1. Vietnam: Americanization

2. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Johnson was not soft on Communism
US attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin; allowed President Johnson to send more troops to Vietnam without a declaration of war
Was it a hoax???

3. Escalation US troops were led by General William Westmoreland
Due to the draft, US troops numbered 540,000 by 1968
Draft was seen as unfair to blacks and poor

4. The Fighting Fighting was very difficult due to: Intense heat
Dense jungles with razor sharp leaves
Invisible enemy: Vietcong blended in with South Vietnamese
Vietcong used elaborate tunnel systems to hide and move troops
US soldiers torched whole villages and destroy food supplies so as to remove supplies that could be used by VC
US soldiers often became addicted to drugs
Some US soldiers killed innocent civilians due to uncertainty of enemy whereabouts

6. Vietcong Tunnels

7. 1968
US low point – public support began shifting against the war due to:
Intense media coverage (TV)
Tet Offensive: simultaneous NVA attack on nearly every major SV city; public opinion questioned were we winning or not?
Skyrocketing US casualties (14,000+ died in 1968 alone)
President Johnson dropped out of election race on March 31
My Lai Massacre: mass murder of innocent unarmed citizens in South Vietnam; ordered by Lt. Calley; not publicized until 1969 and made many wonder if US was the “bad guys”

8. Election of Richard Nixon
Nixon is elected in 1968 after Johnson decides not to run for reelection
Nixon promises troop withdrawal and to turn war back over to SV
This begins the Vietnamization phase of the conflict