The Vietnam War: 1954-1975

The War Unfolds

VIETNAM - Beginnings

• The United States entered the Vietnam War to defeat Communist forces threatening South Vietnam.

• “You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that will go over very quickly.”

– President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1954)

What events led to the war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam?

• End of World War II - Japanese occupation of Vietnam ended

• French Indochina - A French colony that France tried to regain control of after WWII

• Nationalist uprising against the French in the North (led by Nationalist Communists under Ho Chi Minh and General Giap)

• French defeated at Dien Bien Phu - 1954

What events led to the war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam?

• Geneva Accords 1954 - divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel

• North led by Ho Chi Minh

• South led by anti-Communist Ngo Dinh Diem

• Elections set for 1956 refused by South Vietnam - feared Communist unfairness and victory

The Vietnam War, 1954–1975

Although neighboring Laos and Cambodia were officially neutral, both aided the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong by providing access to bases and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a vital supply route from North to South

What events led to the war between

North Vietnam and South Vietnam?

• By 1960, President Eisenhower had pledged American support to Diem in the South

• US had 675 military ‘advisors’ there

• US presence justified by the “domino theory” - if one country falls to communism, the rest will eventually fall too.

What were the Vietnam policies of President Kennedy and Robert

McNamara?

• JFK - determined to stop spread of communism

• McNamara (Sec. of Defense) developed ‘flexible response’

• Continued support of the South Vietnamese struggle against the North

The United States continued to support the unpopular South

Vietnamese government under Diem.

• South Vietnamese leader Diem - very unpopular, dictatorial– Led to protests in the

South by Buddhists• Strategic hamlets - relocated

Vietnamese farmers• National Liberation Front

formed in 1960 - a.k.a Viet Cong (VC) = guerillas in the South - supported by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) supplies

Events in November 1963 dramatically

changed United States ambitions in Vietnam.

• Diem assassinated Nov. 1, 1963 in a military coup

• JFK assassinated Nov. 22, 1963

• Lyndon B. Johnson (VP) became president

• LBJ continued Vietnam policies of JFK

How did President Lyndon Johnson change the course

of the Vietnam War?

• Johnson feared Vietnam going Communist

• August 5, 1964: Tonkin Gulf Incident

• Congress passed Tonkin Gulf Resolution - Gave LBJ broad executive powers to wage war

The Vietnam War: 1954-1975

Fighting the War: 1965-1968…At home and abroad.

“And it’s one, two, three, What are we fightin’ for?…”

-Country Joe and the Fish

VIETNAM - Escalation and Fighting

• The violence and brutality of the Vietnam War affected civilians as well as soldiers.

Escalation of American involvement began in 1965 and continued through 1968.

• Beginning of 1965 - 25,000 troops

• End of 1968 - 500,000 troops

How did battlefield conditions in Vietnam

affect American soldiers?

• The Vietnam war was characterized by small engagements (fights) that involved guerilla-type warfare.

• For US soldiers, it was difficult to know the difference between friend (ARVN [South Vietnamese regular army]) and foe (VC [Viet Cong])

Battlefield conditions in Vietnam

• American tactics consisted of “search and destroy” missions and massive bombing of VC targets.

• “Operation Rolling Thunder” - intensive bombing campaign from 1965-1968

• Americans had absolute mastery of the air throughout the course of the war.

Bombing during Vietnam inflicted heavy damage on the landscape and thousands of military and civilian

casualties.• Americans used ‘saturation

bombing’ and fragmentation bombs

• Americans also used chemicals to defoliate the landscape – Napalm– Agent Orange

US casualties increased.

• Casualties began to mount and TV networks broadcast scenes from the battlefield

• Weekly body counts became standard TV fare for nightly news.

America’s first ‘TV’ War

• People’s perceptions of the war were more and more influenced by television news reports

“Hawks” and “Doves”

• Hawks - supported the war

• Doves - opposed the war

• Although the majority of Americans still supported the Vietnam War, there was increasing disagreement in both government and the public mind over US Vietnam policy.

A Growing Antiwar

Movement

• More and more people saw the Vietnam war as a waste of federal tax money that could have been applied to LBJ’s Great Society domestic social programs.

LBJ attempted to rally support

• War faced growing protest and unpopularity at home.

• LBJ continued to promote the war in order to maintain support for GREAT SOCIETY programs in the USA.

• Escalation continued.• A growing ‘credibility

gap’.

The Tet Offensive: 1968•A coordinated set of attacks by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese during Tet (Vietnamese New Year)

•US tactical victory - inflicted heavy losses on the VC and North Vietnamese

•North Vietnamese strategic advantage - American public support of war dropped

The impact of the Tet Offensive on American Public Opinion

• After the Tet Offensive in Jan-Feb of 1968, public opinion turned more sharply against continuing the war.

• Vocal anti-war protests increased

• Many Americans felt that: – US soldiers were not

given a chance to win – US didn’t have a clear

objective in Vietnam for victory

• LBJ made surprise announcement he wouldn’t seek re-election in 1968

Public Opinion of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

“Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Johnson is handling the situation in Vietnam?”

Appro ve Disapprove No o pinion

December 1965 56% 26% 18%

May1966 41% 37% 22%

April 1967 43% 42% 15%

July 1967 33% 52% 15%

December 1967 39% 49% 12%

February 1968* 35% 50% 15%

“In view of the de velopm ents s ince we entered the fighting in Vietnam, do yo u think the United States made a mis take se nding troops to fight in Vie tnam?”

Yes, Made a mistake No, did not No opinion

May1966 36% 49% 15%

April 1967 37% 50% 13%

July1967 41% 48% 11%

February 1968** 49% 41% 10% *During the Tet Offensive **After the Tet Offensive Source: The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 1935—1971, by George H. Gallup

Tet Illustrated Communist (VC) brutality and the brutality of the war in general

• In recapturing Hue (Vietnamese city), VC murdered 5000 civilians before surrendering.

• Suicide bombers hit civilian targets as well.

• South Vietnamese responded in anger and brutality as well.

My Lai Massacre- 1968

• US soldiers under Lt. William Calley murdered Vietnamese civilians at My Lai (village) [250+]

• US helicopter crew stopped the slaughter

• Story with pictures published in LIFE magazine in 1971

• American public horrified.

• An isolated incident but shocking that American soldiers could or would commit such atrocities

Review Questions - answer these questions on a separate sheet of

paper• Describe how the battlefield conditions

affected the following people in Vietnam:– US Soldiers– Vietnamese civilians

• Explain why the initial military action resulted in a stalemate.

• Describe the Tet Offensive of 1968. Explain how and why it proved to be a turning point in the Vietnam War.

• Choose a position either for (hawk) or against (dove) the war. Write a brief letter to the editor from that position.

The Vietnam War: 1954-1975

The End of the War: 1968-1975Seeking Peace with Honor

The Paris Peace Talks and the Election of 1968.

• Begun May 5, 1968.• No results.• Nixon campaign

message claimed he had a secret plan to end the war.

• LBJ - not seeking re-election

• Democratic race included:– VP Hubert H.

Humphrey– Sen. Robert F.

Kennedy– Sen. Eugene McCarthy

Republican Richard Nixon won in 1968 - a political comeback.

• Robert Kennedy assassinated in June.

• McCarthy - outspoken anti-war candidate.

• Democratic National Convention - Chicago riot

• Nixon defeated Humphrey.

• Promised to end the war and sought “peace with honor”.

“Vietnamization” and Peace with Honor

• Plan of removing American troops and replacing them with South Vietnamese soldiers.

• US continued heavy bombing of Vietnam

• US troop strength dropped from 500,000 in 1969 to 24,000 by 1972

Widening the war into Cambodia… to end it.

• Nixon ordered secret bombing of Viet Cong sanctuaries insided Cambodia (1970)

• US and South Vietnamese troops also invaded Cambodia

• Nixon hoped to win concessions at the bargaining table.

Operation LinebackerB-52s to bomb Cambodia

Kent State (Akron, Ohio) 1970

• News of Cambodian invasion set off a new round of campus anti-war protests (May 1970)

• Jackson State (MS), 2 killed, 11 wounded

• Kent State - Ohio National Guard confronted hundreds of protesters -- 4 students killed, 9 wounded

• Hundreds of campuses shut down early due to unrest.

Nixon calls for law and order

• Nixon appealed to the great “silent majority” of Americans.

• “If a vocal minority, however fervent its cause, prevails over

reason and the will of the majoirty, this

nation has no future as a free society.”

“Hard Hat” riots in New York City in support of Nixon

• Over 100,000 construction workers marched.

• Angry at the student anti-war protestors

1972 - “Peace is at Hand”

• Paris Peace talks stalled since 1968. Renewed periodically.

• National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger claimed peace was at hand - just before 1972 election.

• December 1972, new round of bombing - “Christmas bombings” (Nixon - a “mad bomber”)

• Bombed Hanoi, North Vietnam

1973 - Paris Peace Accords

• 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.

South Vietnam falls

• North continued its assault on the South

• Saigon (capital of South) fell to communists in April, 1975

• US evacuates 1,000 remaining Americans and 6,000 Vietnamese to aircraft carriers

• Vietnam united under communist rule

Saigon - 1975: the final days

Southeast Asia after the war.

• “Dominoes” of Laos and Cambodia fell to communism - no other SE Asian countries

• Cambodian Khmer Rouge government seized control under Pol Pot.

• Vietnam - 100,000s of South Vietnamese civilians, soldiers, civil servants, professionals forced into ‘re-education’ camps.

• 1.5 million Vietnamese fled the country (100,000s of Cambodians and Laotians also) to the United States.

Scenes of post-1975 SE Asia

Legacy of the War

• 58,000 Americans dead• 300,000 wounded• 2,500 POWs• $150 billion• More bomb tonnage than

in all Axis countries of WWII - combined

• Millions of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed

• 1994 - end of US embargo

• 1995 - formal US recognition of Vietnam

The Vietnam Memorial - The Wall…