Section 2: Going to War in Vietnam Chapter 25

Diem’s Hamlets One program Diem introduced only made matters worse S. Vietnamese created strategic hamlets, special fortified villages Villages were protected by machine guns, bunkers, trenches, and barbed wire Partly to protect them from the Vietcong and partly to prevent them from helping the Vietcong Program was extremely unpopular, peasants were uprooted from their farms and ancestors

Overthrow of Diem Grew even more unpopular by discriminating against Buddhists Banned religious flags for Buddha’s birthday Buddhist monk set himself on fire Several generals plotted to overthrow Diem 1963: Military coup, Diem is executed Overthrow only made matters worse Made gov’t look weak and unstable Forced U.S. to become even more involved

Johnson & Vietnam Kennedy is assassinated 3 weeks after Diem Hesitant with the conflict “We seek no wider war” But stated: “The battle against communism must be joined … with strength & determination”

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution August 2, 1964 N. Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired to 2 U.S. destroyers 2 days later, another similar attack occurred LBJ: attacks were “unprovoked” Orders aircrafts to attack N. Vietnamese ships and naval facilities

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution August 7, 1964, Senate & House passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Authorizing the president to “take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression” With only 2 dissenting votes, Congress had handed its war powers over to the president

U.S. Sends in Troops After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed, Vietcong began to attack U.S. bases where advisers were stationed Series of attacks: 7 dead, 100 wounded U.S. responds with airstrikes Closest advisers: Robert McNamara, Sec. of Defense McGeorge Bundy, Nat. Sec. Adviser

Operation Rolling Thunder March 1965, Johnson expanded U.S. involvement Sustained bombing campaign against N. Vietnam Also, ordered first combat troops into Vietnam U.S. soldiers were now fighting alongside S. Vietnamese troops against the Vietcong

A Bloody Stalemate Emerges 1965: 180,000 U.S. combat troops were fighting in Vietnam 1966: ~400,000 (Doubled) Soldiers entered the war with great confidence However, the war did not turn out as they expected

Frustrating Warfare Vietcong uses guerilla tactics: ambushes, booby traps, etc. Blended into the civilian population “It’s a war where nothing is ever quite certain and nowhere is ever quite safe” U.S. used “search & destroy” missions to counter Find enemy troops, bomb their position, destroy their supply lines, and force them out into the open for combat

Chemical Warfare Sought to take away their ability to hide in the thick jungles Napalm Jellied gasoline that explodes on contact Agent Orange Chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs, turning farmland and forest into wasteland

Napalm Pulitzer-Prize winning photograph Taken in 1972, when she was a child, running naked down a road, screaming in pain from the napalm that was burning through her skin

Determined Enemy N. Vietnam provided advisers and arms to Vietcong Sent their supplies south by way of a network of jungle paths, Ho Chi Minh trail Trail went through neighboring nations, LBJ refused to allow a full-scale attack N. Vietnam received support and aid from China & the Soviet Union LBJ refused to order a full-scale attack in the N Fear of bringing China into the war

U.S. Involvement U.S. were forced to fight a war of attrition—a strategy of defeating the enemy forces by slowly wearing them down 220,000 Vietnamese deaths from ‘65 to ’67 End of ‘66, 6,700 U.S. soldiers dead Americans back home began to question the nation’s involvement in the war