Vietnam War, 1800s-1975

US History

American Flag at Vietnam Veterans

Memorial

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Basics

Where is Vietnam?

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1800’s to WWII•Vietnam was a colony of France

•The Vietnamese elites went to school in France and were Catholic (but 90% of Vietnam was Buddhist)

Illuminated Eiffel Tower at Bicentennial

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During WWII•1940 Japan takes over Vietnam

•The US supports those fighting the Japanese, including their leader Ho Chi Minh (a Communist)

Ho Chi Minh

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After WWII: 1945•European colonies in Asia ask for independence (like) Vietnam

•France refuses to give up its Asian colonies

•Vietnam declares its independence and Ho Chi Minh as its leader

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1945-1953

•Vietnam begins to fight its own war for independence

French Foreign Legionnaire Heads for Battle

By 1954: (don’t write)

•92,000 French troops died

•21,000 Frenchmen (rest from other colonial possessions)

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1950

•U.S assumes 80% of the war’s cost

•US pushes France to give Vietnam independence

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1954•France loses at battle of Dien Bien Phu

•Geneva Accords - Divided Vietnam into two parts

•Elections in 2 years

Battle Of Dien Bien Phu

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1956•Communist North Vietnam is run by Ho Chi Minh

Portrait of Ho Chi Minh 1957

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1956•Democratic South is run by Ngo Dinh Diem

•Diem is a rules as a corrupt dictator

•Has a terrible human rights record

President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam seated at desk in 1958

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1956•Diem cancels elections in the South

•Viet Cong formed (South Vietnamese fighters against Diem)

South Vietnamese Combat Viet Cong

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1957-1959

•Ho Chi Minh Trail - supply route from North to South (warning for next)

760 US “Advisors” in Vietnam

Aerial View of Ho Chi Minh Trail

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1963•Buddhist monks set themselves on fire to protest Diem’s anti-Buddhism

16,000 US “Advisors” in Vietnam

Ho Dinh Van Sacrificing his Life

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1963

•JFK Assassinated

16,000 US “Advisors” in Vietnam

•Diem Assassinated (probably with US support)

Kennedy’s in Dallas Motorcade on November 22, 1963

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1964Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

23,300 US “Advisors” in Vietnam

•North Vietnam sends missiles across bow of US boat in Vietnamese waters

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1964Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

23,300 US “Advisors” in Vietnam

•Congress votes gives the President a blank check to wage war in Vietnam

President Johnson Announces Retaliation for Gulf of Tonkin Incident

•No formal declaration of war is made

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1965 DevelopmentsSearch and Destroy Mission

•No front line in Vietnam

•Marines are sent into forests & villages to find the enemy

•The problem is separating “the enemy” from the civilians

Camouflaged Marines on Reconnaissance in Vietnam

200,000 US troops in Vietnam

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1965 DevelopmentsNapalm

•Ignites organic things (people, plants)

Fire From a Napalm Explosion Demonstration

200,000 US troops in Vietnam

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1965+ DevelopmentsAgent Orange

•Chemical defoliant (gets rid of plant leaves)•Meant to destroy the “cover” of the jungle used by Communists

Spraying Agent Orange over Vietnam

200,000 US troops in Vietnam

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1968 - Tet Offensive

•Turning Point - Vietcong launch attack on Vietnamese new Year

•US troops win after struggle

Troops Fighting During Tet OffensiveTroops on foot and in personnel carriers trek along a street in northern Saigon which is engulfed in smoke from fierce fighting during the Tet Offensive.Image: © Bettmann/CORBISDate Photographed: May 6, 1968Location Information: Saigon, South Vietnam

550,000 US troops in Vietnam

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1968 - Tet Offensive•Despite victory, turns Americans against what many see as an “unwinnable” war

•Protests increase

•Johnson announces he will not run for reelection

Close-Up of President Lyndon JohnsonPresident Johnson looks serious just before he announces his decision to neither seek nor accept the renomination for the presidency.Image: © Bettmann/CORBISDate Photographed: March 31, 1968Location Information: Washington, DC, USA

550,000 US troops in Vietnam

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1969-1973 - Nixon•Vietnamization - Turn the war gradually over to the Vietnamese

•“Peace with honor”

A CIA employee (probably O.B. Harnage) helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy.Image: © Bettmann/CORBISDate Photographed: April 29, 1975Location Information: Saigon, South Vietnam

•1975- South Vietnam falls to communists