The Vietnam War

2. War in Southeast Asia
A.The French War in Indochina
 At the end of WWII Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh (the Vietnamese
nationalist force) took over the capital of Hanoi and declared Vietnam
independent .

3. The French War in Indochina
 French were unwilling to give up their claims in Indochina because of the
valuable resources like tin, rubber, and rice.
 Faced a formidable foe in Ho and the Vietminh who did not want foreign
rule.
 War broke out in November 1946 when a French ship shelled Haiphong.
 French controlled most of the cities and the Vietminh retreated into the
countryside.
 Vietminh practiced guerilla warfare.

4. U.S. Support for the French
 1950 – Truman agreed to send $20 million to the French
 Practices the policy of containment – opposing communism wherever it
appeared in an effort to “contain” its spread.
 Over the next 4 years, the U.S. gave
more than $2.6 billion to the French.

5. The End of French Rule
 In May 1954 the Vietminh overran Dien Bien Phu and it ended French
control of Vietnam.
 In 1956, representatives from the U.S., France, Great Britain, the Soviet
Union, China, Laos, Cambodia, and the Vietminh agreed that Vietnam
would be divided at the 17th parallel and then reunified in 1956 after
national elections.

6. B. The U.S. Enters the War
 The U.S. did not sign the agreement for fear that if South Vietnam
became communist, other nations of SE Asia would do likewise (the
Domino Theory)

7. The Diem Regime
 U.S. hoped Ngo Dinh Diem would be the savior of South Vietnam.
 He was a:
Nationalist
Anti-communist
Aloof man

Autocratic rule who refused to weaken the ruling class, thereby
infuriating the peasants. $4 of every $5 the U.S. sent was spent on the
military

8. Civil War
 1957 - Diem cancels elections with U.S. support.
 Held a referendum in South Vietnam - claimed 98% approval.
 In Saigon he claimed 605,000 votes - even thoug there were only
405,000 registered voters.;
 Discontent among the peasants with Diem made it easy for Vietminh to
gain support in South Vietnam.
 Vietminh and other groups in South Vietnam who
oppose Diem form the National Liberation Front
(the Vietcong).
 He had close ties with Ho Chi Minh, China, and the Soviet
Union.

9. The Kennedy Years
 Kennedy expands the U.S. role in Vietnam
Sends advisers and money
 Instead of using the money for schools, hospitals, and land, reform
Diem pads the pockets of corrupt Saigon officials.
No significant military victories over the Vietcong

10. 4. The Overthrow of Diem
 May 8, 1963 - Buddhists gathered to protest a government ruling
forbidding the display of Buddhist flags and government troops fired on
them
 A month later a Buddhist monk immolated himself in protest of the Diem
regime
 Nov. 1, 1963 - South Vietnamese army officers seized control of the
governments and in the process Diem was killed

11. Johnson’s War
 Johnson did not want Vietnam to fall to
communism like China
 Surrounded himself with JFK’s foreign policy
team (Sec. of State Dean Rusk, Sec. of Defense
Robert McNamara, and NSA McGeorge Bundy

12. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 August, 1965 – LBJ announced N. Vietnamese
torpedo boats had attacked two U.S. destroyers
patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin
 Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution-
 Gave LBJ the authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any
armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent
further aggression.”
 LBJ failed to tell the public that American warships had been helping
South Vietnamese commandos raid 2 North Vietnam islands the night of
the attacks.

13. Operation Rolling Thunder
 Feb. 1965, VC forces attacked a U.S. military base at Pleiku, South
Vietnam killing eight Americans.
 LBJ orders bombing of major bases, roadways, and railways including
the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” (a supply line of dirt roads and
trails which supplies flowed from North Vietnam
through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.

14. U.S. Troops in Vietnam
 By the end of 1965, more than 180,000 Americans were in South
Vietnam.
 By the end of 1967, nearly 500,000 soldiers had been sent to Vietnam.

15. Fighting the War
 At first, Americans were very optimistic of ending the war quickly.
 High VC body counts led many to believe the U.S. was winning the war.
 Underestimated the VC and North Vietnamese allies.
 “You can kill 10 of my mentors for every one I kill of yours, but even at
those odds, you will lose and I will win.” - Ho Chi Minh.

16. The Air War
 Bombing resulted fewer lives than ground combat so the U.S. relied
heavy on air power. There were 108,000 bombing raids in 1967.
 Bomb targets were roads, railways, factories, and homes in South
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
 By 1967 the U.S. had dropped more bombs on Vietnam than the Allies
dropped during WWII.
 To evade the bombs, the VC developed an extensive network of
underground tunnels.

17. The Underground and Ground
War
 Lower Tunnel Trenches , Upper Trenches , Underwater entrances, and
concealed entrances under cooking pots were the hiding places of the
Vietnamese villagers.
 Miserable conditions, suffocating heat, mosquitoes, leeches, etc.
 Muddy trails
 “Bouncing Betties”
 Farmers by day, VC by night - did not know who the enemy was.

18. Guerilla Tactics
 Vietnamese avoided open battles.
 Ambushes, hit-and-run raids, sabotage.
 VietCong had 2 advantages over the soldiers, they knew the terrain
 support of the peasants who supplied them with food, shelter, and
intelligence.
 Pacification program – uprooting entire villages and forcing the
people to move to cities or refugee camps surrounded by barbed
wire and then the troops burned the fields and empty villages.
 Upsetting the peasants
 Troops also tried development projects where they offered medical
care and farming advice. But it was too little, too late.

19. Endless War
 The Vietnam War was the longest war in
U.S, history
 More that 58,000 people were killed
 300,000 wounded
 14,000 disabled
 800,000 Vietnam Veterans having “severe”
problems of readjustment.

20. Public Opinion and Cultural Facts
 In Vietnam over 2,000,000 people died
 4,000,000 were wounded
 10,000,000 displaced from their homes
 76% of men sent to Vietnam were lower and
middle class.
 Most men were drafted/Few enlisted.
 The average age of soldiers was19.