1. Ch. 19 Sec. 2 U.S. Involvement in Vietnam War
Essential Question: Describe the differences in fighting styles between the U.S. and North Vietnam?
Ch. 19 Sec. 2 U.S. Involvement in Vietnam War

2. In 1965, Johnson escalated air strikes against North Vietnam and increased the number of ground troops. 2

3. The U.S. plan, called Operation Rolling Thunder, was to Americanize the war effort.
The U.S. would use its superior war technology to win the conflict quickly.
Johnson’s advisers, including William Westmoreland, the American commander in Vietnam, supported the increased military presence.
One of the main targets was the Ho Chi Minh Trail 3

4. Ho Chi Minh Trail
Routes through North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to South Vietnam
Used to send weapons and supplies to Vietcong in South Vietnam
U.S. used defoliant like Agent Orange, Napalm bombs, and carpet bombing
Unsuccessful, Vietnamese simply used other jungle routes, or rebuilt them

5. Agent Orange Chemical used to destroy vegetation
Over 19 million gallons sprayed
Caused extreme birth defects, cancer, tumors, etc.

6. Napalm Jellied form of gasoline Burned for an extremely long time
No removal when on skin
Hotter than 1,500 degrees F
Enters into foxholes and tunnels

7. Carpet Bombing
By 1968, more than 1 million tons of bombs

8. Strategies Used by U.S.
“Search and Destroy”- called in bombings then cleared out area
“Pacification”- Improve lives of Vietnamese so they would side with U.S.
Tracked success by body count, tough to show progress on maps– body counts not accurate

9. Struggles that the U.S. Faced
Hard to tell who was Vietcong and who wasn’t
Guerilla Warfare
Did not know the geography like the Vietcong
South Vietnamese joining Vietcong

10. The North Vietnamese and Vietcong fighters proved a difficult enemy.
Ho Chi Minh’s military strategy was to fight only when victory was certain.
He exhorted his troops to be like a tiger fighting an elephant — the tiger keeps moving and takes bites out of the elephant. 10

11. The U.S. dropped napalm to burn these jungle hideouts.
The Vietcong and North Vietnamese dug a complex series of tunnels, from which they mounted surprise attacks.
The U.S. dropped napalm to burn these jungle hideouts. 11

12.
The Cu Chi Tunnels

14. Punji Sticks

15. The Vietcong and North Vietnamese soldiers:
traveled quickly and quietly with little gear
attacked suddenly and then faded into the jungle
set booby traps around U.S. encampments 15

16. Essential Question: Why was 1968 such a Turning point?

17. The Tet Offensive
A series of massive coordinated attacks throughout South Vietnam by the Vietcong
Tet Offensive
In January 1968 thousands of NVA and Vietcong troops attacked a U.S. military base in Khe Sanh.
This and other rural attacks were diversions to draw U.S. and ARVN forces away from urban areas.
Khe Sanh
Main Communist offensive began on January 30, 1968, at the start of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.
Some 84,000 Communist soldiers attacked 12 U.S. military bases and more than 100 cities across South Vietnam.
The Main
Attacks

18. drove back the offensive.
The Tet Offensive attacked major cities and bases in South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
The fighting was fierce, but American and South Vietnamese forces eventually
drove back the offensive. 18

19. Effects of the Tet Offensive
General Westmoreland called the Tet Offensive a decisive defeat for the Communists.
The cities taken by the Communists were retaken.
About 45,000 enemy soldiers were killed. About 1,100 Americans and 2,300 ARVN troops also died.
The Communists showed that they were determined to keep on fighting.
The Tet Offensive showed that no part of South Vietnam was safe from attack.
The Tet Offensive caused many Americans to question whether or not the war in Vietnam could be won.
President Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection.

21. Johnson announced he would not run for another term as president.
Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy, who opposed the war, made a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary.
Robert Kennedy, a Democratic Senator from New York, also announced his candidacy. 21

23. Nixon won the 1968 election.
He called for peace with honor in Vietnam.
He appealed to the “silent majority” — people who were not protesting.
He benefited because Democrats were split between Humphrey and George Wallace, a third-party candidate from the South. 23

24. Widening the War Vietnamization Laos and Cambodia
Strategy of turning over more of the fighting in Vietnam to the South Vietnamese while gradually bringing U.S. ground troops home
Nixon hoped this would give South Vietnamese leaders time to create a stable, non-Communist government.
Nixon began to slowly withdraw U.S. forces from South Vietnam.
Antiwar activists opposed the plan calling for an immediate end to the war.
Nixon believed he had the backing of the silent majority of Americans.
Laos and Cambodia
At the same time, Nixon was secretly expanding the war.
He ordered the bombing of Cambodia to disrupt the flow of supplies on the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Concealed the air strikes from the American people—including members of Congress
Sent U.S. and ARVN troops into Cambodia and into Laos to destroy North Vietnamese army bases
Renewed bombing of North Vietnam
Nixon hoped to force North Vietnam to seek peace.