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The Course of the Vietnam War

The Course of the Vietnam War. 1954 - 1975. Vietminh & Vietcong. Vietminh: Northern nationalist soldiers who fought with Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese during WWII and the French after WWII.

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The Course of the Vietnam War

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  1. The Course of the Vietnam War 1954 - 1975

  2. Vietminh & Vietcong Vietminh: Northern nationalist soldiers who fought with Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese during WWII and the French after WWII. Vietcong: a.k.a. National Liberation Front (NLF); Southern peasants who fought against Diem and then America, until 1975.

  3. 1957 – 1961: Ho Helps the v.c. • Ho Chi Minh Trail: Network of paths throughout Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; used by Ho Chi Minh to supply V.C. with supplies • Continue training in guerilla warfare.

  4. 1961: JFK Elected • Kennedy & Democrats are accused of being soft on commies. • Increased financial aid to Diem’s regime. • Sent 16,000 “military advisers” to help train South Vietnamese troops.

  5. 1962 – 63: Diem and America Lose Ground in the South Hamlet Program: Diem moved all villagers to protect them from Vietcong that penetrated the southern countryside. Imprisoned and killed Buddhists. 1963: Diem assassinated. 1963: JFK Assassinated.

  6. Buddhist Opposition to Diem

  7. 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson goes to war • LBJ accused of being soft on communism. • 1964 Tonkin Gulf Incident: • North Vietnam launches torpedoes at 2 US ships in Gulf of Tonkin. • LBJ asks Congress for the power to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the U.S. and to prevent further aggression.” • Congress approves the Tonkin Gulf Resolution: • Gives president broad authority to widen America’s role in the war.

  8. The Truth LBJ claimed the attacks on the U.S.S. Maddox were unprovoked. This is a lie! America had been leading secret raids against the North Vietnamese for months. The resolution had been written months beforehand; LBJ was waiting for an opportunity to ask Congress for expanded powers.

  9. 1965: Operation Rolling Thunder First time that LBJ used new war powers granted by the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. First sustained bombing of North Vietnam First American combat troops arrive in South Vietnam; 50,000 US soldiers battle the Vietcong in South Vietnam

  10. 1965 – 1968: Escalation Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara sends 180,000 troops to Vietnam. General Westmoreland (American commander in S. Vietnam) criticizes Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN); says more American troops are necessary. By 1967, 500,000 American troops in Vietnam.

  11. 1965 – 1968: Guerilla Warfare Vietcong used guerilla warfare (hit-and-run, ambush, and use of jungle terrain). This destroyed the notion of a traditional front line by attacking U.S. troops in cities and country. Vietcong lived amidst civilian population. Vietcong tunnels connected villages, allowing fighters to withstand airstrikes, launch surprise attacks and disappear quickly.

  12. War of Attrition You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win.” • Westmoreland’s strategy for was to destroy morale through attrition. • Body count: tracking numbers of Vietcong killed in battle. Westmoreland hoped that as number of Vietcong dead rose, Vietcong would surrender. • Goal is to convince that America is winning.

  13. "Hearts & Minds” Campaign • Goal: keep Vietcong from winning support of S. Vietnam rural communities. • How: • Napalm: set fire to jungle to expose VC tunnels • Agent Orange: leaf-killing toxic chemical to kill jungle foliate • Search-and-destroy missions: uproot civilians, kill livestock, etc.

  14. Tunnels

  15. Losing Faith Civil war within a civil war: North v. South, and in the South – Buddhist v. Non Living-room war: 1st “living-room war”, in which evidence of combat was on TV. Credibility gap: contradiction between LBJ’s, General Westmoreland and Secretary McNamara’s reports and what was actually happening.

  16. 1968: The Most tumultuous year!

  17. Tet Offensive “If I’ve lost Walter, then it’s over. I’ve lost Mr. Average Citizen.” Tet = January 30; Vietnamese equivalent of New Year. Vietcong launched surprise attacks throughout Vietnam, including US Embassy in Saigon. Militarily, Vietcong lost; psychologically, Vietcong won. Tet offensive turned moderates against the war.

  18. 1968 Democratic Convention • LBJ says U.S. will end the war, and decides not to run for a 2nd term. • April 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated • June 1968: Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated • 1968 Democratic Convention: Eugene McCarthy (get America out of Vietnam) v. Hubert Humphrey (LBJ’s VP) • SDS protests; want Democrats to adopt an anti-war platform. • Thousands of protesters were maced and beaten by Chicago police. • Democrats became seen as a party of disorder.

  19. Nixon and Vietnamization I have great glasses….and I advise Nixon on national security issues. 1968: Nixon (Republican) elected; restore law and order end Vietnam war. 1969: Nixon announces first troop withdrawals. Henry Kissinger: Nixon’s National Security Adviser

  20. Election of 1968

  21. Exit plans • Vietnamization: gradual withdrawal of US troops in order for S. Vietnamese to take a more active role in Vietnam. • Peace with Honor: part of Vietnamization; intended to maintain US dignity during its withdrawal; also demanded that South Vietnamese government remain in tact • Nixon still ordered bombing campaigns in North Vietnam and had bombs dropped in Laos and Cambodia

  22. My Lai Massacre American troops massacred innocent civilians in My Lai after finding no Vietcong Turned more Americans, including Nixon’s “silent majority” (moderate Americans who quietly supported Vietnam war) against the war.

  23. 1970 Kent and Jackson State Protests • Kent State, Ohio • Massive student protest; ROTC building burned. • Mayor calls National Guard; shoot into crowd of students, wounding nine and killing four people • Jackson State, Mississippi • National Guardsmen wound twelve and kill two

  24. Kent State Protests

  25. Pentagon Papers • 1970: Congress repeals Tonkin Gulf Resolution, angry that Nixon bombed Cambodia without notifying Congress • 1971: Defense Dept. worker Daniel Ellsberg leaks the Pentagon Papers: • Government docs written for McNamara in 1967 • Reveal that government had plans to enter war while LBJ said it would not; also that no plan to end war. • Confirmed Americans’ beliefs that government was dishonest.

  26. War Powers Act 1974: Nixon resigns; Ford takes over 1975: North Vietnam invades South; Ford can’t help; Saigon falls to North Vietnamese, South Vietnam surrenders Government abolishes the draft War Powers Act: President must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of war; troops can’t be there longer than 90 days unless Congress approves

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