The Vietnam War Going to War

Vocab List 37 P 400 CH 17 -Domino Theory -Napalm -Guerilla -Agent Orange -Ho Chi Minh (P 400) -Ho Chi Minh Trail (P 405)

I. What we already know: 1) Containment - we are trying to stop the expansion of communism 2) The presidents during this era: → Eisenhower: Threatens nuclear war but never acts. → Kennedy: Cuban Missile Crisis scared the world. Assassinated → Lyndon B Johnson: Takes over for Kennedy. Vietnam is his baby. 3) Korean War - China & Korea both fall into communism. We now are worried about the Domino Theory. Idea: if Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia) would too. We worry for our only allies - Japan and S Korea. Don’t write this: See Map on P 401.

II. Big Picture Vietnam Lasts from 1965 - 1973 We send 500,000 troops to Vietnam Mostly lower class men because you would not get drafted if going to college. We will spend $100,000,000,000 (100 Billion) in Vietnam We will use more bombs than both Allies & Axis powers combined (in WWII) in Vietnam… :( Death tolls: 58,000 US Troops will die (20% are African American) 4,000,000 Vietnamese will die. Wikipedia: Agent Orange :(

Horrifying :( Agent Orange

III. A Bit of History... A) Vietnam was France’s colony until the 1950s. B) Then Vietnam is split in two ***N Vietnam = Communist led by Ho Chi Minh***, supported by China & Russia S Vietnam = Capitalist, led & supported by USA Just like Korea! C) We never declared war… Instead, in 1963, JFK “sends advisors” Advising quickly became shooting...

IV. Gulf of Tonkin In 1964 during Lyndon B Johnson’s presidency-- the public is told about: “A North Korean Patrol Boat Attacking US Warships in the Gulf of Tonkin” Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: Congress then tells president “take all necessary measures to repel attacks” President then increased troop levels and bombs the North Funny thing though: THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT NEVER OCCURRED WE ENDED UP IN A WAR FOR NO REASON. Should remind you of The U.S.S Maine in Spanish-American War

General admits: DID NOT HAPPEN

Famous Vietnam Photos:

Banksy

Buddhist protesting

V. Vietnam War sucked All jungle fighting Enemy used guerilla fighting tactics and then would blend into towns We used body counts to see who was winning war Whoever had more dead was “losing”... >< We used chemical weapons and napalm against 3 million civilians… + All of this was on television

Vietnam Intro