Vietnam: Americanization & Protest

Americanization & Escalation 1965: change in US strategy  “Americanization” More US troops + more limited role for S. Vietnamese 1965: 184k troops; 1968: >500k Johnson most assoc. w/ escalation Airstrikes: 6 million tons of bombs btwn 65-73 Napalm– jellied gasoline Agent Orange– herbicide Search-and-destroy missions to kill Vietcong Napalm is a jellied gasoline which was dropped in large canisters that exploded on impact, covering large areas in flames. Clung to anything it touched, difficult to extinguish Agent Orange is an herbicide meant to kill plant life. Almost half of S. Vietnam’s forested areas sprayed at least once – devastating ecological impact. US forces used it to defoliate countryside, disrupt enemy’s food supply. Many scientists believe that Agent Orange causes cancers & other physical probs

Vietcong Tactics Guerilla warfare Tunnels, ambushes Booby traps Resupplied via “Ho Chi Minh Trail” from N. Vietnam through Laos, Cambodia into S. Vietnam

Sinking US Morale Could not win war outright – little exposure Friend vs. foe? Hard to tell S Vietnamese – indifferent? Hostile? Seemed to US soldiers that they were dying to defend a nation whose people were unwilling to die to defend themselves “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTyqoV1d2Ys

Growing Doubt at Home People expected quick victory & Johnson admin kept asserting US victory was close Hurt economy: had to cut back on Great Society to pay for Vietnam 1967: beg of division --- hawks (supported war) vs. doves (against war) Fulbright Hearings (67-68): public hearings as platform for critics Senator William J. Fulbrieg, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrat, supported Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Soon came to believe that war in Vietnam was national civil war, not a Cold War conflcit

AntiWar Protests Increase By 1965, most troops were draftees Deferments, etc  most men who served were poor/ minorities Disproportionate burden/ casualty rate for Afr Ams Colleges: centers of antiwar sentiment Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), 1960 @ U-Mich

Credibility gap “Living room war” --- watched on TV Unlike WWII, no clear path to victory Officials claimed to be making headway / N. Vietnamese on brink of defeat…. Then see photos/ videos on TV Enemy body counts often exaggerated “Credibility gap” btwn what gov’t was telling ppl & what was actually happening Quagmire

Tet Offensive: Turning Point Winter 1968: N. Vietnamese Army + Vietcong launched massive campaign (Tet Offensive) – coordinated assault on 30+ US targets, US Embassy, etc. Tactical victory for US – pushed back forces Strategic loss – showed communists still had will & ability to fight  US public support plummeted

Cronkite: Vietnam War Editorial Program Recording -- http://www. wbur Cronkite: Vietnam War Editorial Program Recording -- http://www.wbur.org/npr/106775685/final- words-cronkites-vietnam-commentary Transcript-- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId= 106775685 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106775685 http://www.wbur.org/npr/106775685/final-words-cronkites-vietnam-commentary

1968 Presidential Race March 68: Johnson won’t run for reelection April: MLK assassinated /// June: RFK (Dem candidate) assassinated Dem Hubert Humphrey (LBJ’s VP) Nixon – Repub – “peace with honor” “Silent majority” of non-demonstrators “Southern strategy” – more conservative S. voters