Chapter 14(C) Vietnam

Indochina: The Background to War The French had created Indochina in the 1800s from Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam When the Japanese took control during WWII it allowed revolutionaries to gain control in the North In Sept Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence Ho Chi Minh

Vietnam & LBJ The Domino Theory LBJ’s major goal in Vietnam was to avoid losing it to communism The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was used by LBJ as a substitute for a declaration of war By the end of 1965 there were 184,000 US troops in Vietnam

Roy Benavidez In 1968 Benavidez facing constant fire he carried wounded members of his platoon to rescue-helicopters. He saved eight lives. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1981.

Escalation in Vietnam Escalation War of Attrition— Helicopter gunships, chemical defoliants, and napalm Stalemate—North would not give up and US would not invade the North Started to divide the Nation like the Civil War had

Nixon & Vietnam When Nixon run for president in 1968 he insisted that his policy would be to pursue “peace with honor” Nixon’s policy of “Vietnamization” was gradually reducing the number of American troops in Vietnam However, by 1970, Nixon extended the war by sending troops into Cambodia Nixon and a Map of Indochina

Loudest Public Outcry: May 1970 B/c of the Cambodian “incursion” led to the closing of 100s of colleges & universities At Kent State University the National Guard panicked and opened fire on rock-throwing demonstrators killing four student bystanders

The Pentagon Papers Daniel Ellsberg leaked them to the press These papers revealed that the Johnson administration had deceived the public in regard to war policy Congress had not gotten the entire story about the Gulf of Tonkin & more lies

Nixon & Kissinger Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s Sec. of State held talks with China, USSR, and North Vietnam. He wanted South Vietnam to take over the war. He called this Vietnamization.

Outcomes of the Vietnam War Many young Americans questioned the value of military service 58,000 Americans died Saigon fell to the Communist and became Ho Chi Minh City And there were deep divisions over foreign policy