VietnamAmerica shows up

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Robert McNamara, President

Johnson’s Sec. Def. advises that U.S. should step up it’s commitment in SE Asia

A U.S. Destroyer is sent off the coast of Vietnam, the U.S.S. Maddox

The Maddox was supporting S. Vietnamese operations on N. Vietnamese coastline

Sonar operators mistook signals as torpedoes & reported being attacked

The Report

Johnson’s reaction to Tonkin Pres. Johnson asked

Congress to authorize military force to keep this from happening again

U.S. Troops began arriving in Vietnam in 1964

7th Fleet steams into the Gulf of Tonkin – “Yankee Station” air strikes begin

Operation Rolling Thunder Bombing Campaign of North

Vietnam Targeted the Ho Chi Minh

Trail, a series of supply routes from the North to South Vietnam

Industrial centers & harbors were “off limits”

Chemical warfare – defoliants were sprayed – “Agent Orange”

1964 to 1967 U.S. troop strength went from

185K to 486K Many U.S. victories give the

American public confidence in the war & is widely supported at home

By the end of 1967, very little seemed to have been accomplished

“The average age was 19” Soldiers in Vietnam spent 13

months “in country” First war where soldiers

rotated in and out as single elements – units no longer shipped together

The average U.S. Soldier was less educated, younger, & Poorer

No real “front line”, you could be hit anywhere at anytime

The Media in Vietnam Vietnam was the first

“televised war”, people would tune in every night & watch the war

Overall public opinion was made from the numerous news reports

The Tet Offensive February 1968, N. Vietnam

springs the most & least effective strike

Least effective: no real damage done

Most effective: It showed that no where in Vietnam was safe for anyone at anytime

Every major urban center in S. Vietnam was hit by Viet Cong fighters

Khe Sanh: a USMC “Alamo” Khe Sanh was a village near

the DMZ U.S. Military forces (Army &

USMC) made fire bases on hill tops to protect civilian villages

Khe Sanh: 77 day siege, U.S. Marines & Army hold a strategic crossroads keeping infiltrators from Laos out

The odds of surviving were slim

Khe Sanh

Khe Sanh: Importance 5,000 USMC up against

20,000 to 40,000 NVA (North Vietnamese Army)

General Westmorland wanted to lure the NVA into a major attack to crush them using the USMC as bait

The siege lasted 77 days

Capturing the images of Khe Sanh Robert Ellison was killed

during one of many rocket

attacks. He was serving with the

Marines