vietnam war vietnam. french colony communist resistance –ho chi minh (north) communist leader...
TRANSCRIPT
Vietnam War
Vietnam
French Colony
• Communist Resistance – Ho Chi Minh (North)
• Communist Leader
• Dienbienphu falls 1954• Geneva Conference
– Geneva Conference– Split at 17th parallel– Elections in 2 years (never happened)– Ngo Dinh Diem (South)– Eisenhower promised economic and military aid
Why Should US Get Involved?
• Domino theory– If Vietnam falls to
Communists, so will the rest of Asia.
– Potential of becoming a force in western Hemisphere
JFK Steps In
• Communist get stronger
• 1961 JFK sends more “military advisors”
- Soldiers that are to help train and organize troops in a foreign nation. They are not to participate or lead in combat– Over 15,000
Gulf of Tonkin Incident• August 1964
– Attack on US Navy by N. Vietnamese ships reported
– Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• Gave President power “for all necessary action to protect our Armed Forces” and allies in Southeast Asia
“Escalation”
• President Johnson• Belief that increasing
manpower and the level of war would force N. Vietnam to peace table
Escalation
• March 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder
• Dec. 1965: 180,000 troops
• Dec. 1967: 500,000 troops
• $30 Billion/ year
The War
• Heart and Minds– The strategy that if the US
troops helped and befriended the Vietnamese, then they would help resist communism.
– Increased bitterness as soldiers did not know who to trust
• Body Count– Could not judge success
by taking land.– Caused war to become
especially bloody
• A soldier in Vietnam was called a Grunt
• Draft– College/ essential skill
exempt– African-Americans/
poor most affected
• Average age of a US soldier in Vietnam:– 19
Frustration takes its toll
• Tour of Duty:– Time spent in Vietnam– Rotation system
• Soldiers are placed in units as individuals
• Guerilla Warfare– Hit and run tactics. No definable
enemy.• Difficult to see• Civilians could be the enemy• “booby traps” common
• Disillusionment (0-2:15)
– Some troops becoming disenfranchised with war. Concentration on friends and themselves surviving, not “winning”
– Turns to anger and frustration at times
1967: Siege of Khe SanhConstant attack for 77 straight days
Tet Offensive• January 1968
• Attack on Vietnamese New Year– 27 cities– US embassy in Saigon
• Effects:– Public opinion turned sharply against the war– 200,000 more troops requested– March 31 LBJ announces a freeze and that
he will not run for re-election• Status Quo
My Lai Massacre• March 1968• 28 ambushes or booby trap
incidents causing 5 deaths in one month– No direct contact
• Frustration overcomes army unit
• About 347 killed– Mostly women and children
• 26 soldiers charged– Lt. serves 3 years of life
sentence
• 3 soldiers tried to stop it & were vilified
• Highly publicized
Counterculture• Reaction to social norms of
the 50’s and 60’s– Civil Rights– Anti-war protest
• Hippies– Opposed traditional values that
got America in trouble in the first place: restraint, conformity, sense of right and wrong
– Aimed to live free of these values as demonstrated through fashion, music, and open behavior
• Reflected in:– Drugs– Rock and Roll– Sexual Revolution– Women’s Rights
Places To Be
• Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco– Center for the counterculture– Many young people went
there to live in communes and be free of “traditional” values.
• Woodstock– 3 young entrepreneurs
promise “3 Days of Peace and Music”
– Top music Acts: Jimmie Hendrix, CCR, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin
– Soon went of control when 500,000 showed up
Anti-War Protests
1968 Democratic Convention
• Hubert Humphrey (Dem) Johnson– Pro-war
• Eugene McCarthy (Dem)– Anti-war– “clean for Gene”
• Robert Kennedy– Anti-war– Killed June 5, 1968
• Humphrey wins nomination loses to Nixon in Election
• “The Whole Nation is Watching”
(0-1:00)
Bombing Cambodia
• April 1970• Congress not
consulted• Invaded Cambodia• Fierce protests
– Kent State• 4 dead/ 9 wounded• 100,000 protest in
Washington, DC
• June 29, 1970 Nixon calls back forces
President Nixon Asks for Help
• Asks the “Silent Majority” to make themselves heard in order to counter the protests– Believed that most Americans agreed with the
war but were not as vocal as the minority
• Vietnamization– Nixons plan reduce troops and have S.
Vietnamese stand on their own, militarily.
The Collapse of S. Vietnam
• N. Vietnam invades• Massive evacuation
April 1973• 140,000 South
Vietnamese
Effects
• 55,000 US Soldiers Dead
• Economy Falls– Inflation
• People mistrust the government