The Vietnam War

1. The Vietnam War An Introduction

2. Terms To KnowTheVietnam War Dien Bien Phu Ho Chi Minh Gen. William Westmoreland Ngo Dinh Diem Viet Minh ARVN SVA Vietcong “Charlie” “Gooks” Napalm Agent Orange Cambodia Laos Ho Chi Minh Trail Mekong (Delta) Saigon Hanoi Tour of Duty M16 The Huey Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Vietnamization

3. “No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War.”Richard Nixon

4. A Brief History of Vietnam In the 17th century, French traders & missionaries arrived in southeast Asia. After World War I, Ho Chi Minh attempted to end colonial rule in Vietnam, but failed.

5. From Colonization On… 1884 Indochina ruled by France. 1940 France falls to Nazi Germany, Indochina under Japanese Control. 1945 Viet Minh fight Japanese occupation. Japan defeated in WWII, China exerts influence over North Vietnam, Great Britain over South Vietnam. 1946 France attempts to regain control over Indochina. First Indochina War begins. Viet Minh v. France Eisenhower funded nearly 80% of France’s military effort

6. Some Facts… Ho Chi Minh’s Forces Often equipped with American weapons 100,000 regulars 50,000 semi-regulars 225,000 local guerillas Minh’s forces were “numerically inferior to the French Union troops [during the First Indochina War], but in a type of war where experts believe that the defending force must hold a 10-to-1 superiority in order to win…” Minh would have the advantage against both France & the United States.

7. Some Facts… Ratio of Defending Force to Minh’s Forces 5-to-1 1.2-to-1 By 1954? More than 92,000 French troops had DIED “The loss of 8,200 French officers and noncommissioned officers exceeded the rate at which officers were graduating from French military colleges.” April 27th, 1954 News of Dien Bien Phureaches Geneva, Switzerland where the Geneva Accords are taking place

8. How did Americans feel about the events in Vietnam? QUESTION

9. How did Americans feel about the events in Vietnam? “Since their own history was rooted in a long struggle against colonial rule during the eighteenth century, many Americans were sympathetic to the aspirations of the Vietnamese, even though they had little knowledge of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietminh, and what they stood for. Typical were the remarks of a young congressman and future president from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, who declared shortly after the war in Indochina had begun: “The United States must not ally itself with a colonial regime that [has] no real support from the people. The single most powerful force in the world is man’s desire to be free.”

10. The Geneva Accords Discussed what to do with Vietnam Outcome?

11. The Geneva Accords What did they do? Divided Vietnam along the 17th Parallel Proposed a neutral Cambodia & Laos Free elections in 1956 to reunite Vietnam “I have never talked… with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader…” President Eisenhower in his memoirs

12. The Geneva Accords President Eisenhower would not recognize the agreement for fear of the Domino Theory. What was the idea of containment? What was the Domino Theory?

13. 860,000 refugees pour south. Some 160,000 Franco-Vietnamese Troops moved south. 80,000 tribesmen move north. 5,000 to 6,000 Viet-minh guerillas Went underground in South Vietnam