The Vietnam

War

1954 - 1975

Section1: Moving Toward War

French Rule in Vietnam

• China and Vietnam

• Vietnam earned independence in 1428.

• 1600’s French missionaries went to Vietnam• Since the late 1800’s, the French ruled Vietnam, Laos, and

Cambodia• Indochina

• After WWII, France tried to regain control of these territories

• Vietnamese tried to flee to China to escape harsh French Rule.

• USA supported France with over 1 billion dollars…and

military support (fear of communism)• Events in China and Korea help to convince the USA

• Ho Chi Minh

• starts a movement to rid Vietnam of both French and Japanese

control.• Traveled the world, including USA

• Wrote President Wilson for aid against French Rule

• The Japanese had taken control while France was busy with WWII.

• Vietminh – nationalist group formed by Ho Chi Minh

(Communists)• Get rid of foreign rule

Domino Theory

• Belief that if one country fell to

Communism, then eventually the

rest of the world would become

communist.

French Rule in Vietnam:

• Post WWII• Cold War

• France struggle with North Vietnamese

• USA concentrates on “Containing Communism”

• In 1950, the US sent $15 million in aid to the French to help them defeat the Vietminh

• Containment Policy

• The French eventually surrendered at Dien Bien Phu –French Colonial Rule comes to an end.

• Geneva Accords - 1954

This peace plan divided Vietnam

17th Parallel• North Vietnam – Communist

• Ho Chi Minh

• South Vietnam – Anti-communist

• Diem

• The USA (Eisenhower) promised Diem aid and training to build a strong government in South Vietnam

The US Steps In:

Diem didn’t use the funds as he should and angered many

– A strong communist group called the Vietcong had begun attacks on Diem’s government – assassinated thousands of South Vietnamese government officials.

Ho Chi Minh supported the group with weapons and

money

He sent supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Kennedy and Vietnam:

Kennedy initially sent Diem more supplies, money, and military advisors– Billions of dollars and military personnel

16,000 “advisers” in S. Vietnam 1963

– Diem misused resources

Diem faced turmoil– Communists rebellion

– Buddhist rebellions

– also attacked Buddhists (he was Catholic)

– He burned temples, and killed hundreds of Buddhist clerics (some protested)

Majority of population was Buddhist

Diem is assassinated Nov 1963– Rumors of a coup heard by American intelligence officers

– Kennedy originally supported a coup

– America denied involvement in the coup of Premier Diem

– Kennedy assassinated a week later

Johnson and Vietnam

1963-1968

Kennedy wanted to withdrawal troops

by 1965– Vice President Johnson takes over

Gulf of Tonkin Incident – A U.S. SHIPS IS ATTACKED BY N. VIETNAMESE.

IN GULFOF TONKIN

– N. Vietnamese ship fired at USS Maddox

– USS Maddox returned fire

Two days later, the American ships reported enemy fire and opened fire on enemy ships (later it was found that there was no enemy fire)

The Tonkin Gulf

Resolution: The Tonkin Gulf Resolution

granted Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam

– CONGRESS AUTHORIZES LBJ TO HAVE TOTAL DECISION MAKING AUTHORITY “A BLANK CHECK”

“WHATEVER NECESSARY”TO FIGHT COMMIES.

Lesson 2:

US Involvement and Escalation

Johnson Increases US

Involvement: America Supported America’s

involvement Containment Policy

In 1965, 61% of Americans supported the war, while 24% opposed it

– Start of 1965 , 25,000 troops in S. Vietnam

– End of 1965, 185,000 troops

– 1968 – 543,000 troops That’s half a million!

– American commander in S. Vietnam –William Westmoreland (served in WII and Korea), continued to request more troops

U.S. draftees are very

young, and only

required to serve for 13

months.

61% of the men killed

were 21 or younger

Fighting was brutal –

jungle terrain

which we were poorly

trained for

Fighting in The Jungle:

US vs Vietnam– 1st world country vs. 3rd world country

– American public thought of quick and decisive victory

Vietcong N. Vietnamese Soldiers– used hit and run tactics because of their lack of

high powered weaponry – guerilla warfare

– Soldiers lived amongst the people of N. Vietnam

– Tunnel network

– Booby traps and mines

GUERRILLA WARFARE

USED BOOBY TRAPS,

LAND MINES,

TUNNELS TO SNEAK

ATTACK TROOPS

THE ENEMY WAS

HARD TO

IDENTIFY AS

THEY DIDN’T

WEAR UNIFORMS

Tunnel rat

Inside a tunnel

A Frustrating War of

Attrition: USA’s strategy was attrition – destroy their

morale and wear them down– He also introduced the idea of a “body count” to

encourage his men and discourage the enemy

– American forces tried to win over the S. Vietnamese so that they wouldn’t join the Vietcong

– US planes dropped Napalm – gas bombs – to set fire to the jungle

They also sprayed agent orange – a leaf

killing toxic chemical (cancerous)– These weapons left villages and innocent civilians

devastated

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER 1972

D. Agent Orange was later found to have

caused cancer, miscarriages, birth defects

and other diseases.

E. The Government did not acknowledge the

damage of Agent Orange until 1984. It was

later discovered that the government knew

all along how dangerous it was – almost 12

million gallons of Agent Orange was sprayed

on Vietnam.

Sinking Morale

Troops eventually became

frustrated because of:

– 1. Guerilla warfare

– 2. Harsh Jungle Conditions

– 3. Making No Headway against

the enemy

Many troops turned to alcohol, drugs,

prostitution, and infighting among their

own men

Morale would worsen later when

soldiers realized they were fighting

even though their govt. was

negotiating a withdrawal

The Living Room War:

Vietnam’s violence was televised nationally

The Johnson administration told the American public things were going well – they didn’t all believe it – credibility gap(mixed messages)

America was not split 50/50 on the war

America’s youth would soon begin protesting the war

SECTION 3

A Nation Divided

A Manipulatable Draft:

Most soldiers who fought in Vietnam were

selected in the draft– Any male between the ages of 18-26 could be called to

war

– 1/3 of soldiers were selected through draft

– 19yr olds were average soldiers

– Poor working class families

– Middle class soldiers who were drafted rarely saw combat

– Few came from upper class families

Men tried to find ways around the draft

(medical exemptions, joining the Coast /

National Guard)– Men also enrolled in college (deferment) – this created a

social gap ($$)

– Wealthy men could obtain deferment for medical reasons from doctors

– Conscientious objector against moral beliefs

80% of the soldiers in Vietnam came from

lower economic levels

In 1967, three years after Ali had

won the heavyweight championship,

he was publicly vilified for his refusal

to be drafted, based on his religious

beliefs and opposition to the war.

Ali was eventually arrested and

found guilty on draft evasion

charges; he was stripped of his

boxing title, and his boxing license

was suspended.

He was not imprisoned, but did not

fight again for nearly four years while

his appeal worked its way up to the

Supreme Court, where it was

eventually successful.

He was vilified by many Americans

Ali - phantom punch

Ali speech

The Roots of American

Opposition:

New Left – growing youth movement that demanded huge social change in America

Students for a Democratic Society – called for greater individual freedom and less “big government”

Free Speech Movement –students wanted to be able to protest and give speeches at campus events and rallies without intervention

Reasons for Vietnam

Protest: 1. The belief that Vietnam

was in a civil war and the US didn’t belong there

2. The belief that the South Vietnamese were just as oppressive as the Communists

3. The belief that the US shouldn’t have to police the entire globe

4. The war was morally unjust

III. AN ANTIWAR MOVEMENT

EMERGES

A. As the death numbers increased many people began to protest

publicly against the war, demanding that the US leave Vietnam.

B. March 1965 teach-ins began on college campuses (First at the

University of Michigan) with faculty and students speaking out in

protest of the war. They are angered by the draft, saying it is

unfair.

C. Men, ages 18-26 were the first drafted; those in college had

deferments.

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD8vh_9FZNE

38mins

War Divides the Nation:

America became divided

into aggressors and

pacifists

Doves – withdraw from

Vietnam

Hawks – more military

force

Many were angered that

Americans were

protesting a war in which

the soldiers were still

actively fighting

SECTION 4

1968: A Tumultuous Year

A Surprise Attack:

Jan. 30th in the Vietnamese equivalent to New Years

– During this time, safe travel was allowed between N and S Vietnam

– Northern Vietnamese sent the coffins of dead soldiers back to S Vietnam

Inside the coffins were the bodies, but also weapons

In the month to follow, the Vietcong would use thee weapons to take over 100 cities in S Vietnam

The Vietcong also took the US Embassy in Saigon (killing 5 Americans)

This month long surge would be called the Tet Offensive

TURNING POINT

- 1968

LBJ HAD SAID

VIETCONG WERE

ABOUT TO

SURRENDER

U.S SUFFERS

HUGE LOSSES

BEFORE

EVENTUAL

VICTORY

AMERICANS

START TO

QUESTION LBJ

Turmoil in Chicago:

The Democratic National Convention was in Chicago in 1968

Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey were both pitted against one another

10,000 protesters arrived and 12,000 Chicago police and 5,000 National Guard were sent in

Before long things got ugly – rioters were sprayed with pepper spray and beaten with nightsticks

Nixon Triumphs:

In 1968, Richard Nixonannounced his candidacy for president and won the party’s nomination

He campaigned on returning law and order

He also promised to end the war in Vietnam

He would win the presidency and eventually create even more protest and uproar within the country

SECTION 5

The End of the War and its

Legacy

The Pullout Begins:

In the summer of 1969, Nixon announced the

first US troops withdrawal from Vietnam– Negotiations were underway but were not going anywhere

Nixon conferred with his National Security

Advisor – Henry Kissinger on a plan to end the

US involvement in Vietnam

Kissinger’s plan was called Vietnamization –

gradual withdraw of US troops in order for the S.

Vietnamese to take a more active combat role in

the war.– Over the next three years, the number of troops in Vietnam would drop from

500,000 to 25,000

Nixon secretly began massive bombings in North

Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (Laos and

Cambodia housed many Vietcong bases

The My Lai Massacre:

In March of 1968 it was discovered that a US platoon massacred over 200 innocent women and children in the small village of My Lai (S. Vietnam)

Lieutenant William Calley and his men were looking for Vietcong rebels – they didn’t find any

“I poured about four clips into the group…the mothers hugging their children…Well, we kept right on firing.”

Calley was convicted and imprisoned – the others were charged for minor offenses

III. THE INVASION OF

CAMBODIA SPARKS PROTESTA. April 30, 1970, Pres. Nixon announces

the invasion of Cambodia to destroy

Vietcong military bases. Americans felt

this act was widening the war, not

getting us out of war and it set off more

protests, especially on college

campuses.

B. At Kent State University, National

guardsmen shot and killed four

students, wounded 9 others.

C. This increases pressure on Nixon to get

us home

Violence On Campus:

May 4, 1970 - Disaster

struck hardest at Kent

State University

Four students were killed

in a clash with the

National Guard

Ten days later another

protest at Jackson State

in Mississippi, killed two

students and wounded 12

more

The Pentagon Papers:

Congress was furious with Nixon for bombing and invading Cambodia without Congressional approval

Congress decided to repeal the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, limiting Nixon’s wartime powers

The Pentagon Papers were also leaked during this time – a 7,000 page report describing Johnson’s escalating war plans (when he was telling the American people that he was pulling troops out of the war)

– New York Times v. United States Government lied to the American public about various stories about the

Vietnam War.

The papers also showed that there was never a plan to end the war as long as the N. Vietnamese persisted.

THE US WITHDRAWS Nixon is re-elected in November1972 and peace

talks fail

– Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers

dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and

Haiphong. North Vietnam claimed that over 1,600 civilians were killed.

The North Vietnamese agreed to resume the talks. A

few weeks later, the final Paris Peace Treaty was

signed and the war came to a close,

– In January 1973, a cease fire was announced and US troops

withdrew.

Our POW’s are brought home

AFTER THE U.S LEAVES IN 1973, FIGHTING

BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH VIETNAM WILL

CONTNUE UNTIL APRIL 1975 –

– THE NORTH WILL OVERRUN AND DEFEAT THE SOUTH

The countries will be united as a communist nation

SOME WERE HELD AS LONG AS 7 YEARS

SEN. MCCAIN WAS HELD 51/2 YEARS

AFTER THE U.S LEAVES IN 1973, FIGHTING

BETWEEN

NORTH AND SOUTH VIETNAM WILL CONTNUE

UNTIL APRIL 1975 –

THE NORTH WILL OVERRUN AND DEFEAT THE

SOUTH

The countries will be united as a communist nation

VIETNAMESE SEEKING

SAFETY FROM THE

COMMUNISTS

IN THE

US EMBASSY…

Fall of Saigon

Analyze Data Compare the total number of civilian casualties to the number of military

casualties. What do the totals tell you about the effects of modern warfare on civilian

populations?

in Danang, where most

Agent Orange barrels

were stored. Some 2.5

million cubic feet of soil

and sediment around the

airport will be dug up and

heated to very high

temperatures, breaking

down the toxic

compounds.

August 2012 – The US agrees to pay 45 Million to

clean up toxic sites from our bases.

THE LASTING LEGACY OF

VIETNAMA. The longest and lease successful war ever.

A. (until the “War Against Terrorism”)

B. 58,195 Americans died, 300,000 wounded and $150 billion dollars

was spent.

C. The Vietnamese lost 2-3 million soldiers and civilians – 1/3 their

population

D. The US was now divided socially and politically.

E. Soldiers who returned struggled with PTSD, drug and alcohol

abuse, divorce etc

F. There are still 2,300 missing in action (MIA); most presumed dead

and many were pilots who were shop down over the sea or in

dense jungle. Many were also classified as prisoners of war

(POW).

VIETNAM MEMORIAL

DEDICATED

NOVEMBER

1982

THE WALL HOLDS 58,195

NAMES

There are 6 women, all nurses.

thewall-usa.com