Vietnam War

I.  Beginnings

  1. 10,000 day war
  2. Started against the Japanese in WWII
  3. Lasted until 1975
  4. French colony
  5. Japan takes over in WWII
  6. Vietnamese under Ho Chi Minh fight Japanese
  7. WWII ends and Vietnamese expect independence
  8. French start war to reclaim Vietnam
  9. US supports French
  10. Domino Theory (anti-communist)
  11. help WWII ally (French ally, not Vietnamese ally)

3.  Money involvement (Truman & Eisenhower)

  1. Vietnamese feel betrayed
  2. Dien Bien Phu
  3. Geneva Accords
  4. 17th parallel
  5. North and South Vietnam created

II.  US Involvement

  1. Ngo Dinh Diem
  2. Dictator
  3. US ally
  4. Became unbearable as leader and ally
  5. US supported military coup in South Vietnam

b.  Military Advisor involvement (Kennedy)

  1. Johnson can’t be “soft” on communism
  2. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
  3. US destroyers supposedly attacked
  4. Johnson mislead the public and Congress
  5. Operation Rolling Thunder (bombing of North Vietnam) begins

iv.  US Military involvement (Johnson)

  1. US Marines start landing in Vietnam
  2. 500,000+ soldiers

III.  Phases of the War

  1. Early 1940s: supplies against the Japanese
  2. 1948-60: money against the Communist North
  3. 1960-1964: military advisors “teach” the ARVN how to fight
  4. 1964-1968: massive numbers of US troops; we’re “winning”
  5. 1968-1970: looking for a way out, deeper we go
  6. 1970-1973: “Vietnamization”

IV.  The Fighting

  1. 1st Guerrilla war
  2. No frontline
  3. Constant danger
  4. No knowing friend from foe
  5. Ho Chi Minh Trail
  6. Weapons
  7. Tunnel systems
  8. Agent Orange
  9. Helicopters
  10. Booby traps & land mines
  11. War of Attrition
  12. Bodycount
  13. General Westmoreland
  14. Search-and-Destroy Missions
  15. “Hearts and Minds”
  16. pacification programs
  17. MIAs
  18. Morale problems
  19. Who served: African-Americans and the poor
  20. My Lai massacre

V.  Television War

  1. Technology
  2. Nightly news
  3. Speed of news compared with WWII
  4. Lack of Censorship
  5. Casualty counts
  6. Body bags
  7. US opinion changes

VI.  Tet Offensive

  1. 1968, Lunar New Year
  2. Before, US told they were winning the war
  3. After, US didn’t believe the war was winnable
  4. Military failure
  5. Hundreds of sites attacked, many taken, none held
  6. Political success
  7. Americans could never feel safe in-country again
  8. Johnson decides not to run for President again

VII.  The Beginning of the End

  1. Refusal to admit mistake
  2. Nixon
  3. Runs for president with a secret plan to end the war
  4. Illegal wars
  5. Vietnamization
  6. Paris peace talks
  7. US pulls out in 1973
  8. North Vietnam wins in 1975
  9. Fall of Saigon