1. 1959 - 1975 major US involvement 1964 - 1973
THE VIETNAM WAR
major US involvement

2. VIETNAM WAS DIFFERENT Guerrilla tactics Helicopter war
9,000 miles away
Test of domino theory
“Living Room” war
Draft opposition

3. US TROOP LEVELS
1964 = ,300
1965 = 184,300
1966 = 385,300
1967 = 485,600
1968 = 536,100
1969 = 475,200
1970 = 334,600
1971 = 156,800
1972 = ,200
1973 =
3.3 million total Americans served
58,000 US killed

4. THE DRAFT Registration of 18 – 26 year olds
Average US serviceman = 19 years old
One year tours of duty
College deferments meant poor & minorities overrepresented – “working class war”

5. EARLY US INVOLVEMENT
1964: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gives LBJ power to send combat troops
3-yr bombing campaign using Napalm & Agent Orange
Ground war begins 1965
War of attrition
Search and destroy missions = 3 mil refugees
“Hearts & Minds” campaign

6. 1967: SIEGE OF KHE SAHN Build up of troops on both sides summer 1967
Siege of US Marine base by NV forces for 77 days
Massive air campaign launched by US
Base abandoned by US in July 1968; led to criticisms in media

7. 1968: TET OFFENSIVE Surprise attack on Tet (New Year Holiday)
100 cities & US embassy attacked
Military loss for VC and NV
Public opinion loss for US
Westmoreland had said end in sight; “credibility gap” for LBJ as people stop believing him
LBJ announces beginning of negotiations & says he will not run for second term

8. 1968: MY LAI MASSACRE
US platoon search for VC rebels in village of My Lai
US troops shoot more than 300 civilians (women, children, elderly)
Cover-up by Army later reported by NY Times shocked American public
Many returning vets called “baby-killers”

9. 1969: VIETNAMIZATION Nixon takes presidency Negotiations going nowhere
“Vietnamization” plan by Nixon & Kissinger to gradually withdraw US troops & train SV to take over
“Peace with honor”
Nixon gives secret order for bombing campaign against NV, Laos, and Cambodia while still negotiating

10. 1970: CAMBODIA INVASION
Nixon announces US troops had invaded Cambodia to counter VC supply lines
Cambodia neutral
Congress not informed
College campus protests
Kent State students burn ROTC building
National Guard opens fire, kills 4, wounds 9
Similar protest at Jackson State kills 2, wounds12

11. 1971: PENTAGON PAPERS 7,000 page Pentagon document
Showed gov. had planned invasion even as LBJ had promised not to send US troops
Showed gov. had no plan to end war
Leaked to New York Times

12. OPPOSITION TO THE WAR 1965: 61% support 1971: 28% support
Hawks vs. Doves
Student-led organizations (Free Speech Movement, Students for a Democratic Society)
Rallies & marches, protest songs
Draft card burning, draft dodgers

13. 1972-73: THE FINAL PUSH North launches biggest attack since Tet
Nixon orders massive bombing campaign
Negotiations break down but agreement finally reached after Christmas bombings in 1972
March 1973 last US troops withdrawn
Fall of Saigon in 1975 leads to evacuation of all Americans from Saigon

14. AFTERMATH OF THE WAR AMERICA Loss of trust in leaders
Inflation & tax increases
Nation divided
Veterans mistreated upon return home
PTSD, suicide, drug & alcohol problems of veterans
Domino Theory questioned
War Powers Act
SE ASIA
Vietnamese “reeducation” work camps
Vietnamese refugees
Toxins, birth defects, other disease from napalm & agent orange
Cambodian civil war & genocide