Introducing the Vietnam War

Learning Targets  Explain how the U.S. got involved in the Vietnam War.  Compare and contrast the U.S. and NVA/Vietcong strategies.  Predict the effectiveness of each plan.

Priming: A Soldier’s Experience A Soldier’s Experience

1954: Geneva Accords Ho Chi Minh Ngo Dinh DiemDivided at 17 th parallel  Vietnam divided when French left  North Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh & communist  South Vietnam - Ngo Dinh Diem & anti- communist

Growing Problems 1. Diem’s leadership of South Vietnam  Refused election  Persecuted Buddhists  Overthrown and followed by unstable gov’ts

Growing Problems Add walls and moat backfired 80% of countryside supported Vietcong 2. Growth of the Vietcong  Vietcong (VC) = communist guerillas in S.Vietnam fighting the S. Vietnamese gov’t  tried to fight with strategic hamlet plan(move villagers for “protection”)

U.S. Aids South By 1963, 16,000 American troops are Training in South Vietnam  Eisenhower sent aid due to domino theory  1961: JFK follows with “military advisors”

Tonkin Gulf Resolution  August 2, 1964: U.S. destroyer Maddox attacked in Tonkin Gulf

Tonkin Gulf Resolution Senate Vote: 88 to 2 “to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force…”  Congress gave President Johnson (LBJ) war powers

Think, Pair, Share  Explain why the United States got involved in Vietnam.  Explain how the United States got involved with Vietnam.  Should the U.S. have involved themselves in the conflict in your opinion?

American Escalation  General William Westmoreland, U.S. Commander

American Escalation  U.S. strategy: bomb North, ground troops in South  1968: 538, 000 U.S. troops

Operation Rolling Thunder 643,000 tons of bombs 5 times Hiroshima 3 years Air Force Chief of Staff Lemey about bombing them “back to the stone Age.”  Bombing Raids of North Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder Dealt with 2,700 roads And tunnels NVA actually increased supply NVA Tung, “The bombs heightened rather than dampened our spirits.”  Focused on Ho Chi Minh Trail (supply line for Vietcong and N.Vietnam)  failed

Ground War  Search and Destroy Missions: seek VC and destroyed villages  Jungle warfare, so defoliants used (Agent Orange/Napalm)

NVA and Vietcong  Commander of NVA – Vo Nguyen Giap  1965: Strategy shift to guerilla tactics, Giap against

NVA and Vietcong  Tactics- tunneled base camps, booby traps, and punji spikes.

Journal Reflection  Compare and contrast the U.S. strategies with the NVA and Vietcong strategies in a double bubble. U.S. strategies NVA & Vietcong strategies similarities differences

Think, Pair, Share  Predict which side’s strategies will work best - the U.S. Strategies or the NVA & Vietcong strategies. Why?

Khe Sanh  Important for intelligence on Ho Chi Minh Trail  40,000 NVA vs. 5,600 U.S. for over 2 mths.  U.S. win, shows NVA resolve

Tet Offensive 100 towns and cities Attacked; 12 air bases attacked 42,000Vietcong casualties  Massive attack by North on Vietnamese New Year  Military victory for South/U.S.  Morale victory for North