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Notable Weapons of Vietnam Napalm: Gasoline-based explosive

Agent Orange: Chemical that destroyed jungle foliage Agent Orange: Chemical that destroyed jungle foliage. Linked to cancers, diabetes and serious birth defects, malformations

The M-16 Assault Rifle -Pros: lightweight, plastic, light bullets, could carry more (more bullets, in theory means more casualties) -Cons: jammed in water, unreliable, hard to maintain, bullets too light to penetrate thick jungle foliage Helicopters: -Helicopters the “new cavalry”, very light and can be moved ANYWHERE -Can basically deploy troops at any location and get around any barriers

General William Westmoreland Commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) – South Vietnamese Army Plan – destroy their morale through WAR OF ATTRITION – gradual wearing down of the enemy by continuous harassment. Search and Destroy Missions: rooting out civilians with suspected ties to Vietcong (killed civilians, livestock, burned villages – thereby causing them to lose the “battle for hearts and minds” Vietcong used Guerrilla warfare elusive enemy with surprise attacks Tunnels in jungle Civilians in village Booby traps and mines U.S. began to track success by “body count” of Vietcong (since they couldn’t measure success by the amount of territory taken)

Vietcong Underground Tunnels

American public support for the war erodes further during the late 1960s Credibility Gap: briefings from the government did not match the coverage of the Vietnam War on television (once again, the power of TV!) TET OFFENSIVE (1968): Massive surprise N. Vietnamese and Vietcong attack on S. Vietnamese and American forces (very clear that we weren’t “winning” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arfMd_ar91o Johnson’s press briefings on the status of the war were presented significantly differently than reports by highly regarded journalists: Walter Cronkite Morley Safer Dan Rather

My Lai Massacre, November 1969 New York Times Seymour Hersh reported March 16, 1968 – U.S. platoon massacred innocent civilians Lieutenant William Calley Jr. Looking for Vietcong, killed 350 – 500, most of which were women, children and elderly Sentenced to imprisonment (served 3 years before being paroled) Platoon, “only following orders” “Kill anything that breathes.”

My Lai

Pentagon Papers (1971) Leaked classified documents which revealed the extent to which the American public had been systematically lied to about Vietnam. Leaked by report’s author, Daniel Ellsberg. Never any plan for withdrawing from Vietnam Covert bombing raids on Laos and Cambodia Covert reconnaissance and attacks by U.S. marines in North Vietnamese waters prior to Gulf of Tonkin Incident

How did the Vietnam War end? What kind of effect did it have? By 1973, war was over for U.S. 1975 = S.Vietnam surrenders to N.Vietnam, becomes communist. 1.5 million Vietnamese flee the country 58,000 Americans killed, 303,000 wounded 15% diagnosed with PTSD (post- traumatic stress disorder) Troops, rather than being honored, often treated as social pariahs, even monsters Vietnamese deaths = 3-4 million

End of Vietnam…who was to blame for defeat???

Discussion Question (HON) Was the Vietnam War “winnable” for the United States? Discuss with your group before sharing with the rest of the class. First, define what a realistic and successful conclusion to the war would look like for you What diplomatic, political, and/or military measures could have been taken to improve the outcome of the war?