1. Section 2: Going to War in Vietnam
Chapter 25

2. Diem’s Hamlets One program Diem introduced only made matters worse
S. Vietnamese created strategic hamlets, special fortified villages
Villages were protected by machine guns, bunkers, trenches, and barbed wire
Partly to protect them from the Vietcong and partly to prevent them from helping the Vietcong
Program was extremely unpopular, peasants were uprooted from their farms and ancestors

5. Overthrow of Diem
Grew even more unpopular by discriminating against Buddhists
Banned religious flags for Buddha’s birthday
Buddhist monk set himself on fire
Several generals plotted to overthrow Diem
1963: Military coup, Diem is executed
Overthrow only made matters worse
Made gov’t look weak and unstable
Forced U.S. to become even more involved

6. Johnson & Vietnam Kennedy is assassinated 3 weeks after Diem
Hesitant with the conflict
“We seek no wider war”
But stated:
“The battle against communism must be joined … with strength & determination”

7. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
August 2, 1964
N. Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired to 2 U.S. destroyers
2 days later, another similar attack occurred
LBJ: attacks were “unprovoked”
Orders aircrafts to attack N. Vietnamese ships and naval facilities

8. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
August 7, 1964, Senate & House passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Authorizing the president to “take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression”
With only 2 dissenting votes, Congress had handed its war powers over to the president

9. U.S. Sends in Troops
After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed, Vietcong began to attack U.S. bases where advisers were stationed
Series of attacks:
7 dead, 100 wounded
U.S. responds with airstrikes
Closest advisers:
Robert McNamara, Sec. of Defense
McGeorge Bundy, Nat. Sec. Adviser

10. Operation Rolling Thunder
March 1965, Johnson expanded U.S. involvement
Sustained bombing campaign against N. Vietnam
Also, ordered first combat troops into Vietnam
U.S. soldiers were now fighting alongside S. Vietnamese troops against the Vietcong

11. A Bloody Stalemate Emerges
1965: 180,000 U.S. combat troops were fighting in Vietnam
1966: ~400,000 (Doubled)
Soldiers entered the war with great confidence
However, the war did not turn out as they expected

12. Frustrating Warfare
Vietcong uses guerilla tactics: ambushes, booby traps, etc.
Blended into the civilian population
“It’s a war where nothing is ever quite certain and nowhere is ever quite safe”
U.S. used “search & destroy” missions to counter
Find enemy troops, bomb their position, destroy their supply lines, and force them out into the open for combat

13. Chemical Warfare
Sought to take away their ability to hide in the thick jungles
Napalm
Jellied gasoline that explodes on contact
Agent Orange
Chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs, turning farmland and forest into wasteland

14. Napalm Pulitzer-Prize winning photograph
Taken in 1972, when she was a child, running naked down a road, screaming in pain from the napalm that was burning through her skin

16. Determined Enemy N. Vietnam provided advisers and arms to Vietcong
Sent their supplies south by way of a network of jungle paths, Ho Chi Minh trail
Trail went through neighboring nations, LBJ refused to allow a full-scale attack
N. Vietnam received support and aid from China & the Soviet Union
LBJ refused to order a full-scale attack in the N
Fear of bringing China into the war

17. U.S. Involvement
U.S. were forced to fight a war of attrition—a strategy of defeating the enemy forces by slowly wearing them down
220,000 Vietnamese deaths from ‘65 to ’67
End of ‘66, 6,700 U.S. soldiers dead
Americans back home began to question the nation’s involvement in the war