Vietnamese History

2. Vietnamese History • Foreign domination of Vietnam had lasted centuries: • China: off and on for hundreds of years • France: 1800 until World War II • Japan: during World War II Military hero: Tran Hung Dao

3. Vietnamese Nationalism • Ho Chi Minh • Joined independence movement fighting French rule during his youth • Became an advocate of communism while visiting Soviet Union and founded Indochinese Communist Party • Returned to Vietnam in 1941 and led struggle against Japanese • Vietminh • Led by Ho Chi Minh • Formed to fight Japan • Received aid from USA

4. French Return to Vietnam • Post WW II – USA backs French in returning to rule in Indochina • Domino Theory motivates USA • If Vietnam fell to communism, other surrounding nations would follow • Vietminh continue struggle for independence • Guerilla tactics: hit and run, ambush, use jungles to hide

5. Vietnam Gains Independence • 1954 - Vietminh victory at Dien Bien Phu forces France to withdraw from Indochina • Vietnamese independence is negotiated in the Geneva Accords • French Indochina becomes North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia • Vietnam divided at 17th Parallel • North Vietnam: communist under Ho Chi Minh • South Vietnam: USA supported under Ngo Dinh Diem • Elections to unite Vietnam scheduled for 1956 • 1956 elections never held • Ho Chi Minh would have been a certain winner

6. Dien Bien Phu

8. Battle at Dien Bien Phu

10. American Involvement Deepens • Ho Chi Minh forms guerilla army (Vietcong) to unify nation • USA supports South Vietnam’s military with aid and advisors • Eisenhower and Kennedy use this policy • Goal - prevent spread of communism • Vietcong grow more powerful and influential • Ngo Dinh Diem overthrown and executed in 1963 • Unpopular reforms • Persecution of Buddhists • USA supports series of weak, unstable gov’ts in South Vietnam

11. Flames envelope a young Buddhist monk in Saigon, 1963.

13. LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin • LBJ reports North Vietnam attacked USA destroyers in Gulf of Tonkin • He did not report that USA had been conducting raids against North Vietnam • LBJ requests and receives Congressional approval for Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • Authorized President to “take all necessary measures” against North Vietnam • Gave war powers to LBJ

17. Operation Rolling Thunder • LBJ ordered Operation Rolling Thunder(1965) • Massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam and it’s capital Hanoi • 180,000 combat troops ordered to Vietnam • USA arrives confident of its strength and purpose • By 1966 the numbers doubled • Vietcong escalate attacks on USA positions • Dear America

20. Leaflet Dropped by USA in Vietnam

21. Leaflet dropped by USA in Vietnam • Follow these Instructions below to Surrender • Go out and present yourself to the Vietnam Republic Force, or be alienated with those who are half-naked. • Carry your Gun on your shoulder with the Barrel pointed to the ground. • Place your hands behind your head. • Don't be Scared you are Welcome

22. Frustrating Warfare • Vietcong were effective guerilla fighters and stayed well hidden in villages and jungles • USA used “search and destroy” missions to locate Vietcong • Destroyed landscape and eliminate hiding places in jungle • Napalm(jellied gasoline) • Agent Orange(strips leaves from trees) • Dear America

24. U.S. soldiers on a search-and-destroy patrol in Phuoc Tuy province, South Vietnam, June 1966.

25. Questioning villagers in search for Vietcong

26. Napalm

27. Agent Orange

28. A young Viet Cong suspect cries after hearing a rifle shot. His captors, Chinese Nung tribesmen in the service of the U.S. Special Forces, pretended to shoot his father, a ruse designed to make the boy reveal information

29. Murder of a Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief Vietnam, 1968.

30. Vietcong: Determined Enemy • Vietcong: • Largely comprised of South Vietnamese fighting for independence • North Vietnam supported Vietcong guerillas • Sent arms and supplies south along Ho Chi Minh Trail • USA : • Underestimated Vietcong’s strength and determination • Tactics (limited war of attrition) did not work against Vietcong or North Vietnamese • Support for war begins to weaken • Dear America

32. Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos

33. Credibility Gap • General William Westmoreland(top American commander in South Vietnam) continually reported that the enemy was on the brink of defeat • Vietnam becomes “television war” • Media accounts contradicted Westmoreland • Credibility gap develops between government accounts of war and public perception

34. TetOffensiveVideo • 1/30/1968 – Tet(Vietnamese New Year) • Vietcong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) launch surprise attacks • American base camps • Major South Vietnamese cities • Communist forces retreat after a month of intense fighting • Suffer heavy casualties, but score a political victory • Americans were shocked at strength of enemy • Majority in USA turn against war

36. Tet Offensive

37. Hue, 1968

38. Hue, 1968

39. Khe Sanh under fire, 1968

40. Khe Sanh, 1968

42. Antiwar Movement • 1965 – first teach-in (leave classes and gather for discussions of war) occurs • Protests against draft become widespread • Many publicly burn draft cards • Nearly 500,000 draftees refuse to serve • Many faced jail or fled to Canada • Nation divides into hawks(pro-war) and doves(anti-war) • Dear America

44. Early USA protest, 1966

49. Election of 1968 • LBJ chooses not to run for re-election • Declining popularity due to war • Democratic candidates run a closely contested primary • Hubert Humphrey • Eugene McCarthy • Robert Kennedy (assassinated in June, 1968) • Republican Richard Nixon wins close election over Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace

50. “We are winning the war”