AMERICA DIVIDEDThe Vietnam War

WHAT DO I DO? Use the slides and video clips provided

in the slide show to fill in the blanks on your coursepack worksheets entitled “Hot Events in the Cold War”

Key words are in red for your convenience!

ANOTHER COLD WAR DIVISION Like Korea and

Germany, Vietnam was divided in two following World War 2

North Korea was given a communist government supported by China

South Korea was given a democratic government supported by France

VIETNAM’S LEADERS

Ho Chi Minh of Nguyen Van Thieu of North Vietnam South Vietnam

FRENCH WITHDRAWAL From 1950 France

and USA worked together to keep South Vietnam free from attack from the North

French forces withdrew in 1957 and American troops replaced them

GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION In 1964 North

Korea bombed the US naval destroyer, the Maddox

US President Lyndon B. Johnson responded with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to increase US action in Vietnam

The war was ON!

Beginnings of the Vietnam War

US AIR STRIKES ON VIETNAM

DEADLY NAPALM

U.S. napalm bomb strike in South Vietnam, 1966. The USA dropped more than 338,000 tons of napalm (jellied gasoline) on Vietnam and killed more than 2 million Vietnamese during eight years of war.

CARPET BOMBING

NAPALM STRIKE 1972

South Vietnamese children burned by napalm accidentally dropped by South Vietnamese planes. Kim Phuc’s clothes were burned off her body.

THE WAR WORSENS By 1966 there were over 500 000 US soldiers

in Vietnam Many South Vietnamese were secretly

working to support the communist North They were the National Liberation Front,

known as Viet Cong They launched some major attacks on the

American troops from within the South including the Tet Offensive

Tet Offensive Video Clip

MY LAI MASSACRE 1968 The Viet Cong made many US soldiers

angry and distrusting of all Vietnamese people, as a result, some vicious atrocities ensued

American troops attacked the village of My Lai, an alleged Viet Cong stronghold, where they raped and killed over 500 civilians

Change your handout to read 500 civilians, not 150

A mother shelters her 13-year-old daughter from molestation by American soldiers just moments before they were slain

THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL The infamous Ho

Chi Minh Trail served as the supply route from North Vietnam to soldiers and Viet Cong in the South

Both sides were forbidden from entering Laos and Cambodia, but both sides did anyways

THE AMERICAN PUBLIC PROTESTS The Vietnam War was the first war

where the US government did not receive 100% full support from the American people

Many men refused to be conscripted, publicly burned draft cards, and many hid in Canada

Anti-war protests were common Washington Anti-War Protest 1969

PEACE TALKS… FINALLY Under much public pressure and after suffering

great loss in Vietnam, the peace talks began in 1972 and US troops withdrew by 1973

Despite the ceasefire, both sides continued to fight

In 1975 North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam for the last time and in 1976 the two halves were united under one communist government

Vietnam remains united today

Watch a scene or two from the movie Platoon; the DVD is available in the History Office

THE END