1. Air and Ground War Identify: Ho Chi Minh Ngo Dinh Diem Vietminh
Vietcong
Which forces made up the two opposing sides during the Vietnam War?
U.S. military and South Vietnamese forces
vs.
Vietcong and North Vietnamese

2. Essential Question:
What strategies were used by the Americans and the Vietcong in the air and ground war?

3. The Air War 1965-1968 N. Vietnamese attack American bases
Operation Rolling Thunder: massive air strike in the North
Concentrated on Ho Chi Minh trail
Use of defoliants to expose enemy supply routes (Agent Orange)

4. Operation Rolling Thunder
More bombs dropped on Vietnam than all the bombs dropped by the allies during WWII

5. U.S. army helicopter spraying Agent Orange

6. Effects of Agent Orange
Vietnamese babies deformed and stillborn after exposure to Agent Orange
A Vietnamese general exposed to Agent Orange

7. Napalm Fire Napalm Burn Victims
Napalm: jellied form of gasoline used to destroy farms and forests
Napalm Burn Victims

8. Cluster Bombs: spray sharp metal fragments
Carpet bombing: no intended target, cover large area

9. The Ground War 1965-1968 Search and destroy missions
No territorial goals
Vietcong used guerilla tactics and booby traps
Who is the enemy?
Farmers by day; guerillas at night.
Very patient people willing to accept many casualties.
The US grossly underestimated their resolve.
The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win.

11. Vietcong lived in complex tunnel systems under ground
Effective for guerilla warfare

12. Cassava diet
Vietcong Tunnel for tourists

13. Punji stick traps: sharpened bamboo sticks hiding under foliage