Viet Nam Tour Information

The goals for the tour

Overview• Observe the 50th anniversary of the

US involvement in the Viet Nam war.• The use of primary and secondary

resources to understand the conflict.• The interaction of vets and students

learning about this conflict.• Student exposure to the resources

available to them at the Texas A&M Central campus.

Student goals• Students will study people, places, and

Vietnamese society from 1965.• Description of the influence of key

individual/groups on events during this time.• Identification of locations and geographical

regions of Viet Nam.• Organization of economical and

government systems represented.• Understanding of the flight of Vietnamese

refugees to the US and other countries after Saigon fell.

Why was there a war?• Most historians see the Vietnam War as a consequence of the Cold

War and the fear of global communism.• The Vietnam War began as a civil conflict that pitted the North

Vietnamese Communist government and the South Vietnamese Communist rebels known as the Viet Cong against the non-Communist South Vietnamese government. The plan was to overthrow the South Vietnamese government and unite Vietnam as a communist state.

Time line of actions• In 1961, South Vietnam signed a military and economic aid treaty with the United States leading to the arrival

(1961) of U.S. support troops and the formation (1962) of the U.S. Military Assistance Command.

• Mounting dissatisfaction with the ineffectiveness and corruption of Diem's government culminated (Nov., 1963) in a military coup engineered by Duong Van Minh; Diem was executed. No one was able to establish control in South Vietnam until June, 1965, when Nguyen Cao Ky became premier, but U.S. military aid to South Vietnam increased, especially after the U.S. Senate passed the Tonkin Gulf resolution (Aug. 7, 1964) at the request of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

• In early 1965, the United States began air raids on North Vietnam and on Communist-controlled areas in the South; by 1966 there were 190,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam. North Vietnam, meanwhile, was receiving armaments and technical assistance from the Soviet Union and other Communist countries.

• Despite massive U.S. military aid, heavy bombing, the growing U.S. troop commitment (which reached nearly 550,000 in 1969), and some political stability in South Vietnam after the election (1967) of Nguyen Van Thieu as president, the United States and South Vietnam were unable to defeat the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces.

• Optimistic U.S. military reports were discredited in Feb., 1968, by the costly and devastating Tet offensive of the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong, involving attacks on more than 100 towns and cities and a month-long battle for Hue in South Vietnam.

• Fighting between South Vietnamese and Communists continued despite the peace agreement until North Vietnam launched an offensive in early 1975.

• South Vietnamese resistance collapsed, and North Vietnamese troops marched into Saigon Apr. 30, 1975.

Casualties in Vietnam during the era of direct U.S. involvement (1961–72) • U.S. casualties : more than

50,000 dead

• South Vietnamese dead estimate: 400,000

• Viet Cong and North Vietnamese dead estimate: 900,000

• Conservative estimates suggest the war claimed around 1.9 million Vietnamese lives, as well as 200,000 Cambodians and 100,000 Laotians. The true figures, however, are probably much higher. Also, these estimates do not include post-war deaths from famine and disease; or the millions killed by regimes like the Khmer Rouge, who came to power largely because of the disruption created by the Vietnam War. Between 3.2 million and 5 million people were also disabled, disfigured or seriously wounded.

Financial Cost for the USA• Two decades of military intervention and propping up friendly regimes cost the US

almost $US 170 billion – close to $1 trillion in today’s terms. • The American soldiers who returned as veterans of the Vietnam War faced their

own personal challenges, beginning with their homecoming. Vietnam veterans were received with a combination of indifference, embarrassment and contempt. Some were unfairly harassed and abused by anti-war protestors. A government survey in 1988 concluded that 479,000 people – just over 15 per cent of US service personnel posted to Vietnam – had been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). • There were also physical problems to cope with, such as the effects of chemical

defoliants. An estimated 18 million gallons of defoliant, bearing codenames like Agent Blue and Agent Orange, was dropped by US planes over the course of the war. Agent Orange, was later found to contain a carcinogenic dioxin. Vietnam veterans in the US, Australia and other countries have suffered from increased rates of cancers and birth defects, possibly as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange.

Viet Nam War ProtestsVietnam War ProtestsWashington DC

Viet NamViet Nam 1965 Viet Nam 1975

Viet Nam’s Economy

Before/During War• During the period of 1945-1975, Vietnam

was divided into two regions with two different governments. In the North, the authority government was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the direction of economic developing was socialist-oriented and planned economy.

• In the South, government of the Republic of Vietnam held administrative power and developed a market economy in a capitalist direction. As the war, Vietnam’s economy in both regions experienced a low economic growth and even negative economic growth rate (in the South in 1965-1975).

After the War• After the war, the Northern and Southern

Vietnam were unified as one state: the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In 1978, Vietnamese government issued new currency of Vietnam Dong (VND), unified financial market of the North and the South. Socialist planned economy played dominant role in the economy. (1975-1986)

• In December 1986, the 6th congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam was taken place. At the congress, delegates reached consensus on a reforming program. Since 1986, Doi Moi (Reform) has been launched in economy, politics and society. Beside state and collective sectors in economy, private and foreign sectors are recognized.

A Wave of Refugees• The victory of communist regimes in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos also

triggered one of the largest refugee crises in history. Between 2-3 million people are believed to have fled these countries in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. This mass exodus – along with the physical devastation of the war and the socialist policies imposed by new regimes – generated years of famine and suffering in south-east Asia. • There was little that had not been bombed, blasted or shot up – from

roads to railways, buildings to bridges, ports to power stations. Agricultural land was poisoned with defoliant or set alight after being drenched with napalm or diesel. Vietnamese farmers could not return to some areas for years – and when they did, they faced the danger of triggering land mines and unexploded aerial bombs left by departing forces. Even today there are an estimated 4-6 million items of unexploded ordnance still scattered around Vietnam.