Vietnam War

Background  Vietnam has battled for independence since 200 BC from invasions by China from the north.  Vietnam fought but fell to France during colonization in  The French then combined Vietnam with Laos and Cambodia to form French Indochina.

French Rule  Vietnamese were driven to poverty by the French through taxes.  Vietnamese were denied civil rights under French control.  Nguyen That Thanh emerged as a leader for Vietnam nationalism. He changed his name to Ho Chi Minh.  Ho Chi Minh traveled the world trying to get support for Vietnam independence by a Communist Revolution.

Vietnam in WWII  Japan occupied Indochina during WWII and a League for Independence was formed by people that called themselves the Vietminh.  The Vietminh were led by Communists, but the group was open to non-communists wanting independence.  When Japan surrendered to the Allies, Vietnam declared independence, and hoped to gain American support for freedom.  In December 1946, French reclaimed Vietnam as a colony.

Communism in Asia  President Truman supported the French in Vietnam in order to prevent another communist country.  Mao Zedong seized China in  Communist North Korea invaded South Korea, which the U.S. fought for South Korea.  Communist nationalists revolts were also reigning in Indonesia, Malaya and the Philippines.  This strengthened U.S. commitment to it’s “Containment” policy.

Domino Theory  Eisenhower became president of the U.S. in 1953, and warned that if Vietnam fell to communism, the other Southeast Asian countries would follow. This spread of Communism around the world was called the Domino Theory.

French Defeated  The French hoped for U.S. intervention as they were being defeated, but Eisenhower didn’t want another war so quickly after Korea.

Geneva Conference  After French defeat, a conference was formed to work out a peace agreement and decide the future of Indochina.  Vietnam was temporarily divided at the 17 th parallel in 1954, with elections to take place to reunite the country in  The U.S. feared this election would be won by Ho Chi Minh and the Communists, aided by China.

Conflict in Vietnam  The U.S. hoped the leader Ngo Din Diem would be leader. Diem was a leader under French rule and was taken hostage by the Vietminh in  Diem was finally released, and he became the president of South Vietnam in  Diem became a corrupt and brutal leader, greatly disappointing the U.S., and was unpopular in South Vietnam.

Elections of 1956  Ho Chi Minh became popular in the North by breaking up estates and giving the land to peasants, but ruled with totalitarian force.  Fearing he would lost the election, Diem banned the elections in the South.  Ho Chi Minh wanted to re-unify Vietnam under one country.

The South  Vietminh in the south formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) and their military forces were called the Vietcong, meaning Vietnamese Communists.  Many southern Vietnamese joined the NLF not because they were communist, but because they didn’t want Diem for a leader.  As the Vietcong took over much of south Vietnam, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) come to the south to help them fight and set up supply routes.

The South  In 1955, Eisenhower decided to intervene and sent money and weapons into South Vietnam as well as military advisors to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).  These 900 advisors were frustrated with corruption and inefficiency of the ARVN.  In 1960, Ho Chi Minh expanded the effort to unify the North and South.

Domino Theory  In 1960 John F. Kennedy, now president, believed in the “Domino Theory”, and was eager to show strength in Vietnam.  By 1963, Kennedy had sent 16,000 military advisors to Vietnam. They were not to be sent into combat, but that’s what the ended up doing.  By 1965, nearly 500 Americans were killed in Vietnam.

Diem’s Overthrow  Diem’s government grew very unpopular in south Vietnam. Buddhists were killed, and killed themselves in protests. The U.S. supported a plot to overthrow Diem who was murdered in  Kennedy grew concerned over the events in Vietnam, but was assassinated in December of 1963, putting Lyndon Johnson in control.

Johnson’s Reaction  Most of south Vietnam was taken over by the NVA by  On August 4,1964, Johnson announced that the USS Maddox, a destroyer, was attacked by north Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin, and called for a military response.  Johnson skewed the event, as the USS Maddox was on a spy mission and had provoked it as well as many of the “torpedoes” were only blips on a radar screen and could have been something else.

Tonkin Gulf Resolution  Despite the story by Johnson, as facts didn’t come out until later, Congress approved the “Tonkin Gulf Resolution” that enabled the president to take “all necessary measures” to repel any armed attack.  Johnson could now expand the war.

Operation Rolling Thunder  The first direct military intervention was Operation Rolling Thunder that was an air bombing campaign on army bases and airfields, as well as bridges and roads.  One main target was the Ho Chi Minh Trail that was a network of paths that went through North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and ended in South Vietnam.  Much of the trail ran through the jungle, which made it hard to find.

Tactics  Americans also sprayed Napalm, a jellied form of gasoline, to create firebombs that destroyed forests.  Cluster bombs sprayed sharp metal fragments when they exploded.  Carpet bombs dropped bombs from high altitudes to destroy large areas with no specific target.  Agent Orange destroyed vegetation in hopes of exposing the enemy.

NVA  As the Ho Chi Minh trail was targeted, it was easily repaired or diverted.  A large underground trail network was built to protect soldiers and hold supplies.  The NVA received high tech weapons from China and the Soviet Union.  The bombings of the Americans led some South Vietnamese to join the North in hopes of stopping the bombings.

Johnson wants more troops  By 1965, there were 486,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, up from 185,000 in  Ground strategy was difficult with “Search and Destroy” missions in the jungle.  “Pacification” was allowing people to leave the villages before being destroyed, and to rebuild infrastructure to make South Vietnamese happier.

U.S. Troop Morale  U.S. soldiers faced constant danger for a type of war that was unfamiliar.  It became difficult to tell who was a friend or an enemy.  Troops began to lose morale for a fight that, in the beginning, seemed like it should be easy.

Draft  At the start of the war, most troops were professional  Volunteers were asked to enlist, and some 80% of troops had a high school education or less.  The Draft excused college students, and many wealthy people found ways to get doctors notes to excuse them from combat.  This unfairness lent to large amounts of African American drafted and killed in the war.

Draft  In 1969 the policy changed, and drafts became a lottery system to instill fairness.  3% of the eligible escaped the draft by going to Canada or refusing to register.

Public Opinion  In the beginning, most American’s supported U.S. involvement in Vietnam.  By 1968, 18,000 Americans had been killed in combat.  People began to question to U.S. policy of involvement.  The media began to accompany soldiers that were not connected to the military, and there were gaps between military and civilian accounts of the war.

Public Opinion  President Johnson insisted that most American’s supported the war..  Hawks- people who supported the war’s goals  Need to do more to end the war  Doves – people who opposed the war  Thought is was not crucial to American security.  Thought we were fighting against the majority of Vietnamese.  The war was draining resources that could be used within the U.S. (Civil Rights movement in full swing)

Anti-war Activity  Most took place on college campuses where students and faculty held anti-war rallies and debates.  SDS – Students for a Democratic Society – led demonstrations on college campuses.  Veterans from Vietnam returned from war and protested the war.  Johnson replies that if we don’t support South Vietnam, who would trust us as an ally ever again?

Turning Point in the War  Tet Offensive – series of coordinated attacks throughout South Vietnam.  Began with increase in supplies along the Ho Chi Minh trail, ended in 84,000 communist soldiers attacking 12 U.S. military bases and 100 cities in South Vietnam, killing thousands and taking over cities.  After 1 month of fighting, the cities were retaken, but at a cost, and the Communists were determined to keep fighting.

Change in Strategy  Robert McNamara had shaped U.S. strategy in Vietnam, but by 1968, he saw the lack of success and wanted a peace treaty.  1968, the North Vietnamese met with the U.S. in Paris, but the two sides could not agree.

Election of 1968  Johnson announced that he did not want to seek re- election.  Robert Kennedy enters the race for the Democrats, but was assassinated after a campaign rally by a Jordanian immigrant angry about Kennedy’s support for Israel.  Anti-war protests erupt at the Democratic convention, ending in violence with police clubbing and using tear gas to disperse the crowd.  In the end, with the democrats splitting a vote, Republican Nixon wins the election. He had pledged to end the war in Vietnam.

Peace Plans?  Nixon’s National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, began secret peace negotiations with North Vietnam’s leader, Le Duc Tho to try to achieve “Peace with honor.”  Vietnamization was part of the plan. U.S. would turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese slowly and bring troops home.  Anti-war protesters did not approve of the plan as they wanted the war to end quickly.

Peace Plans?  Nixon believed in the “Silent Majority” of Americans that he believed supported the government’s role in Vietnam, but were not vocal about it.  Within this plan, Nixon expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia to disrupt the supply routes on the Ho Chi Minh trail.  Nixon concealed some of these air strikes form members of Congress and some military leaders.

Peace Plans?  Nixon, like Johnson, underestimated the power of the Communists, and American deaths continued to rise.  Anti-war protests in colleges turned violent, 4 students were shot dead by police at Kent State University, and 2 killed and 9 wounded a few days later at Jackson State College.  Nixon continues to think the “silent majority” support the war.

Peace Plan?  Radical protesters called the Weathermen try to bomb federal buildings and shut down the city of Chicago.  In 1969 U.S. Troops participate in My Lai Massacre where a search-and-destroy mission to find Vietcong turned into 450 women, children and elderly killed by American soldiers.  In 1971 the NY Times published secret documents called the “Pentagon Papers” from Truman’s presidency letting the public know they had been misled by government.

Election of 1972  Nixon runs against George McGovern who is an outspoken critic of the war.  McGovern, a senator, helped to ratify the 26 th Amendment that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, in hopes of getting the anti-war votes.  Nixon announces that, “Peace is at hand!”, and he is granted another term by the American people.

Peace  January 1973 – the U.S. agrees to withdraw from Vietnam and help to rebuild.  The reason for war, though, has never been solved, “What is the political future of South Vietnam?”

South Defeated  In 1975 North Vietnamese troops invaded the South, and by April, South Vietnam had surrendered.  Thousands of Americans and Vietnamese were quickly evacuated. Many were left behind.

Effects on Southeast Asia  Cambodia soon fell to the Communist forces called the Khmer Rouge, who murdered 1.5 million people to subdue the country.  Severe environmental damage from U.S. bombs and defoliants contaminated food and water, and caused cancers and deformation in the Vietnamese.  SE Asian refugees fleeing conditions, such as Hmong, eventually settled in the U.S.

Effects on Veterans  58,000 troops were killed  600 POWs  2,500 reported missing  300,000 wounded  Soldiers exposed to defoliants developed cancer and had children with birth defects.  Veterans were greeted at home as targets for anger and shame by Americans instead of as heroes.

Political Impact  $150 billion spent by U.S. government.  Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973 that set a 60 day limit on the Presidents commitment to troops in conflicts.  Relations between the U.S. and Vietnam resumed in 1995.