Vietnam War
French Colony
–Communist Resistance
- Ho Chi Minh (North)
- Communist Leader
•Dienbienphu falls 1954
•Geneva Conference
- ______
- ______(never happened)
- Ngo Dinh Diem (South)
- Eisenhower promised economic and military aid
Why Should US Get Involved?
•Domino theory
–______.
–Potential of becoming a force in western Hemisphere
JFK Steps In
•Communist get stronger
•1961 JFK sends more “military advisors”
-______
______
–Over 15,000
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
•August 1964
- Attack on US Navy by N. Vietnamese ships reported
- Tonkin Gulf Resolution
- ______
______
“Escalation”
•President Johnson
•______
______
Escalation
•March 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder
•Dec. 1965: ______
•Dec. 1967: ______
•$30 Billion/ year
The War
•Heart and Minds
- The strategy that ______
______
- Increased bitterness as soldiers did not know who to trust
•______
–Could not judge success by taking land.
–Caused war to become especially bloody
Grunts in Vietnam
•A soldier in Vietnam was called a Grunt
•Draft
- ______exempt
- ______most affected
•Average age of a US soldier in Vietnam:
- 19
Frustration takes its toll
•Tour of Duty:
- ______
- Rotation system
- Soldiers are placed in units as individuals
•Guerilla Warfare
- ______.
- Difficult to see
- Civilians could be the enemy
- “booby traps” common
•Disillusionment (0-2:15)
–______
______
–Turns to ______at times
1967: Siege of Khe Sanh
Constant attack for 77 straight days
Tet Offensive
- January 1968
- Attack on Vietnamese New Year
- 27 cities
- US embassy in Saigon
- Effects:
- ______
- 200,000 more troops requested
- March 31 LBJ announces a freeze and that he will not run for re-election
- Status Quo
My Lai Massacre
•March 1968
•28 ambushes or booby trap incidents causing 5 deaths in one month
- No direct contact
- Frustration overcomes army unit
- ______
- Mostly women and children
- 26 soldiers charged
- Lt. serves 3 years of life sentence
- 3 soldiers tried to stop it & were vilified
- ______
Counterculture
•Reaction to social norms of the 50’s and 60’s
- Civil Rights
- Anti-war protest
•Hippies
–______
______
______
–Aimed to live ______
•Reflected in:
- Drugs
- Rock and Roll
- Sexual Revolution
- Women’s Rights
Places To Be
•Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco
- Center for the counterculture
- Many young people ______
______
•______
- 3 young entrepreneurs promise “3 Days of Peace and Music”
- Top music Acts: Jimmie Hendrix, CCR, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin
- Soon went of control when 500,000 showed up
Anti-War Protests
1968 Democratic Convention
- Hubert Humphrey (Dem) Johnson
- ______
- Eugene McCarthy (Dem)
- ______
- “clean for Gene”
- Robert Kennedy
- ______
- Killed June 5, 1968
•Humphrey wins nomination loses to Nixon in Election
•“The Whole Nation is Watching”
(0-1:00)
Bombing Cambodia
•April 1970
•Congress not consulted
•Invaded Cambodia
•Fierce protests
- ______
- 4 dead/ 9 wounded
•100,000 protest in Washington, DC
•June 29, 1970 Nixon calls back forces
President Nixon Asks for Help
•Asks the “______” to make themselves heard in order to counter the protests
-______
______
•Vietnamization
-______
______
The Collapse of S. Vietnam
•N. Vietnam invades
•Massive evacuation April 1973
•140,000 South Vietnamese
Effects
•______US Soldiers Dead
•Economy Falls
- Inflation
•______