The Vietnam Conflict Study Guide: Chapters 51-53

The Vietnam Conflict Study Guide: Chapters 51-53

Chapter 51: Why did the United States increase its military involvement in Vietnam?

1. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (“The Wall”)- in Washington D.C. lists names of U.S. soldiers killed or M.I.A.. First two names are first two official deaths

2. French Indochina & Vietnam declares independence

-Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam= French Indochina; taken over by Japan from France in WW2. After war France wants it back but Vietnam wants to be independent.

Ho Chi Minh & The Viet Minh- Members of the Vietnam Independence movement called Viet Minh; led by president of North Vietnam; communist; believed U.S. would support him b/c they wanted independence. Vie Minh also used terror tactics and assassinated local leaders with ties to the French. They gained support of the villagers/ peasant population who made up about 80% of the population by giving them land taken from the wealth

Diem-anti-Communist South Vietnamese leader supported by the U.S. He was corrupt and brutal; ruthlessly attacked his opponents, discriminated against Buddhist majority, his own people did not respect him. When Kennedy takes office he realizes Diem failed as a leader. A group of S. Vietnamese staged a coup w/ U.S. support. He gets assassinated as he tries to flee Saigon

U.S. military aid to French Indochina 1950-1954 (Truman)- Truman supports French effort to regain control of Vietnam because his priority is containing communism

First Indochina War- 1945-1954 U.S. aided France

Hanoi-

Saigon-

Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954)- French surrounded and call a cease-fire….leads to Geneva Accords

Domino Theory

Geneva Accords-China & S.U. put pressure on Viet Minh to compromise b/c they didn’t want war w/ U.S. Agreed that Vietnam divided at 17th parallel temporarily. In 1956 a national election to unify the country would be held

Military advisers-Mid 1950s Eisenhower sends about 350 military advisers-noncombat specialist who train South Vietnamese soldiers. First two names on memorial were “advisers”.

Viet Cong- The National Liberation Front, group started by Viet Minh for al lopponents of Diem. Diem called them this for “Vietnamese Communists”, even though many of its members were not even communist.

President Kennedy’s involvement-at first Kennedy did not support intervention, but when he took office he had an inspection done to evaluate-concluded that South Vietnamese gov was incompetent and corrupt but also shifted to believe U.S. should free world and support containment-

-Under J.F.K. by mid 1962 the number of advisors rose to about 9,000. He did not send any official combat troops-those there were supposed to “help Diem’s army win its own war”….still start of a military build up

- Now….Johnson inherits problem; he knew Vietnam was a potential disaster but believed that Communist had to be stopped-main priority

3. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964- Congress grants Johnson’s request to send troops to Vietnam at his discretion-gave him ability to greatly expand war in Vietnam

- March 1964 he asks military to begin planning for bombing of North Vietnam when he realizes the South are loosing, although in 1964 election he gave impression he would not get more involved

-Mid 1964 Johnson knows North continue to send weapons/supplies to Viet Minh through Ho Chi Minh trail (12,000 miles of trails that goes through Laos, Cambodia and S. Vietnam. Johnson knows S. Vietnamese army is ineffective and weak and need help or we risk loosing Vietnam to Communism

-July 1964 he orders covert attacks on radar stations along N. Vietnamese Coast. Planned by CIA but executed by S. Vietnamese. U.S. warships used surveillance to locate radar sites for them.

-August 2 1964 Viet Cong fire machine gun and torpedo at U.S. destroyer in Gulf of Tonkin in response to attacks but ship was not damaged-Johnson does not retaliate but sends message that further “unprovoked” attacks would bring “grave consequences”

-August 4, 1964 U.S. naval ship thought they were under attack-tensions high-but realized after they were not.

-Aug 5 1964- Johnson orders air strikes of Ho Chi Minh Trail and other strategic locations- and asks congress for G of Tonkin Res

“to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. to prevent further aggression”

-All but two senators vote for it “this measure means sending our American boys into combat in a war in which we have no business, which is not our war, into which we have been misguidedly drawn, which is steadily being escalated. This resolution is a further authorization for escalation unlimited”

Johnson had foreign policy team to brainstorm and analyze situation:

Hawks (Defense Secretary Robert McNamara & Secretary of State Dean Rusk)

- Domino Theory; can’t negotiate or “appease” aggression by North Vietnam or they will continue to want more; American credibility at stake-we had to make other Allied believe they could count on us and we would meet any communist challenge; Johnson could not appear soft on communism

Doves (Undersecretary of State George Ball)- wanted peaceful solution through negotiation and compromise; war was unwinnable and drew comparison to Korean War; fighting guerilla warfare in unfamiliar jungle would be difficult and deadly; we should not become so entangled in someone else’s civil war; taking money and attention away from more important issue at home and abroad

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)- South Vietnamese Army we fought with-by now ARVN and South Vietnamese gov very weak and falling apart

4. First combat troops in Vietnam, 1965- after weighing all advice he sends first wave of 3,500 troops on March 8, 1965. Johnson keeps his plans to shift from bombing to combat a secret until April, the following month.

Search and destroy missions- U.S. tactic; units of soldiers called platoons would search out enemy and draw them out into open; then call air strike

Operation Rolling Thunder- massive air strikes in 1965

Operation Starlite, 1965 first major assault by ground troops

U.S. often faced much less casualties than enemy, often 4x…we hoped we would win simply by killing so many of them there would be no one left to fight, but despite huge losses the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese managed to produce enough new fighters to keep the fight going.

By late 1967 there were almost 500,000 American troops in Vietnam

We used two-pronged strategy: take key cities along coast and make them bases then they would use those bases to launch search and destroy missions

It was not long before U.S. took charge of almost entire war, South Vietnamese played less and less of a role as years went on.

Chapter 52:What made the Vietnam War so difficult for America to win?

By 1968 many Americans who supported U.S. intervention turned and began blaming Johnson for the out of control situation. Many called Vietnam a quagmire (situation with no easy way out). Many former hawks began advising Johnson to scale back, reduce bombings and troop levels and pursue negotiations.

By 1968 most ground troops were drafted soldiers. One draftee said “We are the unwilling working for the unqualified to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful.-this reflects the difficult conditions U.S. soldiers faced in Vietnam

2. What difficulties did the U.S. Troops face?

-lost motivation/morale very low; would focus only on survival and avoid combat- leads to increased drug use

Geographic- very hot/humid, heavy monsoon from May-Oct; unfamiliar insects and pests and diseases like Malaria; they would have to march through soggy lowlands/rice paddies and swamps over steep jungle-filled mountains. Gear could way more than 90 lb! They would often build elaborate under ground tunnels that had many rooms, passageways, even kitchens!!

North Vietnamese Army (NVA)-very skilled at hiding in the dense vegetation; very effective at guerilla warfare involving surprise attacks and disappearing into the landscape

-They would “hide in plain site”. A South Vietnamese peasant might be a farmer by day and a guerilla killing Americans member of the Vietcong by might. GIs could not tell a friend from an enemy…..could not trust anyone even women and children.

Punji stake trap & cartridge trap- kind of bobby trap; bamboo stakes buried under ground w/ poison tip or sometimes bullet trip

War of attrition- hope that we would wear down the enemy’s strength so they fan out of troops; kill more than they could replace

Limited war

Agent Orange-herbicide named after color of barrels it was stored in. U.S. sprayed it along Ho Chi Minh trail and other areas..to kill crops that fed enemy; but also contaminated soil and water, destroyed innocent civilians food sources and exposed civilians and soldiers to toxins that posed long term health problems.

Napalm- jellied gasoline killed thousands of civilians supposed to burn forests and destroy military bases but when it hit the ground it set fire to everything and everyone it touched.

General Westmoreland-Commander of U.S. armed forces

-General Westmoreland was always about the body count of the enemies; but every year 200,000 North Vietnamese men reached draft age an Westmoreland’s annual body count never came close to that figure

-The war continues on and antiwar sentiment continues to grow. Most Americans did not agree with it especially an undeclared war that seemed to drag on endlessly; Ultimately, the U.S. underestimated their enemy. They were determined to fight on against the “colonial” power of the U.S. no matter how long it took but our commitment was not as strong and for different reasons.

3. U.S. Pacification program- a policy designed to promote security and economic stability in Vietnam; to convince Vietnamese people to trust the U.S. and not support the enemy by making it safe to side w/ U.S. and safe from Vietcong (build schools, bridges, pro us prog) BUT:

- facilitated by ARNV who lacked skill and leadership to carry out

- U.S. forces and gov put Pacification program as secondary and did not put enough man power or resources to make it successful

-The pacification teams (ARVN and villages) would begin building roads, schools, etc only to have it destroyed by a U.S. search and destroy mission

-were not protected well enough from Viet Cong who would often attack and burn projects, kill participants

Loyalty of Vietnamese people- combine with next question

South Vietnam was divided: some joined Viet Cong; some backed S. Vietnamese gov; some tried to be neutral

Why were the Viet Cong able to maintain popular support?

- search and destroy missions would turn non Viet Cong supporters into Viet Cong supporters (see quote page 674)

- they would eliminate opposition by intimidation, kidnapping, assassination local leaders

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4. How did media effect public opinion of the war? Everything was televised including Fullbright Hearings initiated by Senator J. William Fullbright to investigate questions: Why are we fighting in Vietnam and how do we plan to win? They even examined some framers of containment policy from 1940s who agreed they did not think we should be involved

News media/T.V. brought war to people’s living rooms nightly; showing scenes of violence, suffering and destruction

What were some popular forms of war protest- college campus protests, teach ins , sit ins, marches, college enrollment to defer being drafted, burn draft card, refuse to report to duty…protests sometimes turned violent

Called draft dodger

- Dow Chemical Company made napalm

-Tinker v. Des Moines- high school students wore black armbands to protest war and school suspended them. Goes to supreme court who ruled that students were allowed b/c it was an expression of symbolic speech

-Muhammad Ali was a famous draft dodger and said Ï ain’t got no quarrel with no Viet Cong”

-b/c of college deferment option for a time people getting drafted were disproportionately poor or minorities; some labeled it a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight. M.L.K. Jr called it a “white man’s war, a black man’s fight”

-Hey Hey LBJ how many kids did you kill today

26th Amendment- changed voting age from 21 to 18

By 1967 public was about evenly divided on war according to polls; was pulling nation apart in two different direction. Late 1967 LBJ was able to increase those supporting war by launching campaign to restore confidence…would say there was “light at the end of the tunnel”…but then after TET it all goes down hill

credibility gap-difference between reality of war and how Johnson admin were portraying it…..they were loosing all credibility; no one believed them

5. 1968: A year of crisis

TET Offensive-surprise attack by N. Vietnamese and Viet Cong Jan 31, 1968. Although it was a military disaster for them it shocked American people and became psychological defeat for U.S. and caused public opinion of war to go down more

-Viet Cong knew many ARVN troops would be home w/ families for holiday

-85,000 Viet Cong and NVA soldiers attacked cities, villages, airbases assoc w/ U.S. military

-In Saigon they blew a hole in wall around U.S. Embassy but military fought them off

-Took about a month to push them back. As many as 45,000 enemy soldiers killed

-after polls showed that many Americans lost faith in presidency and his handling of war after

Johnson decides not to run again/Election of 1968- and announces he will try to deescalate the war and negotiate end. Dem candidate becomes Hubert Humphry and Rep Richard Nixon

Assassinations of M.L.K. Jr & Robert Kennedy- added to already turbulent year.