Vietnam War (1954-1975)

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Vietnam War (1954-1975)
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Asia
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• 1500 miles north- south along coastline
  of Southeast Asia
• Coastal lowlands
• Swampy river deltas
• Plateaus
• Mountain Jungles

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Political Players
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• 900 US troops in Vietnam
• 4,000 US troops in Vietnam
• 200,000 US troops in Vietnam
• 543,000 US troops in Vietnam

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Ho Chi Minh

• Raised under French rulestrong anti-colonialist
• Educated in Pariswell-travelled and cultured
• Impressed by Marxismtrained in Russia as
  revolutionary
• Vision A United Vietnam governed by Vietnamese

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(No Transcript)
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US Strategies of 1960s

• Based on Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964
• US Combat forces to assist the South in fighting
  Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
• Bombing of North Vietnam (later of Cambodia)
• Winning hearts and minds of South Vietnamese

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US Tactics of 60s

• Score-keeping by body count
• Search and destroy missions
• Perimeter defense and fire support bases
• Troop transport by helicopter

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Late 60s-Early 70s Shift

• Expanding weapons of S. Vietnam
• Gradual withdrawal of US troops
• Strategic Hamlet program

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McDonough arrives at this time with 173rd
Airborne Brigade

• M-16
• 173rd uniform
• 
  173rd Brigade

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Platoon Leader on Radio
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Vietnam Village
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End Game

• 1973 Armistice signed among US, North Vietnamese,
  South Vietnamese, and Viet Cong
• 1974 NVA overwhelmed the South
• 1975 Last Marine airlifted from US embassy in
  Saigon

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Lt. Jim McDonoughc. 1971
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James McDonough

• McDonough today
• Secretary of Florida
• Office of Corrections