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The Vietnam War
Costs of War
Low morale of soldiers quickly lost all hopes of winning the war (*many turned to drugs)
first television war ‘living room” *horrible graphic pics contradicted the war scenario
-credibility gap develops- of what Johnson’s administration was reporting & then what was actually happening.
Opposition
Hawks unleash military to win war
Doves believed we should withdraw forces
The Draft
Tet Offensive Leaders predicting end of war soon.
Cease fire called to celebrate Tet holiday
Viet Cong and NVA attacked the American embassy. Major coordinated attack on Jan. 1968
Military victory for US, but not really
Johnson’s popularity drops after Tet.
Walter Cronkite: “More Certain now the war will end in a bloody stalemate”
“If I’ve lost Walter, I’ve lost Mr. Average Citizen”- LBJ
Protests Begin
Students for a Democratic Society demanded changes in AM. Society- claimed Am was ran by “The Machine”
- Known as the “New Left”
-backlash against anti-war view : Conservatives
Protest Movement
Kent State University: students attacked businesses & ROTC buildings- Gov. Called in Nat’l Guard which opened fire on 4 students
Jackson State University: violent protests-police called in and kill 2 students.
1967-March on Washington: 100,000 march to Pentagon to protest war.
• As protests spread into Vietnam, soldiers began to protest the war.
• Fragging
• Insubordination
Protest Movement
“March of Death”
Pentagon Papers (Daniel Ellsberg): -classified documents taken from the Pentagon that document the actions of several Presidents during Vietnam acting without Congressional knowledge
New York Times v. US, 1971
The Draft
Based on birthday
Deferments: Good academic standing=you would NOT be drafted
500,000 men dodged the draft – 8 million enlisted
Draft targets: Youth, Minorities, Poor
Project 100,000
Drug Abuse
Year 1968 LBJ scales back war effort and decides to not seek
re-election.
RFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated
Riots of ‘68 as nation mourns
-Democratic Convention, Chicago
rioting occurs (1000s)
Against the Dem Party– pressured them to adapt an ANTI-war Platform
Nixon Presidency
My Lai Massacre, 1968: War time atrocities, killing hundreds of innocent civilians
Vietnam Veterans Against the War - war crime trials: John Kerry
Nixon begins pulling troops out of Vietnam
Vietnamization: handing war back over to S. Vietnam – withdrawal of American troops
Bombing of Laos and Cambodia to stop Viet Cong supply lines.
Easter Offensive: massive conventional offensive by N. Vietnamese.
Christmas Bombing: 36,000 tons of bombs dropped on Hanoi
Nixon Presidency
Jan. 1973: Paris Peace Accords signed
American troops leave and Vietnam is still divided at 17th parallel.
American advisors left behind
Nov. 1973: War Powers Act-- limits the ability of Presidents to wage war
- President must notify Congress when sending troops into battle, If Congress does not Approve within 48 hrs, troops must be withdrawn
Passage of 26th amendment: lowers voting age to 18.
Fall of Saigon
American soldiers have left Vietnam – only advisors are left in S. Vietnam.
N. Vietnam attacks S. Vietnam – takes less than 60 days to reach Saigon.
Thousands of Americans and some refugees are evacuated
May 1, 1975 – End of S. Vietnam government
Aftermath
2000: 1,498 Americans unaccounted for from Vietnam
PTSD: Nightmares, Night Sweats, Sleep Walking, Flashbacks
Higher rates of suicide, drug addictions
Sicknesses & birth defects from Agent Orange exposure