The Vietnam War 1954 - 1968

Origins of the Conflict In 1945, Vietnam declared their independence from France Ho Chi Minh led a Communist revolt to fight France, his supporters were called the “Vietminh” The French refused to accept Vietnamese independence and the two were soon at war America threw it’s support and money behind France hoping to help contain Communism Fighting between the French and Vietminh continued for almost 8 years In 1954, the Vietminh defeated the French at Dienbienphu after 56 days of battle, this battle ended French support for the war and a settlement was reached, French control over Vietnam was over

The War Spreads By the 1950’s, America largely believed in the “Domino Theory” – If 1 country fell to Communism, all it’s neighbors would too After the French defeat, Vietnam was divided into 2 nations – North led by Ho Chi Minh, South led by Ngo Dinh Diem, America pledges it’s support to South Vietnam Diem promised to hold elections to reunite the country, but after years of blocking the vote, revolts erupted across the country Guerrillas or fighters who carry out hit and run attacks waged a war of terror against villages loyal to South Vietnam, troops from the North supplied and supported the guerillas, they became known as the Vietcong

The American Role Deepens POTUS Kennedy continued Eisenhower’s policy of support for South Vietnam once elected, and sent money along with military advisors to help Diem’s forces Diem begins to imprison anyone he deems as an enemy causing southern support for the Vietcong , Kennedy pulls his support for Diem and the South Vietnamese Army assassinates him, 3 weeks later in a strange occurrence, Kennedy himself will be assassinated POTUS Johnson now takes over and decides the only way to end the conflict in Vietnam is to send more troops

A Wider War Johnson sees Vietnam as a test of the resolve of America to stop the spread of Communism after Diem’s death, Vietnam falls into shambles, the Vietcong control vast amounts of the country Johnson orders more advisers and money sent to aid South Vietnam – as well as ordering secret missions against North Vietnam, in response China & the USSR start to help not only North Vietnam, but the VC

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident August of 1964 forever changes America’s role in Vietnam, off the coast of Northern Vietnam, American destroyers are attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin The details of the events are very sketchy and the official report on the incident claim nothing actually happened, POTUS Johnson however was eager to act and announced that America would begin air strikes against North Vietnam The next day, Johnson asked Congress for permission to do what ever is necessary to resolve the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin and Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution “the POTUS may do what ever is necessary to prevent further attacks against the United States of America”

A Massive Buildup In 1965, Johnson again ordered mass bombings of North Vietnam after the Vietcong attacked an American base at Pleiku The USA soon realized the need to make plans for an increased commitment of troops, the first group of US Marines arrive within days to protect the air base at Da Nang, within 6 weeks 50,000 new troops arrive, by the end of the year 184,000 and by 1968 over 500,000 troops The arriving troops are well trained and equipped with the latest technology, chemical weapons were used against the VC, planes dropped Napalm and sprayed “agent orange” The VC dug in deep and kept fighting, their advantage was that they were fighting at home and knew the swamps, they had 30 years of prior guerilla experience against the French and because they were being assisted by nations that claimed they were not involved with the war To combat the VC, America began to use “search and destroy” tactics. Helicopters with heavy machine guns would drop soldiers into the jungle where they would search for the VC and destroy anything assisting the enemy, American generals believed that if we could kill enough of the Vietcong, they would give up

The Tet Offensive On January 31, 1968 the Vietnamese celebrated Tet (the Vietnamese New Year). Using the Tet Celebrations as cover, the VC (Vietcong) and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) launched attacks on every major city in South Vietnam at the same time, Saigon and Hue were both overrun Although American forces were caught by surprise, they responded quickly and battled fiercely for weeks to regain lost regions, by February America had won the battle and inflicted heavy losses on the VC The