US Involvement and Escalation

1. Unit 7- The Vietnam War

3.  I. General William Westmoreland- Leader of
the US troops in Vietnam
 A. Argued that Army of the Republic of
Vietnam (ARVN) could not defeat the Vietcong
 Vietcong got supplies from China and USSR
 B. He was fighting a “war of attrition”- exhaust
the enemy with many casualties

4.  II. Fighting in the Jungle
 A. No territorial goals, just “search and
destroy” missions- uproot civilians, kill
livestock, burn villages- causes resentment
 B. “Body counts” on TV every night to persuade
Americans that Vietcong would surrender

5.  C. Vietcong used guerilla warfare- small groups
of citizens that ambush and hit-and-run tactics
 This hurt US troop morale
 D. Vietcong lived secretly in the population and
could hide quickly
 E. They built a series of elaborate underground
tunnels to travel and evade airstrikes

6.  III. The Air War
 A. Carpet Bombing- US planes continuously
drop bombs on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Trail
 Napalm- A gasoline bomb that sets the jungle
on fire

7.  B. Agent Orange- Leaf-killing toxic chemical was
sprayed by US to kill vegetation (food source) and
foliage (cover)

8.  IV. The War at Home
 A. Cost of war went up as more troops were
deployed
 Higher taxes, inflation, and unemployment
 Funding for LBJ’s Great Society domestic
programs went down

9. B. Living Room War- The war was on every night
on television in the US
 Credibility gap- LJB and gov’t said that US
was winning the war, the news said differently
 Many stopped favoring the war