1. Vietnam Conflict
USH-8.3

2. I. Beginnings
After WWII, France tried to take back colony of Indochina
Fight the Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh
Even w/US aid, France loses
Geneva Accords said Vietnam would be split on the 17th parallel until elections could be held

3. I. Beginnings
US backed corrupt and unpopular gov’t in South Vietnam (SV)
Claimed Domino theory
Claimed Ho was backed by China and USSR
SV didn’t hold elections b/c Ho would have won
US supported NOT having elections

4. I. Beginnings Viet Cong was resistance movement in SV
Backed by NV
US sent aid, money, and advisors to SV
Under Eisenhower and Kennedy
Containment!

5. II. Expansion Johnson became president in 1963 Gulf of Tonkin (1964)
US ship was fired on by NV
1 bullet from a fishing vessel
Used to send in more troops
More than 500,000 by 1967
Began bombing NV to not be soft on communism
Tet Offensive (1968)
NV and VC simultaneous attacks all over SV

6. II. Expansion Nixon is elected in 1968 b/c he was gonna end war
Began Vietnamization
SV would take over from American troops
Began secretly bombing Laos and Cambodia
Trying to stop the Ho Chi Minh trail used by the VC/NV
Went to China to undermine their relations with NV

7. III. End
Just before 1972 election, Nixon announces US troops are withdrawing
Troops and POWs are home by 1973
In 1975, NV swept down and conquered SV
Killed anyone working w/US during the war

8. IV. Protests Draft TV coverage
Staying in college to avoid going to Vietnam
AA served in large numbers
Many returning vets joined protests
TV coverage
Divides nation
People see footage on the new every night

9. IV. Protests Johnson withdraws from presidential nomination in 1968
Kent State Massacre
Invading Cambodia upset people
4 students are killed by National Guardsmen
My Lai Massacre
US troops murder an entire village and cover it up

10. IV. Protests Pentagon Papers Mistreatment of returning vets
Gov’t lied to the public about the war
Mistreatment of returning vets
Most did their job and were ridiculed for it