1. VIETNAM, (the Day War)

2. Phase One – War of Independence
Vietnam - French
colony under the name of
French Indochina (along with
Cambodia and
Laos)
Vietnam fights for independence from France during WW II
Vietnamese revolutionary leader was Ho Chi Minh, a Communist
wanted to be the leader of
an independent, communist Vietnam; received support from both the USSR and “Red” China

3. French are defeated in 1954 at at Dien bien phu!
peace conference in Geneva, Switzerland (attended by France, Vietnam, the US, and the USSR)
Vietnam divided at the 17th parallel. Communist north (Led by Ho) and democratic south (led by Ngo Dinh Diem
Elections to be held in 1956 to end partition.
U.S. sees Vietnam as a “Domino”. Determined to stop it falling according to the U.S. policy of “Containment”

4. Diem tortures and executes nearly 40,000 political prisoners
Estimated that 80% of Vietnamese would have voted for the communists –elections were never allowed to happen!
Many ordinary Vietnamese viewed Diem as an “elite” who had cooperated with the French
Diem tortures and executes nearly 40,000 political prisoners
Southern resistance increases as communist support grows – creation of National Liberation Front (NLF)

5. These Southern “freedom fighters” were also known as Vietcong

6. 1963 With U.S. approval, South Vietnamese Army kills Diem!
…and of course, Kennedy is killed…

7. PHASE 2 – AMERICAN MILITARY INVOLVEMENT
phase originated with
“Ike” and JFK but was
intensified under Lyndon
Baines Johnson (LBJ)
1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident - 2 American destroyers “supposedly” fired upon by the North Vietnamese
Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions
- Congress gave LBJ
their support in sending
American personnel and materiel

9. 1965 – Operation Rolling Thunder
Sustained American bombing raids of North Vietnam
864,000 tons of bombs dropped on North Vietnam (503,000 tons in the Pacific theater during the Second World War)
4 Objectives:
Boost the Morale of South Vietnam
Persuade North Vietnam to stop supporting rebels in the South
Destroy North Vietnamese industry and air defenses
Cease the flow of men and material along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Operation runs for nearly four years! (none of the objectives are met…)

10. US ground forces sent to Vietnam – over 200,000 by the year’s end
Danang:     The first American combat troops, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, arrive in Vietnam to defend the US airfield at Danang

12. La Drang Valley
Heavy Fighting at Ia Drang Valley:     The first conventional battle of the Vietnam war takes place as American forces clash with North Vietnamese units in the Ia Drang Valley. - heavy casualties are reported on both sides.
Escalation – increase in troops and bombs
Vietcong guerilla tactics

13. Escalation!
in spite of ongoing escalation (an increase in troop levels and $ spent on fighting the war) throughout the 1960s, the US experienced a lack of success against the Vietnamese forces in S. Vietnam (the Vietcong) as the US Army was unprepared for their tactics (Guerilla Warfare! ) and their revolutionary mentality

15. The US was never entirely
successful in shutting
down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a supply line that ran between North and South Vietnam
difficult jungle terrain,
often underground and
through neighboring nations like Cambodia and Laos

17. Ho Chi Minh Trail
The U.S. tries to destroy the trail but the Vietnamese just go around it!

18. 1968 – an awful year…
In January, the Vietnamese launch the Tet Offensive, a surprise offensive on a major Vietnamese holiday that saw attacks all over the country, including in Saigon itself
A Vietnamese defeat, but many in the U.S. now saw the war as unwinnable
ongoing US casualties and led to an increase in antiwar sentiment on the American Home Front
in large part because Vietnam was a TV War where American audiences saw the brutality of war firsthand

23. Americans witnessed the usage of weapons like napalm and Agent Orange, which devastated the people and environment of Vietnam

24. Between 350 and 500 raped, tortured and murdered
My Lai
Who is the enemy?
How do you “find and eliminate the enemy” if you can’t tell which side anyone is on?
Between 350 and 500 raped, tortured and murdered
"Who is my enemy? Anybody that was running from us, hiding from us, or appeared to be the enemy. If a man was running, shoot him, sometimes even if a woman with a rifle was running, shoot her.“ – Captain Ernest Medina

25. 26 US soldiers initially charged with criminal offenses
I was … getting orders from
my commander and I
followed them- foolishly I guess
26 US soldiers initially charged with criminal offenses
Only Second Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader was convicted.
Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but only served three and a half years under house arrest.

27. Hippies!
hippies inherited the values of the 1950s Beatniks, created their own communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and some used drugs such as cannabis, LSD and magic mushrooms to explore altered states of consciousness.

28. Protest increases at home!
Hippies led the Counterculture movement
Protests became widespread and began to polarize the nation

32. Not just hippies!

34. 250,000!

38. LBJ chooses not to run for reelection in 1968
Polls show that over half of the country does not agree with the handling of the war
LBJ chooses not to run for reelection in 1968

39. increasingly the American people came to perceive the “Credibility Gap”, i.e. they no longer
believed that LBJ was telling them the truth about events in the war
Republican Richard M. Nixon was elected on a platform of “Peace with Honor”

40. Nixon wanted the South Vietnamese to play a greater role in the war, a policy he labeled Vietnamization
in spite of that, he continues carpet bombing Hanoi and orders a secret invasion of Cambodia
Seen as a further widening of the war! American’s feel deceived and protests erupt.

41. Kent State - May 1970 Kent State University (Ohio)
Students protest turns deadly when National Guard troops open fire on the students!
4 Students Dead
Kent State - May 1970

42. Tinker vs DeMoines Mary Beth Tinker
13-year-old junior high school student
she and others wear black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam.
5 students suspended
1969 – Supreme Court rules that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

43. Pentagon Papers Classified documents stolen from the Pentagon
Exposed Government knowledge that war would cost more lives than the public was being told
Public told war was ending but escalation was happening
Government censures the information but Supreme Court says NO!
PUBLIC DISTRUST OF GOVERNMENT!

44. the US agrees to remove troops on Jan. 27, 1973

45. PHASE 3 – VIETNAMESE CIVIL WAR, 1973-75
the NVA easily defeated the South by 1975
1975 – the US abandoned its embassy in Saigon, which was renamed
Ho Chi Minh City in the newly unified and communist Vietnam

46. War Powers Act 1973
“the President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or in case of "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces."
President must notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action
forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, without congressional authorization or declaration of war.

47. Remembering Vietnam Vietnamese: America:
Approximately 3 million military and civilian deaths
America:
58,000 dead
300,000 wounded
Many felt it was a pointless war that could have been avoided – veterans were not seen as “heroes”
Returning veterans ignored or in some cases suffered verbal and physical abuse
Click image to watch “Coming Home”

48. After years of trying to forget the painful memories of
Losing a pointless war
Distrustful government
A weak and divided America
1982 – The Vietnam War Memorial (“the wall”) encourages Americans to reflect on the war and “heal some of the wars wounds”

50. Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon)