Why did the North win?Why did the North win?• 1. North fought hard

and well• 2. Poor SV leadership• 3. American tactics

inappropriate• 4. Long and draining

war for the US

Costs to Vietnam• Deaths• SV-685,000

NV-1.5 million• 4x the bombs dropped

in WWII• Sprayed jungle-size of

Massachusetts• 879,000 orphaned,

730,000 refugees to US

Costs to America

• Casualties• 58,183 Dead• 303,704 wounded• 2300 MIA

• Financial• $173 billion on the war• $200 billion in health care costs

• Psychological• “Vietnam Syndrome”-we started to doubt ourselves

• Political• War Powers Act passed (60 Days)-Loss of Presidential Power

The Wall

• November 11, 1982• Designed by Maya Ling

Lin• “To overcome grief you

have to confront it. An honest memorial makes you accept what happened before you overcome it. I think that the memorial makes people accept it.

General Colin Powell• “Many of my generation, the

career captains, majors, and lieutenants seasoned in that war vowed that when it was our turn to call the shots, we would not acquiesce in halfhearted warfare for half-baked reasons that the American people could not understand or support. If we could make good on that promise to ourselves, the civilian leadership, and to the country than the sacrifices made in Vietnam would not have been in vain.”