1. Vietnam War
Chapter 22
Section 1

2. Beginning French Indochina War 1950
France = trying to gain control back in Vietnam after WWII
America Supports France
Massive economic aide
France ruled
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Restricted freedom of speech = jailed nationalists
Beginning

3. Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Vietminh Revolutionaries fled to China
Created the Indochinese Communist Party
Returned home to fight Japanese during WWII
Vietminh
Organization who wanted independence
Vietnam

4. France Battle Vietminh
France not giving up
Ho Chi Minh fights from the North
Truman send $15 million to France
Next 4 years U.S. pays for much of the war = $1 Billion
France Battle Vietminh

5. Drive out the French 17th parallel Battle of Dien Vien Phu
French forced to surrender - May 1954
Countries meet to decide the fate of Vietnam
Peace agreement
Geneva Accords
Temporarily divide Vietnam
17th parallel
Ho Chi Minh controlled the north = Capital Hanoi
Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the south = Capital Saigon
Elections to be held 1956 to reunite the country
Drive out the French

6. U.S. Steps In Ho Chi Minh winning support from the North
US aides South Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh winning support from the North
Land redistributing to Peasants
National Hero
Diem refused to take part in 1956 elections that would unite country
Not holding up his part of bargain
Corrupt government
Suppressed opposition
Angered Buddhists = restricted practices
U.S. Steps In

7. Cont. 1957 Vietcong Communist opposition group in the South
Attack Diem’s government
Assassinating thousands
Supported by Ho Chi Minh
Supplying arms
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Cont.

8. Kennedy Kennedy increases aide Diem’s popularity plummets
Troops sent to train the South
1963 = 16,000
Diem’s popularity plummets
Corruption
Moved villagers
Attacks intensified on Buddhism
Killed 100+
Destroyed temples
Monks burn themselves in protest
November 1, 1963
U.S. supported military coup
Diem assassinated
Kennedy

9. Johnson Kennedy was going to withdraw
Johnson escalates U.S. role in the war
Diem’s death brings more chaos
Unstable
Vietcong’s influence grows in the South
Johnson

10. Tonkin Gulf Resolution
August 2, 1964
American destroyer fired upon by North Vietnamese
USS Maddox
Returned fire
2 days later reported more enemy torpedoes
U.S. destroyers began firing
Johnson retaliates
Launching bombing strikes on North Vietnam
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Gave Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam
Blank Check
Operation Rolling Thunder
1965 = 50,000
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Johnson doesn’t tell Congress or American people the U.S. doing secret raids against North Vietnamese

11. U.S. Escalation March 1965 – Johnson sent American ground troops
1965 – 180,000 troops in Vietnam
General William Westmoreland – American Commander
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Poorly trained
Requested more soldiers
1967 – 500,000 troops
U.S. Escalation

12. Vietcong IN AMERICA Fit in with general population U.S. drops napalm
Extensive tunnel network
Booby traps
mines
U.S. drops napalm
Gasoline based bomb
Agent Orange
Leaf killing toxic chemical es
Vietcong

13. Early War at Home Loss of soldier morale
South Vietnam government corrupt
War costly
Johnson’s “Great Society” suffers
Inflation ris
Credibility Gap
The difference between what was really happening and what Johnson reported
Early War at Home

14. A Nation Divided Draft Manipulated Medical exemptions
College deferment
Join National Guard or Coast Guard
80% of soldiers from lower income levels
A Nation Divided

15. Minorities in Vietnam African-Americans Women 20% of deaths
10% of population
Racial tensions amongst troops
Defense Department institutes draft lottery system
Women
10,000 serving
Mostly nurses
1,000’s more volunteer
Red Cross
United Services Organization (USO)
Minorities in Vietnam

16. New LEFT 1960 – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Founded by Tom Hayden and Al Haber
1964 – Free Speech Movement
University of California, Berkley
1. Groups said corporations and large government institutions had taken over America
2. America had become a ‘machine’ of nation’s faceless powerful business and government institutions
Growing youth movement demanding change in…
*participatory democracy
*greater individual freedom
New LEFT

17. Protest Movement Emerges
College Campuses
Marches on Washington
Thought Vietnam a Civil War
Small percentage of veterans protest
Doves –strongly opposed the war
Hawks – supported war w/massive military strength
December 1967 – 70% of Americans believed war
protests were “acts of disloyalty”
Protest Movement Emerges