Introduction to the Vietnam war

1. Vietnam had been split into North and South after WWII. The North was Communist and the South was Democratic. Elections were supposed to be held to unify the country. The south refused, and it’s president held a fake election and brutally captured and tortured people he considered “communists.” The U.S.A supported the S. Vietnamese government despite corruption and brutality because we didn’t want to see the country become communist. Introduction to the Vietnam war

2. The logic used to justify the war was a logical fallacy. In the 1950’s, the United States was worried that this small country would become communist. This would lead to a cascade of other countries becoming communist. What’s the fallacy? Slippery slope. Introduction to the Vietnam war

3. The U.S. claimed some of our warships were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, while in international waters near Vietnam. Documents later proved this to be a lie: “The Pentagon Papers.” Introduction to the Vietnam war

4. The longest war in American History 11 years. Dropped more bombs on Vietnam than on Germany in all of World War II. “The most powerful nation in the world, producing 60 percent of the world's wealth, using the most advanced weapons known to military science short of atomic bombs, has been unable to defeat an army of peasants, at first armed with homemade and captured weapons, then with modern firearms supplied from outside, but still without an air force, navy, or heavy artillery” (Howard Zinn). A few facts about Vietnam

5. Estimated dead 2,122,244 Americans killed - 58,169 304,000 wounded 1 in 10 Americans who served in Vietnam were casualties The US flew 1,899,688 sorties and dropped 6,727,084 tons bombs on Indo China, compared with the 2,700,00 tons of bombs dropped on Germany during the Second World War A few facts about Vietnam

6. Napalm Napalm was developed by Harvard University chemists. It was a powder mixed with gasoline to make it “gel” and stick to its target. - Napalm explosions used up the oxygen in the region, increasing Carbon Dioxide concentrations to up to 20%. 0.4 percent can be fatal. People often passed out and burned from lack of oxygen.

7. While we’re fighting so Vietnam would be free from communism… We were still discriminating at home. Vietnam and Civil Rights movement in America

8. The Draft • There was a mandatory draft for Vietnam. Nearly 2,000,000 people were drafted and over 2 million people served. • The average U.S. serviceman was nineteen years old. • This compares with twenty-six years of age for those who participated in World War II. Soldiers served a one year tour of duty. • They called the training schedule for new, young recruits “Shake and Bake” because it was so accelerated. • You could APPLY for several kinds of draft deferments, especially if you were in college. Influential, wealthy people seemed to get a lot of draft deferments. • Former vice president Dick Cheney, received five different draft deferments. He received a draft deferment to continue college even after he became eligible to be drafted because of his poor grades at Yale. Cheney also received a deferment when he was married, and later when he had a child. • The slogan “We won’t go!” was developed.

9. By late 1966, the United States was spending for the Vietnam war at an annual rate of twenty billion dollars, enough to give every family in South Vietnam (whose normal annual income is not more than several hundred dollars) about $5,000 for the year. Some Facts

10. Some Facts • The Pentagon disclosed in 1966 that it had paid to relatives an average of $34 in condolence money for each Vietnamese killed accidentally in American air strikes during that summer. At the same time, according to reports from Saigon, the Air Force was paying $87 for each rubber tree destroyed accidentally by bombs.

11. A Chicago newspaper, asked by a reader if it were true that for every enemy soldier it killed in Vietnam the United States was killing six civilians. The reporter replied that this was not true; we were killing only four civilians for every soldier. Some Facts

12. The US still searches for missing servicemen and pursues rumors of Americans left behind. The US lists 1,992 Americans unaccounted for from the war. The Pentagon has stopped pursuing 646 of the cases, and the rest remain open. Some Facts

13. Fought in the air force in WWII. B.A. – N.Y.U. PhD. – Columbia U. Rhodes Scholar and professor @ University of Paris. About Howard Zinn

14. Tim O’brien in Vietnam About Tim O’Brien • Grew up in Worthington, MN. Turkey Capital of the World! • Graduated college in 1968 and received a draft notice. • Was part of an “unlucky” American Military division that had been involved in the My Lai massacre in 1968. • Tim O’Brien’s tour of duty began in 1969, a year after the massacre. But it is said that every platoon has a story similar to My Lai. • Went to Harvard after the war. Became a newspaper reporter. • Is now a professor of creative writing at Southwest Texas State University.

15. Tim O’Brien in Vietnam About Tim O’brien • Books include: • If I Die in a Combat Zone, box me up and ship me home • The Things They Carried • July, July • Going After Cacciato • Tomcat in Love • The Nuclear Age • Tim O’brien felt his most cowardly act was going to war. He almost ran to Canada to escape the draft, but didn’t. • Despite receiving a combat infantry badge and a purple heart, he considers his decision not to dodge the draft his most cowardly moment.

16. Tim O’brien in Vietnam Awards he’s won • National Book Award in fiction • France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger • Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award • James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians • Named best novel of the year by Time magazine • The short story “The Things They Carried” was publish in the best American Short Stories of the Century anthology.