1. What are you doing to get ready for the exam
What are you doing to get ready for the exam?? Kinman has posted review info on the wiki… there might be something useful there… maybe not??

2. Vietnam Outcome: Background to the Conflict

3. Ho Chi Minh

4. Background to the Conflict
Ho Chi Minh & Defeat of the French
In 1958, area became a French colony: Indo-China
In 1945, Ho Chi Minh organized a Communist Party and declared Vietnam’s independence from France; his troops were called Vietminh
c. U.S. gave French $2.5B in aid and military advisors to fight Vietminh
French forces were defeated at Dien Bien Phu and left
U.S. stayed fulfilling Cold War goal of Containment (Domino Theory)

5. Vietnam Divided

6. Background to the Conflict
A Divided Vietnam
The Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel
North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh
South Vietnam was led by Ngo Dinh Diem
The U.S. and 7 other nations formed SEATO pledging to protect S.V.
Free elections were to be held in 1956 to re-unify the Vietnams under one elected leader; never happened S.Vietnam blocked the elections fearing North Vietnam would win

7. Ngo Dinh Diem

8. Background to the Conflict
Early US Involvement
U.S. supported Ngo Dinh Diem because he was an anti-Communist
U.S. trained the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the South (ARVN)
Ho Chi Minh built up the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietcong or VC guerrilla fighters in the south
d. U.S. Goal was to train ARVN well enough to win Civil War

9. Background to the Conflict
Kennedy had committed 16,000+ military advisers in South Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh was promised aid from the Soviet Union and China
November 22, 1963 Kennedy is assassinated while in Dallas
h. Lyndon Johnson is sworn in

10. The Gulf of Tonkin

11. Background to the Conflict
The Gulf of Tonkin
August 1964, U.S. patrol ships were allegedly attacked by NVA gun boat(s) in the Gulf of Tonkin, causing Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, granting President Johnson the power to take “all necessary measures to repel any further armed attacks”
b. No declaration of war was ever made
c. This started the Americanization phase of the Vietnam conflict

12. Outcome: Americanization

13. 1. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Johnson was not soft on Communism
U.S. attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin; allowed President Johnson to send more troops to Vietnam without a declaration of war
Was it a hoax?

14. 2. Escalation U.S. troops were led by Gen. William Westmoreland
Due to the draft, U.S. troops numbered 540,000 by 1968
Draft was seen as unfair to blacks and poor

15. Fighting was very difficult due to: Intense heat
3. The Fighting
Fighting was very difficult due to:
Intense heat
Dense jungles with razor sharp leaves
Invisible enemy: Vietcong blended in with South Vietnamese
Vietcong used elaborate tunnels systems to hide and move troops
U.S. soldiers torched whole villages and destroy food supplies so as to remove supplies that could be used by VC
U.S. soldiers often became addicted to drugs
Some U.S. soldiers killed innocent civilians due to uncertainty of enemy whereabouts

18.
U.S. low point --> Public support began shifting against the war due to:
Intense media coverage (TV)
Tet Offensive: Simultaneous NVA attack on nearly every major
S.V. city; public opinion questioned were we winning or not?
Skyrocketing U.S. casualties (14,000+ died in alone)
President Johnson dropped out of election race on March 31
My Lai Massacre: Mass murder of innocent unarmed citizens in South Vietnam; Ordered by Lt. Calley; not publicized until 1969 and made many wonder if U.S. was the “bad guys”

20. 5. Election of Richard Nixon
Nixon is elected in 1968 after Johnson decides not to run for re-election
Nixon promises troop with-drawl and to turn war back over to S.V.
This begins the Vietnamization phase of the conflict

21. Vietnam Conflict Outcomes: Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement

22. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Nixon’s Election
Nixon narrowly defeats Hubert Humphrey of MN and George Wallace of Alabama
Nixon promised to bring troops home
Vietnamization: With-drawl of U.S. troops so that S.V. can fight own war

23. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Draft Lottery
The draft had been seen as unfair to blacks and the poor
New draft lottery ended racial & economic discrimination

24. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Nixon’s Secret War
Nixon widened the war into Laos & Cambodia by bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail
b. Goal: to cut off supplies to VC & bomb NVA camps there
c. Impact: Mass protests like at Kent State U. in Ohio (4 students dead)

25. Kent State

26. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Paris Peace Talks
1972 Nixon was re-elected & a cease-fire was negotiated (“Peace with honor”)
January 27, 1973 Paris Peace talks concluded calling for an end to U.S. involvement and the release of Prisoners of War (POWs)
South Vietnam “must fight its own fight now”

27. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Dominos Fall & Impact
Saigon fell to the NVA (Communists) on April 30, 1975
Last Americans fled Vietnam
Saigon is renamed Ho Chi Minh City
58,000+ U.S. deaths; justified?

28. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Long Term Consequences/Effects
Physical & Psychological damage to soldiers
x as many were treated for drug abuse as combat wounds
ii. Agent orange is linked to cancer & birth defects
Homecomings were made more difficult due to:
Lonely returns ---> 395 day tour; no hero’s welcome
A short transition from soldier to civilian status
Some soldiers experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSS) and survivor’s guilt

29. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Cynicism toward Government & Military Leaders
Gulf of Tonkin Affair (Was it a hoax or an excuse??)
Lies & Cover-Up led to a widening credibility gap w/the public
Public received mixed messages on the war’s progress
Tet Offensive
My Lai Massacre
Bombing of Cambodia (broken promise)

30. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Fear of Future Military Involvement (Vietnam Syndrome)
We realized our nation’s vulnerability (moral defeat)
The U.S. “Didn’t win, but didn’t lose”
Congress passed the War Powers Resolution (Act) of which stated that the President may send troops to hostile areas, but must:
Notify Congress within 48 hours
Return troops within 90 days if no declaration of war is passed

31. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Attempts at Healing:
1971: The 26th Amend. was passed lowering the voting age to 18
1973: The draft was abolished
1977: President Carter granted amnesty to 10,000+ draft dodgers
1982: The Vietnam Wall (Memorial) was completed in Wash. D.C.
1995: President Clinton normalized U.S. relations with
communist Vietnam

32. Vietnamization & End of U.S. Involvement
Result: Vietnam proved the U.S. military was not invincible
. Our Containment goal failed and public opinion on U.S. involvement around the globe has been forever impacted
. Was it our responsibility to go fight in Vietnam?
The invasion of Iraq is very similar today.