2. War In Southeast Asia Ch. 15 Sec 4

3. Background – Indochina under foreign rule In the early 1900’s France controlled most of resource rich Southeast Asia (French Indochina included what is now Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia). Vietnamese resist the Japanese during WWII Vietnamese resist the French

4. Dien Bien Phu Battle of Dien Bien Phu convinces French to leave Vietnam Vietnam Divided into Communist North and Non- Communist South

5. Mao Zedong & Ho Chi Minh meet In Beijing in 1959.

6. Fought... –with the US against the Japanese in WWII –then against the French, –against the US before dying in 1969

7. “Domino Theory” - the belief that if Vietnam fell to communism, so could other nations of Southern Asia

9. The Vietnam War – The war intensifies

10. Vietcong - VC Vietnamese see U.S. support of corrupt govt. in the south as foreign interference. Communist Guerillas, called Vietcong, began to gain strength in the South. Most where South Vietnamese who hated Diem. U.S. soldiers commonly called the Vietcong, Charlie (from the NATO Phonetic alphabet Victor Charlie).

12. 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin Resolution North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on the USS Mattox in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2. On August 7, the U.S. Congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson authority to send U.S. troops to South Vietnam.

13. Guerilla War - Problems for the U.S. Despite having the best equipped most advanced army in the world our soldiers faced 2 major problems: 1) U.S. Troops were fighting a guerilla war in unfamiliar jungle terrain. 2) The South Vietnamese Gov’t that they were defending was becoming more unpopular.

14. U.S troops in Vietnam 1965-185,000 Troops in Vietnam 1968-Half a Million Troops in Vietnam

15. Battle Conditions US had learned how to fight in jungles during island hopping in WWII The Vietcong were relatively “low tech” and did not have best weapons This war should be easy, right?

18. A Huey hovers to off-load members of the 101 st Airborne (WWII’s famous “Screaming Eagles”) in a search-and- destroy mission near the DMZ

19. Drop zone. A Huey lifts off after dropping Marines in the jungle

31. North Vietnam’s Strategy Ambushes, booby traps, and guerilla tactics Blend in with native population Led to the mistrust of almost all Vietnamese

32. A Determined Enemy US underestimated Vietcong’s will to fight. They were willing to accept huge losses of troops. –For every 1 American who was killed, 10 Vietcong enemy soldiers were killed.

35. Mekong Delta villagers are seen in the “black pajamas” of the VC guerrilla with Soviet-designed weapons

36. The NVA would use a the wide range of weapons

37. Problems for the US The US was afraid to use too much force –Feared of a Chinese or Russian intervention (remember Korea?) The goal of US army was not to conquer North Vietnam, but just keep the South safe. This is a difficult strategy. My Lai Massacre, March 1968, 500+

39. Tin-can Grenades Spiked Ball

40. Booby Traps- pungi sticks

42. The VC used a variety of everyday objects-in this case, a book-to make booby traps

44. A NVA soldier reveals the entrance to a tunnel used as a hiding place by VC guerrillas

45. One of the tunnels in Cu Chi

46. Vietnam US troop levels: 1963: 16,000, 1968: 500,000

48. Vietnam, 1968

54. Tet Offensive Both sides agreed to a truce to celebrate the New Year. Vietcong launched major attacks on over 100 cities and 12 U.S. air bases that lasted 1 month Militarily it was a defeat for the Vietcong. Marks the turning point for public opinion

57. :Do you think a Military Draft is a good thing? Why or Why not?

58. Draft Lottery

59. Protests on the War As casualties mounted in the war, public protest intensified and demanded the U.S. pull out of Vietnam

60. Seeing this on TV led to a loss of support at home

62. 1969 - Vietnamization On June 8, 1969 U.S. President Nixon announced his "Vietnamization" plan, designed to withdraw U.S ground forces from Vietnam and turn control of the war over to South Vietnamese forces.

63. 1973 - Vietnam War agreement (Paris Accords) US Withdraws in 1973 despite losing very few battles Communists take over S. Vietnam in 1975

67. Impact 3 million Vietnamese killed 58,000 Americans killed 300,000 wounded Vietnam unified under Communism

69. Impact 2,583 American POWs / MIAs still unaccounted for today.