2. Where is Vietnam?

3. Geography
May-October summer monsoons blow from Indian Ocean bringing drenching rains
high temperatures >100 F
suffocating humidity > 80%
November-April winter monsoons blow from cool uplands of Central Asia dry season, little rain
temperatures hover around 85 F

4. Terrain More than half of Vietnam is jungle Trails and rice paddies
Rivers with leeches
Monkeys, rats, tigers, elephants
31 snakes (29 are venomous)
Green bamboo viper looks like a harmless garter snake
Can paralyze a man in 2 minutes death occurs in 5 minutes

5. “All wars are complex, brutal affairs that test the endurance of soldiers ordinary citizens alike.” James Warren
Longest and in many ways the most bitter conflict in American History
WWII < 4 years
Korean War <3 Years
Vietnam 25 years
Spanned 5 presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon, (Ford)
Issues in Vietnam are not cut and dried matters of good vs evil
Complexities
Morally
Politically
Militarily

6. Why Did the United States Fight a War in Vietnam?
Basically to hold the line against the spread of world Communism.
The Truman Doctrine (1947) “to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against … totalitarian regimes.”

7. The Domino Theory
the belief that communism would spread to neighboring countries if Vietnam fell to communism

8. 1st Vietnam War Indochina- Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
French colony before Japanese invasion
French tried to reassert control after WWII
By 1954 the United States was paying more than 75 percent of the cost of the war.

9. Vietminh Followers of Ho Chi Minh Used guerrilla tactics effectively
French could not win a battle
Made a last stand at Dien Bien Phu
French forces hoped for a U.S. rescue
Eisenhower did not want to send U.S. soldiers to Asia so soon after Korea
The French surrendered on May 7, 1954

10. Eight years of fighting, the left nearly 300,000 soldiers dead on both sides
Vietminh had learned how to fight a guerilla war against an enemy with superior weapons and technology
France was forced to leave Vietnam after 100 years of colonial rule

11. The Geneva Peace Accords
signed by France and Vietnam in the summer of 1954
temporary partition at the 17th parallel
national elections were to be held in 1956 to reunify the country

12. Ho Chi Minh Leader of North Vietnam communist regime
supported by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China
HQ in Hanoi

13. Opposition to Geneva Accords
Eisenhower prevented the elections because he knew that the Communists would win
Accomplished through formation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)
Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State

14. Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
1955
US pumped massive amounts of American military, political, and economic aid

15. Ngo Diem President of South Vietnam staunch anti-Communist
Won bogus election

16. South Vietnam Under Diem
Diem claimed that his newly created government was under attack from Communists in the north
Counterattack
CIA backed
Law 10/59 made it legal to hold suspected Communists in jail without bringing formal charges

17. Opposition to Diem Buddhist monks and nuns Students business people
intellectuals
peasants

18. The National Liberation Front
Anyone could join as long as they opposed Diem and wanted to unify Vietnam
Both communists and non communists
Vietminh became the Viet Cong

19. 1961 JFK sent a team to Vietnam Report on conditions in the South
Assess future American aid requirements

20. Washington White Papers
Increase military and economic aid
Large-scale military build up
Stabilize the Diem regime
Crush the NLF (Vietcong)

21. The Kennedy Response
Some urged the president to withdraw from Vietnam altogether
Instead of a large-scale military buildup
Advisers but no military troops.

22. The Strategic Hamlet Program
Round up villagers
Move them to "safe hamlets"
Isolate the NLF from villagers, its base of support
Vietnamese were devoted to ancient ways

23. Leaving the land … No one left to care for the ancestral graves
Alienated the peasants from the Saigon regime
produced more recruits for the NLF
Diem’s government was on the verge of collapse

24. Nepotism Ngo Dinh Thuc Diem's elder brother Archbishop of Huế
Antagonized Buddhist opposition

25. Ngo Dinh Nhu
Diem's younger brother
Chief political advisor

26. Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu First Lady of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Nhu’s wife
Dragon Lady
Tried to emulate Jackie Kennedy

27. morality laws abortion adultery divorce contraceptives dance halls
beauty pageants
boxing matches
animal fighting
closed down the brothels and opium dens

28. Persecution of Buddhists
Dinh Nhu had the Buddhist temples raided
Claimed they harbored Viet Cong
Led to massive protests on the streets of Saigon

29. THE NEXT TWO SLIDES ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC.
WARNING!
THE NEXT TWO SLIDES ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC.

30. June 11, 1963

31. Military Coup With Washington's approval
Diem and his brother were captured and later killed
(11/1/1963)
Three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated

32. Escalation of the Conflict
The Kennedy administration had managed to run the war from Washington without the large-scale introduction of American combat troops
16,000 advisers
LBJ convinced that more aggressive action was needed

33. LBJ Could not ignore Vietnam
3 presidents prior had all supported Vietnam’s independence
The only way to stop a bully (or an aggressor nation) was to be tough from the start
.Failing to take an anti-communist stance would ruin his efforts at home (Great Society
Hope to make Hanoi (Ho) abandon VC without a war
Increased aid to the south
End of ‘ ,310 advisors in country

34. Operation Plan 34-A
Series of secret attacks on North Vietnamese Targets
Illegal under international law
Paralleled Hanoi who ordered terrorist attacks in the south
Dark moonless nights ARVN naval commandos landed in NV
Assassinate communist officials
Kidnap for questioning
Mine roads

35. Attack on American Ships
North Vietnam launched an attack against the C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox, two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin
The first attack occurred on August 2, 1964.
A second attack was supposed to have taken place on August 4, but authorities have recently concluded that no second attack ever took place.

36. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
LBJ deliberately misled Congress
Did not tell them about OP 34-A
Naval officers’ doubted about 2nd attack
House vote
Senate vote 88-2

37. Tonkin Resolution
“…all necessary measures to repeal an armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression.”
“… it was like Grandma’s night Shirt – it covered everything.”
~LBJ

38. Air war ineffective; desertion rate high among South Vietnamese Army
3/8/ st combat troops sent
3,400 marines landed at DaNang to protect airbase
At first only allowed to defend themselves if attacked by June permission given to go after the enemy

39. Escalation
1965 – 184, – 385, – 485, – 536,000

40. Logistics
American soldiers need lbs of supplies and equipment per day (Grunts – grunted under weight of packs)
Facilities needed to unload, handle, store, transport, repair whatever arrived from the states
When buildup began military engineers had to start from scratch
US built
8 major airfields
90 smaller airstrips within 2 years
7 new deep water seaports
largest Cam Rahn Bay ($11 billion)

41. Logistics cont.
War materials include desks, file cabinets, typewriters, ac
40 plants built to produce ice cream
Beer and pizza usually delivered by parachute
By 1967 one million tons/supplies/per month
1st combat troops sent by ship
Late arrivals came by commercial airplanes
Soldiers usually stepped out from plane’s ac into 100 degree heat
Horrible odor in air
(military bases had no plumbing)

42. Tan Son Nhut Airport was built by the French in the 1920s
located near the city of Saigon
major base from 1959–1975
Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units stationed there

43. Combat Soldiers Average age was 19 (WWII was 26 ) Naïve/immature
Raised on John Wayne WWII movies
Americans were the good guys, always won, accompanied by rousing music …Death was quick, painless, neat
Never saw shattered bodies in a JW movie
Most honored JFK’s inaugural speech…

44. “…ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. “ -Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy - January 20th 1961

45. Grunts Uniform Arsenal
Boots made of leather and nylon
Long sleeved shirt
Steel helmet covered in camouflage cloth
Flak jacket or armored vest weighed 10lbs
Web belt w/ long knife, ammo pouches, 1st aid kit, 2 canteens, hand 1 lb each
Arsenal
M60 Light machine gun shot 600 bullets per minute (23lbs)
Machine gun bandoliers
M79 grenade launcher could fire shot fun shells or hurl grenades 350 yards
Coil of rope, Machete
Dry socks, underwear
Poncho, Food, flares
Rifle cleaning kit and personal items

46. Jungle
“Green Hell”
Fall on roots, grunts had to wait till someone pulled off pack to get up
Elephant grass with razor sharp edges
Sweat stings
Movement disturbs wildlife
Snakes, leeches
Insects rule
Fire ants
Poisonous centipedes
Mosquitoes
Black spiders the size of your thumb

47. Grunts cont.
Biggest problem – Wet feet – wrinkle, blister, painful mass of sores
Personal cleanliness impossible
Nicks from shaving dangerous due to infection
Canteens – use halazone tablets to purify –tastes like iodine, putrid smell
Diarrhea - Ho Chi Minh’s revenge

48. Fear Constant Nervous breakdowns Showed in different ways Insanity
19 year olds would turn white haired
Sweated, drooled
Loose bowels (Scared Sh_t less is not just soldier slang)
Nervous breakdowns
Insanity
Suicide
Drug and alcohol abuse
Tears contagious
Laughter often became hysterics
Grunts never died. They were greased, zipped, wasted, blown away. Language an attempt to deny death

49. Election 1964
LBJ (D) ran as the “peace candidate” …He would not lose Vietnam but neither would he send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away to do what Asian boys ought to be doing.
(R)Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater wanted to hit NV much harder

50. “Daisy Ad” controversial political advertisement aired on television
Only aired once
Immediately pulled
LBJ won a landslide victory over Barry Goldwater

51. Behind the scenes…
LBJ’s aides were planning to bomb North Vietnam if it did not back down
Hanoi tested LBJ
In February 1965, the VC raiders attacked two U.S. army installations in South Vietnam
American air base at Pleiku in the Central Highlands
American barracks in the coastal town of Qui Nohn
LBJ ordered sustained bombing missions over North Vietnam.

52. Operation Rolling Thunder
Originally planned to be limited reprisal air attacks against North Vietnam.
These bombing missions, known as “Operation Rolling Thunder,” caused the Communist Party to reassess its own war strategy
Carrier based planes sent to bomb NV bridges, roads, oil storage tanks and harbor facilities

53. LBJ’s Address to the Nation
“I regret the necessities of war have compelled us to bomb North Vietnam. We have carefully limited those raids. They have been directed at concrete and steel and not human life.”

54. Tuesday Lunch LBJ Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense
Secretary of State Dean Rusk
Assistant McGeorge Bundy
National Security Advisor Walt Rostow
Generals with combat experience were seldom invited
After lunch they would unroll maps and choose targets
Anything that could endanger Chinese or Soviets off limits

55. Photos of Haiphong and Hanoi
Streets lined with cannons, trucks, ammunition awaiting shipment to VC and NVA troops

56. Rules of Engagement
LBJ forbade attack on airfields, surface to air missile sites under construction (fear of Russian advisors on site)
American pilots were not to risk lives of enemy civilians
Pilots prevented form striking key targets or even defending themselves at certain times
Most pilots thought LBJ was the best general Hanoi ever had

57. USS Enterprise Nuclear powered- could go 4 years without refueling
Carried 5,000 men and 100 planes
Fighters, tankers, helicopters, recon craft

58. Naval Warplanes F-4 Phantom was the bomber of choice
Armed with Sidewinder or Sparrow air to air missiles that could hit a target 11 miles away

59. Air Force Planes
F 105 Thunder chiefs carried lb bombs and rapid fire cannon
Thuds flew largest amount of sorties (one mission to and from a target by one plane)
B 52 Stratofortress eight engine bomber hauled lb bombs
equaled as much explosive as a small atomic missile
Called Whispering Death

60. Ignorance
LBJ and his advisors thought that the North Vietnamese would look at things in material cost and quit to avoid further loss.
Many NV hated communism but hated foreigners more.
They were poor not weak.
Their history, patriotism, will power, and intelligence were their weapons
Discounted by the White House

61. American Way of War
Professional soldiers thought LBJ’s policies foolish
Hand no respect for him as a leader
They thought he was playing war games with live people
Service academies taught wars are to be won
Maximum force must be aimed at the heart of the enemies war making capability: armed forces, factories, food supplies, transportation
Apply force swiftly to win as quickly as possible with the smallest loss of both American and enemy life (Grant-Civil War)

62. Joint Chiefs of Staff Blockade coasts, mine Haiphong Harbor
Cut Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia
Send ground troops to build an East West defense line to leave VC high and dry with no supplies
Quick all-out bombing offensive to stun enemy and cripple war effort
LBJ turned plan down flat
LBJ only president to go to war without having any intention of winning
He feared China would interfere as it had in Korea
USSR would join in starting WWIII
Certainly be a nuclear war causing millions of deaths or destruction of human race

63. Phosphorous & Napalm Bombs
“Operation Rolling Thunder” was backed up by phosphorous and napalm bombs – the latter causing dreadful burns to thousand of innocent civilians.
As a result captured downed pilots were considered war criminals by the North Vietnamese.

64. Casualties 52,000 out of population of 18 million
‘65-’68 350,000 sorties
36 tons per square mile
4xs the tonnage dropped by all the airplanes in WWII
Communist propaganda
claimed an aerial Holocaust
8th Air force hit Berlin on 2/3/45 and killed 25,000 in a few hours
Dresden USAF killed 60,000 injured 30,000
3/9/45 Tokyo firebombing killed 97,000 left 125,000 wounded and left 1.2 million homeless

65. Cost to America 918 Aircraft total exceeded $6 billion
818 airmen at $500,000 each to train
$9.60 to do $1.00 worth of damage

66. Ho Chi Minh Trail
12,000 miles of connecting trails, truck roads, bridges, checkpoints, rest camps, supply depots, fuel depots, repair shops, barracks
Wound through Laos and Cambodia extending into South Vietnam

67. Operation Ranch Hand
When this failed to break down the jungle cover the USAF started “Operation Ranch Hand” – the defoliation program, using Agent Orange.
This deadly chemical cocktail, containing dioxin, killed off millions of acres of jungle to try to weaken the Vietcong – but left a horrendous legacy in Vietnam.
The dioxin got into the food chain causing chromosome damage to humans. There were hundreds of cases of children born with deformities.

68. By war’s end, the US dumped an estimated 18 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides to defoliate the jungles
> 5 million acres or 1/7th of SV’s total land mass

69. Helicopters
Until the Vietnam conflict, military helicopters were mostly used for evacuating wounded troops.
Other roles included limited troop transport and observation.

70. “Choppers”
The US involvement in Vietnam saw an increase in the use of helicopters as troop transports, often flying missions in which they came under heavy fire. The need for heavily armed helicopters soon became apparent.
To create gunships the design included increased armor, speed and firepower.
It proved to be highly effective in action against the NVA and Viet Cong.
Hueys, Cobras, Apaches, Chinooks, Green Giants

72. Corpsmen and Medevacs
responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield
Carried morphine for pain
practiced mercy killing
Belly wounds, head wounds, extremities
Stabilize them and get them to more permanent locations
Wounded Soldiers evacuated to portable field hospitals
Survival rate higher than any other war
81% saved vs. 54% in Korean War

73. The most significant long-term budgetary cost of war is providing medical care to those who have served, and paying disability compensation, pensions, and other benefits to eligible veterans.

74. How did the North Vietnamese Fight Back Against the U.S. Invaders?
The North Vietnamese used classic Maoist guerrilla tactics. “Guerrillas must move through the peasants like fish through sea,” i.e., the peasants will support them as much as they can with shelter, food, weapons, storage, intelligence, recruits.

75. North Vietnamese Tactics
In areas held by the NLF, the Communists distributed the land to the peasants. (By 1973, the NLF held about half of South Vietnam.)
Their weapons were cheap and reliable.
The AK47 assault rifle out-performed the American M16
The portable rocket launcher took out many US vehicles & aircraft.
They recycled dud bombs dropped by the Americans.
Deadly booby-traps could inflict huge damage on young American conscripts!

76. Civilian War Effort Fire Brigades, 1st Aid Teams, Ambulance units,
Repair bomb damage
Diffuse unexploded bombs
Youth Shock Brigades (determined to die units)
Long Haired Army Anti-aircraft brigades (Women)
Also replaced men in fields and factories
Ban on marriages under 20
Birth control government priority

77. Booby Traps
Punji Traps
Spike Board
Door Trap

78. Booby Traps
Grenade Trap
Grenade Trap

79. Terrorism
Terrorism is used to focus international attention on the guerrilla cause
kill opposition leaders, extort money from targets, intimidate the general population, create economic losses, and keep followers and potential defectors in line
Using terrorism can alienate a civilian population which might be sympathetic to the terrorist's cause
Such tactics may backfire and cause the civil population to withdraw its support

80. Terrorism Often American soldiers 1st encounter with VC
No place safe for off duty soldiers
Crushed glass often found in Coke or beer
Sometimes laced with acid
Children used in terror attacks
American soldiers fond of children were vulnerable
8-9 year olds threw grenades
2-5 year olds used as bombs
his was not John Wayne!

81. Củ Chi Tunnels
An immense network of connecting underground tunnels located Saigon
part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country
They were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968.
The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters.

82. Tunnel Complexes
Air, food and water were scarce and the tunnels were infested with ants, poisonous centipedes, spiders and mosquitoes.
Guerrillas would spend the day in the tunnels working or resting and come out only at night to scavenge for supplies, tend their crops or engage the enemy in battle

84. Son Vinh Tunnels
70,000 villagers lived under ground just north of the DMZ a heavily bombed area
1,000s of rooms dug 30 feet under ruined villages and linked by tunnels
Markets, warehouses, theatres, rec centers, schools, hospitals, community kitchens, public bathrooms all underground lit by oil lanterns

85. Tunnel Rats Small wiry men able to slip into tight spaces
Many were Latino Americans
It takes a special brand of courage to crawl head first into a dark tunnel with only a flash light and a pistol
Silent Sentries bamboo vipers tied with string, boxes of scorpions

86. Search & Destroy Tactics
The United States countered with “Search and Destroy” tactics. In areas where the NLF were thought to be operating, troops went in and checked for weapons. If they found them,
they rounded up the villagers and burned the villages down.
This often alienated the peasants from the American/South Vietnamese cause.
As one marine said – “If they weren’t Vietcong before we got there, they sure as hell were by the time we left”.
The NFL often helped the villager’s re-build their homes and bury their dead.

87. Protracted War Strategy
After “Operation Rolling Thunder,” the Communist Party moved to a protracted (long- drawn-out) war strategy
The idea was to get the United States bogged down in a war that it could not win militarily and create unfavorable conditions for political victory.

88. General William Westmoreland
Not allowed to take war to enemy (LBJ)
NV and Ho Chi Minh Trail off limits
Hunt VC/NVA, fight them, Kill as many as possible till Hanoi wakes up

89. Westy’s only chance to win the war was attrition
Westy’s only chance to win the war was attrition. Grind the enemy down until they quit (Hanoi’s plan as well)
1967, asked to give report to nation by LBJ.
Westy stated at an American Press Club Luncheon on 11/21/1967 that there were fewer raids, less sabotage than in previous years, body count, sure of a close victory
Hanoi responded with an all out offensive…

90. Communist leaders decided that war was not going as well as they had hoped
Despite Rolling Thunder, their people were still determined to fight
Dissatisfied not loosing/ not winning either
SV no obstacle; left to itself it would topple like a House of Cards
Everything depended on Saigon’s ally
If America held firm the war could go on indefinitely
Hanoi decided to force the issue with a massive offensive

91. Escalation
1965 – 184, – 385, – 485, – 536,000

92. 1968- The Year of the Monkey Tet- Vietnamese NewYear
For several years both sides had declared truces and a cease fire
August, 1967 VC’NVA troops taken out of action to train, brief, move weapons into position
Westmoreland thought war was ending
Ignored bits of information gathered pointing to an attack
Cities were thought to be allied strongholds
suicidal to attack

93. Khe San
Plateau in the NW corner of SV, 15 miles south of DMZ, 10 miles from Laotian border
Intelligence reported buildup of NV troops in area
American troops drawn from the cities to defend air base there
January 21, :40 am a rocket hit 1500 tons of ammo
Shock flipped choppers, swept tents away, tore steel matting off runway, 55 gallon drums of gas flew through the air spewing fire, artillery shells exploded in a chain reaction

94. Aerial view of Khe Sahn

95. Legend: Luke the Gook
An VC operative lugged a machine gun to a shell hole within range of airstrip. Every time a plane landed or took off he would let go.
Marine snipers could not pick him off.
Gunships rocketed him
He shot down an F4 Phantom trying to take him out
He was hit with napalm. When the fire burned out Luke popped up again. The Marines gave him a standing ovation and never shot at him again.

96. The Tet Offensive
By 1968, things had gone from bad to worse for the Johnson administration. In late January, North Vietnam and the NLF launched coordinated attacks against major southern cities.
These attacks, known as the Tet Offensive, were designed to force the Johnson administration to the bargaining table.

98. Tet Offensive Battlefield Victory for the US
Political victory for Hanoi
War Came Home to America
TV Coverage/Press

99. Tet Objective was to shatter confidence in Saigon’s ability to lead
Paralyze centers of allied power
Attack US Embassy, downtown Saigon, bases, and installations
Ultimate target- Hometown USA
TV coverage
1968 election year
Prove Westmoreland wrong
LBJ would either loose the election or be forced to beg for peace on Hanoi’s terms

100. Tet cont. Began shortly after midnight, 1/31/1968
VC struck 5 major cities in SV, 36/44 provincial capitals, and scores of smaller towns
Every major airfield mortared
VS surprised that people in the cities did not join them
US troops rallied and counterattacked
Most places VC were defeated within several hours
Serious fighting in Saigon lasted more than a week
Assaulted Westy’s HQ
Tried to free VC POWs

101. VC did not think that Americans would unleash firepower in cities
WRONG!
Westmoreland ordered gunships in, spraying bullets and rockets
Tanks rolled down main streets
Neighborhoods went up in flames
Civilians died along with VC

102. Hue Ancient capital of Vietnam
Center of learning, university founded by the French there
Imperial Palace filled with national treasures such as books dating back 1,000 years
Scholars lived there not soldiers
VC/NVA struck 1/31/1968
Met little resistance
Overran most of city
Marines/ARVN ordered to retake city
Hue would be destroyed to “save it” from communists
80% of the city destroyed

103. Mock Trials VC reign of terror
Government officials and their families, soldiers and their families, police and government office workers and their families targeted
“People’s Courts”
VC would pass death sentences
locals forced to watch executions

104. Eddie Adam’s Pulitzer Prize Photo Execution of a VC officer

105. Fueled anti-war movement
Unarmed man shot in cold blood without a trial
US government paying murderers’ salaries
In actuality the VC officer had killed Loan’s best friend , a local police officer, stabbed his wife and 6 children

106. The War in America
The Vietnam War had a major impact on everyday life in America, and the Johnson administration was forced to consider domestic consequences of its decisions daily.
Since there were not enough volunteers to continue to fight a protracted war, the government instituted a draft.

107. At the height of our involvement in Vietnam, there were about 120 million TV sets in the US. What impact, if any, did TV have on the attitudes of the American public toward the war?

108. Television Chief news source for majority of Americans
Commercial TV not very reliable informing intelligent opinions
Entertainment aimed at holding viewer interest while advertisers push their products
Pictures are slices of time recording high points of events
2 minute stories contain most exciting moments

109. 1st TV War Bombarded nightly with images of the war
Coverage was one sided
VC/NVA did not believe in freedom of the press
Allied actions reported freely
Military reasons for actions generally sound but not explained adequately
2 minute stories contain most exciting moments
Impression- US to blame for war’s horrors

110. News reels of protests and demonstrations shown in every corner of North Vietnam energizing VC/NVA

111. Disillusionment TV left deep impression on young Americans
1st generation raised on TV
Shaped outlook since childhood
High tech weapons killing poor people
President lied
Ending the war became a moral crusade

112. Walter Cronkite
“… we have deluded the public into thinking that they get all they need to know from us…”

113. "That’s the way it is"
Cronkite broke the news of the Kennedy assassination, reported extensively on Vietnam and Civil Rights and Watergate, and seemed to be the very embodiment of TV journalism.
A 1972 poll determined he was "the most trusted man in America" - surpassing even the president

114. Anti-War Sentiments
As the deaths mounted and Americans continued to leave for Southeast Asia, the Johnson administration was met with the full weight of American anti-war sentiments.

115. Hawks vs. Doves War protests are as American as apple pie!
Americans have NEVER gone to war gladly!
NEVER have been unanimous approval!
Non Pacifists
Strong belief that war is right under certain circumstances

116. Pacifists
Religious reasons- God’s word highest law…those that reject all forms of violence for religious reasons
Conscientious objectors - individuals that claimed the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience

117. Strong belief that war is right under certain circumstances
Non Pacifists
Strong belief that war is right under certain circumstances

118. “Either man will abolish war or war will abolish man.”
-Bertrand Russell

119. Protesters’ Methods
Quakers refuse to fight even if attacked personally
Refuse to pay taxes to support the war
Choose jail
Become non-combatants
Never before had so many Americans denounced actions of their government
Never before had so many expressed hostility, hatred toward their own country

120. Debate over President’s War
Senator Ernest Gruening, Alaska
“… start of a useless war…”
Wayne Morse, Oregon “…took war making power from Congress and gave it to the President…”
The American way to declare war is the constitutional right of the people through Congress. With that right the people have control. With a presidential war there is no control.

121. Anti-War Protests
Protests erupted on college campuses and in major cities at first, but by 1968 every corner of the country seemed to have felt the war's impact.

122. Jane Fonda
Toured NV in 1972
She blatantly supported communist s and hoped for their victory
Called Hanoi Jane by grunts
Posed with anti aircraft gun that had shot down American pilots in a NV helmet
Was not treason…not a declared war
Senator John McClain refused as a POW to have his picture taken with her.

123. The My Lai Massacre
A serious blow to U.S. credibility came with the exposure of the My Lai massacre (March 1968).
Hushed up at the time and only discovered by a tenacious journalist, this involved the killing of 400 men, women and children by US troops. 

124. My Lai hamlet of Son My village in the Quang Ngai Province of South Vietnam.
What wasn’t clear was what to do with any civilians who might be encountered
On March 16, 1968, Charlie Company, a unit of the US Eleventh Light Infantry Brigade
150 soldiers (average age was 20)led by Lt. William Calley, stormed into the hamlet
four hours later more than 500 civilians -- unarmed women, children, and old men -- were dead.
Charlie Company had not encountered a single enemy soldier, and only three weapons were confiscated.
The only American casualty was a soldier who shot himself in the foot.

125. My Lai was a massacre that would haunt the conscience of the US Army and the American people.

126. A Secret Plan to End the War
In late March 1968, a disgraced Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not seek the Democratic Party's re-nomination for president and hinted that he would go to the bargaining table with the Communists to end the war.
Negotiations began in the spring of 1968, but the Democratic Party could not rescue the presidency from Republican challenger Richard Nixon who claimed he had a secret plan to end the war.

127. 1968 Democratic Convention
One of the most famous incidents in the anti-war movement was the police riot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Hundreds of thousands of people came to Chicago in August 1968 to protest American intervention in Vietnam and the leaders of the Democratic Party who continued to prosecute the war.

128. Richard M. Nixon
Defeated Hubert Humphrey (D) offering Americans a “secret plan” to end the war
The most immediate task facing President Nixon was a resolution of the Vietnam War.
Saw communism as “pure evil”
Stopping wars are harder than starting them
Did not want to “cut and run”

129. Nixon’s objectives
War must end in such a way that the world would not see it as an American defeat.
Persuade Hanoi to leave South Vietnam alone once the US left

130. Vietnamization
Nixon's secret plan involved a process called “Vietnamization.” This strategy brought American troops home while increasing the air war over North Vietnam and relying more on the South Vietnamese army for ground attacks.

131. In February 1970 news of the My Lai massacre became public and ignited widespread outrage.
In April, President Nixon, who had previously committed to a planned withdrawal announced that U.S. forces had entered Cambodia.

132. Expansion to Laos & Cambodia
The expansion of the war into neighboring Laos and Cambodia, violated the international rights of these countries in secret campaigns, as the White House tried desperately to rout out Communist sanctuaries and supply routes.

133. Campus Protests & Shootings
The intense bombing campaigns and intervention in Cambodia in late April,1970 sparked intense campus protests all across America.

134. Kent State May 4, 1970
At Kent State in Ohio, four students were killed by National Guardsmen who were called out to preserve order on campus after days of anti-Nixon protest.

135. Jackson State May 14-15, 1970
Shock waves crossed the nation as students at Jackson State in Mississippi were also shot and killed for political reasons, prompting one mother to cry, "They are killing our babies in Vietnam and in our own backyard."

136. Public Reaction Blamed students not National Guard
Silent Majority tired of privileged young people attacking cherished values, steady work, security, patriotism, and the flag
Public had lost patience with the war and those who protested it.

137. American Soldiers
Morale had been high in the 60s when soldiers believed in their cause
Vietnamization to them was an admission that the war could not be won
Morale vanished once troop pull out had begun
End of ‘71 only 186,000 troops remaining and the number was declining steadily

138. Vietnam Veterans Against the War
VVAW marched on Washington
April 23, 1971
Amputees and wheelchair bound grunts
Ron Kovic, author
Born on the 4th of July
Veterans through their Purple hearts, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars onto capital steps

139. Draftees This was not John Wayne
The little brothers of the earlier wave of soldiers grew up watching the 6 o’clock news.
They had no romantic ideas of war.
Speeches about “duty, honor, and the communist menace” meant absolutely nothing to them
Brought morale with them in country

140. Fixin To Die Rag
And it's one, two, three, What are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates, Well there ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

141. Country Joe McDonald
Country Joe MacDonald released “Rag” at the height of the war after he had been discharged from the US Navy for several years. He wrote it in about 30 minutes after it popped into his head.
This is a satire of US government attitudes toward the Vietnam War.
The song addresses the horror of going to war with a dark sarcastic form of humor called "GI humor."
GI humor is a way people have of complaining about their situation so it will not get them in trouble and keep them from going insane in an insane environment: war.

142. “We Gotta Get Out of Here”
“Grunts brave as ever but no one wanted to be the last grunt to die in Nam”
“We Gotta Get Out of Here”
By Ian Hunter

143. Low Morale Grunts went AWOL
Hid in seedy hotels with Vietnamese girlfriends until found by MPs
Reduction in rank, fined, returned to units
Desertion rate high
Prison time and received dishonorable discharge

144. Search and Avoid
Setting out on patrol trying to keep out of harm’s way
Squad would move 100 yards outside of camp and sit till nightfall
Return to camp

145. Fragging
The act of attacking a superior officer in one's chain of command with the intent to kill that officer.
Term originated during the Vietnam War and was most commonly used to mean the assassination of an unpopular officer of one's own fighting unit.
Killing was effected by means of a fragmentation grenade hence the term.
Most incidents happened in battle because one bullet hole looks like another
Grunts would pool $, put a price on an officer’s head, anywhere from $50 to $1000.

146. Hamburger Hill Major General Melvin Zais
May 10–20, 1969
VC heavily fortified Hill 937 was of little strategic value
U.S. command ordered its capture by direct assault, only to abandon it soon after
U.S. losses during the ten-day battle reportedly totaled 72 dead and 372 wounded
The debacle caused an outrage both in the American military and public.
$10,000 price on Zais’s head
He left Vietnam before anyone could carry out the assassination

147. The Christmas Bombings
In December, 1972, the Nixon administration unleashed a series of deadly bombing raids against targets in North Vietnam’s largest cities, Hanoi and Haiphong.
These attacks, now known as the Christmas bombings, brought immediate condemnation from the international community and forced the Nixon administration to reconsider its tactics and negotiation strategy.

148. The Paris Peace Agreement
In early January 1973, the Nixon White House convinced Saigon that they would not abandon the South Vietnamese army if they signed the peace accord.
On January 23, therefore, the final draft was initialed, ending open hostilities between the United States and North Vietnam.
The Paris Peace Agreement did not end the conflict in Vietnam, however, as Saigon continued to battle Communist forces.

150. The Fall to Communism
From March 1973 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese army tried desperately to save the South from political and military collapse.
The end finally came when North Vietnamese tanks rolled south along National Highway One.
On the morning of April 30, Communist forces captured the presidential palace in Saigon, ending the Vietnam War.

151. Longest and Most Unpopular War
The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular war in American history.
During the war:
58,000 Americans lost their lives.
The oldest man killed was 62 years old; the youngest, 16.
61% of the men killed were 21 or younger.
304,000 were wounded.
75,000 were severely disabled.
The United States spent over $200 billion dollars on the war.

152. Why Did the United States Lose the Vietnam War?
They underestimated the tenacity and organization of the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front.  

153. Despite dropping more tonnage of high explosive on Vietnam than the whole of World War II, the Americans could not stop the movement of troops or supplies to the south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  

154. The North Vietnamese conducted a “Peoples war” in which everyone played a part.

155. At first, most Americans supported the war
At first, most Americans supported the war. But by 1970, the Peace Movement had support from all parts of society and no government could ignore it.

156. After 1969, there were deep questions about the efficiency of US troops. There was a serious drug problem; desertion rates were high and morale low. Many troops were “time-servers,” i.e., counted the days until the tour was over.

157. The US never really understood the culture of the Vietnamese people
The US never really understood the culture of the Vietnamese people. Coca Cola, chewing gum, ball point pens, and ice cream cones could not dislodge their ancient beliefs.

158. America was not prepared to keep losing high numbers of casualties for such limited progress in a difficult jungle war, for which they were not suited.  

159. The strength and resourcefulness of the NLF
The strength and resourcefulness of the NLF. For example, the highly complex Cu Chi tunnel system the U.S. never shut down.  

161. Sources
Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History
Vietnam Revision Guide