1.
The Vietnam War

2. Draw Vietnam Label the following: North Vietnam (communist)
Hanoi
South Vietnam (anti-communist)
Saigon
Laos
Cambodia

3. The Sides
United States: Supports South Vietnam’s anti-Communist government
VS.
North Vietnamese communists (Vietminh) and Vietcong (Southern rebel group)

4. Know these terms Ho Chi Minh – Communist leader of North Vietnam
Vietminh – North Vietnamese gov’t & army that opposed the U.S. in the Vietnam War
(Earlier - fought for independence from France)
Vietcong (aka. Charlie) – South Vietnamese political organization and army in South Vietnam that fought the U.S. and South Vietnamese government during the war
ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) – South Vietnamese Army – US ally

5. Why did the U.S. Get involved in Vietnam?
To understand this, we have to examine what happened to Vietnam after WWII
Discuss these review Qs with your partner:
1. What other country got involved in Vietnam first? What happened?
2. How and why did the U.S. become involved?

6. Vietnam’s Declaration of INdependence
Read aloud
What is the main point of the Declaration?
What does it sound like?
Why is it ironic that the U.S. decided to support the French?

7. Kennedy, LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin
Into the Vietnam War
Kennedy, LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin

8. French Battle The French did very poorly against the Vietnamese
100,000 dead, missing or wounded
Dien Bien Phu defeat was the last straw
This 1954 defeat ensured the
French wanted out

9. U.S. Interest Why is Vietnam important to the U.S.?
What is domino theory? How does it help explain why the U.S. got involved in Vietnam?

10. Geneva Conference Vietnam temporarily divided at the 17th parallel
Ho Chi Minh’s Communist forces controlled the North
Ngo Dinh Diem, a dictator, controlled the South

11. Meanwhile, in South Vietnam
Ngo Dinh Diem
A Catholic leader in a primarily Buddhist country
When he insisted Buddhists obey Catholic religious laws, people began to protest

12. Protests of Diem
Self-Emolation by a Buddhist monk drew attention to those who were against this leader

13. Monks
Other monks followed this example
Diem refused to change

14. Change is coming… Finally, JFK authorized the overthrow of Diem
Why is this significant?

15. War U.S. didn’t authorize war until August 7, 1964
Before that, the U.S. was simply sending advisors to support South Vietnam

16. We will do a photo investigation…
Was America really at war in Vietnam before August 7, 1964? Answer: 1. Was America really at war before that date? Or not? 2. What’s your evidence? Be able to back up your stance with two pieces of evidence.

17. Covert war
By 1963, Kennedy was fighting what is technically called a covert war in Vietnam

18. WWKD?
McNamara claimed that if he’d lived, Kennedy would have pulled troops out of Vietnam
But…we’ll never know
In November of 1963, Kennedy was assassinated

19. Day 2

20. President Johnson Johnson escalates troops to 500,000 Johnson:
“The communists want to rule the world, and if we don’t stand up to them, they will do it. And we’ll be slaves. Now I’m not one of those folks seeing Communists under every bed. But I do know about the principles of power, and when one side is weak, the other steps in.”

21. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
August of 1964
Johnson announced that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked U.S. destroyers in international waters
This was the “Gulf of Tonkin incident”

22. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
President asked Congress for a resolution giving him authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack”
Passed in House, 88-2 in Senate
Johnson said privately that this “covered everything”

24. But…Did the Gulf of Tonkin attack really happen?

25. Directions Read and record info about the following documents:
Do not do Doc C or Doc F yet