1. U.S. Involvement and Escalation Ch. 22 Sec. 2

2. Johnson Increases Involvement In the years following the 1965 election, Johnson began sending large numbers of US troops into Vietnam –Goldwater claimed “not about to send American boys 9 or 10,000 nukes away from home to be doing what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” Secretary of Defense – Robert McNamara Secretary of State – Dean Rusk –Both influenced Johnson to send more troops –US public opinion supported the action by 61%

3. Troop Build Up By the end of 1965m the US had sent more than 180,000 troops. General William Westmoreland –West Point grad –WWII and Korean War veteran –Did not trust the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and kept asking for more troops. –By 1967 – 500,00 US troops in Vietnam

4. William Westmoreland

5. Welcome to the Jungle!

8. Fighting in the Jungle Guerrilla war – A war fought using unconventional tactics and not directly encountering your enemy Because the Vietcong lacked the high- powered weaponry, they used hit-and-run and ambush tactics. Used the jungle terrain to their advantage. Since many of the enemies lived amongst civilians, it was hard to distinguish who was friend and who was foe.

9. Fighting in the Jungle Civilians were also used as spys and lookouts for the Vietcong. Jungle terrain was also laced with booby traps. Vietcong created a series of tunnels to communicate and transport supplies between the villages.

11. How do you fight against tunnels and jungles? Napalm – a gasoline-based bomb that set fire to the jungle. Agent Orange – a leaf-killing toxic chemical so soldiers could see the enemy. War Helicopters- AKA the Calvary – drop off soldiers in open clearings because there was no easy way to get to the enemy. Also allowed US bases to be located far away from action.

13. Search and Destroy Search-and-destroy missions –US soldiers killed livestock, destroyed crops, and burned villages to uproot the Vietcong. –Many villagers had to live in refugee camps More than 3 million people lived in these camps by 1968 Will this create more or less support for the US military?

14. Napalm Attack

15. War of Attrition Fighting a war of attrition means that one will continuously harass and attack an opponent to the point that they will wear down. The Body Count – General Westmoreland’s concept of tracking the number of Vietcong killed in battle to know if the war of attrition was winning. What are some problems that may arise with this type of attitude?

17. Sinking Morale The frustrations of guerrilla warfare, the brutal jungle conditions, and the failure to make substantial headway against the enemy took their toll on the US troops’ morale. Many were required by law fight (through the draft) and were frustrated. –Some turned to alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. –Insubordination and even a few incidents of soldiers killing superior officers took place.

18. Sinking Morale Nguyen Cao Ky – leader of South Vietnam during the war, ignored US pleas to hold democratic elections. –Civil unrest, Buddhist protests, and a civil war within a civil war arose. –Upset troops who did not know why and whom they were fighting.

19. The Great Society Suffers The war costs hurt the national economy –Johnson had to ask for a tax increase from the people. Living room war – nightly news aired fighting footage and body count numbers were constantly used. –Made it seem like the war was winnable and we were winning. 1961-1967 – 16,000 Americans were killed –Credibility Gap – people stopped believing the news reports and Johnson popularity dropped.