1. Chapter 16- Section 2 U.S. Involvement Grows
United States History
Ms. Girbal
Tuesday, May 26, 2015

2. Forrest Gump Project
In an essay, you will need to select THREE historical events and explain how Forrest Gump influenced the event/outcome. Additionally, you will chose ONE historical event (one that is not part of the three you have chosen from the previously) and make up a new story on how YOUR presence in the event would have caused that event to unfold.
Requirements
Essay must be AT LEAST 3 pages
Double-spaced, Times New-Roman, 12 size font and 1 inch margins
MLA- Must properly cite when using information that is not your own work
Must include a work cited page
DUE THURSDAY at 8:05AM
Must be submitted on
If late, the highest grade you will be able to attain in a 25/50 (half credit).

3. Objectives
Identify the factors that caused President Johnson to increase American troop strength in Vietnam.
Assess the nature of the war in Vietnam and the difficulties faced by both sides.
Evaluate the effects of low morale on American troops and on the home front.

4. Americanizing the war effort
In response to Vietcong attacks that killed American troops at Pleiku, Vietnam, Johnson ordered the start of Operation Rolling Thunder.
Intense bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
U.S. hoped to use its superior war technology would win the conflict quickly.
Failed to convince North Vietnam to make peace.
U.S. increased number of troops in South Vietnam.
American soldiers went from advisers to assuming greater military responsibility, while South Vietnamese troops had a limited role in the war.

5. Americans dropped more than 6 million tons of bombs on enemy territory
Additionally, American pilots dropped napalm and sprayed agent orange.
Napalm- jellied gasoline when dropped in large canisters that explode on impact, cover large areas in flames.
Agent Orange- herbicide meant to kill plant life

6. The North Vietnamese and Vietcong fighters proved a difficult enemy.
Large-scale battles were not typical between the U.S. and Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops.
Vietcong troops were lightly armed
Ho Chi Minh’s military strategy was to fight only when victory was certain.
He exhorted his troops to be like a tiger fighting an elephant — the tiger keeps moving and takes bites out of the elephant.
Vietcong's strategies- behaving like Ho’s tigers
Traveled light- just riffle and handful of rice
Dug tunnels and hide during day and fought at night
Set off explosives in American bases and set up bobby traps

8. The war grew increasingly difficult and frustrating.
Many American soldiers had been drafted and did not see how the war helped U.S. interests.
The lack of progress toward victory in Vietnam increased doubt about the war.
The war strained America’s economy.
By 1968, there were more than half a million U.S. troops in Vietnam, and 30,000 had died.

9. Johnson assured Americans that victory was close at hand, but when it did not come, American began to questions the President’s foreign policy.
Doves questioned the war. They included liberal politicians and students who saw the conflict as a localized civil war.
Hawks supported Johnson’s war policies. They were mostly conservatives who believed the war was crucial to a U.S. Cold War victory and containing communism.

10. Chapter 16- Section 3 (Part 1) The War Divides America
United States History
Ms. Girbal
Tuesday, May 26, 2015

11. Many people opposed the policies of the draft.
As more troops died and no clear victory emerged, increasing numbers of Americans opposed the Vietnam War.
Many people opposed the policies of the draft.
According to the Selective Service Act of 1948, more than 1.5 million young men were drafted during the Vietnam War.
Many argued the draft unfairly gave deferments to students.
Most of the draftees came from a poor or working- class background.

12. The number of African Americans fighting in Vietnam was disproportionately high.
African Americans were less likely than whites to become commissioned officers.
They were more likely to serve, and die, in combat positions.
Inequalities in the draft led to widespread resistance against the war.
In 1969, the draft was restructured to introduce a lottery system.

13. Students’ opposition to the war grew.
Colleges and universities became centers of antiwar activism.
Most upper middle-class students opposed the war; working-class students generally supported the war.
University of Michigan and UC Berkley important hubs of the antiwar movement
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) founded at the University Michigan in campaigned to end the war in Vietnam.

14. Beyond college campuses, more and more Americans also opposed the war.
War in Vietnam was the first “living-room war”
TV news showed the war’s horrors.
The difference between government reports and news stories created a credibility gap.