War In Southeast Asia

1. War In Southeast Asia Ch. 15 Sec 4

2. Background – Indochina under foreign rule • In the early 1900’s France controlled most of resource rich Southeast Asia (French Indochina included what is now Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia). • Vietnamese resist the Japanese during WWII • Vietnamese resist the French

3. Dien Bien Phu Battle of Dien Bien Phu convinces French to leave Vietnam Vietnam Divided into Communist North and Non-Communist South

4. Mao Zedong & Ho Chi Minh meet In Beijing in 1959.

5. Fought... • with the US against the Japanese in WWII • then against the French, • against the US before dying in 1969 Ho Chi Minh

6. “Domino Theory” - the belief that if Vietnam fell to communism, so could other nations of Southern Asia

8. The Vietnam War – The war intensifies

9. Vietcong - VC • Vietnamese see U.S. support of corrupt govt. in the south as foreign interference. • Communist Guerillas, called Vietcong, began to gain strength in the South. • Most where South Vietnamese who hated Diem. • U.S. soldiers commonly called the Vietcong, Charlie (from the NATO Phonetic alphabet Victor Charlie).

11. 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin Resolution North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on the USS Mattox in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2. On August 7, the U.S. Congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson authority to send U.S. troops to South Vietnam.

12. Guerilla War - Problems for the U.S. • Despite having the best equipped most advanced army in the world our soldiers faced 2 major problems: 1) U.S. Troops were fighting a guerilla war in unfamiliar jungle terrain. 2) The South Vietnamese Gov’t that they were defending was becoming more unpopular.

13. U.S troops in Vietnam 1965-185,000 Troops in Vietnam 1968-Half a Million Troops in Vietnam

14. Battle Conditions US had learned how to fight in jungles during island hopping in WWII The Vietcong were relatively “low tech” and did not have best weapons This war should be easy, right?

17. A Huey hovers to off-load members of the 101st Airborne (WWII’s famous “Screaming Eagles”) in a search-and-destroy mission near the DMZ

18. Drop zone. A Huey lifts off after dropping Marines in the jungle

30. North Vietnam’s Strategy Ambushes, booby traps, and guerilla tactics Blend in with native population Led to the mistrust of almost all Vietnamese

31. A Determined Enemy • US underestimated Vietcong’s will to fight. • They were willing to accept huge losses of troops. • For every 1 American who was killed, 10 Vietcong enemy soldiers were killed.

34. Mekong Delta villagers are seen in the “black pajamas” of the VC guerrilla with Soviet-designed weapons

35. The NVA would use a the wide range of weapons

36. Problems for the US • The US was afraid to use too much force • Feared of a Chinese or Russian intervention (remember Korea?) • The goal of US army was not to conquer North Vietnam, but just keep the South safe. This is a difficult strategy. • My Lai Massacre, March 1968, 500+

38. Tin-can Grenades Spiked Ball

39. Booby Traps-pungi sticks

41. The VC used a variety of everyday objects-in this case, a book-to make booby traps

43. A NVA soldier reveals the entrance to a tunnel used as a hiding place by VC guerrillas

44. One of the tunnels in Cu Chi

45. Vietnam US troop levels: 1963: 16,000, 1968: 500,000

47. Vietnam, 1968