No Warm-up

1. No Warm-up • Study with a friend for 5 minutes. 

2. Think It Out! How is the war in Vietnam like the following wars? • American Revolution • American Civil War • The Korean Conflict • The War in Iraq Give some examples for each

3. Vietnam War

4. History of Vietnam • In Vietnam it is possible to measure time by invasions. Long before the Americans, before the Japanese, before the French even, there were the Chinese.

5. 208 B.C. – 1428 A.D. The Chinese ruled Vietnam for more than 1,000 years. **Tried to fight off the Chinese rule – this led to a warrior tradition that would plague invaders forcenturies. Chinese Rule in Vietnam

6. 1627 – 1941 **Officially became a French colony in 1857. **Turned Vietnam into a money-making venture -often forcing the people of Vietnam to live under slave-like conditions. French Occupation

7. **During WWII the Japanese replaced the French in Vietnam. **Ho Chi Minh believed the chaos of World War II was the perfect time for Vietnam to finally win their independence. He and the Vietnamese people helped the Western Allies fight off the Japanese there. In return, he believed the British and Americans would help the Vietnamese gain independence. **FDR initially supported this idea **A month after Japan surrendered to the Allies, Ho announced Vietnam’s independence with a Declaration of Independence much like our own. Life, Liberty and Ho Chi Minh

8. **North Vietnamese nationalists led by Ho Chi Minh. **Goal: Overthrow colonial rule Communists– they related to communism with their 2,000 year long struggle to throw off colonial rule. Who Were the Vietminh?

9. TRUMAN: **Ho appealed to the United States for help. **But by now the Chinese and Soviets were already supplying the Vietminh with weapons. **And the U.S., committed to stopping the spread of Communism, decided instead backed the French. Sent 15 million in aid IKE: **Navarre Plan 1950-1954 – Military Build-up Fails French troops surrounded by 15,000 Vietminh at Dienbienphu Viet Minh Fight French Control

10. **1954 Geneva Accords: The Americans feared the establishment of Communist Vietnam Picked up where the French left off. **Temporarily divided Vietnam in half, at 17th Parallel Promised reunification elections in 1956. North – Ho Chi MInh South - Ngo Dinh Diem Now backed by U.S. American Involvement

11. Warm-up • How did Vietnam become a divided nation?

12. Mid 1940’s – 1975 **Truman – Containment 15 million to France **Eisenhower’s Domino Theory: prevent Communism from spreading in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. (SEATO) Leads to… Second of major “undeclared” conflicts or proxy wars of Cold War **Longest “war” in American history Only “war” the U.S. has lost so far… U.S. Involvement

13. **Anti-Communist leader of South Vietnam • Ruthless dictator – • Alienated the Vietnamese people • arrested thousands and condemned many to death. • Did not allow religious tolerance • JFK: • **JFK supported him until his actions became very “undemocratic”. • Initially also supported by the ARVN – Army of the Republic of Viet Nam

14. Buddhists Protest Diem’s Rule

15. **Also known as VC or NLF – National Liberation Front **Lived in South Vietnam and were loyal to the communists in the North. Fought against South Vietnam while they lived amongst American troops. Viet Cong Rise Up

16. Took a strong stance against communism **1961 Geneva Accords -worried about Laos **1960 - 1,000 “advisors” to Vietnam by 1962 11,000 Billions in support **“allowed” ARVN to assassinate Diem Kennedy’s Role in Vietnam

17. “Vietnam is the biggest damn mess I ever saw.” He had doubts about fighting but was under great pressure to become more involved there. **He didn’t want to appear “soft” on communism and feared being impeached. ** amounts to “ESCALATION” Johnson’s Role in Vietnam

18. Summer of 1964 (pulled the U.S. into the war) U.S. was conducting covert operations in the Vietnamese waters **August 2nd, and 4th - U.S. believes it was fired upon by North Vietnamese forces and returned the fire. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident

19. **Johnson sent a pre-planned resolution to Congress that gave the President the right to send troops into Vietnam without an official declaration of war. Written as U.S was anticipating an attack **This resolution greatly extended the powers of the president. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

20. **“Operation Rolling Thunder” Conducted air raids on North Vietnam 1965 – 200,000 combat troops 1966 sent 200,000 more combat troops By 1967 500,000 troops in Vietnam Johnson Escalates the War

21. General Westmoreland • **U.S. Commander In Vietnam -1965 • **Called for more troops - 1967

22. Hardship and Disillusionment on the Warfront

23. New fighting techniques were used by the Vietnamese – took American troops by surprise. Avoided direct confrontations and instead used **hit-and-run maneuvers. U.S. troops were ambushed **from tunnels and bunkers; booby traps, mines, punji sticks, etc… Vietnamese forces were equipped with a fighting spirit – they were willing to do ANYTHING to win. Guerilla Warfare

24. **A series of complex paths and roads running from North to South Vietnam. **Used to transport supplies. **Hidden by the thick bush of the jungle. Ho Chi Minh Trail

26. **Napalm: jelly-like chemical mixture that burned whatever it touched. A Vietnamese villager recalled the horrifying scene after the U.S. bombing of Dai Lai: “When we got (to the village) it was so awful that we were in a state of shock. The village had been hit by napalm. More than half of it was burned. Hundreds of people were dead and many others were burned terribly but still alive. Some children were burned over half of their bodies and were screaming and crying for their mothers. I saw one small child’s body in a bunker that was still glowing. The body looked like a blackened pig. I was so scared I couldn’t move.” Napalm

27. **Agent Orange – Pesticide used to bring down the foliage, highly toxic

28. “The enemy in our area of operations is a farmer by day and VC by night.” “the enemy is all around you.” **“You never knew who was the enemy and who was the friend. Here’s a woman of twenty-two or twenty-three. She is pregnant, and she tells an interrogator that her husband works in Da Nang and isn’t Viet Cong. But she watches your men walk down a trail and get killed or wounded in a booby trap. She knows the booby trap is there, but she doesn’t warn them…The enemy was all around you.” Friend or Enemy?

29. **U.S. military raid on South Vietnamese villages, intended to root out villagers with ties to the Vietcong. Often resulted in the destruction of the village. **“Zippo Raids” – using the lighter to torch the huts and village Search and Destroy

30. Beginning: soldiers felt they were fighting for a **good cause – to stop the spread of communism. Later: Some weren’t sure **why they were there. Growing Disillusionment

31. American Support for the War Diminishes

32. **Protests began as soon as bombings began in 1965. Used many of the same techniques of Civil Rights protestors. **March on DC – 1965: 20,000 participated in protest for peace. By late 1967 – anti-war demonstrations were a daily occurrence. Massive marches (50,000+) occurred in major cities. Anti-War Demonstrations

33. Escalation of the war led to greater American **casualties. **Fulbright Hearings **The Living Room War: Horrifying images on TV and other media – pictures of “noncombatants” being killed or injured as well as U.S. soldiers. **Credibility Gap Why Was the War Unpopular?

34. **1968 – U.S. government kept assuring Americans that the fighting in Vietnam would soon wind down. As casualties rose, Americans began to doubt them. 35,000 U.S. soldiers had been killed since the start of the war. The War Reaches Its Height

35. **1966 – Rise in casualties and the disillusionment about war led to a rise in resistance to the draft. **Some burned their draft cards 500,000 men went into **hiding or fled the country in an attempt to avoid the draft 15 million applied for and received draft deferments. Resistance to the Draft

36. Fighting a Losing Battle

37. **March 16, 1968 **30 American soldiers stormed the My Lai village and fired on defenseless villagers killing 200+ women, children and old men. One soldier recalled: “Just outside the village there was this big pile of bodies of Vietnamese dead. This really tiny kid – he had only a shirt on, nothing else-he came over to the pile and held the hand of one of the dead. One of the GIs behind me dropped to a kneeling position thirty meters from this kid and killed him with a single shot.” My Lai Massacre

38. Temporary Truce: U.S. and Vietnam agreed to a temporary truce during the celebration of Tet (Vietnamese New Year) **January 31, 1968: 70,000 communist soldiers launched a surprise attack on South Vietnam **Surged 100 cities including Saigan Eventually the U.S. defeated the communist forces but the **attack left a negative attitude about the war in the hearts and minds of the American public. Tet Offensive

39. Tet Offensive -1/30 Johnson’s Decision Not to Run for Reelection MLK’s Assassination RFK’s Assassination Violence at the Democratic National Convention Students Seize Columbia University 1968 - Watershed Year

40. **Johnson had three choices regarding the war: **Escalate involvement **Continue the present course **Withdraw U.S. troops into the cities where they would suffer fewer casualties. **Johnson decided to stay the present course – he didn’t feel that escalation of the war would help the U.S. win. Johnson’s Choices

41. Some saw LBJ’s approach to the war as “Too Little, Too Late” LBJ’s approval rating was at a low of 36%. **He announced that he would not seek a second term in office. Johnson Leaves Office

42. Democratic Candidate: Robert Kennedy was assassinated before the election. Eugene McCarthy – anti-war Democrat nominee Hubert Humphrey was nominated to replace him. George Wallace - Independent **Republican Candidate: Richard Nixon was elected president. 1968 Presidential Election

43. Nixon didn’t want to be the first U.S. president to lose a war. **He vowed to bring about an “honorable peace”. **Vietnamization – pulling U.S. troops out of Vietnam and transferring the responsibility for the war to the South Vietnamese. Henry Kissinger – Sec of State “Silent Majority” supported his plan Nixon’s Policy of “Peace With Honor”

44. **Paris Accords -Talks between U.S. and North Vietnam were not going anywhere. They became more strained when Ho Chi Minh died in 1969. Le DucTho – now leader of North Vietnam **1969 – reduce US troops from 500,000 to 25,000. Increased bombing in N. VN By October 26, 1967 seems “peace is at hand” **Gen. Van Thieu -ARVN– refuses to sign Paris agreement Peace Talks Falter

45. **Nixon was publicly promising peace while he was authorizing increased military action in Laos and Cambodia. U.S. dropped 100,000 tons of explosives on Cambodia – they denied the bombings when they were revealed in the New York Times. **On April 30, Nixon announced that the U.S. had invaded Cambodia (after promising ten days earlier that he would withdraw 150,000 troops). Why? – to help a group of Cambodian leaders who were attempting to remove Vietnamese Communists from Cambodia. Khmer Rouge – fanatical insurgency emerges victorious by 1975 U.S. Bombings in Cambodia

46. **In response to the invasion, students held hundreds of protests around the country – some of them ending in violence. Pentagon Papers released –Ellsberg 7,000 paper document to MacNamera **War Powers Act Took away many of president’s war-making powers Protests Erupt

50. May 4, 1970 **In response to protestors attacking the ROTC building on the Ohio State University campus; Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on a protest at Kent State. Four students were killed. Kent State