Escalating the Fight Chapter 22 Section 2

Johnson increases involvement Campaign of ’64 Johnson promises not to send troops; he does in ’65 Robert McNamara (Sec. of Defense) & Dean Rusk (Sec. of State) agree w/sending troops –So do most Americans; 61% of Americans support Johnson’s policy on confronting Communism –Few in cabinet disagree, but policy continues

Troop Buildup End of ’65, 180,000 troops in Vietnam Commander- Gen. William Westmoreland keeps requesting more South Vietnamese troops- Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) doesn’t impress Westmoreland –Can’t fight without U.S.’s help By ’67, U.S. troops approx. 500,000

Fighting in the Jungle Vietcong use hit-and-run tactics, know jungle, move in & out of civilians –Can’t tell who is the enemy; women & children used for spying & combat Use tunnels to avoid air strikes; attack & disappear –Set land mines all over the jungle & rice paddies; disassemble & reuse American mines

Frustrating War Not a typical war; try to destroy morale by using “body counts” –Westmoreland underestimates the enemy –Vietcong get supplies from China & U.S.S.R. Vietcong will not surrender- it’s a fight for their existence –Not about a military victory –U.S. doesn’t understand this kind of war

Images

“Hearts & Minds” Guerrillas hide among population; “win the people and they can’t hide” –Harder than it sounds U.S. uses chemical weapons; –napalm- a gasoline based bomb that sets the jungle on fire –Agent Orange- leaf killing toxic chemical –Civilians often victims of these Agent Orange blamed for many cancer victims

Agent Orange

Napalm

Desperate measures Soldiers also use search-and-destroy missions –Uproot suspected civilians, kill their livestock & burn villages –Creates more than 3 million refugees

Sinking Morale War gets longer, enemy still eludes them; troops lose conviction Morale steadily declines throughout the war –Soldiers turn to drugs, alcohol, murder South Vietnam is still unsteady –Civil war within a civil war

Servicemen Many soldiers wanted to serve their country Thousands survived endured years in POW camps “Hanoi” Jane visits N. Vietnamese & puts down American troops; visits POW camps & tells troops to explain how “well” they’re being treated –Because of this," the narrative continues, "I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees with outstretched arms with a piece of steel placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane every time my arms dipped." –On November 21, 1970 she told a University of Michigan audience of some two thousand students, "If you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that we would some day become communist." At Duke University in North Carolina she repeated what she had said in Michigan, adding "I, a socialist, think that we should strive toward a socialist society, all the way to communism. " Washington Times July 7, 2000

“Hanoi” Jane

Living-Room War War pictures & footage appear nightly; contradicts govt. optimism –Westmoreland uses “body counts” to define victories –Credibility gap increasing- what was said & really happening 16,000 U.S. casualties –Protests begin; nation split on feelings “I want to get out, but I don’t want to give in”