Fighting in Vietnam

U.S. Troop Deployments in Vietnam Kennedy’s advisors were clearly fighting a covert war by 1963. MacNamara has suggested that he believes Kennedy would have pulled the U.S. out, but evidence in inconclusive. JFK realizes Diem is a liability; offers quiet support to a Vietnamese military coup d’etat. The coup results in the brutal murders of Diem and his brother The Vietnamese generals overthrow one another. A relatively stable, but tyrannical government emerges. It is little better than Diem’s.

1968 – A Year of Turmoil January 30, 1968 – Tet Offensive April 4, 1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated June 6, 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy assassinated August 28, 1968 – Protests/Riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

The air force bombed villages & supply lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail) The U.S. military used a variety of tactics to fight the war in Vietnam The air force bombed villages & supply lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail)

The Tet Offensive, 1968 In 1968, the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive against U.S. forces in South Vietnam The attack was contrary to media reports that the U.S. was winning the Vietnam War

The U.S. military used a variety of tactics to fight the war in Vietnam The military used napalm to destroy villages & herbicides (Agent Orange) to destroy crops

“Agent Orange” 2.8 million American troops and more than 3 million Vietnamese civilians were exposed from 1962-1971 (Operation Ranch Hand) It has been linked to cancer and birth defects. Rivers and many underground water sources were contaminated, causing birth defects for 2nd and 3rd generations born in Vietnam since the war. Exposed U.S. Veterans and their offspring also experienced problems.

Effects of “Agent Orange”

The U.S. military used a variety of tactics to fight the war in Vietnam Soldiers were sent on deadly “search & destroy” missions into the jungles to find the Vietcong

“Search and Destroy” Missions These deadly missions involved, usually, a platoon (30-50 men) divided into smaller units, or squads, dropped in the jungle for 30 days at a time. Average infantryman saw 240 days of combat out of 1 tour (1 year). Instead of taking over land, these missions emphasized killing as many Viet Cong as possible, forcing their surrender. When patrolling in the jungle, the walking point, or “point man”, led his squad/platoon through the jungle. His life expectancy was 10 days due to the fact that he would be the first to encounter booby traps. Patrols usually avoided well traveled paths due to booby traps.

The Tet Offensive, 1968 The Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War American attitudes towards the war changed & anti-war movement grew President Johnson began to question whether the war could be won… …& LBJ announced that he would not seek re-election “Johnson’s War”

Fighting in Vietnam North Vietnamese army were trained by Japanese soldiers kept by Ho Chi Minh after WWII. Viet Minh and Viet Cong used tunnels. They set traps for the American troops.

Viet Cong Used American artillery duds to create traps for American troops

Punji Traps The spikes were often coated with feces to introduce disease/infection into the wound.

More Booby Traps

Roy Benavidez – Received the Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan in 1981 May 2, 1968 - Roy Benavidez, a Green Beret and Staff Sergeant on his second tour in Vietnam, heard “get us out of here!” on the base radio at Loc Ninh, South Vietnam. He jumped onto a Medevac to help. A 12-man Special Forces team had been ambushed right inside Cambodia in the jungle while on a secret reconnaissance mission to gather information. After leaping off the helicopter, Sergeant Benavidez was shot in the face, head and right leg, but he ran toward his fellow Green Berets, finding four dead and the others wounded.

Roy Benavidez (cont.) He dragged survivors aboard the helicopter, but its pilot was killed by enemy fire as he tried to take off, and the helicopter crashed and burned. Sergeant Benavidez got the troops off the helicopter, and over the next six hours, he organized return fire, called in air strikes, administered morphine and recovered classified documents, although he got shot in the stomach and thigh and hit in the back by grenade fragments. He was bayoneted by a North Vietnamese soldier, whom he killed with a knife. Finally, he shot two enemy soldiers as he dragged the survivors aboard another evacuation helicopter. He was holding his intestines in his hands when he finally got onboard the helicopter.

Roy Benavidez saved the lives of 8 men that day Roy Benavidez saved the lives of 8 men that day. One was Brian O’Connor, a fellow Green Beret, who shared his story that led to Benavidez receiving the Medal of Honor.

Roy Benavidez (cont.) When he arrived at Loc Ninh, Sergeant Benavidez was unable to move or speak due to a broken jaw. Just as he was about to be placed into a body bag, he spit into a doctor's face to signal that he was still alive and was evacuated for surgery in Saigon. He survived and lived on with 2 pieces of shrapnel in his heart and a punctured lung, suffering and in pain daily. After receiving the Medal of Honor, President Reagan urged him to share his experiences with young people, so he traveled and spoke at schools to stress the importance of education that wasn’t available to him. He died at the age of 63 in 1998. He was from El Campo, Texas.

Results of Fighting in Vietnam 58,148 Americans were killed. More than 11,000 were under the age of 20 years old. 5,283 lost limbs. 75,000 were disabled. As of 2004, 1,875 Americans are still unaccounted for. Average age of a soldier killed in Vietnam was 23. 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers, not draftees.