War Expands in Vietnam

The Vietnam War Years(1954-1975)

Chapter 30, Section 2

Essential Question:

• Is it right for one group to force its’ beliefs on to another group, even if its’ for their benefit?

Lyndon B. Johnson• When LBJ Took Over As

President (1963), South Vietnam was Very Close to Becoming Communist

• LBJ’s Military Advisors Wanted to Bomb North Vietnam

• Wanted to Stop Ho Chi Minh from Supporting the Viet Cong in S. Vietnam

• Why Can’t a President Just Bomb a Country? Who’sWho’s Approval Does the President Need? Why?Why?

The Gulf of Tonkin• Story of the U.S.S.

Maddox

• Fired Upon in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2nd, 1964

• Fired Upon AgainAgain on August 4th, 1964

• No One Can Confirm the 2nd Attack

• LBJ Asked Congress to Declare War! Hmm……Hmm……

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• After the 2nd Attack On the U.S.S. Maddox, LBJ Asked Congress for a Declaration of War!

• BTW, Firing on a U.S. Ship isis an Act of War

• Congress Did NOTNOT Declare War

• Congress Gave LBJ the Power to use “Military Force in Vietnam”

• The Vietnam “Conflict” Started

Escalation in Vietnam• LBJ Immediately Began

Bombing North Vietnam

• Escalation is the Policy of Increasing Military Operations

• U.S. Troops Increased From 75,000 in 1965 to 536,000 by 1968

• General Westmoreland Was the Commander of the Armed Forces in Vietnam

Vietnam: A Frustrating War

• Problems Fighting in Vietnam:– Vietnam Was a Limited Vietnam Was a Limited

WarWar: U.S. Feared Bringing China into the War & Starting WWIII

– Most U.S. Soldiers Were Most U.S. Soldiers Were Young (19) & Young (19) & InexperiencedInexperienced: Soldiers Only Had to Serve 11 Year (66 Months in the Field Fighting) Then They Could Go Home

– Not Enough Experienced Officers & Soldiers to Fight in the Vietnam Jungles = Many Deaths

A Frustrating War…• Problems Fighting in

Vietnam:– There Was No FrontlineThere Was No Frontline:

Viet Cong Were the South Vietnamese/Mixed in with the General Population

– Guerrilla WarfareGuerrilla Warfare: Viet Cong Used Guerrilla Warfare/Knew They Couldn’t Defeat the U.S. Military Head On

– Always Favors the People Who Know the Land: Ho Chi Minh Trail, Booby Traps, Ambushes & Surprise Attacks• American Revolution• Iraq & Afghanistan

Today

A Frustrating War…• Problems Fighting

in Vietnam:– Land and Climate of Land and Climate of

VietnamVietnam:• 100 Degrees and

Humid All the Time• Terrain is Jungle/

Swamps• Jungle/Guerrilla

Warfare

– Viet Cong Were a Viet Cong Were a Dedicated EnemyDedicated Enemy:• “One Man Defending

His Homeland is Better Than 10 Men Fighting to Take It Over”

Napalm & Agent Orange• Both Were Used to

Either Burn or Destroy the Jungle to Find the Enemy (Viet Cong) & Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Napalm = Jellied Gasoline

• Agent Orange = Orange Chemical That Kills Vegetation:– Helped Destroy Hideouts

& Food Supplies of the Viet Cong

– Destroyed Innocent Civilians Homes and Food

– U.S. Soldiers Were Exposed To It (Cancerous)

– Ruined the Environment

Effects of Agent Orange

• Too Grotesque to Show You!

Search & Destroy Missions

• American War Tactic

• American Soldiers Would Hunt Down Viet Cong by Burning and/or Bombing Villages

• Innocent South Vietnamese Lost Everything (Homes/ Food/Supplies)– Turned Against the U.S.

• Are We Really “Winning the Hearts & Minds of the People?”

The Tet Offensive (1968)• On January 30th and 31st,

1968, The Communists Launched a Surprise Attack on More Than 100100 Cities & Towns in South Vietnam

• Viet Cong Living in South Vietnam Planned the Attack

• Smuggled Weapons into Each City and Dressed as Regular South Vietnamese Citizens

• Turning Point of the War

The Tet Offensive (1968)• Despite the Surprise

Attack, the Viet Cong & the Communists Lost:– Gained No Cities– Lost 45,000 Troops– U.S. Lost 1,100

• Physical Loss, Mental Victory:– U.S. Realized They Can’t

Win– Americans Start to Question

Why Are We Even in Vietnam?

• General Westmoreland Asked for 206,000 More American Troops After the Tet Offensive

LBJ Changes War Policy• Following the Tet Tet

OffensiveOffensive, LBJ Tells General Westmoreland NoNo More Troops

• Stops the U.S. Bombing of North Vietnam

• Announces U.S. Would Seek Peace with North Vietnam (1968)

• Announces He Will Not Run for Reelection in 1968

My Lai Massacre• On March 16th, 1968,

American Soldiers Went Out on a Search and Destroy Mission Looking for Viet Cong

• Lt. William Calley, Jr. Rounded Up the Village of My Lai (Innocent Civilians) & Massacred Them

• A U.S. Helicopter Flying Over Ordered the U.S. Troops to Cease Fire (Helicopter Fired Warning Shots)

Hypothesize

• How do YOUYOU think the American public reacted when they found out what happened at My Lai?

Lt.William Calley, Jr.• Lt. William Calley, Jr.

Ordered the Massacre

• Think Nuremberg Trials

• Faced Charges of Crimes Against Humanity

• Found Guilty:– Pardoned in 1976

Essential Question:

• Is it right for one group to force its’ beliefs on to another group, even if its’ for their benefit?