1. Vietnam

2. Multimedia Learning, LLC http://www.multimedialearning.org
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3. French Indochina consisted of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

4. In May of 1950 President Truman authorized $15 million in economic and military aid to the French, who were fighting to retain control of French Indochina, including Vietnam. As part of the aid package, Truman also sent 35 military advisers.

5. Eisenhower's Vietnam Policy
Geneva accords
SEATO formed
The Domino Theory
Eisenhower pledged U.S. support for South Vietnam & Ngo Dinh Diem
1958 Communist forces in South Vietnam
National Liberation of Vietnam formed 1960

6. In July of 1954 the Geneva Accords were signed dividing Vietnam at the 17th parallel for two years until elections could be held to unify the nation.
The north became communist while the south established an anti-communist regime that was tied to the U.S.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (from left) greet south Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington national airport, 05/08/1957

7. President Ho Chi Minh, Democratic Republic of Viet Nam
President Ngo Dinh Diem Republic of Viet Nam

8. First proposed by President Eisenhower in 1954.
The Domino Theory
Cold War theory based on the idea that if one nation was conquered by communists, neighboring nations were at risk, and therefore it was the United States’ obligation to prevent that from occurring.
First proposed by President Eisenhower in 1954.
It was the foundation for the war in Vietnam as well as other Cold War conflicts.
Eisenhower’s speech on Vietnam

9. From 1955-61 Eisenhower sent $200 million in aid and around 675 military advisers.
Eisenhower’s policy on Vietnam did not involve troops, only monetary contributions and advisors.

10. President Kennedy, to avoid being accused of “losing south Vietnam” as President Truman was accused of “losing China”, increased the number of military advisors from 800 to 16,000 and formed the Green Berets special forces.

11. To protest the Catholic Diem’s attacks on Buddhist pagodas, Buddhist priests set fire to themselves in protest. The U.S. decided that Diem's corrupt and murderous regime was too unpopular and supported an army coup that killed Diem.
Vietnamese Buddhist monks set themselves on fire to protest the brutal Diem regime.

12. What Madame Nhu, the wife of Diem’s brother, had to say about Buddhist monks immolating themselves to protest her brother-in-laws rule

13. Johnson's Vietnam Policy
Johnson’s advisers
Gulf of Tonkin
Military strategy
Operation Ranchhand
Election of 1964
Operation Rolling Thunder
U.S. Troops engaged in combat 1965
Geography of Vietnam
Operation Starlite
Infiltration detection
Operation Crimp
Communist tactics
Operation Birmingham, Hastings, Cedar Falls and Junction City
U.S. allies
Khe Sanh
Tet offensive
My Lai
Anti-war movement

14. Tonkin Gulf Incident, August 1964
The official story was that North Vietnamese torpedo boats launched an "unprovoked attack" against a U.S. destroyer on "routine patrol" in the Tonkin Gulf on August 2, 1964, and that North Vietnamese PT boats followed up with a "deliberate attack" on a pair of U.S. ships two days later. Evidence uncovered since the event has proven that there was no attack that night, and some have suggested that this incident was an excuser to escalate U.S. involvement in the region.
USS Maddox
Target of a fictional North Vietnamese naval attack

15. U.S. NAVY FILM ON GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT

16. President Johnson signed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 7, 1964
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."
The resolution passed unanimously in the House, and by a margin of 82-2 in the Senate.
The Resolution allowed Johnson to wage all out war against North Vietnam without ever securing a formal Declaration of War from Congress.
Senator Wayne Morse opposed the resolution

17. General Westmoreland

18. Search and Destroy operations
U.S. attacks inflicted many causalities on civilians and turned 5 million Vietnamese into homeless refugees.

19. LBJ stated in the 1964 presidential campaign that he was “not going to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.”
By early 1965 the communists were well on their way to victory and Johnson had to either increase U.S. involvement or see South Vietnam defeated.

20. In 1965 after Viet Cong forces attacked several American bases LBJ authorized the "Rolling Thunder" campaign, the systematic bombing of North Vietnam. This bombing would continue off and on for the next seven years.

21. Map depicts the Ho Chi Minh trail
Map depicts the Ho Chi Minh trail. It bordered Cambodia and Laos and was used by the North Vietnamese throughout the war since they could retreat into nations that the U.S. was not at war with and be safe from U.S. attacks.

22. The VC used underground tunnel complexes to hide from U.S. firepower.

23. Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive of 1968 was planned by General Giap, commander of the North Vietnam Army, who had planned and executed the battle at Dien Bien Phu which drove the French out of Vietnam in 1954. During that battle Giap was willing to lose 10 men for every 1 enemy soldier killed.
By the end of 1966, North Vietnam had suffered large causalities in manpower and supplies through the bombing of the North and the fighting in the South. They consider the war was at a stalemate. North Vietnam would need a major victory if they would continue on with the war.
The primary goals of Giap were to destabilize the Saigon regime and to force the United States to opt for a negotiated settlement.

24. Warning: Graphic
The prisoner turned out to be a Viet Cong lieutenant responsible for the deaths of countless civilians.
Click to play

25. LBJ announced he would not run for president again in 1968

26. Army First Lieutenant William Calley, Jr
My Lai Massacre March 16, 1968
My Lai was in an area of South Vietnam that was entrenched with communists. On March 16, 1968 the Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, under the command of Lieutenant William Calley, entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai. Numerous members of Charlie Company had been maimed or killed in the area during the preceding weeks.
The company engaged in a search and destroy mission, and over 300 apparently unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly were massacred. Lieutenant Calley ordered his men to enter the village firing, though there had been no report of opposing fire. According to eyewitness reports offered after the event, several old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped and then killed. For his part, Calley was said to have rounded up a group of the villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire.
When news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the U.S. political establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided American public.
Army First Lieutenant William Calley, Jr

27. Early teach-in and anti-war street protests
There were several types of protests ranging from “teach-ins” on college campuses to marches and civil disobedience.
Early teach-in and anti-war street protests

28. Nixon's Vietnam Policy 1968 election Vietnamization
Secret bombing of Cambodia
Kent State
Lack of success with Vietnamization
Troop removal began
Operation Linebacker II
Paris Peace talks
POWs
Statistics of Vietnam War

29. Richard M. Nixon became the 37th President of the United States when he defeated Hubert H. Humphrey who had been LBJ’s Vice-President. Nixon campaigned with a slogan that he had a “secret plan” to end the Vietnam War.

30. President Nixon, as part of Vietnamization, began withdrawing U. S
President Nixon, as part of Vietnamization, began withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam

31. Operation Menu: The Cambodian Invasion February 1969
Despite restrictions, President Nixon authorized the bombing of North Vietnamese and Vietcong bases within Cambodia. Over the following four years, U.S. forces dropped more than a half million tons of bombs on Cambodia.
The invasion of Cambodia by U.S. and ARVN troops was the first real test for Vietnamization. The U.S. military concluded that ARVN was not up to handling the NVA, and that it would take a long time to develop a reliable ARVN fighting force.
Domestically, negative reactions to the Cambodian incursion, including the killing of four students at Kent State College in Ohio became a major factor in Nixon's decision to accelerate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam
Early in 1969 Nixon had ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia to destroy communist bases

32. In May of 1970 a Kent State University anti-war (Cambodian invasion) protest turned deadly. National guardsmen opened fire on protesting students killing four and wounding 8.

33. Kent State photo that shocked the nation

34. The end in Vietnam: 1972-1975 Communists launched a massive offensive
Paris Peace Talks
Nixon increased bombing over North Vietnam
Nixon cut troop levels
1973 Cease fire signed
All U.S. ground troops left Vietnam
North Vietnam launched massive attacks in South Vietnam
April 30th 1975 South Vietnam falls to communism

35. U.S. warplanes attacked North Vietnamese positions with Napalm.

36. Kissinger, an important advisor to Nixon, became Secretary of State in He was the representative for the U.S. at the Paris Peace talks. He hoped to remove all U.S. troops and have South Vietnam remain free from communist control.
Nixon’s plan of talking and bombing led to results in the Paris Peace talks which had been going on since With pressure placed on North Vietnam by both the U.S.S.R. and China a final agreement was reached in January of 1973.

37. South Vietnamese prisoners released
U.S. prisoners being released
American prisoners were released from Hanoi

38. Vietnam reunited Communists continued the conflict
North Vietnamese final offensive 3/75
Fall of South Vietnam to communist forces

39. It was all over by April of 1975 when communist forces entered the South Vietnamese capitol city of Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam was reunited under a communist government. The U.S. mission to protect South Vietnam had failed.

40. Last helicopter evacuation of U.S. Embassy in Saigon
April 30, 1975
South Vietnam fell to communist forces. South Vietnam becomes part of North Vietnam and the country was united after 20 years of war.
Last helicopter evacuation of U.S. Embassy in Saigon

41. In 1975 South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos became communist states.