1. The Vietnam War CHAPTER 30 LESSON #2

2. Roots of the Conflict  Vietnam was originally a French colony  Taken over by Japanese during WWII  Vietnamese wanted independence after war  French fought to keep it and lost  Battle of Dien Bien Phu, 1954

3. The Geneva Accords  Allied counties including S.U., China, and Vietnam  Met in Geneva, Switzerland  Split Vietnam into 2 parts  Communist North  Non-communist South  Ngo Dinh Dien (South leader)  Went after communists in south  Vietcong – South Vietnamese communist guerilla group formed  Ho Chi Minh (North leader)  1959 – Began war against South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Dien Ho Chi Minh

4. American Role Grows  Domino Effect  US feared communism would spread throughout SE Asia  Eisenhower sent money and military aid to South Vietnam  Kennedy agreed with Eisenhower  Sent Special Forces to act as advisors to train troops  Pushed Diem to make changes so people wouldn’t want communism (didn’t work)  US backed out  Diem assassinated  US back in  Kennedy assassinated

5. The Conflict Deepens  1963: US troops = 16,000 in Vietnam  Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964):  Vietnamese patrol boats attack US ships  Congress passes a resolution  Gave president power to use armed forces  1965: Johnson escalates troop involvement  1965: 180,000 – 1968: 500,000  Operation Rolling Thunder (bombing campaign)  Ho Chi Minh Trail – North Vietnamese supply line  More bombs dropped on Vietnam than on Axis powers in WWII!

6. The Difficult Fight Vietnam hard to fight in  Jungle, swamps, muddy, rice fields, mountains, bugs, booby traps  Vietcong used guerilla tactics  Attack then hide  Couldn’t tell who was enemy  Napalm  Burned vegetation and enemy  Agent Orange  Chemical used to destroy vegetation  Caused serious health problems for Americans and Vietnamese

7. Growing Discontent  Many thought war would not last long  Search and Destroy tactic:  Seek out enemy using troops and aircraft  Call in gunships to destroy enemy  Killed thousands of Vietnamese  Still not enough!  War started to drag on  Bombing did not seem to work  North Vietnamese supplies continued south  Robert McNamara  Secretary of Defense  Believed US strategy was not working American opposition to war was growing