1. Warm Up – May 4 Answer the following questions on a post it:
1. Which European country did the Vietnamese fight for their independence?
2. Term to describe the idea that if one country falls to communism, the surrounding countries will fall too.
3. The Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into which two sections?
4. What kind of political ideology was in North Vietnam? Who was the north’s leader?
5. What leader did the U.S. support in South Vietnam? What did the U.S support when we decided that the leader in south was not doing a good job?
5. What happened in the Tonkin Gulf?
6. What did the Tonkin Gulf Resolution allow the President to do?

2. LBJ Increases Involvement
Most of LBJ’s advisors supported more US involvement in Vietnam.
Robert McNamara – Sec. of Defense
Dean Rusk – Sec. of State
Believed intervention was necessary to stop the spread of communism
American public also strongly supported LBJ’s intervention

3. LBJ Increases Involvement
US troops in Vietnam under command of General William Westmoreland
End of 1965 – more than 180,000 US troops in Vietnam
Westmoreland not impressed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) – SV’s fighting force
End of 1967 – 500,000 US troops in Vietnam

4. Vietcong Tactics
US believed the war would be easy and short… quickly became a stalemate and war dragged on.
Vietcong’s fighting style – no advanced training or weapons  guerilla warfare and elaborate tunnels
Vietcong refused to surrender, even in the face of large casualties.
US inability to win the support of Vietnamese peasants… US troops couldn’t tell the difference between the Vietcong and peasants, US tactics killed many civilians and destroyed their land

5. US Response to Vietcong Tactics
Napalm – sticky gasoline-based explosive, very difficult to extinguish
Napalm Girl image
Agent Orange – chemical that destroyed the jungle to remove Vietcong coverage
Search-and-destroy missions – US troops would destroy Vietnamese villages looking for Vietcong
Turned Vietnamese peasants against US troops
Road to War video

6. Early War at Home
At first, Americans supported the war, however TV changed public opinions
Johnson told Americans the war was going well BUT TV told a different story with horrific and brutal scenes on the nightly news
Created a credibility gap - a lack of popular confidence in the truth of the claims or public statements made by the federal government

7. A “Manipulatable” Draft
Most soldiers were called to combat under the Selective Service System, or draft – system for requiring citizens to serve in the military
Established during WWI, males 18-26
Thousands of men found ways around the draft…
Medical exemptions from sympathetic doctors
Changed residences to go before a more lenient board
Joined National Guard or Coast Guard – deferment from draft
Enroll in university for a college deferment

8. African Americans in Vietnam
Draft dodgers were from affluent families  “working class war,” disproportionate number of blacks and people of low socioeconomic levels drafted
MLK refrained from speaking out on Vietnam, believing it would draw attention away from the movement, until 1967 when fighting in Vietnam increased
High racial tensions and violence in platoons  decreased morale

9. Emerging Protest Movement
By the mid 1960s, Americans provided many reasons to oppose the Vietnam War
US shouldn’t be involved in another country’s civil war
The South Vietnamese gov’t was just as corrupt and oppressive as Ho Chi Minh’s North Vietnamese gov’t
US should focus on more pressing international issues (USSR and Cold War)
High cost (lives and money) with low gains
The war was morally unjust
Protest moved beyond college campus as celebrities and musicians spoke out against the war as well.

10. For Each Song… Song title and artist
What issues are being addressed (look for key terms, ideas, etc)?
Who is artist’s target audience?
What was the artist want the audience to do after listening to the song?
Is the song’s message still relevant today? Explain.

11. TOD: May 4
Answer the following questions on the same post-it as the warm up:
1. What style of warfare did the Vietcong use?
2. What tactics the U.S. use in response?
3. Why was television important in how Americans viewed the Vietnam War?
4. Why was the draft unfair?
5. What reasons did Americans have for being opposed to the Vietnam War?