the vietnam war 1954-1975. background france controlled “indochina” since the late 19 th...

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