30 Years: U.S. Involvement in

Vietnam1945-1975

The 1940s-1950s

Truman & Eisenhower

Vietnam: An in Depth HistoryHistory of Vietnam--Indo-China under

Chinese rule for centuries

-French take control during early 1800s

-Japanese invade during WWII

-French regain control after the war

It’s at Versailles, it had to work• Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese

Revolutionary leader goes to Versailles in 1918, asks the world for independence, but is ignored

• Starts revolution against the French

• WWII: US & Allies support Minh against the Japanese

• War ends, fight against the French continues (US supports French $$$)

French Surrender, what?• May, 1954: Dien Bien Phu

– Vietminh surround French outpost attack & annihilate French troops, forced to surrender

• French “This aint worth it” –begin pull out

• US takes a larger role, sends funds to support South Vietnamese Nationalists

• Domino Theory

Reunited it would feel so good• Geneva Accords, 1954

• US, French, USSR, Britain agree to split Vietnam at 17th parallel:

• North=Communist (Minh), South=Nationalist (Diem)

• Elections to unite Vietnam in 2 years

Election what Election?• US supports South Vietnamese

President Ngo Dinh Diem– Strong anti-communist– Strong connections with

French– Strong Catholic– Very Corrupt

• Diem & US cancel 1956 elections because he would lose to Minh in a landslide

• Minh’s popularity: War hero, takes from the rich gives to the poor, kills opposition

Diem, D-Diem, Diem, Diem• Diem’s unpopularity rises

– Restrictions against Buddhists

– Corruption rampant

• South Vietnamese: “If US supports Diem, we support Minh”

• Vietcong (Communists in S.V.) begins to attack Diem government: Murder 1000’s of government officials

The 1960s – 1970sKennedy, Johnson, & Nixon

Nothing to do with Vietnam, but very cool

We Didn’t Start the Fire (or Did We?)

• Eisenhower: “Money only, sink or swim with Diem”

• Kennedy elected, increases money to Diem, and sends military advisers

• Diem forces villagers into the country then imprisons monks, and destroys churches

• Monks light themselves on fire in protest of Diem’s regime

• US decides Diem has to go

Dead and Bloated• Nov. 1, 1963: CIA

supports coupe that topples Diem government

• Diem executed

• Kennedy assassinated a few weeks later

• Lyndon Johnson takes office

• End of 1963: 16,000 US troops in Vietnam

                    

                  

I’m Tonkin this ain’t Good• Gulf of Tonkin: 8/2/64, 2

US ships (USS Maddox & Turner Joy) are “fired” upon by the North Vietnamese

• Ships gathering information for secret raids on targets

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed 8/7/64 Congress gives LBJ military power in Vietnam (Blank Check)

• House = 415-0• Senate = 88-2

Hey, Hey, LBJ• LBJ begins military build

up (escalation) – 50,000 troops there by the end of the year

• Operation Rolling Thunder: First sustained bombing of North Vietnam (War is here)

• LBJ promises no ground troops “No American is going to die in an Asian war”

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire• Robert McNamara (Sec of

Defense) & Dean Rusk (Sec of State) suggest ground troops – LBJ agrees: going back on his promise

• By the end of 1965, 180,000 US troops in Vietnam

• 1965 poll: 61% of Americans favor US policy in Vietnam

Westmoreland? Or EastlessLand

• Vietnam put under the command of General Westmoreland

• 3 thousand bombing raids every month

• 1966: 430,000 troops in Vietnam

• 1967: 500,000 troops, 10,000 deaths

He, He!You Said Booby! • Difficulties in fighting the

Vietcong• Guerilla warfare in the

Jungle• Booby traps and land

mines everywhere• Easily hide within

population (all ages, sexes)

• Underground tunnel system

                                               

Punji pits were a common, cheap and easy to construct booby trap used to create fear in the minds of US and Allied servicemen. Click the thumbnail for more details.

• Punji (or pangi) stakes were also used as a defensive weapon, by BOTH sides, around hamlets, villages or any other place where an attacking force had to be slowed up. Try running through this lot. Similar traps were put down and then the field was flooded to resemble a padi field.

Lighting Up…• To combat the Guerilla

Warfare US uses Napalm: gasoline based bomb that set fires

• Agent Orange: leaf killing toxic chemical

• Search & Destroy Missions: Effort to find Vietcong, burn down villages, kill livestock

• Lack of success leads to low morale among US soldiers, many turn to drugs

                                                                             

Agent Orange

Agent Orange

Hey, Hey, LBJ How Many Babies did you Kill Today?

• In the U.S. support for the war began to diminish– Military Draft unpopular– Minorities Fighting & Dying,

without equality here– Peace movement grows– Many Americans not sure why

were there– Credibility gap – Johnson not

telling the truth– First TV war, Americans see the

fighting, and the dead bodies every night on the news

1968: Hell of a Year• Tet Offensive: Vietcong

launch all out attack on South 1/20/68 during the Tet holiday (New Year)– Attack 100 cities

– Attack 12 military bases

– Attack US embassy in Saigon

• US wins: Vietcong 32,000 dead: US 3,000

• Tet changes public opinion at home: Polls show Americans disfavor the war

Tricky Dick President• LBJ decides not to run

again because of Vietnam

• Nixon elected on slogan “Peace with Honor”

• Nixon starts policy of Vietnamization: replacement of US troops with South Vietnamese troops

1968: Hell doesn’t look too bad• My Lai: US troops massacre

villagers at My Lai including unarmed Women, Children, Elderly

• Kent State: Anti-War Protest turns bloody as military fires on crowd, 12 wounded, 2 dead

• Nixon bombs Cambodia: Stop supplies coming from the Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Pentagon Papers Published: Showed LBJ planned war at same time he said we wouldn’t send troops

My Lai

Kent State

Make Love not War

• Protest movement growing• Massive protests all over

the US including at Harvard

• Woodstock• Burning of Draft Cards• Cronkite against the war

War Sucks• Nixon’s top advisor Henry

Kissinger meets with North Vietnamese in Paris seeking Peace

• 1973 Peace Treaty: Vietnam would remain divided, but Northern troops were allowed to stay in the South

• 1975: North Vietnamese break treaty and invade South Vietnam, US does nothing under new President Ford

     

                                                               

Why You Got to be a Hater• After Effects:

– Veterans return to no parades, no honor, spit on

– Bombing of Cambodia creates Civil War, which is won by the Khmer Rouge

– Khmer Rouge (Communist) murders 2 million in a few years

-War powers act passed: President must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending troops

-26th Amendment passed: Voting age 18

                                                                             

Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot