This Day in History

May 6th, 1954 Roger Bannister becomes the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes

Chap 29

Vietnam War

I. Vietnam (1962-1964)

A. French influence

1. 1954, Dien Bien Phu French surrender. (U.S. will take over)

2. 1954, Geneva Accords, divides North and South Vietnam (17th Parallel).

B. Domino Theory1. Eisenhower--- one falls they all fall

C. 1962-3, Kennedy1. Ho Chi Minh supported by China, USSR. (Viet

Cong)2. Ngo Diem supported by U.S.

D. Viet Cong

1. Lacking support Diem’s government falls. (Diem arrested and later killed)

E. Gulf of Tonkin incident

1. Aug 1964, North Vietnamese boats attack U.S. destroyer.

F. Gulf of Tonkin resolution

1. Gives the president the ability to take all necessary means to repel any armed attack against the United States.

III. Vietnam (1965-1968)a. North Vietnamese supplied by Ho Chi Minh trail,

through Laos and Cambodia.

1. Viet Cong = Defensive War Strategy

“If we survive to fight another day they will get tired, and their own people will demand that the

war be ended.”

B. U.S. involvement increaseC. Taking sides In U.S.1. Hawks supported war2. Doves against war

D. Nov, 14-18 1965 La Drang Valley

1. 1st time regulars on both sides faced off

Hal Moore in Command Joe Galloway Basil Plumley

Feb 2012, Basil Plumley, Hal Moore, Joe Galloway

E. U.S. confident

1. Better Weapons

2. Napalm- Jellied gasoline mixed with White Phosphorous.

3. Agent Orange Herbicide/defoliant sprayed on the jungles to make it easier to spot VC from the sky.

4. US govt. assures the public that we are winning the war.

“That the VC are wearing down and progress is being made.” (Robert McNamara- Sec. of Defense and Gen. Westmoreland)

IV. 1968 The War Changes (Credibility Gap)

A. Tet Offensive (1968)

1. Jan 30th, Vietnamese New Year. Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, Launch massive attack along the entire Southern front.

2. Advance stopped with heavy losses. (North 50,000 vs U.S. 6,000)

3. Major turning point in the war. Psychological victory for North proved nowhere in South was safe.

4. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, director of South Vietnam's national police force, kills suspected VC.

B. Atrocities (during Tet)

1. During Tet, 3000 Vietnamese who worked for Americans rounded up, killed and dumped in a mass grave near city of Hue.

2. March 1968, My Lai massacre, Lieutenant William Calley rounds up people in village, killing nearly 400 children, women and old men.

This Day in HistoryMay 14th, 1948 Israel proclaimed independence

V. Student of a Democratic Society (SDS)

A. . Cal Berkley (free speech movement)

1. 1964, 1st anti-war demonstration.

2. Draft deferments for those in college. Lower income or those not going to college drafted sooner.

b. 1968 (Political troubles)1. Johnson decided not to run again, V.P. Humphrey

runs for President. 2. Bobby Kennedy and MLK killed. 3. Protest at Democratic National convention turns to

violence.4. Nixon (Republican) wins election over Humphrey.5. 26th amendment passed lowered voting age to 18.

VI. End of the War

a. “Peace with honor”

1. 1969 Nixon begins to pull troops out, starts “Vietnamization” process.

2. Changes draft to a lottery system

3. Begins secret bombing of strategic sites, into Cambodia.

b. Kent State(1970)

1. May 4th, Protestors burn ROTC building, ends with four killed. Nine others wounded

c. American Withdraw

1 not as heroes, spit on, accused as “Baby killers”

2. 1971- “Pentagon Papers” released by N.Y. Times – history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

3. January 1973 Paris Accords gave formal agreement of peace

4. 1973 War powers Act- requires 48 hour notice of troop deployment and Only 60 days action without congress Approval.

Henry Kissinger

d. Results

1. U.S. assumptions of victory because of money, technology, were proved false.

2. March 30th, 1975 Danang falls. (first U.S. Base in 1965)

3. April, 1975 Fall of Saigon, ends South Vietnam(U.S. airlifts over 7000 people out of the Capitol)

4. U.S. over 58,000 kia, 300,000 wia. Over 2500 MIA’s. 1 in 10 Vietnamese killed or wounded.

5. 1982, was a Vietnam monument dedicated.