War in Vietnam Chapter 30 Section 2

The Vietcong Ho Chi Minh organized a new guerilla army called the Vietcong B/g an armed struggle to reunify the nation Ike increases US aid to S. Vietnam and sends hundreds of military advisers to train the South Vietnam’s army The Vietcong b/g to grow more powerful In part b/c many Vietnamese opposed the Diem govt. Also b/c of the Vietcong’s use of terror

The Vietcong By 1961 the Vietcong had assassinated thousands of govt. officials and established control over much of the countryside In response, Diem looked increasingly to the US to keep S. Vietnam from collapsing

Kennedy Takes Over Kennedy needed to appear tough on communism His administration sharply increased military aid and sent thousands more advisors to Vietnam The Vietcong continued to grow b/c Diem’s govt. was unpopular and corrupt The US urged him to create a more democratic govt. and introduce reforms to help the peasants The reforms Diem did make only made matters worse

Diem’s reform The S. Vietnamese govt. created special fortified villages  strategic hamlets Strategic hamlets were villages protected by… Machine guns, bunkers, trenches, barbed wire, etc S. Vietnamese officials moved villagers to the strategic hamlets Partly to protect them Partly to prevent them from giving aid to the Vietcong The program was extremely unpopular

The Overthrow of Diem Diem was unpopular b/c he discriminated against Buddhism One of the country’s most widely practiced religions Buddhist monks set themselves on fire in protest to govt. religious policies Vietnamese generals plotted to overthrow Diem The US ambassador showed sympathy for their cause November 1, 1963 – they seized power and executed Diem

Overthrow of Diem After Diem’s death S. Vietnam’s govt. grew increasingly weak and unstable The US b/c even more deeply involved in order to prop up the weak S. Vietnamese govt. 3 weeks after Diem’s death, Kennedy was assassinated The presidency and Vietnam now lay in the hands of Lyndon Johnson

Johnson and Vietnam LBJ was determined to prevent S. Vietnam from b/c communist He would soon be campaigning for the presidency and was very concerned about being considered “soft” on communism

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution August 2, 1964 – N. Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired on two US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin August 4, 1964 – another similar attack took place LBJ insisted that N. Vietnam’s attacks were unprovoked He immediately ordered US aircraft to attack N. Vietnamese ships and naval facilities

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution LBJ kept hidden that the N. Vietnamese attacks were in response to US warships helping the S. Vietnamese conduct electronic spying and commando raids against the N. Vietnamese LBJ asked for congress to authorize the use of force to defend US forces Congress agreed w/ little debate

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution August 7, 1964 – the Senate and House passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Authorized the president to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against US and to prevent further aggression Congress had handed over its war powers to the president

The US Sends in Troops After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution the Vietcong b/g to attack bases where American advisers were stationed in S. Vietnam LBJ decided to respond when one of these attacks left 7 Americans dead and more than 100 wounded Less than 14 hours after the attack, US aircraft assaulted N. Vietnam

The US Sends in Troops LBJ’s response to the Vietcong’s attacks on the US was met w/ a lot of approval for him and his administration Most people had a firm b/l in containing communism 1965 – Operation Rolling Thunder – LBJ then started a bombing campaign against the N. Vietnamese He also sent the first combat troops into Vietnam US soldiers were now fighting alongside the South Vietnamese troops against the Vietcong

Frustrating Warfare The Vietcong used… Ambushes, booby traps, and guerrilla tactics They also blended in w/ the general population in the cities and the countryside To counter the Vietcong’s tactics, the US went on “search and destroy” missions Find the enemy, bomb their positions, destroy their supply lines, and force them out into the open for combat

Frustrating Warfare The US forces also tried to take away the Vietcong’s ability to hide in the thick jungles by destroying the landscape by using… Napalm – jellied gasoline that explodes on contact US planes dropped it Agent Orange – a chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs Turned farmland and forests into waste lands

A Determined Enemy The US underestimated the Vietcong’s strength and stamina The Vietcong had no intention of surrendering They were willing to accept huge losses in human lives Ho Chi Minh trail – a network of jungle paths to send arms and supplies south

War of Attrition North Vietnam received support from the Soviet Union and China Johnson refused to order a full-scale invasion of N. Vietnam fearing that such an attack would bring the Soviets and Chinese into the war The US was fighting a war of attrition A strategy of defeating enemy forces by slowly wearing them down Many casualties in this type of war These mounting casualties lost a lot of war support in the US