Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • At the start, the public response to the Vietnam War: – Support for containment in 1965:

a) 66% in favorb) 24% opposed

• American forces in Vietnam faced many challenges:– Vietcong knew the local geography.– Nearly impossible to tell the difference between a Vietcong

fighter and a civilian• Enormous casualties inflicted upon the Communist forces did

not lead to victory.– With the aid of the Soviet Union and China, North Vietnam

sent a steady stream of supplies and soldiers to the South.– U.S. air strikes and the pacification program turned many

peasants into Vietcong fighters.

Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Major change in public opinion came with the Tet

Offensive.• Tet Offensive – Campaign of surprise attacks on

South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies, by the Vietcong (North Vietnamese).– Deaths due to attacks:

i. Vietcong - 32,000ii. US - 3,000

– Victory? For who? How?– Americans realize war is a unwinnable

Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Public opinion became divided between that of the

“Hawks” and the “Doves” • Hawks – Individuals who believed that the United

States should continue & increase force in Vietnam.• Doves – Individuals who opposed war & wanted

troops to withdraw from Vietnam.

Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Public Opinion on the War: – Before Tet Offensive• 28% Doves• 56% Hawks

– After Tet Offensive• 40% Doves• 40% Hawks

Ho Chi Min Trail

• The N. Vietnamese’s series of jungle supply paths

• Passed through the countries of Laos and Cambodia

• Because Laos and Cambodia weren’t involved in the war, LBJ refused the order to bomb the trail

Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Public Opinion also affected by the draft: – Draft: Process by which a person is selected for service in

the military.

• 25 percent were excused for health reasons; 30 percent received deferments, or postponements of service.• College students were deferred, so men from higher-

income families were less likely to serve. • A high percentage of combat soldiers were African

Americans.• A draft lottery began in 1969; the draft ended in 1973.• 3 percent of eligible men escaped the draft by either

refusing to register or by leaving the United States.

Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: Reasons Hawks Supported the War: The US was supremely confident it would be an “easy” war and a majority

of the US public supported the war too• Domino Theory-the idea that if one country falls to communism, the

surrounding countries will too. • Stop communism • Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Reasons Doves Opposed the War:• Argued that Vietnam was not crucial to American national security• Argued that the United States was fighting against the wishes of a

majority of Vietnamese• Argued that it was unfair for African Americans to fight for democracy

in a foreign land when discrimination continued at home (Ex. Civil rights activists)

• My Lai Massacre US Soldiers killed 347 to 504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam