1. The United States and Indochina
Keylor

2. The Costs of the Conflict
3.5 million US soldiers served in country
58,000 American troops KIA
200, ,000 South Vietnamese civilians died
50-65,000 North Vietnamese civilians died
The United States Air force dropped on Vietnam over three times the tonnage of bombs that had been dropped on Germany during WWII (Keylor 375)
Approximately $150 billion ($833 Billion 2013) dollars total cost including military aid to Saigon plus $200 billion earmarked for future veteran’s benefits (Keylor 376)

3. The Origins
Between , France had established political control over the region of southeastern Asia known as Indochina: modern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. France’s motives for the colony were economic and strategic. French garrisons and bases would allow them to challenge Great Britain’s preeminence in the Far East.

5. Indigenous resistance to French domination developed after the first World War under the leadership of a young, charismatic nationalist leader known as Ho Chi Minh. In 1919, Ho appeared at the Paris Peace Conference to press for the application of the Wilsonian principle of self-determination, currently being invoked on behalf of the former subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

6. When he realized that these principles were restricted to white European peoples, he became a founding member of the French Communist party, and traveled to Moscow to receive instruction in the techniques of revolutionary agitation. In 1930, he founded the Vietnamese Communist Party.

8. When France fell to Germany in 1940, the Japanese occupied Indochina
When France fell to Germany in 1940, the Japanese occupied Indochina. Ho, organized in China a league for the Independence of Vietnam (The Vietminh). With assistance from the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner to the CIA), the Vietminh spearheaded the resistance to the Japanese occupation.

9. When the war was over, he appealed to the United States govt
When the war was over, he appealed to the United States govt. to support the independence of his country based on the neo-Wilsonian principles of self-determination.

10. After the expulsion of the Japanese, the Vietminh formally declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and established its capital in the northern city of Hanoi. French troops returned and refused to relinquish sovereignty.

11. In November of 1946, after the refusal of the Vietminh to evacuate Hanoi and its port of Haiphong, French military forces bombed the city, causing 6,000 casualties.

12. The Vietminh responded by taking the countryside, organizing a guerrilla movement modeled on that of Mao’s in northern China, and engaging the French Army in a full-fledged war of national liberation.

14. Views of the U.S.
The Truman Administration turned a deaf ear to calls of support from Ho Chi Minh. His communist affiliations were of great concern to the U.S. despite the fact that the Soviets had given little in the way of support or encouragement to the Vietminh.

15. The U.S. supported the puppet government of Emperor Bao Dai in Saigon, and by 1954, the U.S. was paying 78% of the costs of the French military operations and had over 300 military advisors on the spot.

16. Dien Bien Phu: The Invincible Fortress