1. Vietnam War

2. France Tried…
France controlled from Japan took over France regained power

3. …And Failed
Viet-Minh forces started a fight against 12,000 French troops Only 3,000 survived France soon gave up and left Vietnam

4. Ho Chi Minh He wanted Vietnam independence
Asked for it after WWI at the Treaty of Versailles
Returned to Vietnam forming the “Viet-Minh”
Pro-Communist

5. Meanwhile, Back in America
Kids grew up listening to stories of grown ups talking about fighting in WWII Most people in the US didn't even know where Vietnam was All Americans knew was that Communism is bad

6. Whos Fight?
Vietnam was in a state of civil war from China vowed to help fellow Asian communist nations

7. Help!
US offered support for anyone willing to fight communist Kennedy had 16,000 troops in Vietnam acting as advisors

8. The Spark
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Congress gave LBJ a "blank check" North Vietnam viewed this as an act of war

9. Veterans vs. Rookies
N. Vietnamese troops had been fighting for 10 years Average age of American troops ~ 22

10. Life in Vietnam

11. Numbers on the Rise
Americans were over-confident LBJ said he was raising the number of troops from 75,000 to 125,000 Raised the monthly draft from 17,000 to 35,000

12. Build Up
By the fall of 1965 there was 150,000 US troops vs. 250,000 N. Vietnamese & Viet-Minh rebels

13. Body Counts
North willing to fight till the death Knew that Americans will break after a large number of troops are killed

14. Ia Drang Valley

15. Joe Galloway Describing his Nightmare

16. I don’t want you to fight for a farmer that doesn’t want to be bothered

17. Search & Destroy Search = Find All Destroy = Kill All
Villages were burned down to make them un-inhabitable by Viet Cong & Minh

18. Vietnam

19. How to “win” in Vietnam
Body counts were how to determine winner when there was no front line

20. Not normal fighting

21. Not normal fighting

22. Not normal fighting

23. Not normal fighting

24. Not normal fighting
“Who are we fighting?”

25. Friend or Foe?

26. Escalation 1966 January – 188,000 May – 280,000 July – 300,000
September – 325,000
1967
January – 389,000

27. Wounds ~ 1 million men are wounded
Takes about an hour to get to hospital by helicopter
1st 9 months 6,990 deaths more than the 1st 5 years of fighting