The Vietnam War

1. The Vietnam War Mitchell Hulyo Aaron Fry

2. Leaders • North Vietnam • Ho Chi Minh • South Vietnam • Ngo Dinh Diem • United States • Lyndon B. Johnson • Richard M. Nixon

3. America Gets Involved • Vietnam divided into two states • North and South Vietnam • North Vietnam was under communist rule • South Vietnam was not • The United States pledged to help South Vietnam oppose Diem

4. Gulf of Tonkin Incident • August of 1964 • North Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked American destroyers off the Gulf of Tonkin • In response President Johnson announced that U.S. forces would stage air strikes against North Vietnam • After this incident President Johnson began to escalate U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

5. Buildup • March 1965 • President Johnson sent 3,500 marines to protect the American air base in Da Nang • These were the first American combat troops in Vietnam • He later authorized ground troops for offensive action • Within six weeks 50,000 troops were in Vietnam • By the end of the year the total of troops in Vietnam would be 184,000

6. The Tet Offensive • January 31, 1968 • Tet- Vietnam’s New Year Holiday • Using the holdiay as cover, Vietcong and North Vietnamese soldiers launched attacks of every major city in South Vietnam • American and South Vietnamese forces responded quickly • For weeks battle went on but the communists yielded to superior U.S. firepower

7. Divided • Hawks- supported the war in Vietnam • Many though challenged President Johnson’s policy of gradual escalation • Doves- believed the Vietnam War could not be won and was morally wrong • They urged withdrawal if U.S. troops • Organized a wide rang of protests against the war, including sit-ins and marches

8. Divided • Conscientious objectors- people who refuse to participate in war because of a strong belief war is wrong • 100,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid war

9. Fighting the War • Vietcong guerrillas dug large networks of tunnels throughout the countryside. • They used the tunnels to hide their movements and to plan hit-and-run attacks on American soldiers • Also to hide from American warfare

10. Chemical Warfare • American forces used napalm- a jellylike substance that burst into flames, sticking to people’s bodies • They also used the herbicide Agent Orange across the Vietnamese countryside • It destroys crops and vegetation where the enemy might hide

11. Election of 1968 • Democrats- Vice President Hubert Humphrey • Republicans- Former Vice President Richard Nixon • Nixon promised to restore “law and order” at home and win with “peace and honor” in Vietnam • In the end Nixon won by a small margin

12. Nixon’s New Course • Nixon began scaling down American involvement in Vietnam • In June 1969 Nixon announced a policy known as Vietnamization • Under this policy American troops gradually withdrew from Vietnam and the South Vietnamese assumed full responsibility for fighting the war • By April 1970, nearly 150,000 soldiers left Vietnam

13. Nixon’s New Course • Nixon the expanded the war into Vietnam’s neighbor Cambodia • Cambodia tried to stay neutral but North Vietnamese soldiers had been carrying arms and supplies through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam • In 1969 the United States began bombing Communist bases in Cambodia • American and South Vietnamese also attacked bases on the ground

14. New Protests • Attacks on Cambodia created a new storm of protest in the United States • Several of these protests ended in tragedy • The worst incident was at Kent University where numerous National Guardsmen opened fire on the crowd killing four students • There was another similar incident at Jackson State College in Jackson Mississippi that left two students dead and 12 injured

15. Trying for Peace • Nixon’s national security adviser Henry Kissinger had secretly began to confer with a North Vietnamese leader • By then troops began to gradually withdrawal from Vietnam

16. Final Years of the Conflict • American involvement in the Vietnam War ended in 1973 • In 1974 the North Vietnamese launched a series of attacks against the South Vietnamese army • By April 29, 1975 North Vietnamese forces were nearing the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon • On April 30, North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon and the South Vietnamese government formally surrendered

17. Effects of the War • The United States • 58,000 died and some 300,000 were • Costs for the war were around $200 billion • Vietnam • South Vietnam • 350,000 died • North Vietnam • Loses range from 500,000 and 1 million • Throughout Vietnam 10 million people were left homeless

18. Remembering the Vietnam War • In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in Washington D.C. • It was known simply as “the Wall” which consists f two slabs of black granite which has the names of the more than 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam • It was designed by Maya Lin

19. Works Cited "The Vietnam War." Digital History. 19 May 2009 <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu "The Vietnam War." The Vietnam War. 19 May 2009 <http://www.vietnampix.com/>. Davidson, James West, and Michael B. Stoff. America: History of Our Nation Civil War to Present. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.