Nixon & Vietmnamization President Nixon won in He had a promise to get US troops out of Vietnam This is called Vietnamization The idea being that S. Vietnamese troops would take over for US troops and do the fighting.

My Lai Massacre In December of 1967, Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, American Division arrived in Vietnam. After the Tet Offensive, the U.S. Army was sure the enemy had retreated to a village called “Son My,” which we know now as My Lai. They were instructed to go to the village and kill any insurgents or enemy sympathizers. It was difficult to tell between non-combatant civilians and insurgents, let alone civilians who sympathized with the enemy. Soldiers were told that anyone in the village after 7am could be assumed to be either Viet Cong members or active VC sympathizers - all of which were to be considered the enemy. The rationale was that other civilians would have gone to the public market by that time. Soldiers were instructed to destroy the village. It is debated whether they were instructed to kill women and children as well.

My Lai Massacre On March 16, 1968, soldiers went into My Lai and found no insurgents. They continued to follow orders, however, and proceeded to kill everyone they came across. Women, children and the elderly made up a lot of the dead. Some were tortured or raped. One platoon, led by Lt. Calley, killed hundreds of people, with Calley himself opening fire on a bunch of the villagers he forced to gather in a ditch. Depending on which source you read, anywhere from between 347 and 504 people

Effects of My Lai The American public didn’t find out about My Lai Massacre until the next year in It further turned US Public Opinion against the war Despite the fact, that most US Soldiers were responsable and honorable, exceptions like this turned the US Public against US Soldiers

Nixon Backtracks on Vietnam Nixon in 1970 decided to invade Cambodia. This lead to Kent State Protest Congress repealing the “Gulf of Tonkin” Resolution. ((Remember that gave president near absolute power to conduct war))

Kent State College Students at Kent State protested the war expanding into Cambodia Ohio State National Guard was called to break up the protest and ended up shooting/killing 4 students.

Fall of South Vietnam Two years after US troops left (1975) North Vietnam invades US refuses to help again North Vietnam Wins Vietnam becomes Communist Country US evacuating last US personal out of South Vietnam after it “Loses” and falls to North

Vietnam Legacy #1 COST $170 Billion in Direct Cost 50,000 US Troops killed 300,000 US Troops injured 1,000,000+ Vietnamese Soldiers + Countless Civilians Died Vietnam Memorial dedicate 1982 (10 years later)

Vietnam Legacy #2 (POW) For some Americans the war remained unresolved as some US Troops were either POW (Prisoner of War) MIA (Missing in Action)

Vietnam Legacy #3 “Cold War” Many Americans viewed Vietnam as a defeat. They began to question ideas of containment

Vietnam Legacy #4 Skeptism of Gov't Congress passed War Powers Act to limit the President’s ability to go to war Things like My Lai Massacre, Watergate, and Pentagon papers made the US public more skeptical of Government