1. Vietnam
CHA3U - Harris

2. Vietnam Post WWII –declares independence from France
Leader – Ho Chi Minh
U.S. supports France
Refused to back Vietminh b/c of Ho’s Communist background
1949 – China falls to communism
1950 – North Korea invades South
1950s – Communist uprisings in Indochina, Philippines, Malaya
Belief if Vietnam fell to communists rest of SE Asia would soon follow

3. The Domino Effect
“You have a row of dominoes set up. You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is a certainty that it will go over very quickly.”
U.S. paying for France’s war in Vietnam
French defeated forced to surrender in 1954
Vietnam divided along 17th parallel
U.S. rejects plans for general elections to reunify country out of fear communists would win

4. Vietnam 1955 - U.S. rigs election in South Vietnam
Install Ngo Dinh Diem as President
Late 1950s armed revolution erupted in south
1959 – military assistance begins to trickle down from communist north to rebels in south
1960 – southern Vietminh form National Liberation Front - goal to over throw Diem
Known simply as Vietcong

5. JFK Believed in Domino Effect
1960 – 900 U.S. military advisors in Vietnam to train Diem’s army
Increases number to and authorized U.S. forces to directly engage Vietcong
1961 – 14 U.S. casualties
1963 – 500 U.S. casualties

6. Diem’s Overthrow Diem was waging brutal crackdown on Buddhists
U.S. threatened to withdraw support
U.S. “encouraged” group of South Vietnamese officers to overthrow Diem
November 1963 – Diem is assassinated
JFK – “In the final analysis it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it”
JFK assassinated two weeks later

7. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution
1963 – Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara advised LBJ he had to increase U.S. military commitment or south would fall to communists
Needed permission from Congress
U.S. Maddox attacked by north in Gulf of Tonkin - provoked/unprovoked?
Congress passes Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Authorized use of military force to prevent further aggression
Gave LBJ war making powers w/out declaring war

8. The Draft LBJ ordered Select Service to begin military draft
April 1965 – men drafted
More than 2 million Americans would serve in Vietnam
Average soldier was younger, poorer and less educated than in WWII
30% received deferments – postponements of service
Most were for college enrollment - result?
African and Hispanic Americans served in higher percentages
Served in dangerous ground units
African-Americans made up 24% of all fatalities

9. Operation Rolling Thunder
LBJ believed air power could achieve quick victory
Rolling Thunder – bombing campaign against military targets in north
Goal was to weaken enemies will to fight
Target was Ho Chi Minh Trail

10. Ho Chi Minh Trail Network of jungle paths
VC used it to bring weapons/supplies into South Vietnam
Bridges along trail – including those in Cambodia and Laos – were repeatedly bombed
VC rebuilt them or managed w/out them
people worked full-time to maintain Trail

11. Operation Rolling Thunder
LBJ daily average of 800 tones of bombs on North Vietnam
LBJ frustrated
Never produced desired results
Rather than surrender VC sent more troops and supplies into South

12. The Ground War 1965 -1967 – # of troops grew to 486 000
Aided by NV Regular Army, VC struck at U.S. patrols, government held villages and then disappeared back into jungle
U.S. conducted 1000s of search-and-destroy missions that attempted to drive VC out of hiding place
Faced booby traps, snipers
Villages seldom remained cleared of VC

13. The Ground War
Pacification – U.S. program where residents moved to secure locations and burned abandon village
Daily body count of enemy dead became measuring stick for war
Morale declined
Frustrated by VC willingness to keep fighting
Victory was no closer in 1967 than it had been in 1963

14. Deadly Weapons U.S. used new weapons
Napalm – a jellied gasoline used in firebombs
Cluster bombs – sprayed razor sharp metal fragments when exploded
Agent Orange – defoliant – stripped land of vegetation over thousands of acres
Goal to expose jungle supply routes and enemy hiding places, and destroy VC food supply

16. The Tet Offensive January 30, 1968 –Vietnamese New Year
Holiday meant lull in fighting…but…
Early morning VC and North Vietnamese Army launched coordinated massive attack
Struck 100 cities and 12 U.S. military bases
Heavy fighting in U.S. strongholds of Saigon and Da Nang
VC hoped Tet Offensive would bring down South government and they would be hailed as liberators

17. The Tet Offensive
Clear VC defeat – lost at cost of 1100 American lives…but…
Political effect was shocking
Anchor of CBS Evening News Walter Cronkite called the war “unwinnable”
LBJ – “If I’ve lost Cronkite I’ve lost middle America”
Time and Newsweek call for end to war

18. Vietnamization Election of Nixon in 1968 – “peace with honor”
National Security Advisor – Henry Kissinger
Vietnamization – policy of gradually turning fight over to South Vietnamese and pulling out U.S. troops
Hoped it would produce a stable non-communist South or delay defeat long enough to spare U.S. embarrassment

20. Nixon and Kissinger August 1969 – U.S. troops begin withdrawal
Kissinger meets secretly w/ Le Duc Tho in Paris
Nixon ordered wide spread bombing of Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia
Wanted to show North U.S. was willing to expand war in “peace with honor”
Nixon and Kissinger kept Cambodian air strikes secret from American people, Congress, military leaders and Sec. of the Air Force

21. Cambodia Revolution ousted Cambodian ruling party in 1970
New regime was pro-American
Nixon made strategy public
Justified air attacks as defense of friendly nation
Sent troops into Cambodia
Destroyed countryside and destabilized nation
Led to rise of Khmer Rouge and Cambodian genocide

22. Kent State
News of bombing and invasion of Cambodia provoked outrage in U.S.
Ohio’s Kent State – fire set to the ROTC building
May 4, 1970 – National Guard troops sent to control demonstrators shot randomly I into large group of students
Killed 4, wounded 9
Some of the victims were just walking across campus
Shocked nation

23. Pentagon Papers
1971 –NY Times began publishing collection of top secret government documents related to the war
Leaked to Times by Daniel Ellsberg – a former Defense Department official
Revealed government had mislead American people re: course of war
Ellsberg had been strong supported of war until he visited Vietnam and seen effects of war up close

24. Madman Theory
“I call it the Madman Theory. I want the North Vietnamese to believe that I’ve reached a point where I might do anything to stop the war. We’ll just slip the word to them that, ‘for God’s sake, you know Nixon is obsessed about Communists. We can’t restrain him when he is angry – and he had his hand on the nuclear button’ – and Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two days begging for peace.”
- Nixon to his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldimand

25. Cease Fire
October 1972 – North Vietnam offered peace plan that Kissinger and Nixon found acceptable
Cease fire
Pullout of all foreign troops from Vietnam
End of U.S. military aid
Creation of new government for South Vietnam
Nixon forced to reject plan when South Vietnam protested
North Vietnam demanded that agreement be reinstated

26. Christmas Bombing Nixon furious – orders Christmas bombing of Hanoi
U.S. drops tons of bombs b/w December 18-29
1600 civilians killed
Largest airstrikes launched by U.S. since WWII
Talks resume
January 23, both sides announce peace plan
Almost identical to plan from October of 1972

27. The Paris Peace Accords
U.S. pledged to remove troops and help rebuild Vietnam
Included POW exchange
Did not address political future of South Vietnam
Nixon secretly promised President Thieu U.S. would come to South Vietnam’s aid if fighting resumed

28. The Fall of Saigon 1973 - U.S. forces withdrew
South Vietnam’s military government collapsed
April 1975 – U.S. military rushed to evacuate thousands of Americans from Saigon
Some escaped from roof of U.S. embassy – clinging to helicopter as North Vietnamese stormed compound
Vietnamese who had worked for U.S. flown to America
April, – South Vietnam surrendered

29. The Cost of Vietnam
Long, costly effort to prevent united independent communist Vietnam failed
War spread to Laos, Cambodia
Predicted collapse of SE Asia – The Domino Effect never occurred

30. The Cost of Vietnam 185 000 South Vietnamese soldiers killed
South Vietnamese civilians killed
1 million VC killed
children orphaned
children disabled
2 million Americans served
Americans killed
wounded
2500 MIA
600 Americans held as POW
Cost American taxpayers $150 billion

31. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington D.C.
Inscribed on huge granite wall
are names of Americans who died in Vietnam
10 feet high – 247 feet long
Names are in chronological order
Tens of thousands of people visit ever day
Some leave flowers, mementos, messages

32. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial