30:1 Moving Toward Conflict

French Vietnam Colony Rice/rubber plantation Oppression of Vietnamese

Ho Chi Minh Resisted French rule Founded Indochinese Communist Party 1930 Exiled to USSR/China

Vietminh Japanese occupation 1940-1945 Declaring independence Japanese occupation 1940-1945 Vietminh Goals: win independence Sept. 2, 1945 (VJ Day) Vietnam declared independence

France wants it back! 1950 French Indochina War Truman foreign policy-containment US supports France/ally in war on communism

Eisenhower’s Domino Theory Contain communism Sink or Swim with Ngo Dinh Diem

Geneva Accords 1954 Dien Bien Phu falls French Quit May 1954 Vietnam divided 17th parallel Reunification elections 1956

North Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Communist-Hanoi South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem Nationalist-Saigon

Ho Chi Minh v. Ngo Dinh Diem Oppressive Oppressive Communist corrupt Land reform no land reform National hero Catholic

1957 Vietcong South Vietnam Communist Opposition Group Vietcong soldier awaits interrogation South Vietnam Communist Opposition Group Oppose Ngo Dinh Diem Guerilla Attacks

Ho Chi Minh Trail Cambodia, Laos Supply route for Vietcong

Ngo Dinh Diem’s Assassination Land reform Hamlet program Buddhist demonstration November 1, 1963 JFK’s Assassination Self immolation/Diem’s assassination

LBJ and Vietnam U.S. will not be an appeaser

Tonkin Gulf Resolution August 2, 1964 USS Maddox August 4, 1964 USS Maddox LBJ bombs North Vietnam August 7, 1964-Congress gave LBJ broad military powers in Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder Feb. 1965 First sustained bombing of North Vietnam June 1965-50,000 U.S. troops in SV

30:2 U.S. Involvement and Escalation

Johnson commits troops Campaign platform? Secretary of State-Dean Rusk Secretary of Defense-Robert McNamara Congress/public support

General William Westmoreland American commander Questions ARNV abilities 1967-500,000

Vietcong Tactic Jungle Guerilla General population Tunnels Land mines and booby traps Tunnel Rats

U.S. Strategy: War of Attrition Break morale Continuous harassment Body count Westies numbers

Winning “Hearts and Minds”? Theory Napalm Agent orange Search and destroy missions

Sinking Morale of U.S. troops Causes: guerrilla warfare, jungle, not winning Effects: drugs, violence

Great Society Suffers Inflation Reviewing war plans 1968 Inflation Tax revenue spent on war/not domestic reform

“Living Room War” American v. Vietnamese deaths Credibility gap Civilians lie dead and a South Vietnamese soldier still sits in his jeep after being shot in the head by a team of hit-and-run Vietcong in 1968. Vietnamese children are running past and looking at the charred and dismembered bodies American v. Vietnamese deaths Credibility gap