Vietnam – a French

Colony no more
 France, after ruling Vietnam or over 100
years was defeated by Gen. Giap at battle
of Dien Bien Phu-forced to leave Vietnam.
 The Vietminh take over and declare
Vietnam Independent
 France & Vietnam signed Geneva Peace
Accords of 1954-split Vietnam along 17th
parallel.
 The United States
Steps in
 Geneva Accords stated that in 1956
Vietnam would hold elections to
reunify country.
 US worried Ho Chi Minh was too
popular and would win so the US
doesn’t allow elections to take place
 Why? Domino Theory
 North vs South
 The North led by  South led by Ngo
Ho Chi Minh Dinh Diem
 Communist  Supported by US
 Vietminh  US supported
 Supported by the creation of counter-
Viet Cong in the revolutionary group
South later called in S. Vietnam
the National
Liberation Front
Pros of GW in Vietnam Cons of GW in Vietnam
o Easy to slip into a o Un-organization easily
village; look like occurs
civilians o Renegade or untrained
o More cooperation from troops confuse strategy
other Vietnamese o High rates of civilian
o Easy supply system casualties
o Territory and o Can ruin economic
topography already development
known o It is a long drawn out
o Used rainy season as process; low moral
cover o Can kill own civilians
o Easy to attain civilian with unremembered
help in ambushes and booby traps and mines
information
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
o Extended from N Vietnam
to S Vietnam
o Est. 1959 and used by N.
Vietnamese troops for a
major military supply route
o Goes through Laos and
Cambodia on its way to S.
Vietnam
o main route for invasion of S.
Vietnam in 1975
 The Underground
Tunnels
o built in the time of the
French
o joined village to village and
often passed beneath
American bases
o not only fortifications for
Viet Cong guerillas, but also
center of community life
o several stories deep and
housed up to 10,000
people, supplies and
weapons
o connected isolated pockets
of Viet Cong territory
enabled the guerrillas to
mount surprise attacks and
vanish without trace
Anti-Personnel
Weapons
o Punji sticks were
sharpened sticks of
bamboo concealed and
designed to pierce the
enemy’s feet; many times
they were contaminated to
cause disease
o Bamboo maces swung
down onto soldiers who
triggered tripwires; also
used crossbows
o Land mines were a favorite
of guerilla forces and they
were taken from the
U.S.S.R., the French, and
even U.S. troops
 Kennedy & Johnson
 Kennedy increased  Expands conflict
aid to Diem  Gulf of Tonkin
 Sent military Resolution in 1964
advisors to help gave Johnson
train S. Vietnamese broad military
troops powers
 Troop Build Up
 180,000 troops by
1965
 500,000 troops by
1967
US Tactics -copy slide
 Agent Orange – a leaf
killing toxic chemical
devastated landscape
and ruined villages
 Napalm – a gasoline
based bomb stuck to
leaves and skin
 Search and destroy –
uprooting villagers by
day and evacuating at
night
 War at Home - copy
 Great Society Suffers – money spent on war
and not on helping poor at home
 Living- room war – media heightens
American concern
 Manipulatable Draft – different
qualifications, if in college could put off
service or join National Guard or Coast
Guard
 African Americans were disproportionately
drafted
 Tet Offensive
 This offensive by the Viet Cong in S.
Vietnam shows Americans at home
that “We are not winning this war”
 Turning point in public opinion

 LBJ decides not to seek reelection

 Protests at Home
 New Left organization SDS –
Students for a Democratic Society
demanded participatory democracy &
Free Speech
 20,000 Marched on the White House
in 1965
 Resistance – “Hell No We Won’t Go!”

 Doves vs. Hawks

 Kent State Tragedy
 Students in Ohio
protest the secret
bombings in Cambodia
 Governor sends in
National Guard
 Shooting erupts
 4 students are killed
 Colleges across
country are shut down
 American Policy
changes
 Martin Luther King Jr. & RFK are
assassinated
 Nixon wins Presidential election

 Pull out begins 500,000 troops to

25,000 over 3 years - Vietnamization
 Secret bombings of Cambodia and
Laos
 Atrocities
 My Lai Massacre
 Massacre of 100
innocent civilians by
American troops
 “Kill anything that
breathed”
 Court martial - Lt.
Calley
The War America Lost

American forces are not able to

defeat the North Vietnamese
1973 US pulls out
1975 North Vietnamese invade
and capture Saigon.
The War’s Painful
Legacy
 Longest War
 58,000 US soldiers
died
 2,212 solders
MIA/POWs
 Vietnam Veteran’s
Memorial
 US questions role as
police officer of world