THE VIETNAM WAR29.2 U.S. Support of the War at Home and Abroad

Focus Your Thoughts . . .

Why was the war in Vietnam considered a “rich man’s” war?

The Air War Operation Rolling Thunder

A bombing campaign began in North Vietnam in March of 1965

U.S. pilots bombed military targets, army bases, and airfields; they also bombed anything they thought the Vietnamese might find useful

Their primary target was the Ho Chi Minh Trail○ A trail which snaked through dense rainforests in

Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia which was used to transport soldiers and supplies

The Air War Weapons

Napalm – a jellied form of gasoline Cluster bombs – sprayed sharp metal fragments when they

explodedCarpet bombing – strings of bombs dropped from high

altitudes that destroyed large areas of land but had no specific target

Success of the Air WarThe Air War was largely unsuccessful, when trails were

damaged on the Ho Chi Minh trail, they were quickly repaired or done without; they also had underground bunkers

Johnson’s Frustration

Frustrated with the lack of progress in Vietnam, Johnson ordered American troops to increase their bombing, which only led to hostility among the South Vietnamese who then joined the Vietcong in their opposition of the American war effort

The Ground War The U.S. strategy

In order to combat the guerrilla tactics of the Vietnamese, we ordered “Search and Destroy Missions” to drive enemy forces out of hideouts; once a hideout was located, air forces commenced bombing○ The Search and Destroy Missions were

largely unsuccessful as well, as the Vietcong would immediately return after we had “cleared” the area, and terrorize citizens they suspected of aiding the Americans

The Ground War Pacification

A program instituted to win the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people

Nonmilitary pacification involved construction projects to improve the country’s infrastructure and economy

Military pacification involved moving people out of their villages when the Vietcong were nearby○ Villagers were relocated to safe camps where they were

provided with food and shelter; unfortunately, most of the Vietnamese people resented being moved

Declining Troop Morale Success was difficult to illustrate on a map, they couldn’t

necessarily show any physical progress, so instead they measured success based upon body count

U.S. troops began to grow unhappy, the Vietcong were proving a powerful adversary, striking unexpectedly and melting back into the forest Ambush attacks – It was nearly impossible to tell Vietcong

soldiers apart from South Vietnamese citizens Booby traps – Punji stakes: sharpened bamboo sticks hidden in

holes in the ground Tunnel systems – The Vietcong established elaborate

underground tunnel systems where they had everything from bomb shelters and firing posts to kitchens, hospitals, dorms, and weapon storage facilities

The Draft and “Draft Dodgers” At the start of the war, the majority of

the troops were professional soldiers, volunteers who enlisted in the armed forces

As time progressed, however, more and more young men, primarily from poor families, were drafted to serve in Vietnam Wealthier kids received deferments so long

as they were in college

The draft was EXTREMELY unpopular, especially because it favored wealthy kids, they eventually instituted a lottery system which chose draftees at random based upon their birthdays, and finally, called the draft off all together

Non-combat Positions Most Americans, including 50,000

women, working in Vietnam served in non-combat positionsAdministrationCommunicationEngineering Medical careTransportation

Public Opinion Shifts Most Americans initially supported the

war, but as more and more Americans began to die, public opinion began to shift, primarily due to the role of the media

What is the ‘media’? How might it influence public opinion?

Television Coverage

The U.S. government supported coverage of the first “living room war”, but the coverage actually worked against themScenes of firefights and burning villagesStories of civilian homicides and rape

The Hawks & The Doves Hawks: Supported the war, but disapproved of the way

the government was handling it More troopsMore bombing

Doves: Disapproved of the war for a variety of reasons In no way impacted American securityDid not represent the interests of the majority of Vietnamese

citizens

Why might anti-war sympathizers have called themselves ‘doves’?

The Antiwar Movement As opposition to the war grew, an antiwar

movement began, primarily among college students

College students began to hold rallies and debate U.S. involvement in the war

Students for a Democratic SocietyOrganized a 20,000 + person march to

Washington D.C. in protest of the war

Response to the Antiwar Movement President Johnson

continued to insist we were protecting an ally against an aggressor

Protesting escalated:Flag burningSelf-immolation

In-Class Writing Assignment

Had you been alive during the Vietnam War, would you have supported U.S. involvement?

Were we really defending the interests of our allies, as Johnson claimed, or ourselves?

The Vietnam War is the only war in which a draft was ever implemented; if a draft were implemented today, how would you feel if you were called up to serve in

Iraq or Afghanistan?