Do Now: Read the following selection. Think about what a soldier might be thinking during this experience.

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Do Now Read the following selection. Think
about what a soldier might be thinking during
this experience.

• You carried 50- 70 pounds of equipment, and it
  was tough going , particularly in the forested
  areas. Often youd have to pull yourself along
  from one tree branch to the next, or wed have to
  help each other by gripping hands. And you
  couldnt see anything, so you didnt know what
  was there around you.
• -Sergeant William Ehrhart
• US Marines

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The Vietnam War EraUS INVOLVEMENT GROWS

• WHAT WERE THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF AMERICAS
  GROWING INVOLVEMENT IN THE VIETNAM WAR?

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Americanizing the War

• February 1965
• President Johnson
• Operation Rolling Thunder a massive bombing
  campaign against North Vietnam
• Fighting continues

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American Assumptions and Strategies

• Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
• General William Westmoreland
• Between 65-73 6 million tons of bombs on
  enemy positions
• Napalm and Agent Orange
• Ground troops
• Search and destroy missions for Vietcong
• Helicopters for quick strikes

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An Elusive and Determined Enemy

• FIGHT Vietcong TIGERS vs American ELEPHANTS
• GOAL OF TIGERS wear the enemy down
• Hid in tunnels during day
• Ambushed Americans at night
• Infiltrated American bases and set off explosives
• Booby traps

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A Costly and Frustrating War

• Troop commitments and battlefield deaths escalate
  with limited results
• By 1967 stalemate
• By 1968
• gt1/2 million troops
• gt 30,000 casualties
• Corrupt S. Vietnamese government
• quagmire

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Why did McNamara and Westmoreland advise Johnson
to do?

• INCREASE MILITARY PRESENCE
• HAVE US TROOPS DO MORE OF THE FIGHTING

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HOW DID THE VIETCONG WEAR DOWN US TROOPS?

• AMBUSH
• NIGHT FIGHTING
• EXPLOSIVES
• BOOBY TRAPS

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HO CHI MINH TRAIL

• CRUCIAL SUPPLY ROUTE FOR NORTH VIETNAMESE FORCES
  IN SOUTH VIETNAM
• WHERE DOES IT GO THROUGH?
• WHY MIGHT BE A PROBLEM FOR US TO ATTACK?

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PATRIOTISM HEROISM AND SINKING MORALE
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DANGER ON A NEW BATTLEFIELD

• SMALL SQUIRMISHES
• JUNGLES, RICEPADDIES, AND MOUNTAINS
• BLACK PAJAMAS AT NIGHT

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AMERICAN SOLDIERS FULFILL THEIR DUTY

• COMMUNISM
• VILLAGERS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
• SOLDIERS DUTY
• 58,000
• WOMEN

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How would you respond to David?

• I volunteeredEver since the American Revolution
  my family had people in all the different wars,
  and that was the thing when your country needs
  you, you go. You dont ask a lot of questions
• David Ross, US Army medic

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Nurses in Vietnam

• It was the creation of life in the midst of all
  that destruction. And the creation of life
  restored your sanityThose were the things that
  kept you going. That there was life coming. That
  there was still hope.
• -Lynda Van Devanter, US Army nurse

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Morale Declines as War Wear On

• Questioning
• Draft
• Indifference and hostility of South Vietnamese

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DOUBT GROWS ON THE HOME FRONT

• US gtgt superpower
• North Vietnam gtgt poor country
• ____________________________
• Why is this not a quick victory??????

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The War Weakens the Economy
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Antiwar Movement Begins to Emerge