1. Chapter 21; Section 5 The End of the War The Vietnam War and American Society 1960 - 1975

2. Paris peace talks Negotiations between the U.S. and North Vietnam beginning in 1968

3. Vietnamization President Nixon’s policy of replacing American military forces with those of South Vietnam

4. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument in Washington, D.C. built to honor those killed in the Vietnam War

5. Main Idea The end of the Vietnam War involved: - slow-moving peace negotiations -the gradual withdrawal of American troops -the fall of South Vietnam

6.  Toward the end of his term as President, Johnson had called for peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War. The resulting Paris peace talks, which began in May 1968, failed to produce an agreement.

7.  President Nixon campaigned on the claim that he had a secret plan to end the war. In June 1969, he began the policy of Vietnamization, replacing American troops in Vietnam with South Vietnamese soldiers.

8.  Although Nixon wanted to end the war, he did not want to lose it. He launched secret bombing raids and expanded the war to Cambodia, hoping to destroy Viet Cong camps there.

9.  Nixon hoped his Cambodian attacks would help America in peace negotiations. Instead, the attacks resulted in both civil war in Cambodia and more antiwar protests in the United States.

10. In a 1969 speech, Nixon appealed to those who, he felt, quietly supported his policies. He referred to this group of Americans as “the silent majority.”

11. President Nixon’s Speech 1:33 Minutes

12.  When student antiwar protesters at Kent State University in Ohio reacted angrily to Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia, Nixon ordered the National Guard to Kent State. Students threw rocks at the guardsmen and the troops opened fire, killing 4 and wounding 9 protesters and bystanders.

13. The violence at Kent State, and a similar incident at Jackson State in Mississippi, horrified Americans.

14. Guardsmen surround the charred remains of the ROTC building on May 4, 1970.

15. Kent State Shootings 3:29 Minutes

16. Provisions of Peace Settlement between the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong, signed in Paris in January 1973: The United States would withdraw all its forces from South Vietnam within 60 days. All prisoners of war would be released. All parties to the agreement would end military activities in Laos and Cambodia. The 17th parallel would continue to divide North and South Vietnam until the country could be reunited. American Withdrawal

17. Q: Why did the United States invade Cambodia? To quicken the peace process and to strengthen its position in negotiations

18. Legacy of the War Over 58,000 Americans dead $150 billion in costs to United States Over 300,000 Americans wounded Millions of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians dead

19.  Successful? Laos and Cambodia fell to communism but the rest of the region did not.

21.  April 1975 – Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge, a force of Communists led by Pol Pot.

22. Khmer Rouge Communist group that committed genocide by killing 1.5 million Cambodians

23.  New Vietnamese leaders forced thousands into “re-education camps” while many fled the country as refugees.

24. Many people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos would flee to the United States, leaving their entire lives behind.

25.  Americans realized that our technology and money would not always mean victory against communism.

26.  Many veterans were not appreciated when they returned home.

27.  Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in 1982.

28. Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1:09 Minutes

29. Q: What did the complete withdrawal of American troops mean for South Vietnam? South Vietnam could not stand up to the forces of the north and inevitably was forced to surrender

30. Q: Who finally won the Vietnam War? North Vietnam

31. Vietnam Veterans Day Documentary 3:06 Minutes