1. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:
At the start, the public response to the Vietnam War:
Support for containment in 1965:
66% in favor
24% opposed
American forces in Vietnam faced many challenges:
Vietcong knew the local geography.
Nearly impossible to tell the difference between a Vietcong fighter and a civilian
Enormous casualties inflicted upon the Communist forces did not lead to victory.
With the aid of the Soviet Union and China, North Vietnam sent a steady stream of supplies and soldiers to the South.
U.S. air strikes and the pacification program turned many peasants into Vietcong fighters.

2. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:
Major change in public opinion came with the Tet Offensive.
Tet Offensive – Campaign of surprise attacks on South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies, by the Vietcong (North Vietnamese).
Deaths due to attacks:
i. Vietcong - 32,000
ii. US - 3,000
Victory? For who? How?
Americans realize war is a unwinnable

3. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:
Public opinion became divided between that of the “Hawks” and the “Doves”
Hawks – Individuals who believed that the United States should continue & increase force in Vietnam.
Doves – Individuals who opposed war & wanted troops to withdraw from Vietnam.

4. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:
Public Opinion on the War:
Before Tet Offensive
28% Doves
56% Hawks
After Tet Offensive
40% Doves
40% Hawks

5. Ho Chi Min Trail The N. Vietnamese’s series of jungle supply paths
Passed through the countries of Laos and Cambodia
Because Laos and Cambodia weren’t involved in the war, LBJ refused the order to bomb the trail

6. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:
Public Opinion also affected by the draft:
Draft: Process by which a person is selected for service in the military.
25 percent were excused for health reasons; 30 percent received deferments, or postponements of service.
College students were deferred, so men from higher-income families were less likely to serve.
A high percentage of combat soldiers were African Americans.
A draft lottery began in 1969; the draft ended in 1973.
3 percent of eligible men escaped the draft by either refusing to register or by leaving the United States.

7. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:
Reasons Hawks Supported the War:
The US was supremely confident it would be an “easy” war and a majority of the US public supported the war too
Domino Theory-the idea that if one country falls to communism, the surrounding countries will too.
Stop communism
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Reasons Doves Opposed the War:
Argued that Vietnam was not crucial to American national security
Argued that the United States was fighting against the wishes of a majority of Vietnamese
Argued that it was unfair for African Americans to fight for democracy in a foreign land when discrimination continued at home (Ex. Civil rights activists)
My Lai Massacre US Soldiers killed 347 to 504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam