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33.2 The War Escalates
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution
President Johnson needed Congressional backing before he
could increase U.S. military commitment in Vietnam
Tonkin Gulf Resolution was overwhelmingly passed by Congress. It gave the President authority to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the
U.S.
LBJ claimed attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin were unprovoked, however in reality the U.S. destroyer Maddox had been spying for the South Vietnamese and had also fired
first.
A claimed second attack on the Maddox probably never occurred, but LBJ had gotten what they wanted, authority to expand the war
Senator Morse of Oregon said, “I believe that history will record we made a great
mistake…We are in affect giving the President war making powers in the
absence of a declaration of war.”
U.S. forces in Vietnam
LBJ called for an escalation, or build up of U.S. military forces in Vietnam
In April of 1965 the Selective Service notified 13,700 draftees
More than 2 million Americans served in Vietnam
The Average U.S. soldier was younger, poorer, and less educated than those who severed in WW II and Korea
Due in most part to college deferments young men from higher income families were less likely to
be drafted
African American and Hispanics severed in some of the most
dangerous ground units.
In 1965 African American accounted for almost 24% of all battle deaths, even though they made up just 11% of the U.S. population
Soldiers cut their way through jungle, where they heard but seldom saw the enemy
Administration, communications, medical care, etc were rarely safe as well. Enemy rockets and mortars could and did strike anywhere
10,000 women served in Vietnam, mostly as nurses.
They did not carry guns but nurses faced the horrors of the combat daily
The Air War
LBJ hoped an air power could secure a quick victory
In March of 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder was launched
It was a bombing campaign against military targets in the North. The goal was to weaken the enemy’s will to fight
A key target of the campaign was the Ho Chi Minh Trail
This trail was used to bring weapons and supplies into South
Vietnam
Parts of the trail went through Laos and Cambodia and were repeatedly bombed
The Vietcong were able to repair the trail very quickly
By 1967 the U.S. was dropping a daily average of 800 tons of bombs on North Vietnam
When the bombing did not produce the desired results LBJ broadened
the air to areas in Laos and much of South Vietnam
Weapons of the war
The U.S. Military also used a variety of new weapons in Vietnam
Napalm- Jelled gasoline mixture, used in fire bombs
Cluster Bombs- Sprayed razor sharp metal fragments when they exploded
Defoliants- Chemicals to strip the land of vegetation, most widely used was agent orange
Defoliants
The Ground War
The U.S. bombing actually led to more South Vietnamese joining the
Vietcong
Soon the U.S. was facing more South Vietnamese than North Vietnamese
To counter this the U.S. launched a ground war
U.S. forces in Vietnam in 1965 were 185,000 by the end of 1967 the forces grew to 486,000
However the Vietcong’s use of guerilla tactics proved very effective against the
greatest military in the world
Vietnamese peasants who appeared peaceful during the day sided with the Vietcong at night
Ground patrols would first locate the enemy and then call air support to
kill them
To provide security in rural areas U.S. forces began a program called pacification
When these security forces were not enough U.S. forces moved the residents to
secure locations a burned the villages
Progress of this type of warfare could not be shown on a map, so instead daily body counts of the enemy became the only measure of success.
The U.S. would inflate this numbers by counting all Vietnamese dead the as the
enemy
One officer said, “If its dead and Vietnamese, its VC.”
U.S. morale declines
Optimism of the soldiers began to fade as the hazards of fighting a nearly invisible foe in an alien landscape became apparent
The soldiers became frustrated when the enemy continued to fight despite massive casualties
U.S. planners of the war expected U.S. technology would win the
war, but it has not
Ho Chi Minh warned the French, “You can kill ten of my men for everyone I kill of yours, but even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.”
It appears that same warning was apply to the Americans as well
By the end of 1967 more than 16,000 Americans had been killed in Vietnam
American homes were bombarded by nightly newscasts of terrified Vietnamese civilians and dead or injured soldiers
Because of the coverage some American wanted that the U.S. do what ever takes to win the war and some Americans wanted the U.S. to pull out of the
war
Journalist also started to report that the U.S. government had been
inflating body counts to give the appearance of progress
Johnson found his administration criticized by both doves, people who oppose the war and hawks, people who support the war
The Antiwar Movement
The antiwar movement attracted a broad range people like doctors,
teachers, and other professionals
The Students for a Democratic Society was radical antiwar student group
By 1965 SDS had members on 124 college campuses
SDS members held antiwar rallies and debates, they also protested the draft, ROTC on campus, and recruitment efforts
The SDS organized the first national antiwar protest, it was held in
Washington D.C.
More than 20,000 people participated, there were speeches, marches to the capital, and delivered petitions to Congress members
Civil rights activists like Martin Luther King said that the war was stealing from poverty programs
Civil rights activists also said that they were sending great numbers of
African Americans off to war yet did little to end discrimination at home
Despite its high visibility, antiwar protestors made up a small percent
of the U.S. population
Young men and women who tired to avoid the draft angered many veterans of past wars