THE VIETNAM WAR 1968 TO 1975

The USA Gets Involved in Vietnam In the 1950s US President Eisenhower had begun sending “military advisors” to South Vietnam Their job was to train South Vietnamese soldiers By 1963 there were 16,000 US troops in South Vietnam After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, Congress gave LBJ power “to take all necessary measures” in Vietnam In 1965 LBJ began sending combat troops to South Vietnam (bombing of North Vietnam began also) Operation Rolling Thunder Marines landing at Da Nang

1968 January – Vietcong launch Tet offensive March – LBJ announces he won’t seek or accept nomination for President April – MLK assassinated June – RFK assassinated August – rioting at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago November – Nixon wins election

Tet

1969 Nixon announces Vietnamization strategy My Lai massacre revealed in press

1970 US troops invade Cambodia Kent State and Jackson State protest killings Congress repeals Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio. Gotta get down to it Soldiers are cutting us down Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? Gotta get down to it Soldiers are cutting us down Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio. Got to #14 Billboard Top 100 charts June 1970

1971 Daniel Ellsberg leaks Pentagon Papers to the press

1972 North Vietnam launches biggest attack on South since Tet Nixon wins reelection in landslide Massive “Christmas bombing” of North Vietnam – 100,000 bombs over 11 days!

1973 Hanoi Taxi Jan - US and N. Vietnam sign agreement ending the war – N. Vietnamese troops stay in South, Nixon promises response in “full force” to any violation March - last US combat troops in South Vietnam leave for home POWs released - Operation Homecoming

1975 March – N. Vietnam launches full-scale offensive/invasion of South US sends economic aid to S. Vietnam but not troops April – Saigon falls to communist forces South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam The Vietnam War is over

Vietnam’s Painful Legacy 58,000 Americans killed, 365,000 wounded Over 1.5 million Vietnamese (North and South) killed (??) Southeast Asia destabilized – Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge (over 2 million killed!) American citizens now more cautious about foreign affairs, and more cynical about their government

Vietnam’s Painful Legacy About half a million South Vietnamese sent to harsh “reeducation” or labor camps Nearly 1.5 million fled Vietnam, many were “boat people” Draft abolished in the USA War Powers Act (1973) – Congress curbed the president’s war-making powers (???) The so-called Vietnam syndrome The USA extended full diplomatic recognition to Vietnam in 1995