The Vietnam War 1954-1975
Background France controlled “Indochina” since the late 19th century. Japan took control during WWII With US aid, France attempted to re-colonize Indochina in the postwar period.
Background Ho Chi Minh builds nationalist resistance Vietnamese “George Washington” France fights and US pays for French-Indochina War Dien Bien Phu = Disaster
Background Geneva Peace Conference Vietnam Divided at the 17th Parallel Ho Chi Minh’s nationalists controlled the North Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the South
Background Democratic elections set to reunify Vietnam Diem backed out & violence erupted
Background Participants North Vietnam Soviet Union China South Vietnam United States Vietcong
US Involvement Begins Repressive Diem Regime French-educated Catholic leader Diem’s family controlled government Plutocracy developed Buddhist majority repressed Torture, intimidation and all kinds of fun things
US Involvement Begins He’s an SOB, but he’s our SOB Eisenhower sent financial and military aid 675 military advisors sent by 1960
JFK & Vietnam Increases military advisors to 16,000 1963 military coup d'état Supported (instigated?) by JFK Diem & brother murdered JFK assassinated weeks later
LBJ & Vietnam Remembers Truman’s “loss” of China Secretary of Defense Domino Theory revived “I am not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara Primary architect of war Gradual Escalation
LBJ & Vietnam: Crossing the Rubicon Gulf of Tonkin Incident USS Maddox attacked twice? Gulf of Tonkin Resolution “Blank Check” to LBJ to fight the war
LJB & Vietnam Troop Deployment
Vietnam – Iraq 2007 2008 2009 2005 2004 2006 2003
1965-1968 No territorial goals Body Counts on TV every night 1st “Living Room” War Vietcong receives supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail
1965-1968 The Air War Operation Rolling Thunder - 1965 Sustained Bombing of North Vietnam Hanoi bombed for 3 years Downed pilots = P.O.W.s Carpet Bombing v. Strategic Bombing Napalm
1965-1968 The Ground War General Westmoreland We can see the “light at the end of the tunnel.” Westmoreland 1967
Who is the Enemy? North Vietnam Regulars Vietcong Traditional military opponent Vietcong Citizen soldiers Farm by day; Fight by night Patient and Strategic US grossly underestimated their resolve & resourcefulness “The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win.” Mao Zedong
Vietcong - Insurgents
Vietcong - Insurgents
Vietcong - Insurgents
Vietcong - Insurgents
The Tet Offensive January 1968 NV Army + Vietcong Offensive 100 Cities & Bases Hue & American Embassy in Saigon
The Tet Offensive Perception of Victory Impacts US Battlefield Victory & Vietcong Disabled US Intelligence Defeat Impacts US Public: Disbelief, Anger, Distrust of LBJ “Hey, Hey LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?”
1968 LBJ’s approval rating drops from 48% to 36% Announces: “…I shall not seek, and I shall not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as President.”
Vietnam Strains American Society Disproportionate representation of racial minorities and poor in enlisted ranks Discipline problems Racial Tension Drug Abuse Insubordination “Fragging”
Vietnam Strains American Society Officer versus Enlisted Combat Rotation Officers: 6 month front line & 6 months rear support Enlisted: 12 month font line & varied rear support
America Divided My Lai Massacre - 1968
America Divided My Lai
America Divided Lt. William Calley “Helicopter Attack” & “Following Orders” War Criminal: 1st Degree Murder Conviction Life Sentence – House Arrest – Released Post My Lai
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations Columbia University 1968
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations University of California Berkeley 1968
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations Kent State University 1970
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations Jackson State University 1970
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations Democratic National Convention - Chicago 1968
America Divided Anti-War Demonstrations Washington, DC 1967
America Divided Counterculture Jane Fonda
Nixon & Vietnam 1968 Presidential Campaign “Peace with Honor” = End the War with Victory Appealed to the “Silent Majority”
Nixon & Vietnam Vietnamization
Nixon & Vietnam Pentagon Papers, 1971 LBJ Assigned “Research Paper” to the Pentagon Daniel Ellsberg leaked documents to New York Times Government misled Congress & American people through the 1960s New York Times v. United States (1971)
Nixon & Vietnam Expansion of War Cambodia & Laos = Hit the Trail 1972 Christmas Bombing Campaign Anti-War Demonstrations Increase
Nixon & Vietnam Expansion of the War Agent Orange = Chemical Defoliant Bombing Hanoi Mining Haiphong
Nixon & Vietnam 1972 “Peace is at Hand” Henry Kissinger North Vietnam attacks South Vietnam US Bombing of North Vietnam = more bombs than all of WWII
1973 Ceasefire Negotiations to be covered later Conditions US remove all troops NV leave troops in SV NV resumes war No POW or MIA provisions
1973 Ceasefire Last US troops leave SV 3/29/73 1975 NV defeats SV Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City
South Vietnamese Flee country prior to fall of Saigon
North Vietnamese at the SV Presidential Palace
America Abandons Its Embassy April 30, 1975
Vietnam
The Price 58,000 US Killed 300,00 US Wounded 3,000,000 Vietnamese Killed $150,000,000,000 Great Society & LBJ Presidency US Morale, Self-confidence, Trust
The Impact 26th Amendment Watergate War Powers Act Suffrage for 18-year-olds Watergate War Powers Act Troop Deployment 48 Hour Notification of Congress 90 Day Approval by Congress
The Impact Veterans’ Experiences POW – MIA Some POWs retured from “Hanoi Hilton” 2583 Still unaccounted Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
“If we have to fight, we will fight “If we have to fight, we will fight. You will kill ten of our men and we will kill one of yours, and in the end it will be you who tires of it.” Ho Chi Minh
Lessons Learned (?) Duration Casualties Media Access Congressional Support Public Support Clear Goals Deadlines
Vietnam War Memorial
Vietnam War Memorial
Vietnam War Memorial