Occupation of Vietnam

• Late 1800’s – WWII – Japan controlled

Vietnam

• After WWII: France• Ho Chi Minh

– Leader of the Indochinese Communist Party

– Confessed Marxist

Roots of Involvement

• French condemned Uncle Ho to death in ’30– Ho Orchestrated ind.

movement from Russia and China = Communist States

• ’41 – Ho/ Vietminh fought against the Japanese

• Allied Victory in WWII = Japanese out, French back in

Battles With France

• Tiger vs. Elephant

• 1950 = U.S. enters the struggle

• Truman = $15 million in aid to help France

• Cold War in full swing– Stop the spread of

Communism

Domino Theory

• Ike committed to stop the spread of Communism– Domino Theory: one

nation falls to Communism, nearly all nations will do the same.

Fall of the French

• W/U.S. $, French could not take back ‘Nam

• May ’54, Battle of Dien Bien Phu.– Gen. Nguyen Giap

lead the Vietminh

– Two month siege of the French outpost

Geneva Accords

• May – July ’54 France, U.S., G.B., S.U., China, Laos, Cambodia decided on a peace agreement

• Geneva Accords: temp. divided ‘Nam at the 17th parallel

• Ho Chi Minh, Communists in the North

• Anti-Communists in the South

U.S. Steps In

• Ngo Dinh Diem – South Vietnam’s President

• U.S. cancelled elections outlined in the Geneva Accords– Knew Communists

would win

• U.S. $ to Diem

Mounting Problems

• Ike gave Diem $ and training in exchange for a stable gov in the south– Diem failed – corrupt gov

and no land to peasants

• Diem was a devout Catholic – restricted Buddhist practices

• Madam Nhu: “Bonz BBQ”

The Vietcong

• Communist opposition group = Vietcong (Charlie)– Assassinated Diem’s gov.

officials – Later called the National

Liberation Front (NLF)

• Ho Chi Minh Trail– Network of paths that

started in Hanoi that went into the south

– Supplied the V.C. with supplies

JFK and Vietnam• Increased $ to Diem

– Upheld “Sink or Swim.”

• Diem = Strategic Hamlet Program– Moving all villagers to

protected areas

• Diem = increased oppression of Buddhists

• JFK was failing like Ike• Nov., ’63, U.S. supported

coup took out the Diem regime– Diem executed (against JFK’s

wishes)

LBJ’s War

• JFK wanted out of Vietnam – LBJ escalated the effort

• Did not want to be “soft” on Communism

• The South was completely unstable

• When LBJ assumed the presidency, 16,000 U.S. troops, when he left, more than 500,000

Gulf of Tonkin

• USS Maddox and Turner Joy “attacked” by a Vietnamese gunboat on Aug. 2, 1964– Unclear on whether the

attack was provoked

– Gunboat sank

• Second attack (supposedly)

Draft• Draft #’s are “hot” for one year

• College deferrment: 3.0 gpa

• Over 33,000 young men went to Canada

• Drafted: 2 year obligation

• Enlisted: 4 year obligation

– Choice of branch of defense

• Flunking Physicals

– Wear women’s underwear

– Eat sugar cubes / salt

– Drugs

– Cut off trigger finger

– Flatten your feet

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

- LBJ bombed the north

- Tonkin Gulf Resolution

- Gave LBJ “all necessary measures” to repel attacks against U.S. forces in Vietnam

- Power to wage war w/o Congressional declaration

                                         

Operation Rolling Thunder

• Feb, ’65 Continual bombing of North Vietnam

• Bombing was “cheaper and less costly in lives than ground fighting.”

• U.S. dropped more bombs in Vietnam than in both theatres of WWII combined

• By June, ’65 – 50,000 U.S. troops in country

Mai Lai Massacre: March 16, 1968

• Lt. William Calley

• 200 civilians murdered

• Creates animosity towards U.S. troops in and out of Vietnam

Nixon, 1969• Vietnamization:

– Process of increasing funding and training to the S.Vietnamese army in order to make them capable of fighting the NVA / Charlie

• Operation Menu

– Bombing of Vietnamese and VC bases in Cambodia

August 9, 1974

• Nixon resigns as a result of the mounting evidence that he was fully aware of the planned break-in at the Watergate Hotel

April 29, 30 1975• Massive airlift of S.

Vietnamese and American civilians out of Saigon– 1000 Americans / 7,000

South Vietnamese

• Apr. 30: NVA take Saigon ending the 15 year conflict.