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A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam

A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam. By the end of 1965 180,000+ U.S. troops were fighting in Vietnam This doubles by 1966 America went in overzealously & were frustrated with the different styles of fighting. Frustrating Warfare…Why?. AMERICANS Used to trench-style combat

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A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam

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  1. A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam • By the end of 1965 180,000+ U.S. troops were fighting in Vietnam • This doubles by 1966 • America went in overzealously & were frustrated with the different styles of fighting

  2. Frustrating Warfare…Why? AMERICANS • Used to trench-style combat • Reliance on firepower • Strategy: battalions, shifts & constant communication with other flanks VIETNAMESE • Ambushes • Booby traps • Guerrilla tactics • Blended with general city population • Knowledge of the land, valleys, mountains, etc…

  3. Our New Tactic: • “Search & destroy” missions: find enemy troop, bomb their position, destroy supply lines & force them into the open for combat • Napalm: jellied gasoline that explodes on contact to destroy jungles (guerrilla) • Agent Orange: a chemical that strips leaves/foliage – leaving farmlands/forests wasteland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx1f9hebiGg

  4. What it really looks like…

  5. How did the Vietcong send supplies to fight into S. Vietnam without getting ambushed? • Ho Chi Minh Trail: network of jungle paths winding through Cambodia & Laos, bypassing the border b/w North & South Vietnam • Why wouldn’t we just attack that trail? “No! This trail passes through countries full of innocent people NOT involved in this war” - LBJ

  6. Then why wouldn’t LBJ just attack N. Vietnam? Fear that China would join the war (remember the Korean war?) The Soviet Union & China supplied N. Vietnamese troops with weapons & supplies

  7. U.S.’ Tactical Flaw Let me tell you about the stresses of a Vietnam soldier • U.S. troops were ordered to fight a war of attrition: a strategy of defeating enemy sources by slowly wearing them down • Grisly body counts daily after battles to determine how many enemies had died • Time in Vietnam much longer as a result

  8. How Close is the End? 1954: 1965: 1975: - Vietminh defeat French @ Dien Bien Phu - Geneva Accords U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam • The war has been going on for approx. 10 yrs • U.S. troops join in 1965 • Between 1965-1967: 220,000 Vietnamese killed via U.S. air-bombing • Still showed NO signs of weakening/backing down • By 1966: 6,700 U.S. troops dead • Suddenly U.S. soldiers begin to question how soon/if we will win People back home are now questioning America’s involvement in the war

  9. Vietnam Divides Our Nation • Back in the states, Americans began to widely resist our involvement in Vietnam • WHY?!?! • At first, people were in support of going over • BUT the war dragged on & U.S. men were dying by the thousands with little/no progress • Speculation began to grow – people wanted to know what troops were still doing over there

  10. The First “Television War” • Will Westmoreland [U.S. commander in S. Vietnam] continually reported the enemy was weakening • BUT footage ran nightly on the news of what was going on • Families saw troops suffering/dying • This soon developed a credibility gap: it was hard to believe what LBJ was saying about the war

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