The Vietnam War Years

U.S. History Chapter 22

Moving Toward Conflict

• French controlled Vietnam until WWII

• Ho Chi Minh – leader of Vietnamese Communist Party

• Japan took over Vietnam• Ho Chi Minh returned and helped from the

Vietminh – determined to gain independence

• Japanese left after WWII, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent nation

• French send troops, gain control of Southern half

• 1950 – U.S. sends nearly $15 million in

economic aid to France

• Domino Theory – Eisenhower – if one nation falls to communism they all will fall (just like dominos)

• French surrendered May 1954

• Geneva Accords – temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel

– Communist north,

nationalists south. Election

to unify the country

would be held in 1956

The United States Steps In

• Ho Chi Minh – North Vietnam

• Ngo Dinh Diem – South Vietnam – strong anticommunist

• Diem refused to take part in the elections

• Vietcong – Communist group in the South – began attacking Diem’s government

South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a single pistol shot in the head in Saigon, Vietnam on Feb. 1, 1968. The photo, by photojournalist Eddie Adams, became one of the Vietnam’s War’s most indelible images, winning a Pultizer Prize in 1969

Kennedy and Vietnam• Increased financial aid to Diem

• Sent military advisors to train South Vietnamese troops (16,000 by 1963)

• Diem becoming unpopular• Corruption• Moved villagers from their homes• Attacked Buddhism (he was

Catholic)

• Diem had to go

• Nov. 1, 1963 – U.S. supported military coup overthrew Diem, Diem killed.

Johnson Expands the Conflict

• Unstable leadership in South Vietnam• Aug. 2, 1964 – U.S. destroyer fired on by North

Vietnamese• Johnson called for bombing strikes on N.V.

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution –

granted Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder – sustained bombing of North VietnamTroops began arriving

U.S. Involvement and Escalation

• More and more troops sent – containing communism. By end of 1965 – 180,000 troops, 1967 – 500,000

• Vietcong – hit and run tactics, attacked in cities and countryside

• Tunnel system

• Land mines, traps, heat, leeches

• U.S. – wear down the Vietcong (receiving supplies from China and S.U.). Vietcong remained defiant

• U.S. needed to get support of South Vietnamese.

• Napalm (set fire to jungle) and Agent Orange (toxic chemical) – often injured civilians and destroyed villages

• Search-and-destroy missions

• Low troop morale

“Twelve years later, Phang saw large, black and red spots and water bubbles appearing on his body and all his hair had fallen out. All were caused by the Agent Orange/ Dioxin toxicant ..."

Early War at Home

• Great Society suffered, tax increase

• “living room war”

• Young Americans

resisting draft

Roots of Opposition

• New Left – growing

youth movement• SDS – Students for a Democratic Society –

more power to the people, individual freedom• College campuses – “teach ins”• Why oppose? Vietnam was a CIVIL war, no

need for us to be there, South Vietnamese leaders no better than Communist leaders, and morally unjust

• Central Park demonstration – half a million protesters – “Burn cards, not people,” and “Hell no, we wont go.”

• Oct. 1967 – march in Washington

• Doves – believed the U.S. should withdraw

• Hawks – do whatever to win the war

1968• Tet Offensive – Tet – our

New Year’s Eve. Villagers were celebrating. That night, Vietcong launched an attack on 100 towns in South Vietnam and the U.S. embassy in Saigon. Continued for a month until stopped by U.S.

• Vietcong lost 32,000 soldiers

Greatly upset the American public – open criticism

• Robert Kennedy

• MLK – riots

• College campus riots/demonstrations (200)

• Riots/demonstrations during Democratic Convention

Richard Nixon

• Wins 1968 election

• 1969 – Nixon announced troop withdrawals

• Vietnamization – called

for gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops, let South Vietnam take more control– Henry Kissinger – Security

Advisor

Trouble Continues …• My Lai –

massacre of innocent civilians in South Vietnam

by troops

Cambodia

– U.S. invaded Cambodia to clear it of Vietcong and North Vietnamese

• Kent State – National Guard fired on demonstrators, killed 4

• Jackson State – same, 2 killed

America’s Longest War Ends• March 1972 – heaviest bombing of North Vietnam• Dec. ’72 – “Christmas bombings” – 100,000

bombs/11 days

• Mar. ’73 – last American troops left Vietnam

• North still attacked South

• April ’75 – South surrendered to North

War Power’s Act• The President must inform Congress within

48 hours of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war. Troops must remain there NO LONGER THAN 90 days without Congress approval