Vietnam Project Background

COLD WAR

A CONFIDENT NATION (1961 to 1963)

A SHOCKED NATION (1963 to 1964)

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

A DIVIDED NATION (1965 to 1970)

Was the U.S. a country near collapse? The Stormin Sixties

collage THE 60'S

The Eastern World, It is explodin‘ Violence flarin‘, Bullets loadin‘. You're old enough to kill, But not for votin‘. You don't believe in war, But what's that gun you're totin‘. And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin‘. But you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend, Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction. EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say, And can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today. If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away. There'll be no one to save With the whole world in a grave. Take a look around you boy, It's bound to scare you boy. And you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend, Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction EVE OF DESTRUCTION

EVE OF DESTRUCTION Yeah, my blood's so mad, Feels like coagulatin‘, I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin‘. I can't twist the truth. It knows no regulation. Handful of senators don't pass legislation. And marches alone can't bring integration. When human respect is disintegratin‘. This whole crazy world, Is just too frustratin‘. And you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend, Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

And think of all the hate there is in Red China. Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama. Ah you may leave here for four days in space. But when you return it's the same old place. The poundin' of the drums. The pride and disgrace. You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace. EVE OF DESTRUCTION

EVE OF DESTRUCTION Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace. But you tell me over, and over, and over, and over again my friend. You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction. No, no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction. Written and sung by Barry McGuire

THE VIETNAM WAR 1954 TO 1975 An Overview of American Involvement in the Vietnam War and How it Affected American Society and Culture.

10,000 day war

America’s most unpopular war

First television war

Cost LBJ his second term to Richard Nixon

America’s longest and most expensive war

Divided America on the home front

The best technical war money could buy

America hardly ever lost a tactical battle

A war America did not win Today, we are living with the “ghosts of Vietnam.” THE VIETNAM WAR 1954 TO 1975

VIETNAM WAR 7 1918 to 1921 United States experiences its first Red Scare 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and U.S. entry into WWII 1945 Ho Chi Minh sets the independent nation of Vietnam and asks for American recognition. 1945 President Truman refuses to recognize Vietnam as a sovereign and independent nation. 1950 China and Soviet Union offer weapons to aid Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh. 1949 Year of Shock: Soviet Union acquires the atomic bomb and China becomes a communistic country. 1918 Russia becomes the first Communistic country and later becomes the Soviet Union 1946 U.S. supports the French in its war to re-colonize Vietnam. 1941 Japanese conquer French Indo China and Vietnam 1945 Atomic bomb is dropped and Japan is defeated. 1946 to 1954 Indo China war fought between Ho Chi Minh’s Vietminh and France. TIME LINE 1941 to 1945 U.S. are allies with Ho Chi Minh leader of Vietnam against the Japanese

VIETNAM WAR 7 1952 to 1954 U.S. experiences 2 nd Red Scare 1954 Geneva Agreement dividing Vietnam at the 17 th parallel. Election in 1956 to unite country 1956 Election deadline to unite Vietnam passes. 1957 Communists attack South Vietnam 1960 Diem survives coup attempt 1960 Kennedy elected President 1950 to 1953 Korean War. U.S. involvement in Containment policy 1959 Weapons move south from North Vietnam via Ho Chi Minh trail 1955 China and Soviets pledge more aid to North Vietnam 1956 U.S. begin training South Vietnamese troops 1959 Diem orders crackdown on Communists 1960 Vietcong formed 1962 U.S. uses Agent Orange 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 1954 French defeated by Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu TIME LINE 1955 Ngo Dinh Diem elected President of South Vietnam ignores Geneva Agreement

VIETNAM WAR 7 1963 President Kennedy assassinated. VP Johnson becomes President 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident and Congress grants LBJ Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. 1965 to 1968 Fighting continues and U.S. troop strength reaches 5000,000 1968 Tet offensive launched by VC 1968 Nixon elected President 1968 Paris peace talks fail between NVN and U.S. 1963 South Vietnamese President Diem assassinated 1968 LBJ refuses to run for a 2 nd Presidential term 1964 LBJ wins election 1965 Heavy fighting between VC and U.S. Marines. U.S. troop strength at 200,000 1968 Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinated 1969 Nixon secretly bombs Cambodia 1969 U.S. policy of Vietnamization announced 1969 Ho Chi Minh dies 1969 Massive antiwar demonstration in Washington TIME LINE 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder and first U.S. Marines arrive at Da Nang

VIETNAM WAR 7 1970 Nixon visits China and Soviet Union 1970 National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger begins secret peace talks with Viet Cong leader Le Duc. 1973 Cease fire signed in Paris 1972 Nixon re-elected as President 1974 Communists take Mekong Delta in South Vietnam 1973 to 1974 Watergate scandal brings down Nixon. 1970 Kent State Shooting 1973 Last U.S. troops leave Vietnam 1971 U.S. Troops begin coming home. 1972 Kissinger says “Peace is At Hand” 1973 Kissinger and Le Duc Tho win Nobel Peace Prize 1975 S aigon falls to the Communists in South Vietnam 1974 Nixon resigns as President and Gerald Ford becomes President. 1976 North and South Vietnam unite and become a communist state. 1982 Vietnam Memorial Wall is dedicated in Washington, D.C. 1997 U.S. and Vietnam formally restore diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors. TIME LINE 1972 B-52s bomb Hanoi and Haiphong

Today, we are living with the “ghosts of Vietnam.” THE VIETNAM WAR 1954 TO 1975

Communist Expansion “CONTAINMENT” China 1949 Soviet Union 1918 Korean War 1950 to 1953 Eastern Europe 1946

CONTAINMENT

Marshall Plan

Berlin Airlift

NATO

Korean War

Cuban Missile Crisis

Alliance for Progress

Peace Corps

Berlin Blockade 1947-8 X Vietnam War 1946 to 1975 US Involvement 1965 to 1975 Cuban Missile Crisis * X X *Cuba would remain and still is a communist country.

vn map The War in Southeast Asia “ Domino Theory ” Must “contain” communism and not allow it to spread. If it does, it would lead to more countries falling to the communists.

Key Players in the Vietnam War

Ho Chi Minh, North Vietnamese leader

Communist, supported by the Soviet Union and China

Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnamese leader

Dictator, supported by U.S.

Le Duc Tho, Viet Cong Leader

Communist, supported by Ho Chi Minh

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), U.S. President, 1963 to 1969.

Supported South Vietnam

Responsible for the military buildup

Richard Millhouse Nixon, U.S. President, 1969 to 1974

Supported South Vietnam

Negotiated peace & withdraw U.S. Troops

Mao Tse Tung

Communist leader of China

Supported Ho Chi Minh

Robert McNamara, U.S. Secretary of Defense 1963 to 1969.

Key strategist in war

General William Westmoreland, Commander of American Forces in Vietnam

From 1964 to 1968

Henry Kissinger, U.S. National Security Advisor, 1969 to 1977

Key negotiator in ending the war

Vietnamese culture

Villages and rice

Buddhist

Historic tension with Chinese

Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia were originally a French colony (French IndoChina) in the late19th century

Imperialism

BACKGROUND TO THE WAR

Japan took control during World War II

Opposed by guerrilla force led by Ho Chi Minh

US backed Ho Chi Minh to remove Japan

Japanese Expansion

1933 1941

Control Attacks

1941 BACKGROUND TO THE WAR

“ You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours, yet even at those odds, you will lose and I will win”

“ I first met Ho on the China border between China and Indochina in the last days of April of 1945. He was an interesting individual. Very sensitive, very gentle, rather a frail type. We spoke quite at length about the general situation, not only in Indochina, but the world at large.”– ARCHIMEDES PATTI (OSS Officer)

Founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party

Traveled for almost 30 years around the world. Visited France, England, Russia, China, Thailand and the United States.

In that time he learned to speak fluent Russian, Chinese and English.

Patriot or Communist?

Motivated the Vietnamese to rebel and fight against France/US for independence.

Became Vietnam’s first president.

Ho Chi Minh 1890-1969 “ Light-Bringer" HO CHI MINH

At end of WW II, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent nation

Asked for official American recognition of Vietnam as a sovereign nation

President Truman refused to recognize Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam

With U.S. aid, France attempted re-colonize Vietnam

Fighting between France and Vietminh began in 1946

The French lost control to Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces at Dien Bien Phu …. May 7, 1954

France requested US air support and the use nuclear weapons

President Eisenhower declined to intervene on behalf of France.

French withdrew from Indochina

French defeat at Dien Bien Phu BACKGROUND TO THE WAR

International Conference at Geneva in 1954

Vietnam divided at 17 th parallel

Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist forces controlled the North

Ngo Dinh Diem , a French-educated, Roman Catholic claimed control of the South

Elections were to be held two years later.

First democratically elected President of South Vietnam in 1955.

Next 7 years, he presided over an increasingly corrupt, nepotistic and repressive regime.

Communist guerrillas (VC) backed by North Vietnam launched a new rebellion

NGO DINH DIEM

A civil disobedience led by the country's Buddhist monks contributed more directly to his downfall.

Brutal persecution of Buddhist monks in 1963 damaged Diem’s shaky international reputation.

With US support, Vietnamese generals overthrew and assassinated Ngo later that year.

S E A T O

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

Initiated by the US in Sept 1954 to prevent spread of communism

“ Domino Theory”

Member nations were: US, Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand Philippines, and Pakistan

Didn’t require participants to support each other with military force

Politically justified US actions in South Vietnam

A date was set for democratic elections to reunify Vietnam

Diem backed out of the elections, leading to military conflict between North and South

Ho Chi Minh’s goal was to unite Vietnam

WHY?

By 1959, a Civil War existed between North Vietnam and South Vietnam

Soviet Union and China supported North Vietnam

U.S. supported South Vietnam

US reluctantly moved to fill power vacuum

April 1955--US agrees to advise S Vietnam

U.S. Military advisors arrive Oct 1959 -- to train SVN Army only

1959 to 1964: North Vietnam increased actions to unify North and South

“ insurgents”

US increased action to prevent a North victory

SVN leader, Diem was a ruthless, brutal dictator

No freedoms and torture

Buddhist monks led protests against Diem

Buddhist majority persecuted by Diem

Instability in SVN

1959 -- North Vietnam increased actions to unify North and South ”insurgents”

The U.S. aided Diem’s government

President Eisenhower sent financial and military aid to assist SVN

675 U.S. Army advisors sent by 1960.

US increased action to prevent a North Vietnam victory

U.S. Military Involvement

Self-Emulation by a Buddhist Monk Protest Against Diem

Kennedy elected 1960

By 1963, JFK increased military “advisors” to 16,000

Containment Policy

1963: JFK supports a S. Vietnamese military coup d’etat

Diem and his brother are murdered

SVN Military leaders take over government

lbj sworn in THE NATION MOURNS

assassination2 THE NATION MOURNS

President Kennedy created the Green Berets to help aid SVN military

U.S. Military Involvement 900 American 243,000 South Vietnamese 1960 Troop Levels:

In order to contain the spread of Communism, newly elected President Kennedy agreed to further US military assistance to South Vietnam. U.S. Military Involvement 3,205 American 243,000 South Vietnamese 1961 to 1962 Troop Levels:

U.S. Military Involvement Troop levels 1963 South Vietnamese 243,000 American 16,300 Australian 30

lbj sworn in THE NATION MOURNS

U.S. Military Involvement Troop levels 1964 South Vietnamese 514,000 American 23,300 Australian 80 Philippines 20 South Korea 200 New Zealand 30

Advised to rout the communists by Secretary of State, Robert S. McNamara

LBJ would go to Congress and asked for a military response to North Vietnam

1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident

2 U.S. destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy were attacked by NVN gunboats on August 2 and 4, 1964.

1964

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

The Vietnam War, 1964 to 1975

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Passed by Congress 5 Aug 1964

Radically altered the War in Southeast Asia

Gave President Johnson a “blank check”:

“ To take all necessary steps to repel armed attack against US forces”, including force, to assist South Vietnam and any member of SEATO”

Committed US to fight for SVN Vietnam

Blank Check : Was not a declaration of war from Congress

vietnam collage

Why are we in South Vietnam? We are there because we have a promise to keep. Since 1954 every American President has offered to support the people of South Vietnam.

We have helped to build and we have helped to defend. Thus, over many years, we have made a national pledge to help South Vietnam defend its independence.

VIETNAM WAR Lyndon Johnson, Speech at Johns Hopkins University, "Why are we in South Vietnam"

vietnam collage

I intend to keep our promise. To dishonor that pledge, to abandon this small and brave nation to its enemy and to the terror that must follow would be an unforgivable wrong.

We are there to strengthen world order.

vietnam collage

Around the globe from Berlin to Thailand are people whose well-being rests, in part, on the belief they can count on us if they are attacked.

To leave Vietnam to its fate would shake the confidence of all these people in the value of American commitment. The result would be increased unrest and instability, or even war.

LBJ remembered how President Truman “lost” China to Communism

Domino Theory revived

“ I’m not going to be the President who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” U.S. Military Involvement

Ho Chi Minh

North Vietnamese Army

Communist insurgents

Overthrow South Vietnamese Govt

VC = Viet Cong or South Vietnamese guerrillas

Ngo Dinh Diem

South Vietnamese Army

United States

North Vietnam leader

Free of foreign interference

Re-unite Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh as communists

Army within SVN supplied by the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Overthrow SVN Government

Unite with the North

Dictator of SVN

Used US aid to keep power

Feared Communist takeover of South Vietnam

Supported Diem to keep SVN free

US willing to commit troops

war sides CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN VIETNAM INDIVIDUALS / GROUPS POINT OF VIEW

U.S. Military Involvement Troop levels 1964 South Vietnamese 514,000 American 23,300 Australian 80 Philippines 20 South Korea 200 New Zealand 30

In February the US commences bombardment of North Vietnam and begins to send combat troops to Vietnam.

First U.S. combat troops land in Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Troop Levels: 1965 South Vietnamese 642,500 American 184,300 Australian 1,560 New Zealand 120 South Korea 20,620 Philippines 70 Thailand 20

American Air War

Operation Rolling Thunder (March 2, 1965) Sustained bombing of North Vietnam begins

1966-68: Ongoing bombing of Hanoi nonstop for 3 years! Esp. targets the Ho Chi Minh Trail .

Downed Pilots: P.O.W.s

Carpet Bombing – napalm

1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident

1965 First sustained bombing of North Vietnam

1966 U.S. air raids over Hanoi, 1966 to 1968

The Vietnam War, 1964 to 1975

Americans flew from bases in Thailand, Laos, Guam and South Vietnam

Troops from Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Philippines fought with the US and South Vietnam

China and the Soviet Union

heavily supported North Vietnam

3 U.S. Military Involvement

Vietcong : founded in South Vietnam who were communists—supported by N. Vietnam.

Farmers by day; guerillas at night.

Very patient people willing to accept many casualties.

The US grossly underestimated their resolve and their resourcefulness.

“ Charlie or VC” to American Troops that will later fight them.

WHO WAS THE ENEMY

The Vietcong used guerilla and jungle hit and run tactics which frustrated the American troops.

The Vietcong possessed underground networks of tunnels with hidden weapons and supplies that were difficult to locate and destroy.

Vietcong could easily blend into a village where they could move about freely since they did not belong to a “standard” army.

WHO WAS THE ENEMY

vc WHO WAS THE ENEMY

vc1

vc2 North Vietnamese Army assisted the Vietcong

1965 to 1968, General William Westmoreland, appointed as Commanding general of American forces in Vietnam.

Famous for this quote in 1967 : “ We can see the light at the end of the tunnel’”

Military strategy

Continued bombing of NVN

Wearing down to weaken or destroy; "a war of attrition"

Destroy Viet Cong supplies over the Ho Chi Minh Trail

No territorial goals

Search villages for VC, capture or kill Vietcong

Body counts on TV every night (first “TV” war )

Vietnam Project Background

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