1. Vietnam War: Retaliation to Tet Offensive/ My Lai Massacre
May 9, 2013

2. January 31, 1968: Tet Offensive
Over 1,500 Americans killed
Response: Americans bitter
No large scale battles
Went against cease-fire
U.S. looking for Vietcong
In past: many U.S. killed/ injured by Vietcong posing as civilians
U.S. troops target South Vietnam villages that “sympathize” with Vietcong
Told to: burn homes; kill livestock; destroy crops
Charlie Company
Previously: Suffered 30 attacks by Vietcong
Many wounded; 5 deaths
Approach village in My Lai
Debate orders
Suspect EVERYONE of conspiring with Vietcong
NO Vietcong soldiers or weapons

3. March 16, 1968: My Lai Massacre
U.S. Troops murder Vietnamese civilians
Men, women, AND children
Sexually assaulted; mutilated; tortured
Killed EVERYONE in the village
Burned village/ no evidence
NOT every soldier in Charlie Company committed killings
After attack…Newspapers in U.S. read:
128 Vietcong; 22 civilians killed
Charlie Company congratulated
Soldiers who did NOT murder “blow whistle” on what happened in My Lai
14 soldiers on trial
Claim take orders of Lieutenant
Lieutenant sentenced to life in prison
Only 4 ½ months in military prison
U.S. count 347 dead; Vietnam claim 504 killed
Reminder: Soldier no regard for human life

4. Getting out of Vietnam May 15, 2013

5. January 1968: Tet Offensive
March 1968: My Lai Massacre
April 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
June 1968: Robert Kennedy assassinated
November 1968: Nixon elected president
Nixon’s Goal: Get U.S. out of Vietnam
Peace with Honor
1969: Vietnamization
U.S. gradually remove troops
Let South Vietnam troops fight own battles
1970: Nixon sick of waiting for peace
Bomb Ho Chi Minh Trail (trail that supplied Vietcong)
3 million tons of bombs dropped (hit Laos/ Cambodia)
Americans outraged the war NOT over
May 1970: Kent State University
Anti-Vietnam War protest
Students throw rocks/ bottles at Nat’l Guard
4 students shot dead

6. 1971: 2/3 Americans want troops withdrawn
Even if Communists take over
Nixon needs to get out of Vietnam to win re-election
October 1972: U.S. & North Vietnam begin PEACE talks again
November 1972 Election: Nixon wins re-election
January 1973: Cease fire signed (no fight)
POWs returned (550)
March 29, 1973: last troops leave
Advisors/ contractors stay in South Vietnam
January 1974: North Vietnam rebuild military & invade South Vietnam
Goes against Cease-Fire
April 29, 1975: In 18 hours, U.S. airlift 1,000 Americans & 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees out of Vietnam
April 30, 1975: North Vietnam takes over South Vietnam
Vietnam is UNIFIED and COMMUNIST

7. Death Toll
U.S. – 58,000 (300,000 injured)
Vietnam – 2 million dead
Did Communism Spread???
Yes (but not as bad as thought)
Laos and Cambodia turn comm.
No appreciation to returning troops
No warmth/ No parades
Physical/ psychological issues
Post Traumatic Stress: severe anxiety after witnessing traumatic event
$$$ + Death Toll = Distrust in Gov’t
War Powers Act: President must consult Congress within 48 hours if send troops to foreign conflict
Americans want No Foreign INVOLVEMENT
Don’t want another “Vietnam”