VIETNAM

VIETNAM WAR1955 - 1975Vietnam is a French colony (since the 1800s)

Ho Chi Minh• used nationalism to fight for independence• 1945 succeeds & creates Communist North Vietnam

US sees this as a threat during the Cold War = containment

Where is Vietnam?

Vietnam War 1955 - 1975

• 1955 US backed Ngo Dinh Diem, of S. Vietnam• Harsh, Catholic, US educated leader in a Buddhist country

• 1963 Diem is assassinated, JFK shortly after• Viet Cong in S. Vietnam fought foreign influence

(‘Charlie’)• US escalation 1964 – 1968 (Johnson)• 1973 last US soldiers leave• 1975 S. Vietnam falls to

Communist N. Vietnam

Why did we go to War?• Cold War• Containment• Domino Theory

Why were there protests?• Lies & Atrocities

• Pentagon Papers – Gov’t lied• My Lai Massacre

• Media & Deaths of US soldiers• Draft & Conscientious Objectors

Kent State Massacre

“With all the arguments and discussions about the Vietnam War, what did the visual image do? It ended the war” – Cornell Capa

• Children fleeing a napalm attack, 6/8/1972

Who won, who lost?

“We are the unwilling working for the unqualified to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful.”

– Kit Bowen, First Infantry Division, Oregon

Why did the US leave? Possible explanations:

• We underestimated the N. Vietnamese• We could not disrupt the supply line (Ho Chi Minh Trail)• We could not shut down the tunnel system

• Goals were not clear• We didn’t fully understand the culture• Political difficulties & protests at home

• We won the battles, but stopped fighting• We left to let the S. Vietnamese fight their war• We used guns and bombs to try to win hearts and minds

Viet Cong tunneling