Vietnam

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Vietnam
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Vietnam Through 1945

• Had been colonized by the French in late 1800s
• Seized by Japan at onset of WWII
• After Japan surrendered in 1945, French attempted
  to resume control, but met stiff resistance from
  the Vietnamese

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Ho Chi Minh

• 1890 1969
• Real name Nguyen Tat Thanh
• Ho Chi Minh means Bringer of Light
• Former teacher who became leader of Vietnams
  Communist Party
• During the Japanese occupation, organized a
  nationalist resistance group known as the Vietminh

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US Support

• During WWII, the US sent military aid to the
  Vietminh, but once the war was over, the US
  supported the French efforts to reclaim Vietnam
• US did not support colonialism, but feared
  communism more picked what it considered to be
  the lesser of two evils
• US policy was reinforced after China and North
  Korea both became communist states

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The French Withdraw

• Despite extensive US support, the French were
  defeated by the Vietminh, who waged a campaign of
  guerrilla warfare
• In May of 1954, the French lost the battle of
  Dien Bien Phu and decided to withdraw from Vietnam

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The Geneva Accords

• The French agreed to leave Vietnam
• Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel into a
  communist North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and
  a pro-western South Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem

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Ngo Dinh Diem

• 1901 - 1963
• Refused to consider allowing elections to reunite
  Vietnam into a single state out of fears that
  such elections would not be conducted
  legitimately in the communist North

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The Vietcong

• As tensions rose between North and South, Ho Chi
  Minh organized a new guerrilla army to conduct
  raids against the South
• The US responded by sending military advisors to
  train the Souths military

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Kennedy Increases US Aid

• After taking office in 1961, John Kennedy made
  the protection of South Vietnam a top US priority
• During his presidency, the number of American
  military personnel in Vietnam jumped from 2000 to
  15,000
• Kennedy also pressured Diem to create a more
  democratic government in the South

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Diems Popularity Fades

• Diem did little to improve to help the mostly
  peasant population of the South and his
  popularity quickly faded
• Diem, who was Catholic, also tried to suppress
  Buddhism, which was the dominant religion of the
  Vietnamese

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Diems Downfall

• In Nov. 1963, the US decided to support a coup
  led by Diems generals against him, believing
  that Diems regime was no longer viable
• The overthrow led to a weakening of the Souths
  government, forcing the US to assume more
  responsibility for maintaining the Souths
  independence

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The Gulf of Tonkin

• In August 1964, US warships off the Vietnamese
  coast were attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo
  boats
• The US ships had been assisting the South in
  espionage against the North, but were attacked
  without direct provocation
• Aug. 7, 1964 Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
  Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take
  all necessary measures to repel any threat to
  US forces in the region

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Operation Rolling Thunder

• Johnson decided to respond to attacks on US
  forces with a sustained bombing campaign against
  the North, beginning in March 1965
• The same month, Johnson ordered US combat troops
  into Vietnam

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Vietcong Tactics

• Hit-and-run Guerrilla warfare
• Booby traps, land mines, and suicide bombings
• Often wore no military uniforms so that they
  could blend in with the local population

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The Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Network of jungle paths which allowed for arms,
  supplies, and soldiers to move south out of North
  Vietnam, often through the neighboring nations of
  Laos or Cambodia
• US could not strike at the these supply lines
  because they passed through countries not
  involved in the war

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US Tactics in Response

• Napalm jellied gasoline which explodes on
  contact, coating everything it contacts with a
  burning gel
• Agent Orange chemical defoliant which stripped
  leaves from trees, destroying the Vietcongs cover

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Underestimating the Enemy

• North had a willingness to accept huge numbers of
  casualties
• North received extensive military support from
  both the Chinese and the Soviets

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US Policy Makes the War Unwinnable

• President Johnson was unwilling to order a
  full-scale invasion of North Vietnam due to fears
  that it would provoke China into entering the war
  directly
• Johnsons refusal to act to cut off the Ho Chi
  Minh Trail meant that supplies would continue to
  flow uninterrupted

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The Television War

• Public support for the war had been high in the
  mid-60s, but as the reality of the war was
  displayed nightly on television news programs,
  Americans enthusiasm quickly eroded
• Viewers had to decide whether to believe the
  governments claims that we were winning, or
  trust what they saw on TV they chose television

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Hawks vs. Doves

• Hawks supported escalating the war as a noble
  fight against communism, buying into the domino
  theory that if Vietnam fell, so would all of
  Southeast Asia
• Doves opposed the war and called on the
  government to pull out of Vietnam completely

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Teach-Ins

• Beginning with the University of Michigan and
  spreading to hundreds of college campuses
  nationwide, professors and students joined
  together in abandoning their courses in favor of
  holding serious debates over whether or not the
  war in Vietnam was ethical

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The Draft

• College students (who tended to be from white,
  middle or upper-class families) could win draft
  deferments, while those who could not afford
  college (many from poor minorities) found
  themselves more at risk of being drafted and
  deployed to Vietnam
• African Americans made up about 10 of the US
  population, but accounted for 20 of US
  casualties during the war

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Draft-dodging

• Many publicly burned their draft cards or refused
  to register
• Some chose to leave the US, fleeing to Canada or
  Europe
• Some refused to serve when drafted, choosing to
  do time in prison over fighting

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High Profile Protests

• April 1965 SDS organized a march on Washington
  of more than 20,000 protestors
• April 1967 MLK spoke out in protest of the war,
  especially its high toll on poor minorities
• Oct. 1967 A second protest in Washington drew
  thousands more than the one two years before

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The 26th Amendment

• 1971
• Public outcry erupted over drafting young men at
  age 18 when they could not vote until 21
• Rather than raise the age for service, the voting
  age was lowered to 18

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The Tet Offensive

• January 1968
• During the holiday season of Tet (Vietnamese New
  Year) the Vietcong launched a surprise attack,
  hitting nearly every US base and major South
  Vietnamese city at the same time

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Tet Attack on US Embassy

• The Vietcong even attacked the US Embassy in the
  capital of Saigon
• The Tet Offensive was a costly failure for the
  Vietcong, costing them huge casualties, but the
  American public was deeply shocked that such an
  attack could have occurred from an enemy the
  government claimed was nearly beaten

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The Media Turns Against the War

• The Wall Street Journal began to openly criticize
  the war as a failure
• CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite
  declared It is more certain than ever that the
  bloody experience in Vietnam is to end in a
  stalemate
• President Johnsons approval rating plummeted to
  26

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Nixon Tries to End the War

• After Richard Nixon became president in 1969, he
  began gradually scaling back the number of US
  ground troops in Vietnam, turning the war over to
  US trained South Vietnamese troops in a process
  he termed Vietnamization

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US Shifts Strategy

• At the same time, Nixon stepped up US air strikes
  against the North and allowed the bombing of
  Vietcong sanctuaries and supply routes in
  Cambodia
• Nixon wanted the US to be able to negotiate an
  end to the war with the North from a position of
  strength, so a complete US withdrawal wasnt
  practical

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Henry Kissinger

• Appointed by Nixon to try a diplomatic approach
  to ending the war
• Kissinger tried to improve US relations with
  China and the USSR in an effort to undermine
  their material support for the Vietcong
• Also entered into secret cease-fire talks with
  North Vietnam, but these talks drug on for 4 years

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My Lai Massacre

• Spring 1968
• American platoon massacred over 200 unarmed
  Vietnamese civilians, mostly children and the
  elderly, in the village of My Lai
• When the story broke in Nov. 1969, Americans were
  horrified and many began to believe this one
  event was symptomatic that all US soldiers were
  becoming baby killers

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US Invades Cambodia

• In April 1970, Nixon announced that US troops had
  entered Cambodia to destroy Vietcong bases and
  supply lines
• Many Americans saw this as a widening of the war
  and as a betrayal of Nixons promise to end it

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Violence on Campus

• May 4, 1970 Student protestors on the campus of
  Kent State University in Ohio were fired on by
  soldiers of the Ohio National Guard, killing 4
  and wounding 9
• 10 days later, police killed 2 student protestors
  at Jackson State College in Mississippi

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An Angry Congress

• Nixon had not informed Congress of his
  authorization of the invasion of Cambodia
• December 1970 Congress repealed the Gulf of
  Tonkin Resolution, removing the presidents
  authority to solely direct the war

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The Pentagon Papers

• 1971 former Dept. of Defense employee Daniel
  Ellsberg leaked classified documents to the New
  York Times
• These documents revealed that the White House and
  military had deliberately acted to deceive
  Congress, the media, and the public about how the
  war was progressing

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The Christmas Bombings

• After peace talks broke down in December 1972,
  Nixon ordered a relentless bombing campaign
  against the North
• B-52 bombers hit targets in North Vietnam for 11
  straight days
• To stop the bombing, the North agreed to return
  to the bargaining table

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The Paris Peace Accords

• Signed Jan. 27, 1973
• US promised to withdraw all troops
• Both sides agreed to exchange prisoners
• North Vietnamese troops were NOT required to
  withdraw from the South
• No permanent peace was promised between North and
  South

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The War Powers Act of 1973

• Passed to place limits on the presidents power
  to engage the military in combat operations
• Requires the president to inform Congress within
  48 hours of committing US troops and to withdraw
  those troops with 60 to 90 days unless Congress
  approves their mission

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The South Falls

• March 1975
• North launched a full-scale invasion of the South
• Nixon had promised US aid if the North violated
  the treaty, but Nixon had been forced to resign
  due to the Watergate scandal and Congress refused
  to approve any new involvement in Vietnam
• By April 30, the North had conquered the South

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The Costs of Vietnam

• US spent 170 billion on the war
• Over 58,000 American dead and over 300,000
  wounded
• Over 1700 Americans remain Missing In Action
  (MIA)
• Over 1 million refugees from Southeast Asia
  emigrated to the US
• Americans had lost faith in their governments
  ability to be honest with them

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Failing Our Veterans

• Returning veterans were treated as pariahs rather
  than as heroes who had served their country
• Many suffered from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
  (PTSD) from the psychological stresses of
  fighting an enemy who was willing to sacrifice
  human life on a scale foreign to American
  sensibilities

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The Wall

• Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Dedicated in 1982
• Inscribed with the names of all US military
  personnel killed or missing in action during the
  Vietnam War

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