The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War

• A History of
• U.S. involvement

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HOW DID WE GET HERE?
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Vietnam colony of France

• Indochina (Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia) was part of
  the French Empire
• Japanese invaded Indochina during WWII
• When Japanese are defeated, France wants Vietnam
  back

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Ho Chi Minh resists French Rule

• Nationalist/ Communist
• Helped the U.S. use guerrilla warfare to defeat
  the Japanese
• Declared Vietnam independent after WWII
• Western nations, led by France, refuse to
  recognize independent Vietnam

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FIRST Vietnam War

• France v. Vietnam
• War lasts from 1946-1954
• Fall of Dien Bien Phu (1954)
• Round One Minh
• US backed France with 2B in aid, pointing to the
  policy of containment and the domino theory

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Geneva Accords

• Geneva Accords
• End First Vietnam War France defeated
• Elections are promised in 1956
• Temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th
  parallel
• North Vietnam
• Communist government under Ho Chi Minh
• Pushing for independence, united Vietnam, and
  elections
• South Vietnam
• Pro-Western government under Diem

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Ngo Dinh Diem

• Aristocratic, Catholic family with ties to
  Emperor Bao Dai
• Anti-communist

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Vietnam Divided
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1956 No democracy for you!

• Elections, while promised by the US and France at
  Geneva, were never held in 1956
• 1955-1960 US sends 1B in aid to Diem as civil
  war breaks out
• Diem is a repressive and brutal leader

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Buddhist Monk protests Diem
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US Involvement Escalates

• John F. Kennedy 1961-1963
• Sent 16,000 advisors
• Diem assassinated, with US support
• Kennedy assassinated 13 days later
• Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 - 1969
• Sent more Green Beret advisors
• By 1964, North Vietnam controlled almost half of
  the South

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US Involvement Escalates

• Gulf of Tonkin Incident - August 1964
• U.S. ships attacked in the Tonkin Gulf
• LBJ asks Congress to authorize use of military to
  prevent further aggression
• Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Resolution gives LBJ power to take all means
  necessary to protect US interests

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US Involvement Escalates

• December 1965 The Draft
• 2.6 million will serve in Vietnam
• Average age was 19 younger than WWII
• The poor and uneducated were drafted at higher
  percentages

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US Involvement Escalates

• The War Intensifies (1965 1967)
• U.S. ground troops 500,000
• Many civilian casualties it was hard to tell
  who was an enemy
• If its dead and Vietnamese, its Vietcong. -
  Army Officer

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Tet Offensive

• Turning point in the Vietnam War
• U.S. involvement started little then escalated
• Began on January of 1968
• Vietnams Lunar New Year (most important holiday
  to them)

Its silly talking about how many years we will
have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we
could pave the whole country and put parking
stripes on it and still be home for Christmas
-Ronald Regan 1965
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Viet Cong will not surrender

• Tet Offensive January 1968
• North Vietnamese surprise attack on the New Year
• Within hours 100 cities and 12 military bases
  were under attack
• A military victory for the U.S. but a media
  victory for the Viet Cong
• Turning point in war.

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Cambodia

• 1970-Nixon announces bombing in Cambodia
• Bombed supply trails
• From March-May doubled number of bombs sent
• Estimated 600,000 people were killed

No event in American history is more
misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was
misreported then and is misremembered now.
Richard Nixon 1985
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Atrocities at My Lai

• Many soldiers admit killing women and children,
  some by accident, some on purpose
• Soldiers were also killed by friendly fire

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NIXON takes over

• Vietnamization
• Trained and equipped S. Vietnamese military to
  replace American forces
• 60,000 US ground troops withdrawn
• By 1972 only 24,000 US troops remain

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Second Vietnam War Ends

• January 27, 1972 Paris Accords
• Cease fire agreement between the US, N. Vietnam
  and S. Vietnam
• By 1975
• Communist forces overran S. Vietnam
• April 30 S. Vietnam surrendered unconditionally
  
• ALL OF VIETNAM UNITED UNDER COMMUNISM
• Many Americans escaped the US embassy by
  helicopter as N. Vietnamese troops invaded Saigon
  (capital of S. Vietnam).

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Evacuation from Saigon
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Consequences of Vietnam

• 3,400,000 Vietnamese died
• 58,000 Americans died
• 300,000 Wounded
• 2,300 MIA missing in action
• More than 600 Prisoners of War
• Senator John McCain was a POW for over 5 years
• Veterans returned to America
• Many turned to drugs and became homeless
• Use of Agent Orange Chemical linked to medical
  problems

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Senator John McCain POW for 5 years in North
Vietnamese Prison Camp