•Indochinese war for independence after WW2•Indochina was divided into North- and South Vietnam and gained independence along with Cambodia and Laos

• Temporary partition, north and south

• The Geneva Convention,northern vietnamese fled southwards

• The domino theory, communism• Insurgency in the South• National Front for the Liberation

of South Vietnam (NLF)

• John F. Kenedy won election in the US• South Vietnam needs military help• More frequent attacks from the north• The Ho Chi Minh trail (supply route)• The Green Beret was sent in

• USS Maddox attacked by torpedoes• US outnumbered, 1/10• Operation Rolling Thunder, 1965-69• Bombed back to the Stone Age• 1965, 3,500 US Marines were

dispatched to the south• Defense, 200,000 by Dec.• Shake ’n’ Bake soldiers• No where safe for Americans

• Most toxic dioxin available (Agent Orange), 75,700,000 liters sprayed

• PAVN/NLF hidden under triple-canopy jungle

• Completely removes foliage• In 2006, 4,000,000 victims of dioxin

poisoning in Vietnam

• 80.000 troops struck

more than 100 cities and military objectives

• The Offensive was a great defeat

• Started the anti-war movement in USA

• President Nixon started cutting down on the number of troops in Vietnam

• Was caused by low morale among the troops and lack of support in the USA

• The Army was replaced by the ”Vietnamization” groups

• Final large scale offensive• The goal was to defeat the South

Vietnamese forces and force the surrender of the goverment

• The Fall of Saigon in 1975 marked the end of the war

• US defeat, political?• Third Indochina War, 1979• Communist takeover, 2 mio. civilians

fled• US turned their back to the marines• No aid for veterans suffering mental

or physical disabilities, turned to begging or crime