Vietnam: Great Society to Great Quagmire

Lesson Objectives Describe and analyze the changes in the American home front and their impact on US conduct of the war prior to and after the Tet 1968 offensive. Describe and analyze the impact of technology in the Vietnam War. Describe and analyze the significance and history of the bombing campaign against North Vietnam. Be able to describe the Ho Chi Minh Trail and analyze its significance in the Vietnam War. Describe the operational and strategic significance of the Tet Offensive (1968) and analyze is impact on US foreign policy since.

Strategy of Revolutionary War Phase I: Targeted state stronger militarily Phase II: Rough military parity Phase III: Revolution stronger than targeted state Revolutionaries avoid combat Guerrilla war: raids, ambushes, sabotage, terrorism Political conflict predominant Combined guerrilla and conventional war Military and political conflict equally important Revolutionary forces go to totally conventional war “General Offensive” linked to political “Great Uprising” Review

Timeline Mar 64Secret CIA bombing of Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos began Civilian pilots (Air America) flying old U.S. aircraft May 64LBJ staff begins drafting Congressional support resolution Temporarily shelved due to lack of support in Senate Summer 64Guerilla warfare spreading throughout South Vietnam Now supported by NVA regulars 2-4 Aug 64Gulf of Tonkin Incident 7 Aug 64Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by Congress Authorizes president to use force to protect U.S. forces President orders retaliatory strikes against North Vietnam Review

LBJ’s Dilemma “In later years [Johnson] lamented: Source... But if I left that war and let the communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser, and we would both find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the entire globe.’” Joshua Zeitz " The Year the Sixties Began" American Heritage, October 2006 If I left the woman I really loved, the Great Society, in order to get involved in that bitch of a war on the other side of the world, I would lose everything at home. All my programs. 'I knew from the start that I was bound to be crucified either way I moved. Review

Timeline 16 Oct 64China explodes its first nuclear weapon I Nov 64VC attack Bien Hoa Air Base First directt attack on Americans; five Gis killed 3 Nov 64Lyndon Johnson elected to presidency Defeats Barry Goldwater by a landslide

Attacks on US Airfields I Nov 64VC attack Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigom First direct attack on Americans; five Gis killed 6 Feb 65VC attack US base at Pleiku (central Highlands) Eight Americans killed, ten aircraft destroyed 7 Feb 65 President orders air strikes against North Vietnam Operation Flaming Dart continues to 24 Feb 65 7 Mar 65President authorizes Operation Rolling Thunder Progressively escalating air attack against North Vietnam Dual military and political objectives Ran until 2 Nov 68 => “send a message” 8 Mar 65 At LBJ’s order, Marines land at Da Nang To protect airfield

Marines land at Da Nang March 8, 1965

Expanding the War ( Full Speech: 0 – 21:08 ) July 28, 1965 Excerpt ( click image )

Troop Levels

A Flashback in Time August 22, 2013 ( Lesson 2 )

Operation Desert Shield General Schwarzkopf’s dilemma: Deploy fighting forces to defend Saudi Arabia? 12 With limited mobility resources, do you first: Deploy logistics infrastructure to prepare for a bigger fight? or Review

Operation Desert Shield General Schwarzkopf’s decision: Deploy forces to defend Saudi Arabia … and very aggressively! (This would later have an adverse impact on the buildup of forces for an offensive capability) Scott W. Conrad Moving the Force: Desert Storm and Beyond, p. 26 dilemma: Review

Operation Desert Shield 14 “Some who questioned our policy in the Gulf felt this deployment was overkill, but General Norman Schwartzkopf had learned from Vietnam the problems of gradual escalation.” Andrew Leyden “Summary of the Gulf War: Operation Desert Shield” Gulf War Debriefing Book Grants Pass, OR: Hellgate Press, 1997 * 22 Feb 1991 Source: The Whirlwind War What was different? Vietnam: 1964 – 1968 (536,100 troops) Gulf War: Aug Jan-Mar 1991 (533,600 troops)* Review

Buildup In Vietnam Why was our buildup in Vietnam so slow? Gradual escalation? Vietnam: Lack of infrastructure? Probably a little of each! Fear of Soviet or Chinese intervention? (536,100 troops) Gulf War: Aug Jan-Mar 1991 (533,600 troops)

Vietnam: The Helicopter War "What would we do [in Vietnam] without helicopters? We would be fighting a different war, for a smaller area, at a greater cost, with less effectiveness. General William Westmoreland Quoted by Lieutenant General John J. Tolson, USA Airmobility , Chapter 13 We might as well-have asked: 'What would General Patton have done without his tanks?’”

The Helicopter War Why did the U.S. Army adopt the Airmobile* doctrine? * using helicopters to move forces around the battlefield Concept not specifically developed for Vietnam Conceived to move forces around an atomic battlefield Ideally suited for Southeast Asia

The Helicopter War The problem in Vietnam is terrain — jungles, mountains, rivers. Maneuver's a nightmare. That's why we came up with a plan to use helicopters. Leap in and out of battle. Dialogue from the movie “We Were Soldiers” (2002)

Battlefield Mobility Battle of Ia Drang Valley November 14–18, 1965

Battle of Ia Drang Valley ( 26:56) November 14–18, 1965

Battle of Ia Drang Valley ( 5:03 ) November 14–18, 1965

Significance of Ia Drang First employment of Airmobile concept First major combat between US and NVA units Communist shift from Phase I to Phase II in Strategy of Revolutionary War

Strategy of Revolutionary War Timeline : Phase I (guerilla warfare) : Heated Politburo debate on transition : Phase II (combined guerilla & conventional warfare) Increased large unit actions (Ia Drang, Khe Sanh)

Timeline 7 Aug 64 Tonkin Gulf Resolution 2 Mar 65 8 Mar Spring 67 Early 1960’s NVA troops begin moving into South Vietnam Operation Rolling Thunder (bombing of North) begins Marines land at Da Nang North Vietnamese Army (NVA) increases pressure on South Siege of Khe Sanh Begins

Siege of Khe Sanh Spring March 1968

Siege of Khe Sanh YouTube

Timeline 7 Aug 64 Tonkin Gulf Resolution 2 Mar 65 8 Mar Spring 67 Early 1960’s NVA troops begin moving into South Vietnam Operation Rolling Thunder (bombing of North) begins Marines land at Da Nang North Vietnamese Army (NVA) increases pressure on South Siege of Khe Sanh Begins Tet Offensive begins 31 Jan 68

Strategy of Revolutionary War Timeline : Phase I (guerilla warfare) : Heated Politburo debate on transition : Phase II (combined guerilla & conventional warfare) Increased large unit actions (Ia Drang, Khe Sanh) 1968 (early): Phase III (Tet Offensive) (conventional warfare)

Tet Offensive 1968 Country-wide combined VC & NVA offensive intended to inspire popular uprising Began January 31, 1968 Attack on Khe Sanh began earlier as a diversion

Tet Offensive 1968 US Embassy Saigon attacked by VC

Tet Offensive 1968 Battle of Hué Jan 31- Mar

Hué The Historic & Cultural Capital of Vietnam Hué Citadel In February 1966, LBJ asked Gen. Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam, what he would do next if he were the enemy commander “Capture Hué,” Westmoreland immediately replied. Almost two years to the day later, North Vietnam did just that

Tet Offensive 1968 Battle of Hué Jan 31- Mar Hué The Historic & Cultural Capital of Vietnam In February 1966, LBJ asked Gen. Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam, what he would do next if he were the enemy commander “Capture Hué,” Westmoreland immediately replied. Almost two years to the day later, North Vietnam did just that

Tet Offensive 1968 Battle of Hué Jan 31- Mar

Tet Offensive 1968 Battle of Hué Jan 31- Mar

Battle of Hué Video Pt 2 - 9:09Pt 4 - 9:10Pt 3 - 8:48Pt 5 - 7:02

Tet Offensive 1968 Turning point of the war … politically Saigon police chief executes Viet Cong Terrorist Photograph by Eddie Adams

Tet Offensive 1968 Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News anchor, visited Vietnam Feb1968

Post-Tet Walter Cronkite Upon his return to the US, Cronkite delivered an unprecedented editorial comment on this trip (February 27, 1968) “To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.” LBJ’s reply on hearing this: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.” On March 31, 1968, President Johnson announced he would not seek re-election. Source

Strategy of Revolutionary War Timeline : Phase I (guerilla warfare) : Heated Politburo debate on transition : Phase II (conbined guerilla & conventional warfare) Increased large unit actions (Ia Drang, Khe Sanh) 1968 (mid): Phase II 1968 (early): Phase III (Tet Offensive) (conventional warfare) Military disaster (VC destroyed) “General Uprising” did not occur Strategic victory none the less

Vietnam: The Final Chapter

Lesson Objectives Understand the goals, provisions and consequences of President Nixon's Vietnamization policy. Describe the efforts of President Nixon to change global strategic alignments and the implications of his initiatives. Describe and analyze changes in the military situation in Vietnam from 1969 to Describe and assess the impact of US political developments from 1969 through 1975.

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