What do you know about the Vietnam War?

Write 2-3 sentences

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?

Solutions• Use bases in North

Vietnam• Use bases in South

Vietnam• Use bases in Cambodia

and Laos

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

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?

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

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

Include Google Earth trip along HCM Trail

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?