Vietnam part 2 Worksheet

Gulf of Tonkin Incident- U.S. ships fired upon. After a false second day of shooting, Congress gives LBJ power to use military and spending as he sees fit to ‘protect’ U.S.

LBJ’s escalation- Johnson wants to slowly increase U.S. troop involvement in Vietnam. He makes these plans well before telling the American public though, an issue he will soon have to deal with.

Operation Rolling Thunder- plan to bomb N. Vietnamese camps, Ho Chi Minh Trail, etc. in hopes of saving S. Vietnam. The bombing went on for months and still the NVA was running weapons through the trail and was strong enough to continue the war.

In the summer of 1965, LBJ increases U.S. troops in Vietnam by the hundreds of thousands and moves from a steady escalation to full U.S. involvement in this foreign war that is hotly contested at home.

Helicopters played a vital role in this war. They were used to move troops quickly and safely and were also the only means of removing wounded soldiers from the battle field.

Agent Orange was a tool used by the military in an attempt to control some of the jungle terrain. However, the chemical had adverse or negative affects on soldiers and peasants alike and in some cases caused cancer.

Unique characteristics: Tunnel system and ability to make selves ‘invisible’

Use of land minesGuerilla tactics and hit and run fighting style

Search and destroy missions were used by the US in an attempt to separate Viet Cong operatives from Vietnamese peasants. However, this sweeping tactic had negative impact on the peasants.

Napalm is an explosive that was detrimental to anyone and forest that it was dropped on. However, this weapon is difficult to control and hurt civilians and U.S. soldiers alike.

The U.S. tactics of Agent Orange and search and destroy were sweeping tactics that did not take into account the impact they might have on the peasant community of Vietnam.

Credibility gap was the difference between the reality of the war and the story that was portrayed by the Johnson administration. It caused distrust between the people and their government.

For the first time ever, the war was brought into the living rooms of the people still at home and the reports showed a struggling U.S. campaign.

The Tet Offensive was a surprise attack by the NVA and Vietcong on many different cities in S. Vietnam on the Tet or new year. The U.S. lost few casualties and no cities, but the strength of the attack added to Johnson’s credibility gap.

After the Tet Offensive and the success of RFK in politics, LBJ announced that he would not run for re-election.

16. Robert Kennedy

17. Richard Nixon