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What do you know about the Vietnam War?
Write 2-3 sentences
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Problems of the North Vietnamese
• How to supply Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas in South Vietnam?
• How to reinforce troops in South Vietnam?• How to withdraw wounded/exhausted troops
to safe areas to recuperate?• Solutions?
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Solutions• Use bases in North
Vietnam• Use bases in South
Vietnam• Use bases in Cambodia
and Laos
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Incursions Begin
• Cambodian Prince Sihanouk proclaimed neutrality, but secretly allowed North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces to set up bases in Cambodia
• Laos was also “neutral,” but lacked the ability to force out NVA forces when they began invading Laos to also establish bases
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Why?
• What were the advantages to the NVA of using Laos and Cambodia as bases for their operations?– Why not establish bases in either of the Vietnams?
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Political Neutrality
• Laos and Cambodia were both “neutral” in the Vietnam War
• Invading or attacking either country would be an act of war on an “uninvolved” country and would expand the war
• Leaders in both Laos and Cambodia denied the NVA presence– Until either leader asked the U.S. to attack the
NVA, there was no legal way of attacking them
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The Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail (HCM Trail) was established to bring supplies to VC guerrillas in South Vietnam and to provide a route for reinforcements
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Include Google Earth trip along HCM Trail
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A Network of Bases
• The NVA established a large series of bases in Laos and Cambodia– Supply dumps, hospitals, repair
shops, barracks• Tens of thousands of NVA soldiers
were established in both countries at any given time
• The HCM Trail ran through these bases, ensuring that the VC and NVA in South Vietnam was constantly supplied and reinforced
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The American Response
• The U.S. began sending in Special Forces teams called “Studies and Observation Group” (SOG) into Laos and Cambodia to examine the NVA presence
• The bases uncovered by SOG were much larger and better than anything the U.S. expected
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Bombing Campaigns
• In order to disrupt the flow of supplies down the HCM Trail, the U.S. began bombing the Trail in Laos and Cambodia
• The bombing was only moderately effective, and supplies continued to flow down the HCM at a regular pace
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SOG Attacks
• In order to coordinate the bombings and to assess damage, the U.S. sent SOG teams into Laos and Cambodia
• The U.S. denied having any troops in either country, just as the NVA denied their presence
• Several hundred Americans died in both countries, and it was not until several years passed that their true deaths were revealed
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Cambodian Incursion
• A coup in Cambodia occurred the pro-NVA Prince Sihanouk was replaced by a pro-US Prime Minister, who asked for U.S. assistance
• During May and June 1970, a large American army invaded Cambodia and attacked the NVA bases there
• Many supplies and NVA were killed, but most of the NVA retreated deeper into Cambodia
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Kent State Shooting
• Massive protests occurred in the U.S. when the invasion of Cambodia was revealed– Four students were killed
at Kent State University• Public outcry forced the
U.S. to withdraw from Cambodia
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The End
• U.S. withdrawal allows the NVA to reestablish bases once again
• A South Vietnamese invasion of Laos to repeat the success of the Cambodian invasion ends in disaster
• The U.S. finishes withdrawing in 1973• The NVA reinvades South Vietnam in 1975,
and takes over the country
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Questions
• How did the NVA benefit from its bases in Laos and Cambodia?
• Why could the U.S. not strike back effectively?• Why didn’t the Laotians or Cambodians fight
the invasion?• Any other questions?