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The Vietnam War1954-1975
Background France controlled “Indochina”
since the late 19th century. Japan took control during
WWII With US aid, France
attempted to re-colonize Indochina in the postwar period.
Background Ho Chi Minh builds
nationalist resistance Vietnamese “George
Washington” France fights and US pays
for French-Indochina War Dien Bien Phu = Disaster
Background Geneva Peace
Conference Vietnam Divided at the 17th
Parallel Ho Chi Minh’s nationalists
controlled the North Ngo Dinh Diem controlled
the South
Background Democratic elections set to reunify Vietnam Diem backed out & violence erupted
Background Participants
North Vietnam
South VietnamUnited States
Soviet Union
China
Vietcong
US Involvement Begins Repressive Diem Regime
French-educated Catholic leader Diem’s family controlled government Plutocracy developed Buddhist majority repressed Torture, intimidation and all kinds of fun things
US Involvement Begins He’s an SOB, but he’s our SOB
Eisenhower sent financial and military aid 675 military advisors sent by 1960
JFK & Vietnam Increases military advisors
to 16,000 1963 military coup d'état
Supported (instigated?) by JFK
Diem & brother murdered JFK assassinated weeks later
LBJ & Vietnam Remembers Truman’s “loss” of China
Domino Theory revived “I am not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way
China went.”
Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara Primary architect of war Gradual Escalation
LBJ & Vietnam: Crossing the Rubicon
Gulf of Tonkin Incident USS Maddox attacked
twice?
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution “Blank Check” to LBJ to
fight the war
LJB & Vietnam Troop Deployment
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
U.S. Troops
Vietnam – Iraq
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
U.S. Troops
2003 2004 2005 20062007 2008 2009
1965-1968 No territorial goals Body Counts on TV
every night 1st “Living Room” War
Vietcong receives supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail
1965-1968 The Air War
Operation Rolling Thunder - 1965 Sustained Bombing of North Vietnam Hanoi bombed for 3 years
Downed pilots = P.O.W.s Carpet Bombing v. Strategic Bombing Napalm
1965-1968 The Ground War
General Westmoreland We can see the “light at the end of the tunnel.” Westmoreland
1967
Who is the Enemy? North Vietnam Regulars
Traditional military opponent
Vietcong Citizen soldiers
Farm by day; Fight by night Patient and Strategic US grossly underestimated
their resolve & resourcefulness
“The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win.”
Mao Zedong
Vietcong - Insurgents
Vietcong - Insurgents
Vietcong - Insurgents
Vietcong - Insurgents
The Tet Offensive January 1968 NV Army + Vietcong
Offensive 100 Cities & Bases Hue & American Embassy
in Saigon
The Tet Offensive Perception of Victory
US Battlefield Victory & Vietcong Disabled
US Intelligence Defeat
Impacts US Public: Disbelief, Anger,
Distrust of LBJ“Hey, Hey LBJ! How many
kids did you kill today?”
1968 LBJ’s approval rating
drops from 48% to 36%
Announces:
“…I shall not seek, and I shall not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as President.”
Vietnam Strains American Society Disproportionate representation of racial
minorities and poor in enlisted ranks Discipline problems
Racial Tension Drug Abuse Insubordination “Fragging”
Vietnam Strains American Society Officer versus
Enlisted Combat Rotation
Officers: 6 month front line & 6 months rear support
Enlisted: 12 month font line & varied rear support
America Divided My Lai Massacre - 1968
America Divided My Lai
America Divided Lt. William Calley “Helicopter Attack” &
“Following Orders” War Criminal: 1st Degree
Murder Conviction Life Sentence – House
Arrest – Released Post My Lai
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations
Columbia University 1968
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations
University of California Berkeley 1968
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations
Kent State University 1970
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations
Jackson State University 1970
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations
Democratic National Convention - Chicago 1968
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations
Washington, DC 1967
America Divided Counterculture Jane Fonda
Nixon & Vietnam 1968 Presidential Campaign
“Peace with Honor” = End the War with Victory Appealed to the “Silent Majority”
Nixon & Vietnam Vietnamization
Nixon & Vietnam Pentagon Papers, 1971
LBJ Assigned “Research Paper” to the Pentagon Daniel Ellsberg leaked documents to New York
Times Government misled Congress & American
people through the 1960s New York Times v. United States (1971)
Nixon & Vietnam Expansion of War
Cambodia & Laos = Hit the Trail 1972 Christmas Bombing Campaign Anti-War Demonstrations Increase
Nixon & Vietnam Expansion of the War
Agent Orange = Chemical Defoliant
Bombing Hanoi Mining Haiphong
Nixon & Vietnam 1972 “Peace is at Hand” Henry Kissinger
North Vietnam attacks South Vietnam US Bombing of North Vietnam = more bombs
than all of WWII
1973 Ceasefire Negotiations to be covered later Conditions
US remove all troops NV leave troops in SV NV resumes war No POW or MIA provisions
1973 Ceasefire Last US troops leave SV 3/29/73 1975 NV defeats SV Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City
South Vietnamese Flee country prior to fall of Saigon
North Vietnamese at the SV Presidential Palace
America Abandons Its Embassy April 30, 1975
Vietnam
The Price 58,000 US Killed 300,00 US Wounded 3,000,000 Vietnamese Killed $150,000,000,000 Great Society & LBJ Presidency US Morale, Self-confidence, Trust
The Impact 26th Amendment
Suffrage for 18-year-olds
Watergate War Powers Act
Troop Deployment 48 Hour Notification of Congress 90 Day Approval by Congress
The Impact Veterans’
Experiences POW – MIA
Some POWs retured from “Hanoi Hilton”
2583 Still unaccounted
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
“If we have to fight, we will fight. You will kill ten of our men and we will kill one of yours, and in the end it will be you who tires of it.”
Ho Chi Minh
Lessons Learned (?) Duration Casualties Media Access Congressional Support Public Support Clear Goals Deadlines
Vietnam War Memorial
Vietnam War Memorial
Vietnam War Memorial
