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Vietnam War: Escalation under LBJ

Vietnam War: Escalation under LBJ. How does the US escalate the War in Vietnam?. Aug. 1964: USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy are attacked in Tonkin Gulf. LBJ asks Congress to pass Tonkin Gulf Resolution – gives LBJ broad military powers.

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Vietnam War: Escalation under LBJ

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  1. Vietnam War: Escalation under LBJ How does the US escalate the War in Vietnam?

  2. Aug. 1964: USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy are attacked in Tonkin Gulf • LBJ asks Congress to pass Tonkin Gulf Resolution – gives LBJ broad military powers • After JFK assassinated in Dallas, President Johnson will step up the military campaign • LBJ launches bombing campaign, Operation Rolling Thunder in NV

  3. Search & Destroy (1965-1968) • Secy of State Dean Rusk and Secy of Defense Robert McNamara advise LBJ to send more troops into Vietnam • 1964: General Westmoreland takes command in Vietnam. Not impressed by S. Vietnamese Army (ARVN) – wants more US troops • March 1965: 180K US combat troops land in Da Nang, SV • Westmoreland strategy is to defeat VC’s morale (incl. body count) • US launches “search & destroy” missions to root out VC

  4. Fighting N. Vietnamese Army & Vietcong in the jungles is tough since VC had elaborate system of underground tunnels (pg 738) • To destroy VC tunnels US starts using Napalm & Agent Orange (Napalm burns trees, AO is chemical defoliant) • 300,000 troops in Vietnam by 1967, US troop morale is sinking b/c of repeated VC attacks in cities and military censorship • Horrors of war leads to an abuse of marijuana & alcohol by many soldiers • Televising the war was also hurting popular opinion of the war • LBJ & Westmoreland tell the public we are winning, war ending soon

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