive – January 1968– North Vietnamese surprise attack on the New Year

– Within hours 100 cities and 12 military bases were under attack

– A military victory for the U.S. but a media victory for the Viet Cong

• Turning point in war.

Cambodia

•1970-Nixon announces bombing in Cambodia

•Bombed supply trails

•From March-May doubled number of bombs sent

•Estimated 600,000 people were killed

“No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then and is misremembered now.” – Richard Nixon 1985

Atrocities at My Lai

• Many soldiers admit killing women and children, some by accident, some on purpose

• Soldiers were also killed by friendly fire

NIXON takes over

Vietnamization– Trained and equipped S. Vietnamese military to replace American forces

– 60,000 US ground troops withdrawn– By 1972 – only 24,000 US troops remain

Second Vietnam War Ends• January 27, 1972 – Paris Accords

– Cease fire agreement between the US, N. Vietnam and S. Vietnam

By 1975 - Communist forces overran S. Vietnam- April 30 – S. Vietnam surrendered unconditionally

- ALL OF VIETNAM UNITED UNDER COMMUNISM- Many Americans escaped the US embassy by helicopter as N. Vietnamese troops invaded Saigon (capital of S. Vietnam).

Evacuation from Saigon

Consequences of Vietnam

• ~3,400,000 Vietnamese died• 58,000 Americans died• 300,000 Wounded• 2,300 – MIA – missing in action• More than 600 Prisoner’s of War

– Senator John McCain was a POW for over 5 years

• Veterans returned to America– Many turned to drugs and became homeless

– Use of Agent Orange Chemical linked to medical problems

Senator John McCain POW for 5 years in North Vietnamese Prison Camp