1. American Involvement in the Vietnam War

2. After Diem Many leaders tried to take control
1964, combined Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces controlled most of the South Vietnamese countryside

3. Congressional Approval
US destroyer in Gulf of Tonkin fired on by N. Vietnamese torpedo boats
Possible second attack two days later
Attacks prompted Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving Johnson the power to use military force

4. Johnson Sends Troops
Escalation policy – increased military involvement in Vietnam
Gen. William Westmoreland led US forces in South Vietnam
1968 – 536,000 Americans in Vietnam

6. US Disadvantages Fear of Chinese involvement
Young, inexperienced soldiers
No front line, different from WWII
Viet Cong mixed in with civilians
Never knew who the enemy was

7. Viet Cong Strategy Guerrilla Warfare fighters used…
A network of tunnels to “appear” fight and then “disappear”
Land mines and booby traps
Bamboo stakes in covered pits
Mortar/artillery shells in trees
Grenades in bushes
Land and Climate
Heat and rain, jungles and flooded rice paddies

11. American Strategy US troops cleared dense jungles with…
Napalm – jellied gasoline that burns violently
Agent Orange – chemical that kills plants
Destroyed Viet Cong hideouts and supplies
Agent Orange harmed civilians, and has been linked to skin diseases and cancer in veterans
Search-and-Destroy Missions – burned and bombed villages suspected of hiding Viet Cong soldiers

16. Tet: Turning Point Tet – Vietnamese celebration of the lunar new year
Tet Offensive, 1968 – Communist surprise attack on US bases and cities in South Vietnam
Viet Cong dressed as civilians to blend in
Communist defeat, gained no cities lost 45,000 soldiers

17. US Doubts Grow Tet caused many US citizens to…
Doubt “victory was in sight” as Westmoreland had claimed
Question the wisdom of the US mission in Vietnam
Destruction to civilian villages in Vietnam common
Publicly protest the war (mostly youths)