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Vietnam: America’s Longest War

Vietnam: America’s Longest War. LBJ taking the oath of office on Nov. 22, 1963. LBJ’s concerns prior to the 1964 election…. Avoid a military set back that would make him look weak and not in control Don’t get bogged… Similar to HST & Korea. LBJ promised to help SV win…

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Vietnam: America’s Longest War

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  1. Vietnam: America’s Longest War LBJ taking the oath of office on Nov. 22, 1963

  2. LBJ’s concerns prior to the 1964 election… • Avoid a military set back that would make him look weak and not in control • Don’t get bogged… Similar to HST & Korea LBJ promised to help SV win… “a contest against the externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy” LBJ makes a case for restraint in the 1964 election…“we are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves”

  3. Johnson’s War Changes in US troop strength… 1965: 184,000 1966: 389,000 1967: 486,000 1968: 537,000 Monthly Casualties average… 1965: 172 1966: 412 1967: 770 1968: 1,200

  4. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident • North Vietnamese gunboats fire on two American destroyers • LBJ orders retaliatory air strikes against NV The USS Maddux

  5. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • LBJ asks Congress for a resolution giving him the authority to take whatever steps necessary to protect American troops and end the communist aggression. Robert McNamara- “ The Fog of War” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AaGVAipGp0&feature=related August, 1964:LBJ signs the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 

  6. Deeper Into the QuagmireOperation Rolling Thunder In reaction to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident... Massive air attacks designed to crush the NV and make the deployment of ground forces unnecessary Vietnam Airstrikeshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBFBZb-B3Vo

  7. General Westmoreland: “The war of attrition”... Destroy the enemy with relentless bombing & superior fire power... General Westmorland America watches the war unfold on television during the evening news. It is called the... “The living room war”

  8. Controversial tactics begin to stir the conscience of the American public… • “Search & destroy… • 25% of SV are refugees • 3M tons of bombs (3X WW II) - Napalm… - Operation Ranch Hand…

  9. Search & destroy… Apocalypse Now Ride of Valkyries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30QzJKCUekQ

  10. Napalm Napalm attack from “We Were Soldiers... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T6_bpLwTrc Napalm Attack: Trang Bang, Vietnam, June, 1972

  11. Operation Ranch Hand The military code name for spraying herbicides in SE Asia • The military purpose was to remove destroy the foliage that created cover for the enemy • Agent Orange… • -19M gal sprayed • -7M acres sprayed • -30,000 Sq miles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgLlkjsg1uo

  12. Loading… Spraying… …Before After…

  13. The effects of Agent Orange... • Linked to cancer, liver damage, heart disease, reproductive damage, skin diseases & severe nervous disorders. • Linked to physical deformities & mental disabilities in the children of those exposed. • The eco-system of Vietnam has been poisoned... The jungles & rivers of Vietnam are still contaminated.

  14. Ho Chi Minh TrailA major NV supply line connecting NV with SV. Major portions of the trail ran through countries not involved in the war

  15. LBJ & the “credibility gap”... In 1965, 61% of America supported the war effort in Vietnam. With a lack of progress public support for the war began to decrease. The term “credibility gap” questioned the truthfulness of the Johnson administration’s policies and statements regarding Vietnam. Johnson painted an optimistic view of the war, but the images Americans were seeing on the evening news indicated that the war was not going well.

  16. The American Soldier in Vietnam • Average age 19 • Poor • Disproportionately African Amer. & Hispanic • Unable to attend college

  17. American soldiers are frustrated by the circumstances of the war… • Forced to fight by the draft • Home front protest • Who is the enemy?...Unwelcome by the SV • Difficult fighting: Guerilla War; Jungle; swamps; Heat; Rain; Leeches; Fire ants; Snakes; Booby traps • Not welcomed back to U.S… “Baby killers”

  18. What problems accompanied the GIs home? Drugs PTSD

  19. June, 1969 at Tan Son NhutEmpty caskets for shipping bodies home await casualties

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