Cold War Conflicts Korea - Vietnam

Korea First war that grew from Cold War ideologies – 1950 – Communist North Korea crossed the 38 th parallel and attacked Democratic South Korea – Douglas MacArthur Led America to victory – Fired by Truman for being insubordinate – Wanted to use A-bomb against China – 38 th parallel kept as a result

Bay of Pigs Invasion CIA trained Cubans to overthrow Communist Fidel Castro – Plan was a disaster – Air attacks failed – Cubans could not make it ashore – The U.S. was humiliated and had to accept defeat – Embarrassed Kennedy administration

Berlin The Soviets took a strong hold in East Berlin They continued to seek a blockade of people flowing from east to west The Soviets built a wall, the Berlin Wall, to stop the flow and avoid a showdown with the U.S. in Germany

Cuban Missile Crisis A U-2 spy plane took pictures of Soviets building missile site in Cuba, 1962 Kennedy prepared the Armed Forces, the U.S. went to Defense Condition (DEFCON) 2: DEFCON 1 means war. The U.S. navy formed a “Quarantine” of Cuba (not a “blockade”) The world waited as the Soviets drew near Khrushchev called his ships back and demanded that the U.S. stay out of Cuba and remove its missiles from Turkey Limited Test Ban Treaty Banned nuclear testing above ground Eliminated radioactive fallout

Vietnam Vietnam’s Past – France became a colonial power in Vietnam in the 1800s – After WWII, Communist Ho Chi Minh lead a Vietnamese Independence Movement – Vietnam Battled France at Dien Bien Phu – July, 1954 Vietnam divided into 2 nations – 17 th parallel South Vietnam lead by U.S. backed Ngo Dinh Diem – Eisenhower sent 675 military “advisors” in 1960 – By the end of 1963, Kennedy had sent 16,000 – Both men were determined to “contain” Communism

Assassinations – Ngo Dinh Diem Unpopular leader Overthrown and killed, 1963 – JFK killed, 1963 Gulf of Tonkin Incident – Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked a U.S. destroyer – Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (1965) – Gave the President the power to “prevent further aggression” – U.S. involvement ESCALATED (Johnson)

Viet Cong (VCs) – Communist Guerrillas spread throughout South Vietnam (Charlie) – Passed supplies along the “HO CHI MINH TRAIL” Involvement grows – Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam after Americans were killed in an attack – America sent in more troops Start of 1965 – 25,000 End of 1965 – 184,000 End of 1966 – 385,000 End of 1967 – 485,000 End of 1968 – 536,000

Tet Offensive, 1968 – Vietnamese launched offensive on Vietnamese New Year – Viet Cong attacked towns, military bases and the U.S. Embassy – Psychological victory for Vietnam U.S. Offensive – U.S. continued to bomb with saturation or “carpet” bombing – Agent Orange – Defoliant – kills leaves – Caused health problems in U.S. soldiers – Napalm - Burning jelly – My Lai Massacre – U.S. soldiers killed 175 innocent Vietnamese

Vietnam and Nixon Because of growing discontent with America’s involvement in Vietnam, LBJ lost to Nixon in 1968 Nixon removed troops – 1968 to 1972 – from 543,000 to 39,000 Cambodia – Nixon secretly (to avoid public outcry) bombed Cambodia – Protests result when revealed Jackson State KENT STATE – 4 students shot and killed (1970) 1973 – U.S. signed the Treaty of Paris, promising to remove forces 1975 – America removed final personnel – South Vietnam fell to the Communists