Topic.16 The War In Vietnam

Contemporary History Topic 16: The War in Vietnam Mr. Michael Meechin Celebration High School Social Science Dept.

Questions for Discussion o What do you notice first as you look at these images? o What has the photographer captured in this photograph? o What do images such as these communicate about the Vietnam War to us today?

“I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think… As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.” David Halberstam New York Times

What do you know about Vietnam? o The War in Vietnam was hard to define; o The war took a different meaning at home, different than any other war in our history; o The war is best defined by the photography that came out of country; o These photos played a major part in turning the public against the war in Vietnam…

The Meaning of the War in Vietnam? o The War in Vietnam was the longest in American history; o Vietnam was also the most unpopular war of the 20th century… o The conflict resulted in the deaths of nearly 60,000 US soldiers; o Vietnam caused turmoil on the home-front; o Anti-war protests became a daily part of life; o Americans became divided: pro-war hawks and anti-war doves… o The conflict was also the first war to come into the living rooms of Americans on a daily basis…

Ho Chi Minh o Ho Chi Minh was a man of small stature, he wore sandals and shorts, his people called him “uncle ho”… o Ho Chi Minh adopted Socialism while in the Soviet Union; o While there he organized a revolutionary Vietnamese force; o In 1945, Minh declared Vietnamese independence… o The French, who returned to Vietnam following WWII had different plans…

French Nam’ o The French took control of Indochina following WWII; o They fought a war against Vietnamese rebel guerillas… o The United States would begin to underwrite the war in 1950; o Providing $2 billion to the French war effort; o The French devised a plan to set a trap for the Vietnamese rebels… o 1954, Viet Minh defeated the French forces; o The French became surrounded in the town of Dienbienphu; o The French pleaded for US support, but President Eisenhower resisted…

Vietnamese Politics o The French and Vietnamese governments met in Geneva, Switzerland to sign the Geneva Accords (peace agreement); o The two sides agreed to temporarily divide Vietnam into a Communist North and a Non-Communist South; o The country would remain this way until elections in 1956… o However, the elections never took place; o S. Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, with US backing, refused to participate; o Diem was fearful of a Ho Chi Minh victory; o This led to a distrust in diplomacy between the North and South

United States Enters the War o Belief in the domino theory led President Eisenhower to back the autocratic government of Ngo Dinh Diem, a fierce anti-Communist; o What is autocracy? o Groups opposed to Diem formed the National Liberation Front (NLF), or the Vietcong; o To prevent Communism, Kennedy tripled aid to Vietnam and pressured Diem to reform; o Diem refused to comply…

United States Enters the War o November 1963, Vietnamese Army officials took the government by force; o This action was backed by the United States o Diem was killed in the confusion o A few weeks later an assassin’s bullet killed President Kennedy

Johnson’s War o President Johnson saw Vietnam as a key battle in the Cold War; o Johnson rejected any sentiment that did not guarantee a Non- Communist South Vietnam; o Using the attacks on two US destroyers, Johnson convinced Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; o The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed Johnson to widen the war… o In Feb 1965, Johnson made two fateful decisions; o He launched Operation Rolling Thunder, three years of non-stop bombing of North Vietnam; o He sent the first ground troops into South Vietnam…

Questions for Discussion o When would it be justified, if ever, for the United States to fund another countries war? o During time of total war, what are the differences between civilians and soldiers? o What are rules of engagement? o Should soldiers be held accountable for violating the rules of engagement during war? o What limits do military’s have in regards to getting information from prisoners of war (POWs)?

Fighting the War o Despite massive bombing campaigns the United States failed to route the Vietcong [VC]; o The VC were kept well supplied by their allies in North Vietnam; o The supplies were transported through a vast system of tunnels… o Warfare erupted throughout South Vietnam; o The VC used guerrilla warfare to keep the American ground forced guessing… o Why can guerrilla warfare be so much harder to conduct a combat defense against?

Fighting the War o The United States forces went through a pacification program with the South Vietnamese civilians; o This program was designed to weed out VC living in S. Vietnamese villages; o This program was not effective as the VC knew the peasants better than the US forces… o The war in Vietnam seemed unwinnable for many of the US forces; o Vietnam will prove to be both frustrating and a nightmare for the US troops…

Tet Offensive o The Tet Offensive showed the no place in S. Vietnam was safe from attack; o Televised images of the war fueled the antiwar sentiment; o President Johnson announced the he would bow out of the 1968 Presidential race; o President Johnson also vowed to get out of Vietnam…

Tragedy and Triumph o The 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King launched the country into chaos; o The assassination caused rioting in cities across the country… o The nation was launched further into turmoil when the presidential front-runner Robert Kennedy was assassinated; o The nation had lost two civil rights leaders within three months of each other…

Election of 1968 o With the death of Kennedy, the 1968 Election was in shambles; o Richard Nixon entered the race as the Republican candidate; o Nixon saw that social unrest scared Americans… o Nixon promised “peace with honor” in Vietnam, as well as an end to “domestic violence”; o George Wallace threatened Nixon by running an even more conservative campaign o Wallace appealed to those who feared school integration and despised antiwar protestors…

Election of 1968

The Student Movement o Students protested the Vietnam War to no end; o Although only a small population of students protested, they belonged to prestigious universities; o This attracted great attention to the student movement… o Opposition to the war led to many refusing to be drafted; o Reasons included deferment, refusal to register, burning of draft cards, flight from the country, and going to jail; o Some believed the draft was unfair because it fell on those who could not afford to attend college… o Should citizens who do not choose education as a path be considered more so for military service?

Toward Peace o President Nixon moved toward the Nixon Doctrine… what he called “Vietnamization”; o The United States would provide weapons and financial aid to Asian countries; o However, they would have to fight their own battles… o As Nixon began the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam, he ordered Sec. of State Henry Kissinger to take action; o Kissinger met secretly with N. Vietnam’s government; o In a televised speech, Nixon asked Americans to support a “twist” in the war – sending troops into Cambodia…

Toward Peace o Escalation of the war led to public outcry; o Nixon and Kissinger promised that it was necessary to have an honorable end to the war; o The “Pentagon Papers” were released by the NY Times and informed the American people the US Presidents had lied; o The war in Vietnam was not continuing to stop Communism, but rather “to avoid a humiliating defeat”… o The Whitehouse tried to block the publication of these papers; o However, the Supreme Court said they could be published by the NY Times… o Should the press have the freedom to print what they want about the government? Should they have to give up their sources?

The Final Years of War o Despite US training and billions of dollars spent, the South could not defeat the North; o The South also refused to sign a peace agreement in Paris in 1972; o In 1973, the US negotiated a cease-fire… US prisoners of war were returned; o The Vietcong was allowed to remain in the South… o After the final US troops left in 1973, the cease-fire ended; o The South surrendered to the North in 1975; o Vietnam remains a Communist country today…

Cost of War o 58,000 troops were killed in Vietnam, over 300,000 were wounded, many permanently disabled; o The US government poured more than $150 billion into Vietnam while underfunding many social programs; o For the first time the US had lost a war, shattering the confidence of the WWII victory… o Two million Vietnamese and uncounted Cambodian and Laotian were dead; o More than 8 million tons of bombs had been dropped in Southeast Asia…

Topic.16 The War In Vietnam

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