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The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War. Mitchell Hulyo Aaron Fry. Leaders. North Vietnam Ho Chi Minh South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem United States Lyndon B. Johnson Richard M. Nixon. America Gets Involved. Vietnam divided into two states North and South Vietnam North Vietnam was under communist rule

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The Vietnam War

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  1. The Vietnam War Mitchell Hulyo Aaron Fry

  2. Leaders • North Vietnam • Ho Chi Minh • South Vietnam • Ngo Dinh Diem • United States • Lyndon B. Johnson • Richard M. Nixon

  3. America Gets Involved • Vietnam divided into two states • North and South Vietnam • North Vietnam was under communist rule • South Vietnam was not • The United States pledged to help South Vietnam oppose Diem

  4. Gulf of Tonkin Incident • August of 1964 • North Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked American destroyers off the Gulf of Tonkin • In response President Johnson announced that U.S. forces would stage air strikes against North Vietnam • After this incident President Johnson began to escalate U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

  5. Buildup • March 1965 • President Johnson sent 3,500 marines to protect the American air base in Da Nang • These were the first American combat troops in Vietnam • He later authorized ground troops for offensive action • Within six weeks 50,000 troops were in Vietnam • By the end of the year the total of troops in Vietnam would be 184,000

  6. The Tet Offensive • January 31, 1968 • Tet- Vietnam’s New Year Holiday • Using the holdiay as cover, Vietcong and North Vietnamese soldiers launched attacks of every major city in South Vietnam • American and South Vietnamese forces responded quickly • For weeks battle went on but the communists yielded to superior U.S. firepower

  7. Divided • Hawks- supported the war in Vietnam • Many though challenged President Johnson’s policy of gradual escalation • Doves- believed the Vietnam War could not be won and was morally wrong • They urged withdrawal if U.S. troops • Organized a wide rang of protests against the war, including sit-ins and marches

  8. Divided • Conscientious objectors- people who refuse to participate in war because of a strong belief war is wrong • 100,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid war

  9. Fighting the War • Vietcong guerrillas dug large networks of tunnels throughout the countryside. • They used the tunnels to hide their movements and to plan hit-and-run attacks on American soldiers • Also to hide from American warfare

  10. Chemical Warfare • American forces used napalm- a jellylike substance that burst into flames, sticking to people’s bodies • They also used the herbicide Agent Orange across the Vietnamese countryside • It destroys crops and vegetation where the enemy might hide

  11. Election of 1968 • Democrats- Vice President Hubert Humphrey • Republicans- Former Vice President Richard Nixon • Nixon promised to restore “law and order” at home and win with “peace and honor” in Vietnam • In the end Nixon won by a small margin

  12. Nixon’s New Course • Nixon began scaling down American involvement in Vietnam • In June 1969 Nixon announced a policy known as Vietnamization • Under this policy American troops gradually withdrew from Vietnam and the South Vietnamese assumed full responsibility for fighting the war • By April 1970, nearly 150,000 soldiers left Vietnam

  13. Nixon’s New Course • Nixon the expanded the war into Vietnam’s neighbor Cambodia • Cambodia tried to stay neutral but North Vietnamese soldiers had been carrying arms and supplies through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam • In 1969 the United States began bombing Communist bases in Cambodia • American and South Vietnamese also attacked bases on the ground

  14. New Protests • Attacks on Cambodia created a new storm of protest in the United States • Several of these protests ended in tragedy • The worst incident was at Kent University where numerous National Guardsmen opened fire on the crowd killing four students • There was another similar incident at Jackson State College in Jackson Mississippi that left two students dead and 12 injured

  15. Trying for Peace • Nixon’s national security adviser Henry Kissinger had secretly began to confer with a North Vietnamese leader • By then troops began to gradually withdrawal from Vietnam

  16. Final Years of the Conflict • American involvement in the Vietnam War ended in 1973 • In 1974 the North Vietnamese launched a series of attacks against the South Vietnamese army • By April 29, 1975 North Vietnamese forces were nearing the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon • On April 30, North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon and the South Vietnamese government formally surrendered

  17. Effects of the War • The United States • 58,000 died and some 300,000 were • Costs for the war were around $200 billion • Vietnam • South Vietnam • 350,000 died • North Vietnam • Loses range from 500,000 and 1 million • Throughout Vietnam 10 million people were left homeless

  18. Remembering the Vietnam War • In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in Washington D.C. • It was known simply as “the Wall” which consists f two slabs of black granite which has the names of the more than 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam • It was designed by Maya Lin

  19. Works Cited "The Vietnam War." Digital History. 19 May 2009 <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu "The Vietnam War." The Vietnam War. 19 May 2009 <http://www.vietnampix.com/>. Davidson, James West, and Michael B. Stoff. America: History of Our Nation Civil War to Present. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.

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