Cold War in Southeast Asia Vietnam War

Vietnam War Background  Early 1900s – France controlled much of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam (French Indochina)  After WWII France attempted to regain control, but were resisted by the Vietminh who proclaimed they wanted self-determination for Vietnam  Japan took over area in WW II and American OSS (Office of Special Services) trained and supplied Vietnamese nationalists in guerilla warfare  These nationalists were called Vietminh & were led by Ho Chi Minh

Vietnam War Background  French repressed Vietminh and war broke out  Vietnam split at 17 th parallel until unified by elections  July 1954 – French & Vietminh forces met in Switz. to settle war, resulting in Geneva Accords  Fr. suffer final defeat (despite U.S. military aid via Eisenhower’s domino theory) at Dien Ben Phu  Ho Chi Minh controlled N., building commie govt. w/Soviet & Chinese aid  U.S. aided in building pro-democratic govt. in S.; Ngo Dinh Diem became president Hanoi Saigon

Vietnam War War between N. & S.  S. Vietnam plagued by many problems; Diem attempted to fix via repression  Opposition to Diem grew; Vietminh in S. formed NLF (National Liberation Front), who were later known as VC (Viet Cong)  1961 – JFK sent in Army special forces to train S. Vietnamese in anti-guerilla warfare tactics  Diem refused for S. to participate in unifying elections (U.S. supported him in this)  Many VC were trained in guerilla tactics, assassination, and terror in the N. by the NVA (North Vietnamese Army)

Vietnam War U.S. Joins War  1962 – Guerilla warfare in S. increased & so does # of military advisors  LBJ got Congress to pass Gulf of Tonkin Resolution = all measures authorized to aid S. Vietnam  2 Aug – N. Vietnamese patrol boats attacked USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin  1963 – 16,000 Green Berets in S. Vietnam  LBJ sent reg. combat troops – Ia Drang Valley  1965 – 1 st direct VC attack on U.S. troops  Operation Rolling Thunder began = bombing of N. Vietnam

Vietnam War U.S. Fights War  1967 – Ho Chi Minh Trail bombed; caused concern of escalation due to its location  VC & NVA launched Tet Offensive (31 Jan.)  1968 – U.S. troops in combat = 543,400  Military failure (200 U.S. vs. 10,000 VC deaths  Psychological success due to extensive & uncensored TV news coverage, causing many Americans to question fighting; dubbed the “Living Room War”  Public protests occurred in U.S., often led by the anti-establishment movement “Hanoi Jane” Fonda (actress)

Vietnam War U.S. Fights War  1969 – Nixon conceived of Vietnamization; by end of year 69,000 U.S. troops had been withdrawn  Violent protest erupted at Kent State Univ.  1970 – Nixon ordered invasion of Cambodia to stop VC use of Ho Chi Minh Trail  1971 – U.S. troop withdrawal resulted in 70% of all combat flights by VNAF (Vietnamese Air Force)  1972 – Nixon ordered heavy bombing of N. (Operation Linebacker 1 & 2) causing peace talks

 South Vietnam was conquered by the NVA; all of Vietnam became communist ruled by Ho Chi Minh Vietnam War U.S. Ends War  Jan – Paris Accords signed  Hundreds of pro-US Vietnamese are left as NVA surround and take Saigon and the U.S. embassy  April 1975 – Ford ordered last Americans evacuated from S. Vietnam from Saigon embassy  U.S. agreed to with draw all troops  N. Vietnam agreed to return all POWs  1.5 mil. Vietnamese & 58,000 Americans died