The End of Vietnam War

Failure of Policy US fought a “limited war” in which they used policies that were meant to limit the damage and casualties for the enemy US had several policies that were used during the Vietnam War that simply did not work  Search and destroy did not destroy the enemy  massive bombing (mainly of NV) did not force NV to surrender Use of Napalm  deforestation weapon/ anti-infantry

Getting the US Out When Nixon became president (1969) he decided to try to somewhat get the US out of Vietnam  he used “secret” negotiations with the NV to talk about peace deals (these did not work well)  he was looking for an agreement where both sides could save face (Peace with Honor for the US) but NV was not willing to give in to any US demands  Vietnamization – train and support Vietnamese troops to fight and slowly withdraw US troops as SV takes over the fighting Why is it important for the US to have Peace with Honor?

Expansion of the War While the US was trying to get out or scale back effort in Vietnam it had to deal with NV using Laos and Cambodia  Ho Chi Minh Trail was important for the NV and they were also using Laos and Cambodia to launch attacks against US troops in SV US began secretly attacking NV locations within Laos and Cambodia to destroy this threat to US troops  this caused a new wave of anger and anti-war protests against US government by its people

Public Pressure Efforts to end the war or scale back the US effort were not helping with the public  there were more anti-war movements building up  Vietnam Veterans were returning home and some were talking about the problems in Vietnam American politicians were beginning to feel real pressure to get the US out of Vietnam even if it means “losing” for the US

Negotiation and Bombing As negotiations would heat up NV would ask for more than US was willing to give and SV would stall because they did not want US to leave When talks would break down US would start bombing NV to get them back to the negotiating table Dec US launches Christmas Bombings  12 days of heaviest bombing of the war to get NV back to negotiations

Peace Deal Jan 27, 1973 a peace deal is signed in Paris  US will pull troops out of Vietnam within 60 days  NV and SV will not fight each other  peaceful unification of Vietnam over time

Vietnamese Reaction Top NV military commander was stunned that US would surrender at this time 'What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battles of TET. You defeated us! We knew it, and we thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice your media was definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!'

Returning Veterans Vietnam Veterans were not treated very well when they returned  after WWII there were parades and many returning vets came back to thanks and admiration Vietnam Vets did not have parades and were not welcomed back as heroes Some Vietnam Vets were treated rudely by fellow Americans and some were harassed  some vets were told not to mention their service to avoid the harassment or mistreatment

NV Wins After US pulled out troops it still supported SV with money and supplies  SV believed US would intervene if NV invaded Late 1974 US Congress announced US would no longer support SV  NV realized it could invade SV NV invades SV and US refused to step in NV quickly overruns SV Late April 1975 SV falls Vietnam becomes Communist

Question How would the use of weapons like Agent Orange and Napalm contribute to the end of the war? What does this tell us about the American public at the end of the war? How will this affect American involvement in future conflicts?

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Located in Washington D.C. Created by Maya Lin, November 1982 The wall is the most famous of the three parts  there is also the Three Soldiers Statue and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial

Three Soldiers

Women’s Memorial

The Wall