Kent State Massacre (4 May 1970) National Guardsmen opened fire on student protestors in Ohio, killing four. This picture shows one of the dead students, Jeffrey Miller.

Casualties of War CategoryYear RangeLow estimates Medium estimates High estimates North Vietnamese civilian deaths from bombing ,000 North Vietnamese soldiers killed ,000 Viet Cong deaths ,000251,000329,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers deaths combined ,0001,011,0001,489,000 South Vietnamese civilian deaths from gunfire / bombing ,000391,000720,000 South Vietnamese soldiers killed ,000266,000313,000 US military deaths ,00047,00058,000 Source: Rudolph Rummel, Statistics of Vietnamese Democide: Estimates, Calculations and Sources, 1997.

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam War? Tactics: US Army’s conventional military tactics were largely ineffective in the jungle terrain and faced with the guerrilla warfare tactics. Bombing was costly and use of chemical weapons increasingly unpopular with anti- war lobby within USA Anti-War movement within USA – an increasingly vocal and visible minority which included veterans and ‘ordinary Americans’ as well as youths and students. Media coverage of the war – 1 st TV war (this feeds into anti-war sentiment within USA but also puts international pressure on USA) North Vietnam and NLA were fighting a war of liberation to free their country from foreign intervention. The USA troops did not have the same commitment to a cause. Support for North Vietnamese from China and USSR

The war from the ‘USA’ and ‘Vietnamese’ perspective (NB: In both countries there are very different opinions – be wary of generalisations) Vietnam The American War. An anti-colonial war of liberation. A nationalist war A civil war Long term impact of war has lived on in the dead and displaced, the widows, orphans, the maimed and mutilated, the environmental destruction, the birth defects. United States of America The Vietnam War A war to contain communism A Cold War conflict Long term impact includes mixed emotions about the losses, injuries and trauma suffered, the human rights violations committed in the name of democracy, the humiliation of defeat and the futility of a war

How the war is remembered today in the USA and Vietnam? Memorials in USA and Vietnam Film (Hollywood has presented different views of war in different periods) Music Personal accounts / Auto-biographies Academic histories Tourist sites

Vietnam War memorial complex in Washington DC consists of three memorials November The Three Servicemen statue (by Frederick hart) was dedicated due to controversy over Lin’s memorial wall. Designed by 21 yr old Maya Lin, the original memorial consists of two sloping walls of reflective black granite engraved with names of 58,183 who died in Vietnam war. Positioned among the trees she intended it as a memorial to men and women who died in the war, as a whole. November, 1993 – Vietnam Women’s memorial was dedicated.

American War memorial in Hanoi. Constructed in 1993

Mao’s Tse-tung’s summary of guerrilla warfare The enemy attacks, we retreat The enemy camps, we raid The enemy tires, we attack The enemy retreats, we pursue

Military principles of the Red Army (Chinese People’s Liberation Army) Attack scattered, isolated enemy forces first; attack concentrated, strong enemy forces later Take country areas first The main aim is to wipe out the enemy’s army. It is not to capture or hold their positions Fight no battle you are not sure of winning Keep moving Build up your strength with captured weapons. Win enemy soldiers over toy your side.