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Vietnam War

Vietnam War. US Involvement: 1964 to 1973. PARTICIPATE! Earn Points after every response:

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Vietnam War

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  1. Vietnam War US Involvement: 1964 to 1973

  2. PARTICIPATE! • Earn Points after every response: • 4pts: The student response provides an insightful accurate analysis of the event(s) and cites convincing historical evidence to support the analysis, shows full comprehension of complex ideas expressed • INSIGHTFUL (Difficult to obtain) • 3pts: The student response provides a mostly accurate analysis of the event(s) and cites convincing historical evidence to support the analysis, shows a comprehension of complex ideas expressed • 2pts: The student response provides a generallyaccurate analysis of the event(s) and cites convincing historical evidence to support the analysis, shows basic comprehension of complex ideas expressed • 1pts: The student response provides a minimally accurate analysis of the event(s) and cites convincing historical evidence to support the analysis, shows limited comprehension of complex ideas expressed • 0pts: Inaccurate & Off base

  3. Vietnam after France loses Control • 1954- Battle of Dien Bien Phu • France loses control of Vietnam • Geneva Conference • Division at 17th parallel • Elections in July 1956 • Disliked by Eisenhower • Ngo Dinh Diem- SV Ho Chi Minh-NV • US supports SV financially • Creation of SEATO

  4. Escalating Tensions between NV & SV • Ngo Dinh Diem cancel elections in 1956 • Vietcong (VC) & National Liberation Front (NLF) were anti Ngo • NLF assassinated 2,000 govt officials in1960 • Civil War in Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem

  5. Vietnam War under Kennedy • Buddhists protest Ngo reforms (Self-Immolation) • US increased US military advisors to 16,000 • JFK authorized US forces to engage in direct combat • US Casualties: 14 in 1961 • 500 in 1963 • Nov. 1, 1963- coup (encouraged by US) overthrows and kills Ngo Dinh Diem

  6. What if… • Aides reveal that JFK planned to end US involvement once re-elected in 1964 • Kennedy Quote (two months before assassination): • In the final analysis it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send them our men out there as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communists.

  7. Vietnam under LBJ • LBJ fearful of Communist Vietnam & Domino Theory • Aug. 1964- NV “attacked” two US destroyers (Maddox & Turner Joy) in Gulf of Tonkin • Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • HofR: 414-0 & S 88-2 • Take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression. • Feb 1965- US base at Pleiku was attacked

  8. Escalation during LBJ • War Strategy • Disrupt the Ho Chi Min Trail • Operation Rolling Thunder- non stop bombing of NV for three years • By 1967: US were dropping a daily average of 800 tons of bombs on NV • More bombs dropped by 1967 than the Allied during all of WWII • Search and Destroy Missions & War on Attrition • Use of Napalm, Cluster Bombs, and Agent Orange (Defoliant) • Escalation of Troops • 1965: 185,000 • 1966: 400,000 • 1967: 470,000 • 1968: 550,000

  9. Ho Chi Minh’s Words • “If the tiger ever stands still, the elephant will crush him with his mighty tusks. But the tiger does not stand still…. He will leap upon the back of the elephant, tearing huge chunks from his hide, and then the tiger will leap back into the dark jungle. And slowly the elephant will bleed to death. That will be the war in Indochina .” • “You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.”

  10. Tet Offensive • Jan 30, 1968- massive strike by NV • Over 67,000 Vietcong attacked 100 cities, bases, and embassies • Heavy fighting in Saigon and Da Nang • Vietcong lost approx. 40,000 vs US & SV lost of 5,000 • Over one month before US gained control • Changed public opinion on the War • Walter Cronkite (CBS Evening News): I thought we were winning the War! What the hell is going on! • Hawks- 62% to 22% • Doves-22% to 42% in 1968 • LBJ seeks Peace after Tet Offensive • US Position: all N. Vietnam forces should withdraw from SV and Nguyen Van Thieu govt should remain • NV: US troops withdraw, Vietcong coalition govt should replace Thieu • Feb 1968- 60% US against LBJ and Vietnam • Division in Democrat Party (McCarthy & RFK) • March 31- LBJ says that he will not seek another term in office

  11. Impact of Vietnam War on the Home Front • Draft • 80% Lower middle class • 18-26 years olds • Large portion were African Americans • 1965: AA made up 24% of battle deaths despite 11% of US pop. • Numbers of Draftees • 5,000 per month in 1965 • 50,000 per month in 1967 • New Left Movement • Attacked American society & Vietnam War • SDS (Tom Hayden & Al Haber) & FSM • Protests (including burning of Draft Cards), Marches, Teach-Ins at Universities • Ex: Kent State University • Vietnam War in your living room (media & television) • Loss of support of LBJ

  12. Vietnam War during Nixon • Vietnamization • Gradual withdrawal of troops over a period of time: “peace with honor” • More responsibility given to SV • US troops reduced from 543,000 to 25,000 by 1973 • Mylai Massacre revealed in 1969 • March 1969- Bombing of Cambodia • Secret until March 1970 • May 1970- Led to Kent State & Jackson State Incidents • Congress repeals Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1970 • 1971- Pentagon Papers Revealed • 7,000 page document • Leaked by Daniel Ellsberg (Former Defense Secretary) to NY Times • No end in sight & no plan • Revealed War was unwinnable and US was just trying to save face • Misleading of Congress & People

  13. My Lai Massacre Trial Controversy (1970) • "I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy. That was my job that day. That was the mission I was given. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women and children. They were all classified as the same, and that's the classification that we dealt with over there, just as the enemy. I felt then and I still do that I acted as I was directed, and I carried out the order that I was given and I do not feel wrong in doing so." William Calley 1970 • According to this statement, what do you think should be the sentencing for Calley?

  14. There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai. I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry....If you are asking why I did not stand up to them when I was given the orders, I will have to say that I was a 2nd Lieutenant getting orders from my commander and I followed them—foolishly, I guess • William Calley August 19 2009

  15. Ending the Vietnam War • Oct. 1972- Reopening of Paris Peace Talks • Dec. 1972- Christmas Bombings in Hanoi and Haiphong • 1973- Paris Accords • Nixon “Peace with Honor” • NV retained control of large areas in South • NV to release POWs within 60 days • US would withdraw forces once released • SV agreed because of promised US support in future • March 1973- last American combat troops left SV • April 1975- Fall of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) & Communist takes over South Vietnam

  16. Costs & Effects of the War • 58,000 Americans dead & 360,000 wounded • NV & SV deaths: 1.5 mil. • Inflation in the 1970s & less govt. spending on Govt. programs • Indochina unstable (ex: Cambodia) • 150 billion spent on the War • Distrust of the Govt (Pentagon Papers, My lai Massacre, Bombing of Cambodia, etc. in addition to Watergate Scandal) • War Powers Act passed in 1973 • Prez must inform Congress 48 hours that troops were sent • Troops may remain for 60 days unless Congress approves the president’s actions or declares War • 26th Amendment in 1971 • Loss of Confidence in fight against Communists (in Cold War)

  17. Analyze the ways in which the Vietnam War heightened social, political, andeconomic tensions in the United States. Focus your answer on the period 1964 to 1975 • Consider SOAPSTONE • Historical Inference: The Act or process of reaching a conclusion about history form known facts (outside info.) or evidence (sources)

  18. Analyze the ways in which the Vietnam War heightened social, political, and economic tensions in the United States. Focus your answer on the period 1964 to 1975

  19. Country Joe and the Fish, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die,” 1965 Well, come on Wall Street, don’t move slow, Why man, this is war au-go-go. There’s plenty good money to be made By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade, Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb, They drop it on the Viet Cong. And it’s one, two, three, What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam. And it’s five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates, Well there ain’t no time to wonder why Whoopee! we’re all gonna die. Well, come on mothers throughout the land, Pack your boys off to Vietnam. Come on fathers, don’t hesitate, Send ’em off before it’s too late. Be the first one on your block To have your boy come home in a box.

  20. Source: Martin Luther King, 1967 . . . it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.

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