2. Indochina
1800’s – French colonize Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam

3. France WWI and WWII – busy with wars so can’t hold on to colonies
After WWI Vietnamese want self-determination but it isn’t granted
Late 1930’s – the balance of power shifts and Japan takes over Vietnam

4. 1945 During WWII Vietnam is held by the Japanese WWII ends
after the war the Japanese pull out
WWII ends
France wants Vietnam back
French/Vietnamese clashes
Japanese occupy Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
Japanese transfer power to Vietminh (North Vietnamese communist party)
1945

5. 1946 France reinstalls its colonial apparatus in Vietnam
Violates agreement to have referendum on uniting Vietnam
Negotiations with Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Vietminh, break down, and war between France and the Vietminh begins.

6.
1949
1950
Bao Dai, leader in exile from Vietnam, and the French President sign an agreement making Vietnam an “associated state” within the French Union.
France retains control of Vietnam’s defense and finances.
Ho Chi Minh declares the Democratic Republic of Vietnam the only legal government. Recognized by USSR and China. China provides weapons to Vietminh.
Not surprisingly, US and Great Britain recognize Bao Dai’s government in South Vietnam.
South
North

7. 1950 North Korea invades South Korea Propping up Dominoes:
President Truman grants $15 million in military aid to France for war in Indochina. Towards the war’s end, US is supplying up to 80% of France’s war needs.

8. 1953
France grants Laos full independence, and Vietminh forces push into Laos soon after.

9. 1954
French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu. Vietminh force France to leave North Vietnam, and Vietnam is partitioned.

10. In response to the French defeat, President Eisenhower outlined the Domino Theory

11. 1954 The French pull out and the US sends “advisors”
to train the southern armies
Who were these “advisors”?

12. 1954 “Advisors” = gung-ho military guys who want to fight
They lead a group into battle and they’re fighting and there are casualties
Letters sent home saying that they died in an accident but it was battle
This is why some historians date the war’s beginning to 1954

13. Viet Cong The name began appearing in Saigon newspapers in 1956
U.S. soldiers referred to the Vietcong as Victor Charlie or V-C.
"Charlie" referred to communist forces in general, both Vietcong and North Vietnamese.

14. US builds airfields, begins bombing
VC targets in South Vietnam
Airfields are attacked; US sends in Marines
and other troops to protect airfields.
Begin search and destroy missions to extend
perimeter and keep VC from infiltrating.
US takes over a larger and
larger role in the war.

15. Keep in Mind World War II Vietnam clear objective soldiers as heroes
get to Berlin
soldiers as heroes
Vietnam
at war for nearly 40 years
3 generations
no clear objective
soldiers as “baby killers”

16. We are “advising” form 1954 – 1965 Deaths starting to pile up
The deaths are not legitimate
How to explain them?
We’re fighting a war but we haven’t declared war

17. 1955
Diem defeats Bao Dai in rigged election and proclaims himself President of Republic of Vietnam. US supports him.
Ngo Dinh Diem

18. 1957
Communist insurgent activity in South Vietnam begins.

19. 1959
North Vietnamese begin infiltrating cadres and weapons into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia.
becomes a strategic target for future military attacks
Diem orders crackdown on communists, dissidents.

20. 1962
Rows of Agent Orange containers ready to be sprayed over Vietnam (image obtained from the US National Archives).
US Air Force begins using Agent Orange to expose roads and trails used by Vietcong forces
a defoliant that came in metal orange containers
Use of napalm is also widespread
incendiary mixture

21. Spraying agent orange

22. 1962 Diem palace bombed in coup attempt.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield reports back to JFK from Saigon his opinion that Diem had wasted the two billion dollars America had spent there.

23. 1963
With tacit approval of the United States, operatives within the South Vietnamese military overthrow and assassinate Diem.

24. 1963
JFK is assassinated. Malcolm X remarks that this is “chickens coming home to roost.”
referring to our attempts to kill Castro and our complicity in the killing of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo and Diem in South Vietnam

25. 1964 Alleged attack on American Destroyer Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf.
LBJ uses this incident to gain nearly unanimous resolution giving him power to escalate war in SE Asia
essentially sanctioning what the US is already doing.
Gulf of Tonkin
Photograph taken from USS Maddox (DD-731) during her engagement with three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, 2 August The view shows all three of the boats speeding towards the Maddox.

26. 1965 March 8th two marine battalions sent to defend Danang airfields
supposedly the first American combat troops in Vietnam
Sustained American bombing raids of North Vietnam begin
nearly continuous air raids go on for three years

27. 1965 The first conventional battle of the Vietnam War takes place
American forces clash with North Vietnamese units in Ia Drang Valley.
By December, there are about 200,000 US troops in Vietnam

28. Conventional?! Techniques of Vietnam War
Guerilla warfare
War of attrition
wearing down or weakening resistance, often as a result of continuous pressure or harassment

29. Marines of Company H walk through a punji-staked gully, January 28, 1966.

30. May 15, 1965 First large scale Teach-In on the Vietnam War.
debate with pro and con sides
arguing various points on our foreign policy
what was our purpose in Southeast Asia
Washington D.C. 3,000 students and professors
broadcast via closed circuit to over 100 college campuses throughout the U.S.

31. 1966
Veterans from WW I and II and the Korean War stage a protest rally in New York City.

32. 1967
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) issues a report claiming that the US military draft places "a heavy discriminatory burden on minority groups and the poor."

33. Posters 1967

34. “Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now
“Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak of the -- for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours.”
MLK April 4, 1967

35. 1967 Khe Sanh

36. 1967 Khe Sanh
General Westmoreland sends 5,000 marines to fortify the base as a “tethered goat”
to provoke attacks by the North Vietnamese
quickly encircled, rocketed and shelled daily
weather and damage to the airfield limit resupply and removal of wounded
The battle escalates
LBJ eventually authorizes (or orders) the intensive bombing of North Vietnam around Khe Sanh

37. 1967 Westmoreland vs. McNamara Dueling Updates
Which is the True War Story?
General Westmoreland testifies that we are winning the war
VietCong and North Vietnamese on the run
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara testifies that we are not winning the war
US bombing raids against NVN have not achieved their objectives
movement of supplies to SVN has not been reduced, and neither the economy nor the morale of the North Vietnamese has been broken

38. 1967 US troop strength approaches 500,000 by year’s end

39. 1968 Tet Offensive TURNING POINT IN THE WAR
North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces sweep down on several key cities in South Vietnam, including the capital, Saigon
catches the US military off guard
within days, American forces turn back the attack and recapture most areas.
Militarily, Tet is a huge defeat for the Communists
Politically and psychologically, it is a victory

40. Posters 1968

41. 1968
Popularity for anti-war politicians, such as McCarthy, Humphrey, and Nixon, surges
"Be clear where America stands. Human brotherhood and equal opportunity for every man, woman, and child, we are committed to it, in America and around the world." HH Humphrey 1967

42. 1968 Hue Hue was the country’s cultural capital The Imperial City
blend of French and Vietnamese influence
The Imperial City
Retained the glory of Vietnam’s past while its universities educated Vietnam’s brightest minds for the future.
Hue was a symbol of everything the Vietnamese people admired and respected
for this reason, it was spared the terrible effects of war—until Tet 1968
When Hue was captured by Communist forces    
CBS News

43. 1968 Battle for Hue
One of the bloodiest and longest battles of the War
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam and U.S. Marine Corps attacked and defeated People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, VietCong)
Hue was nearly leveled in the battle
nearly all of its population left homeless
After battle, mass graves were discovered
people executed during the Communist occupation

44. Before
After

45. The Dark Shadow of Both Sides
American and South Vietnamese soldiers later discovered that North Vietnamese Army/VC leaders rounded up South Vietnamese teachers and government officials and killed them.
Hue Massacre
the NVA/VC murdered nearly 3,000 residents of Hue and buried them in a mass grave
Two weeks after the battle for Hue ended, U.S. forces committed the most publicized, talked about, and politicized atrocity of the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre.

46. 1968 My Lai Massacre
On March 16, the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, entered the village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it," said their superior officers.

47. 1968
Lt. William Calley ordered his men to enter the village firing, though there had been no report of opposing fire
The "search and destroy" mission degenerated into the massacre of over 300 unarmed civilians
old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped and then killed
Calley rounded up a group of villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire

48. SP5 Capezza burning a dwelling
SP4 Dustin setting fire to a dwelling
Lt William Calley

49. Seymour Hersh
Word of the atrocities did not reach the American public until November 1969
Journalist Seymour Hersh published a story detailing his conversations with Vietnam veteran Ron Ridenhour
Ridenhour learned of the events at My Lai from members of Charlie Company who had been there
Before speaking with Hersh, Ridenhour had appealed to Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon to investigate the matter
When news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the US political establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided American public.
Seymour Hersh is also the journalist who uncovered the torture at Abu Ghraib

50. 1969
In an effort to destroy Communist supply routes and base camps in Cambodia, President Nixon gives the go-ahead to "Operation Breakfast."
Covert bombing of Cambodia conducted without the knowledge of Congress or the American public
continues for over a year

52. 1969
Massive anti-war demonstrations in San Francisco and Washington D.C., Berkley
300 anti-war students at Harvard University seize the admin building, throw out eight deans, then lock themselves in
Woodstock
Returning soldiers in Seattle

53. 1969 April 30 U.S. troop levels peak at 543,400
There have been 33,641 Americans killed by now, a total greater than the Korean War

54. Posters 1969

55. Prince Sihanouk to Pol Pot
1970
Leadership in Cambodia changes hands, further destabilizing Indochina
Prince Sihanouk to Pol Pot

56. 1970
After repeatedly denying US troop involvement in Cambodia, Nixon finally announces that US forces have invaded Cambodia to attack communist sanctuaries

57. Kent State Shooting May 4,1970
National Guardsmen open fire on a crowd of student antiwar protesters at Ohio's Kent State University
Some protesters were hurling rocks and empty tear gas canisters at the Guardsmen
Four students were killed and eight wounded
President Nixon publicly deplores the actions of the Guardsmen, but cautions: "...when dissent turns to violence it invites tragedy.“

61. Posters 1971

62. 1971
A legacy of deception, concerning US policy in VN, on the part of the military and the executive branch is revealed as the New York Times publishes the Pentagon Papers.
The Nixon administration, eager to stop leaks of what they consider sensitive information, appeals to the Supreme Court to halt the publication.
The Court decides in favor the Times and allows continued publication.

63. 1972
The announcement of intensified bombing of Hanoi and the mining of areas of Haiphong Harbor raises the threat of war with the USSR, which had ships in the harbor

64. North Vietnamese Posters 1972
Whether [American Bombers] Fly High or Low, They Cannot Escape
Nothing is More Precious Than Freedom and Independence

65. Cuban Posters 1972 “Nixon’s Peace”
“Symposium on Yankee genocide in Indochina”
“Nixon’s Peace”

66. 1972
Nixon cuts troop levels by 70,000 and wins reelection.

67. 1972 Watergate
"Watergate" describes a complex web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974
refers to the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C.
the Democratic National Committee had offices in the building
broken into on June 17th, 1972
Involved break-ins, lies, secret taping, cover-ups
Led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974
only resignation of any U.S. President
Resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration of several Nixon administration officials

68. 1973
Stalled Paris talks resume. Cease-fire agreements formally signed in Paris. The draft ends in US.

69. 1973
The last American troops leave Vietnam on March 29th

70. South Vietnamese people who had worked
with Americans knew they would be killed
once the Viet Cong took over Saigon

71. North Vietnamese Posters 1975
“All Our Rivers Flow Into the Eastern Sea. The North and South United Under One Roof!”

72. Results 3 million VN killed Nearly 3 million Americans served
58,000 Americans killed
10,000 MIA
365,000 wounded
Military lost prestige
Changed US view of government
By some accounts (1954 start date) longest war in US history (19 years)
"War" was never officially declared by the United States
Over-all total U.S. cost of the Vietnam war at $200 billion
Total U.S. bomb tonnage dropped during:
World War II =   2,057,244 tons
Vietnam War =  7,078,032 tons  (3-1/2 times WWII tonnage)
Bomb tonnage dropped during the Vietnam War amounted to 1,000 lbs. for every man, woman and child in Vietnam
An estimated 70,000 draft evaders and "dodgers" were living in Canada by 1972

73. Results
Two million Vietnamese fled their country after the US pulled support from the region. Thousands died at sea.
War Story
60 Minutes

74. Results: PTSD
The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years
The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter

75. Results: Censorship
During the Vietnam War the daily pictures of flag-covered bodies coming back to the tarmac in Dover helped shift America's attitude against the war
the Pentagon began referring to how the public might react to a military operation's casualties as "the Dover test."
During the first Gulf War, the George H. W. Bush administration didn't want public opinion to falter by seeing bodies of soldiers coming home from a war that was supposed to be "high tech" and have fewer casualties
he instituted a ban on photographing/filming flag-draped caskets
continued through the Bill Clinton administration and through the George W. Bush administration
The 18 year ban was lifted in 2009

76. Results: More support for soldiers today