The Vietnam War was America's longest and most expensive war, lasting from 1954 to 1975 and deeply dividing the American public. It began as an effort to prevent communist domination of Southeast Asia according to the domino theory and involved massive U.S. military escalation under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson in support of South Vietnam against North Vietnam and communist insurgents. The war ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975 and an American withdrawal after failed peace negotiations.

1. The Vietnam War
(1954–1975)

2.  America’s most unpopular war
 Cost LBJ his second term to Richard
Nixon
 America’s longest and most expensive
war
 Divided America on the homefront
 The best technical war money could
buy
 America hardly ever lost a tactical
battle

5. Background of the War
• According to President Eisenhower’s domino theory, if one
Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, others would soon
follow.
• Ho Chi Minh, a pro-Communist leader in Vietnam, led a group
called the Vietminh against French control of his nation before,
during, and after World War II.
• After the Vietminh successfully defeated the French in 1954, a
peace agreement called the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into
Communist North Vietnam and anti-Communist South Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam, while Ngo Dinh Diem led South
Vietnam.
• The United States began providing economic aid to the French in
Vietnam in 1950. In 1960, President Eisenhower sent hundreds of
military advisors to help South Vietnam’s struggle against the
North.

6. Soviet Union
1918
X
Berlin
Blockade
1947-8
Eastern
Europe China X
1946 1949
X Korean War
1950 to 1953
Cuban
Missile Vietnam War
Crisis * 1946 to 1975
*Cuba US Involvement
would 1965 to 1975
remain and
CONTAINMEN still is a
T
•Marshall Plan communist
•Berlin Airlift country.
•NATO
•Korean War
•Cuban Missile
Crisis Communist Expansion
•Alliance for “CONTAINMENT”
Progress

8. THE EARLY YEARS
• HO CHI MINH
• BECAME A LEADER
OF THE VIETNAMESE
YOUTH
• IMPRISONED IN
CHINA FOR HIS
BELIEFS

10. Southeast Asian Conflict
A Chronology of Events

11. war sides
INDIVIDUALS/GROUPS POINT OF VIEW
• Ho Chi Minh • North Vietnam leader
– North Vietnamese Army • Free of foreign interference
• Re-unite Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh as
– Communist insurgents communists
• Revolt against the South
Vietnamese Govt
– VC = Viet Cong or South
Vietnamese guerrillas • Dictator of SVN
• Used US aid to keep power
• Ngo Dinh Diem
• Feared Communist takeover of South Vietnam
– South Vietnamese Army • Supported Diem to keep SVN free
• US willing to commit troops
• United States

12. “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”
•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"
 “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)

13. •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
•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.

14. Background to the War
 International Conference at Geneva in 1954
 Vietnam was divided at 17th parallel
 Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist forces
controlled the North
 Ngo Dinh Diem, a French-educated,
Diem
Roman Catholic
claimed control of the South
 Elections were to be held two years later.

15. Background to the
War
 A date was set for
democratic elections to
reunify Vietnam
 Diem backed out of the
elections, leading to military
conflict between North and
South

16. U.S. Military
Involvement Begins
 Repressive dictatorial rule by Diem
 Diem’s family holds all power
 Wealth is hoarded by the elite
 Buddhist majority persecuted
 Torture, lack of political freedom prevail
 The U.S. aided Diem’s government
 Ike sent financial and military aid
 675 U.S. Army advisors sent by 1960.

18. Early Protests of
Diem’s
Government
Self-Emulation by a Buddhist Monk protesting
against the brutality of Diem’s government

21.  April 1955--US agrees to advise 1960
South Vietnam
– Green Berets arrive Oct. 1959
to train only South Vietnam troops.
 1959 -- North Vietnam increased
actions to unify North and South
”insurgents”
– US increased action to prevent a
North Vietnam victory
Troop Levels:
South 243,000
Vietnamese
American 900

22. U.S. Military Involvement
Begins
 Kennedy elected 1960
 Increases military “advisors” to 16,000
 1963: JFK supports a S. Vietnamese military coup d’etat – Diem
and his brother are murdered (Nov. 2)
 Kennedy was assassinated just weeks later (Nov. 22)

24. •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.
Lyndon Johnson,
Speech at Johns
Hopkins University,
•We have helped to build
"Why are we in and we have helped to
South Vietnam"
defend. Thus, over many
years, we have made a
national pledge to help
vietnam collage
South Vietnam defend its

25. •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.
Lyndon Johnson,
Speech at Johns •We are there to strengthen
Hopkins University,
"Why are we in world order.
South Vietnam"
vietnam collage

26. •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.
Lyndon Johnson, •To leave Vietnam to its fate
Speech at Johns
Hopkins University,
would shake the confidence
"Why are we in of all these people in the
South Vietnam"
value of American
commitment. The result
would be increased unrest
vietnam collage
and instability, or even war.

28. Johnson Sends Ground
Forces
 Remembers Truman’s “loss”
of China --> Domino Theory
revived
I’m not going to be
the president who
saw Southeast Asia
go the way China
went.

29. Johnson Sends Ground
Forces
 Advised to rout the communists
by Secretary of State, Robert S.
McNamara
 Tonkin Gulf Incident --> 1964
(acc. to Johnson – attacks were unprovoked)
 Tonkin Gulf Resolution
 “The Blank Check”

31. 1964
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 S Vietnam

32. Expanding Presidential Power
,
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
What Inspired the Gulf of What Was the Gulf of What Additional Powers
Tonkin Resolution? Tonkin Resolution? Did It Give the President?
In August 1964, Johnson The Gulf of Tonkin Under the resolution, the
announced that North Resolution, passed by President had authority to
Vietnamese torpedo boats Congress in 1964, regarded “take all necessary
had attacked American peace and security in measures to repel any
destroyers in the Gulf of Southeast Asia as vital to armed attack against the
Tonkin. However, some American national interest, forces of the United States
people doubted that this and it gave the President and to prevent further
incident had happened and additional powers to assist aggression.” The
believed it was only an any Southeast Asian resolution, therefore,
excuse for further U.S. country “requesting changed the balance of
involvement in Vietnam. assistance in defense of its power between Congress
freedoms.” and the President.

33. The Vietnam War,
1964 to 1975
1964
Gulf of Tonkin
Incident

34. The Ho Chi Minh Trail
• North Vietnamese
troops and supplies
entered South Vietnam
via the Ho Chi Minh
Trail, a route that
passed through Laos
and Cambodia.

35. The Air and Ground Wars
Some Weapons Used in the Vietnam War
• Agent Orange — American pilots dropped an
herbicide called Agent Orange over Vietnamese
jungles, killing vegetation and exposing Viet Cong
hiding places. Agent Orange was later discovered to
cause health problems in livestock and humans.
• Napalm — Another chemical weapon used in Vietnam,
napalm,was a jellylike substance which, when dropped
from planes splattered, and burned uncontrollably.

40. The Air War
1965-1968
 1965: Sustained bombing of North Vietnam begins
 Operation Rolling Thunder (March 2, 1965)
 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

41. The Vietnam War,
1964 to 1975
1964
Gulf of Tonkin
Incident
1965
First sustained
bombing of North
Vietnam
1966
U.S. air raids over
Hanoi, 1966 to
1968

42. F-4E PHANTOMS

43. DOUGLAS A-1 SKYRAIDER

44. F-105 WILD WEASEL

45. BELL HUEY UH-1

46. B-52D

47. F-4D LOADED FOR COMBAT

48. B-52 STRATOFORTRESS

49. B-66 USED IN ROLLING THUNDER

50. A-7 COSAIR II

52. The Air War:
A Napalm
Attack

53. Battlefield Conditions
,
American Troops Viet Cong Troops
• Had superior weapons • Fought as guerrillas;
• Were unprepared for heat, avoided head-on clashes
terrain, or guerrilla tactics • Were familiar with terrain;
• Lacked support of most had support of many
South Vietnamese South Vietnamese
• Most never saw the enemy • Built and hid in elaborate
but constantly faced the underground tunnels
possibility of sudden
danger.

55. Who Is the Enemy?
 Vietcong: founded in South Vietnam who were communists—supported by
Vietcong
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.
 “Charlies” to American Troops that will later fight them.
The guerilla wins if he does not lose,
the conventional army loses if it does
not win. -- Mao Zedong

56. Who Is the
Enemy?
The Vietcong consisted of a well
organized guerilla fighting force in
South Vietnam.
Their guerilla and jungle hit and
run tactics made them a menace
for American, South Vietnamese,
and other allied forces.

57. Who Is the
Enemy?
The Vietcong possessed
underground networks of
tunnels
Passageways that contained
hidden caches weapons and
supplies that were difficult to
locate and destroy.

58. Who Is the
vc
Enemy?
Who’s your enemy?
U.S. and South Vietnamese
forces found it extremely difficult
to fight the Vietcong’s hit and
run tactics.
Vietcong could easily blend into a
village where they could move
about freely since they did not
belong to a “standard” army.

59. Who Is the
Enemy?

60. Who Is the
vc1
Enemy?

61. vc2
Who Is the
Enemy?

63. The Ground War
1965-1968
 No territorial goals
 Body counts on TV every night
(first “living room” war)
war
 Viet Cong supplies over the
Ho Chi Minh Trail

64. The Ground War
1965-1968
 General Westmoreland, late 1967: “We can see the light at the end of the
Westmoreland
tunnel’”
•Wearing down to weaken or destroy; "a war
of attrition"

65. The Tet Offensive, January
1968
 N. Vietnamese Army + Viet Cong attack
South simultaneously
 80,000 attack 100 cities, bases and the US
embassy in Saigon
 Take every major southern city
 U.S. + ARVN beat back the offensive
 Viet Cong destroyed
 N. Vietnamese army debilitated

67. The Tet
Offensive
US troops defending the American
Embassy in Saigon

68. The Tet Offensive: A Turning Point
,
• On January 30, 1968, the Viet Cong and North Vietnam launched a
major offensive. This series of attacks was called the Tet
Offensive since it occurred during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.
• During and after the Tet Offensive, both sides were guilty of brutal
atrocities. Communists slaughtered anyone they labeled an
enemy; Americans massacred hundreds of civilians at My Lai, a
small village in South Vietnam. A helicopter crew that stopped the
massacre was later rewarded, and the officer who had ordered it
was imprisoned.
• Because Americans now knew that the Viet Cong could launch
massive attacks, and because no end to the war was in sight, the
Tet Offensive proved to be a major psychological victory for the
Viet Cong and a turning point in the war.

69. The Tet Offensive, January
1968
Because of the Tet
Offensive, the US
media announced the
US was loosing the
war.
Walter Cronkite, part
of CBS news who
opposed the war after
Tet.

70. Impact of the Tet
Offensive
 Domestic U.S. Reaction:
Disbelief, Anger, Distrust
of Johnson Administration
Hey, Hey LBJ!
How
many kids did you
kill today?

72. Are We Becoming the Enemy?
Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry
 My lai Massacre, 1968
 200-500 unarmed villagers
 Lt. William Calley,
Platoon Leader

73. MASSACRE AT My LAI
• LT. RUSTY CALLEY OF COLUMBUS, GA AND HIS UNIT
KILLED 500+ VIETNAMESE WOMEN, CHILDREN AND
MEN IN A SMALL VILLAGE IN NAM AND BECAME THE
VILLANS OF THE NATION
• CALLEY IS THE ONLY AMERICAN EVER TRIED AND
CONVICTED OF A WAR CRIME.
• THIS EVENT WAS A BLACKEYE ON ALL AMERICAN
SOLDIERS

80. The Vietnam War,
1964 to 1975
1964
Gulf of Tonkin
Incident
1965
First sustained
bombing of North
Vietnam
1966
U.S. air raids over
Hanoi, 1966 to 1968
1968
Tet Offensive,
Jan. 30 to Feb. 24
My Lai Massacre,
March 16

81. Political Divisions
,
• What role did students play in the protest movements
of the 1960s?
• Why did President Johnson decide not to seek
reelection?
• How did the Vietnam War affect the election of 1968?

83. Student Activism
Student Activism in the 1960s
• Generation Gap — Young Americans in the 1960s had many opportunities unknown to
previous generations; many also questioned the values of their parents. These factors
contributed to a wider generation gap between college-aged youths and their parents.
• Students for a Democratic Society and the New Left — Organized in 1960, Students for a
Democratic Society (SDS) had a major impact on the New Left, a political movement that
advocated radical changes to deal with problems such as poverty and racism.
• The Free Speech Movement — Student protests for free speech at the University of
California at Berkeley inspired similar movements elsewhere, including challenges to social
restrictions on campuses.
• The Teach-in Movement — Begun at the University of Michigan in March 1965, teach-ins, or
special sessions at which issues concerning the war could be discussed, soon became a
popular means of expressing antiwar sentiment.
• Continued Protests — Hundreds of demonstrations continued at colleges and universities
around the country. One of the most dramatic, at Columbia University in New York City,
linked the issues of civil rights and the war.

84. Draft Resistance
,
• To increase the available fighting force, the United States
invoked the Selective Service Act of 1951, drafting young
men between the ages of 18 and 26 into the armed forces.
• Most of those who refused to be drafted in the early 1960s
were conscientious objectors, people who opposed
fighting on moral or religious grounds.
• As the Vietnam War progressed, the draft-resistance
movement grew, with many young men burning their draft
cards or fleeing the country to avoid the draft.
• At first, college students could receive a deferment, or
postponement of their call to serve. Deferments were
eliminated in 1971 in response to complaints that they were
unfair to those who could not afford college.

85. DRAFT NOTICES: A DEATH SENTENCE?

87. PROTEST FOR PEACE
• YOUNG MEN BURNED DRAFT CARDS
• MANY YOUNG MEN FLED TO CANADA TO ESCAPE
THE DRAFT
• OTHERS FILED AS OBJECTORS AND USED
RELIGION AND BELIEFS TO ESCAPE THE DRAFT,
OTHERS WENT TO JAIL

88. DRAFT LOTTERY

89. TWO WORLDS COLLIDE

90. divided US
ESTABLISHMENT ANTI-
ESTABLISHMENTMajority
• Called Middle America, the Silent • Called counterculture Hippies, Flower Children
• Supported Vietnam War • Opposed Vietnam War
• Traditional American values: hard work, family • Disillusioned with values of money, status, power;
and patriotism emphasized love, individual freedom, cooperation
• Music and fashion emphasized movement toward
• Feared and disliked new styles of music and new society, greater freedom
dress of youth
• Used “mind-expanding” drugs, LSD
• Against use of illegal drugs

91. Anti-War
Demonstratio
ns
Columbia University, 1967

93. Anti-War
Demonstratio
ns

94. Anti-War
Demonstratio
ns

97. Anti-War
Demonstration
s May 4, 1970
4students
shot dead.
11students
wounded
Jackson
State University
May 10, 1970
2dead; 12
Kent State University
wounded

100. PEACE MOVEMENT

101. THE PEACE MOVEMENT
• IN THE US YOUNG AMERICANS BEGIN TO PROTEST THE WAR
IN VIETNAM, AT FIRST IT IS JUST A SMALL FRACTION OF
SOCIETY
• DRUGS AND MUSIC BEGIN TO DEFINE THE YOUTH OF
AMERICA
• HIPPIES: LONG HAIRED PROTESTORS BEGIN TO BECOME A
CULTURAL COMMONALITY

103. THE PEACE MOVEMENT
• STUDENTS AT MAJOR UNIVERSITIES BEGIN PROTEST
GROUPS TO COUNTER THE DRAFT AND OFTEN PEACEFUL
PROTESTS TURNED VIOLENT, NOT BECAUSE OF
STUDENTS.
• KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, 4 STUDENTS ARE KILLED IN A
PROTEST BY RIOT SQUADS (May 4, 1970)

104. W CONT
AR INUE DE IT PROT ST
S SP E E
• AS PROTESTS ESCULATED, SO DID THE WAR, BY 1966
THE US HAD 190,000 TROOPS IN VIETNAM, MOST OF
WHICH WERE DRAFTEES!
• BY 1969 THE US WOULD HAVE 550,000 TROOPS IN
VIETNAM
• THE WAR WAS GOING NOWHERE, THE VIET CONG
WOULD NOT QUIT FIGHTING.

105. Johnson Decides Not to Run
• Continuing protests and an increasing number of
casualties steadily decreased popular support for
Johnson’s handling of the war.
• After the Tet Offensive, Johnson rarely left the White House
for fear of angry protesters.
• Two other Democratic contenders, antiwar candidate
Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy, brother of John
Kennedy and a senator from New York, campaigned
against Johnson for the party’s nomination.
• On March 31, 1968, Johnson announced in a nationally
televised speech that he would not seek another term as
President.

106. AMERICAN BOYS SENT TO A FAR OFF PLACE
TO DIE!

107. AVERAGE AGE: 19-21

108. NORTH VIETNAMESE SOLDIER

109. “Life of a Soldier”
• Faced death every second of everyday
• Kill or be killed
• Loss of innocence and conscience
• No redemption
• Dangers all around (children, women, elderly, animals,
insects, traps)
• Chance of total loss of reality

118. THE WAR AT HOME
• THIS WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN WAR TO BE
BROADCAST EACH AND EVERY NIGHT ON NATIONAL
TV
• PARENTS WOULD OFTEN SEE THEIR SON’S DEAD ON
TV BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT COULD NOTIFY THEM
• THIS CAUSED GREAT HATE IN THE AMERICAN
PUBLIC, THE WAR WAS TOO REAL FOR MANY.

120. ALL EFFORTS FAIL
• ALL EFFORTS TO WIN VIETNAM WERE FAILING
• THE AIR WAR WAS UNSUCCESSFUL
• THE GROUND WAR WAS TAKING TO MANY LIVES, &
ACCOMPLISHING NOTHING.
• THE VIETCONG WERE HARD TO FIND AND EVEN
HARDER TO KILL, DUE TO MASSIVE NUMBERS.

121. AT HOME
• SOLDIERS CAME BACK TO THE STATES ONLY TO
BE SPIT ON AND CALLED BABY KILLERS
• THE WAR WAS EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR ALL
AROUND
• THE COMMON AMERICAN SAW NO GLORY IN THIS
WAR AS THEY HAD IN WARS PAST

122. The Election of 1968
The Democratic Convention The Nation Chooses Nixon
• At the time of the Democratic • Richard M. Nixon received the
Convention in Chicago, Eugene Republican Party’s nomination
McCarthy was thought too far out for President.
of the mainstream, and Robert • Nixon soon took the lead in
Kennedy had been assassinated. national polls, allowing his
• During the convention, police running mate Spiro Agnew to
attacked protesters, with much of make harsh accusations, while
the violence taking place in front Nixon stayed “above the fray.”
of television cameras. • Independent candidate George C.
• Vice President Hubert Humphrey Wallace drew many votes.
won the Democratic nomination, Additionally, many disillusioned
but the party had been further Democrats did not vote.
torn apart by the convention’s • In a close race, Nixon won the
events. presidency in the 1968 election.

123. Other Factors in the 1968 Election
,
• The 1960s was an unsettling period for mainstream
Americans, a group sometimes referred to as Middle
America. Many turned to the Republican Party for
stability, voting for Republican candidates such as
Nixon.
• Many Americans were disillusioned by Johnson’s
handling of the Vietnam War. Although Johnson
stopped the bombing of North Vietnam before the
election, Hubert Humphrey’s candidacy was hurt by
his defense of the President’s Vietnam policies.

124. Nixon in Vietnam
 Nixon’s 1968 Campaign promised an end to the war: Peace with Honor
 Appealed to the great
“Silent Majority”
 Vietnamization
 Expansion of the
conflict – The “Secret War”
 Cambodia
 Laos
 Agent Orange – chemical
defoliant

125. The First Vietnam Ho Chi Minh
War draft lottery , dies at age 79
requiring
mandatory military
service based on
date of birth. 1969
Secretary of defense, Melvin
Laird, announces the policy of
“Vietnamization”
•Diminished role for the U.S. Military
•The role of defeating the communists shifts
to the South Vietnamese Army.

127. Nixon Policy
• Peace with honor in Vietnam
– All POWs must return
– NOT turn over SVN to Reds
• South Vietnam must fight its war with US $$$
– Secret bombing in Cambodia (invaded 1970)
– All US ground combat ends 1970; air war?
• End of containment policy
– Détente with USSR ... friendship?
– Détente with China ... friendship?
• play off China Vs. USSR
– fear each other
– both stop helping Hanoi; US can now bomb

128. nixon/cambodia

129. The Ceasefire,
1973
 Conditions:
1. U.S. to remove all troops
2. North Vietnam could leave troops already
in S.V.
3. North Vietnam would resume war
4. No provision for POWs or MIAs
 Last American troops left South Vietnam on March 29, 1973
 1975: North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam
 Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City

130. The Vietnam War,
1964 to 1975
1973
U.S. troops
withdraw
1975
Surrender in
Saigon, April 20

131. The Fall of
Saigon
South Vietnamese Attempt to Flee the Country

132. The Fall of
Saigon
April 30, 1975
America Abandons Its Embassy

133. The New
Vietnam
Formerly Saigon

134. The Fall of
Saigon
North Vietnamese at the Presidential Palace

135. In case there was
The ancient capital city of Hue falls anyone doubt who
to the North Vietnamese Army.
won the war, the
communists later
rename Saigon, Ho
Chi Minh City.
1975
President Gerald Last Americans
Ford declared evacuate as
communists take
the war Saigon.
“ finished .”

136. The Impact
 26th Amendment: 18-year-olds vote
Amendment
 Nixon abolished the draft--> all-volunteer army
 War Powers Act, 1973 ‫٭‬
 President must notify Congress within 48 hours of
deploying military force
 President must withdraw forces unless he gains
Congressional approval within 90 days
 Disregard for Veterans --> seen as “baby killers”
 POW/MIA issue lingered

139. FREEEDOM HAS A PRICE
• WE SHOULD NEVER TAKE FOR GRANTED WHAT SO
MANY GAVE SO MUCH TO PRESERVE IN THE NAME
OF FREEDOM
• EVERYDAY WE REAP THE BENEFITS OF WHAT
AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN HAVE FOUGHT AND
DIED FOR, SO NEVER FORGET THE THEM

140. Some American
POWs Returned from
the “Hanoi Hilton”
Senator John McCain
(R-AZ)

141. pows

142. 2,583 American
POWs / MIAs
still unaccounted for

143. And in the End….
Ho Chi Minh:
If we have to fight, we
will fight. You will kill
ten of our men and we will kill one of
yours, and in the end it will be you who tires of
it.

144. “War—What is it good for?
--absolutely nothing!!”
Scenes from Francis Ford
Coppola’s Vietnam epic,
Apocalypse Now

145. grunts

147. grunts

148. tet

149. dead soldiers

152. bombing

153. bombing

154. The Costs
 3,000,000 Vietnamese killed
 58,000 Americans killed
 300,000 wounded
 Of those that died 11,465 were teenagers
 10,000 dead from accidents
 153,000 hospitalized & survive
 2,590,000 Americans in Vietnam.
 Great Society programs underfunded
 $150,000,000,000 in U.S. spending
 U.S. morale, self-confidence, trust of government
decimated

157. REMEMBERING THE FALLEN

158. HEROES OF THE DAY

162. BOYS TO MEN

165. SOMETIMES WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH, BUT A PICTURE SAYS IT ALL.

166. LIFE WOULD EVER BE THE SAME FOR ANYONE

167. ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL

171. The Debate Continues:
Where Were You
in the War, Daddy?
George Bush and John Kerry