1. A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam
By the end of ,000+ U.S. troops were fighting in Vietnam
This doubles by 1966
America went in overzealously & were frustrated with the different styles of fighting

2. Frustrating Warfare…Why?
VIETNAMESE
Ambushes
Booby traps
Guerrilla tactics
Blended with general city population
Knowledge of the land, valleys, mountains, etc…
AMERICANS
Used to trench-style combat
Reliance on firepower
Strategy: battalions, shifts & constant communication with other flanks

3. Our New Tactic:
“Search & destroy” missions: find enemy troop, bomb their position, destroy supply lines & force them into the open for combat
Napalm: jellied gasoline that explodes on contact to destroy jungles (guerrilla)
Agent Orange: a chemical that strips leaves/foliage – leaving farmlands/forests wasteland

4. What it really looks like…

5. How did the Vietcong send supplies to fight into S
How did the Vietcong send supplies to fight into S. Vietnam without getting ambushed?
Ho Chi Minh Trail: network of jungle paths winding through Cambodia & Laos, bypassing the border b/w North & South Vietnam
Why wouldn’t we just attack that trail?
“No! This trail passes through countries full of innocent people NOT involved in this war” - LBJ

6. Then why wouldn’t LBJ just attack N. Vietnam?
Fear that China would join the war (remember the Korean war?)
The Soviet Union & China supplied N. Vietnamese troops with weapons & supplies

7. Let me tell you about the stresses of a Vietnam soldier
U.S.’ Tactical Flaw
Let me tell you about the stresses of a Vietnam soldier
U.S. troops were ordered to fight a war of attrition: a strategy of defeating enemy sources by slowly wearing them down
Grisly body counts daily after battles to determine how many enemies had died
Time in Vietnam much longer as a result

8. How Close is the End? The war has been going on for approx. 10 yrs
1954:
1965:
1975:
- Vietminh defeat Dien Bien Phu
- Geneva Accords
U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam
The war has been going on for approx. 10 yrs
U.S. troops join in 1965
Between : 220,000 Vietnamese killed via U.S. air-bombing
Still showed NO signs of weakening/backing down
By 1966: 6,700 U.S. troops dead
Suddenly U.S. soldiers begin to question how soon/if we will win
People back home are now questioning America’s involvement in the war

9. Vietnam Divides Our Nation
Back in the states, Americans began to widely resist our involvement in Vietnam
WHY?!?!
At first, people were in support of going over
BUT the war dragged on & U.S. men were dying by the thousands with little/no progress
Speculation began to grow – people wanted to know what troops were still doing over there

10. The First “Television War”
Will Westmoreland [U.S. commander in S. Vietnam] continually reported the enemy was weakening
BUT footage ran nightly on the news of what was going on
Families saw troops suffering/dying
This soon developed a credibility gap: it was hard to believe what LBJ was saying about the war