The Vietnam War

America’s Longest War

How it all got started

• Originally Vietnam belonged to the French and Japan takes over

• 1945---Japan was defeated transfer all power

• Ho Chi Minh creates the National Liberation Committee of Vietnam

• British land in Saigon to return authority to France

1944-1947

• 1944--- Ho Chi Minh is leading the Vietminh( who are a popular movement of Catholics, Buddhists, small business men, communists and farmers) in their fight for freedom against France

• Makes appeals to FDR for help states that they are not communist just want to be free--- “Indochina could be a fertile field for American capital enterprise”

• Democratic Republic of Vietnam was not recognized so United States would not help

• Instead help French giving them 2 atomic bombs

1946

• France recognizes Vietnam as a free state within the French Union

• Negotiations between France and the provisional government in Vietnam are not going well

• Democratic government of Vietnam (Vietminh) launches its first attack against France

1947

• Vietminh move north of Hanoi

1944-1947

• Ho Chi Minh is forced to look elsewhere for support

• Where does he look???????

• The USSR and China (both Communist)

• Offer weapons to support

1953-

• Vietminh (communist) push into Laos

• Major battle occurs--- Vietminh and French Vietminh make it impossible for the French to get supplies because they shell the airstrip

• French have meet their match

• Domino Theory is issued regarding Southeast Asia

1954

• The Geneva Accords (decided upon by what is called the Geneva Conventions which were for separate treaties that dealt with humanitarian concerns) temporarily divide Vietnam in half along the 17th parallel

• North Vietnam and South Vietnam • Supposedly there is supposed to be elections to reunify

in two years • Meanwhile---- The CIA assumes that Ho Chi Minh( now

in the North) will win if elections are held • Ho Chi Minh creates the Workers’ Party

CIA and Vietnam

• CIA creates a secret police that is ran by the South Vietnamese

• Its main purpose is to destroy the Vietcong’s (North) infrastructure

• During the program’s course they operate as death units ------ it is said that they burned houses, tortured and sabotaged the people of Vietnam

• Did this so that it would look like the Vietcong did this

1954-1957

• Ngo Dinh Diem returns from exile to head up the government in the South

• Elections are set in the South • Diem easily wins • Diem is backed by the United States • Soviets proposes that Vietnam stay divided and

join United Nations as separate states • United States (under Eisenhower) does not

agree • Laos is granted independence from France

1954-1957

• Major battle between the French and Vietminh

• It is clear during this battle that the French have meet their match

• Diem rejects the Geneva Accords condition that free elections must take place

• China and the Soviets pledge additional support

1956-1960

• French leave Vietnam

• Who enters the picture??????

• Remember that we (United States has a policy in place where we help countries against communist powers)

• You got it The United States intervenes to clean up a French mess once again

What role do we play????

• The United States begins training the South Vietnamese forces to withstand communist

• The United States Military Assistance Advisor Group (M.A.A.G)

• What does U.S.S.R think about the United States being involved ???????

1956-1960

• Khrushchev warns that “history is on our side. We will bury you”

• Remember that the Geneva Convention set a time frame where national elections had to be held-----

• The election deadline comes and goes----no elections are held

CONFLICT BEGINS!!!!!!!!

• 1957---- Communist insurgency in South Vietnam

• Guerrillas assassinate more than 400 South Vietnamese officials

• 13 Americans working for M.A.A.G and the United States information service are wounded in terrorist bombing in Saigon

1956-1960

• Communist forces settle along the Mekong delta

• North Vietnam forms group 559 to begin infiltrating cadres and weapons into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail

• The trail will become a strategic target for future military attacks

1956-1960

• Vice President Nixon engages in Khrushchev in kitchen debates

• These debates were a series of impromptu debate (through interpreters) between Vice President Nixon and Khrushchev at the opening of American National Exhibition in Moscow

• For this event an entire American house was built that they claimed anyone could afford

• Filled with things that were supposed to represent the fruits of capitalism

• It is called this not only because they took place in a Kitchen but because Nixon tried to steer the focus to household appliances instead of bomb and weapons

1956-1960

• 1959---- the first United States servicemen were killed in Guerilla attacks-----

• Things begin heating up as far as the war goes

1956-1960

• North Vietnam impose universal conscription

• What is conscription??????

• Military draft

• Meanwhile in the United States

1956-1960

• United States has elected the youngest President ever………

• John F. Kennedy

• Kennedy declares that Americans will be ready to “bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty….”

1956-1960

• There is a coup attempt on Diem but he survives

• Vietcong officially is formed--- National liberation front for South Vietnam they are dubbed the Vietcong

1961-1965

• Conflict continues

• Kennedy meets Khrushchev in Vienna

• Vice President Johnson tour Saigon Diem calls him the “Churchill of Asia”

• Kennedy authorizes the Green Berets---special forces operation that will specialize in counterinsurgency

1961-1965

• Air Force begins using Agent Orange-----a defoliant that came in metal orange containers to expose roadways and trails used by the Vietcong Forces

• Studies have shown that populations that were exposed to this have increased risk for cancer, genetic defects

1961-1965

• 1963----- President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas and how to proceed in Vietnam is left up to Lyndon Johnson

• Johnson makes the decision to intensify by the spring of 1964 full war is waged

1961-1965

• August 2, 1964---- three north Vietnamese PT boats allegedly fire torpedoes at the U.S.S Maddox

• Why is this a big deal????/• U.S.S Maddox was located in international waters ---Gulf

of Tokin • Jonson claimed that this was the second attack on

American destroyers • First was in response to covert operations of the United

States and South Vietnam • Second attack which later proved to be unfounded lead

the United States to open involvement in the war

Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution

• Johnson’s address to Congress • America keeps her word…. We shall honor our

commitments • Issue is Southeast Asia as a whole. A threat to any

nation in that region is a threat to all, and a threat to us • Purpose is peace, we have no military, political, territorial

ambitions in the area • This is a struggle for freedom on every front of human

activity • Communist regime has violated Geneva Accords

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Asks for Congress to join in in affirming the national determination that all attacks must be met and the United States continue its policy of assisting free nations to defend their freedom

• Must be clear that the United States is determined to bring about end of Communist subversion

What does Congress do?

• Approve and support the President to make all necessary measures to repel any armed attack

• United States regards to its national interest peace and security of Southeast Asia

• Resolution shall expire when President shall determine peace and security of the area

• Gave Johnson permission for war without ever securing formal Declaration of War from Congress

1961-1965

• Lyndon Johnson is elected as President of the United States

• Johnson is elected on the premise de-escalation of United States involvement in the war

1965

• Operation Rolling Thunder ----American bombing raids go on for three years

• Objectives were to destroy industrial bases and air defenses and to stop supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Considered a failure since no of the objectives were reached

1965

• First battles take place in the Drang Valley

• Heavy casualties are reported on both sides

• United States troops top 200,000

1965

• Vietnam “Teach In” broadcasts into universities

• This was the practice of protesting United States policy in Vietnam by holding these at colleges and universities

• Featured seminars, rallies and speeches • First one takes place in March and by May

over 100 campuses were engaging in activity

Protest

• War is still going strong despite protest in America • Veterans from World War I and World War II along with

veterans from Korean Conflict stage a protest rally in New York City

• Burn discharge papers and separation papers in protest of United States involvement in the Vietnam War

• Protest comes from C.O.R.E ---Congress of Racial Equality issues a report that states military draft places a “heavy discriminatory burden on minority groups and the poor”

• Call for a complete withdrawal of troops

Protests

• Johnson meets with leader of South Vietnam and promises to keep helping

• Meanwhile protest are spreading • Martin Luther King, Jr. ---- Publicly

speaks out against the war calls the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world” later encourages draft evasion and suggests a merger between civil rights and antiwar groups

1968

• Tet Offensive--- called this because it takes place in the lunar new year (Jan 30-Jan 31) which is the Tet

• It was a show of military might that catches the United States military off guard North forces sweep down in several cities including Saigon

• United States does end up recapturing most but it is seen as a political and psychological victory for Communist

• Why???????

Media

• Media portrayal of the Vietnam War was psychologically damaging

• Johnson popularity fell which caused him to announce that “I will not seek and will not accept the nomination of my party”

• After Tet Offensive “all gloom and doom” in the United States press

• Press and Television had created an aura not of victory but of defeat

Media

• This isolated incident of violence was spread all over by the media

• Vietcong leader being shot by North in Saigon

Walter Cronkite

• Major newscaster during this time • February of 1968 he interviews discouraged

soldiers and officers he directly criticizes the military and leadership

• “we have been too often disappointed by the optimism of American leaders both in Vietnam and Washington to have faith in the silver lining they find in the darkest cloud”

• Stated that the “U.S. was in a stalemate”

1968

• 250,000 more troops are requested for war

• My Lai Massacre----- was committed by United States soldiers on hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children on March 16, 1968

• It reduced American support at home for the war

What Happened?????

• During the Tet Offensive it was said that National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (communist) had retreated in the village of Song My and the villagers there were accused of harboring these soldiers as well

• United States soldiers were told that villagers had left and all that was left were the Viet Cong or Viet Cong sympathizers

• U.S. soldiers were instructed to destroy the village

What Happened?????

• There were no insurgents----enraged because fellow platoon members were killed on previous occasions they gave little thought to their action

• It is rumored that the soldiers ask where the Viet Cong were and the villagers did not know or refused to reveal their location

• U.S. suspected that the VC were in homes or elderly parents or hiding underground

• Killing spree begins ---- women, children, elderly men babies

What Happened ???????

• Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic firearms

• Number killed varies from 300 to 500

• Soldiers said that they were convinced that any and all villagers could be a threat

Aftermath

• The massacre fueled the American peace movement, which demanded withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam

• Also it lead more draftees to file for conscientious objector status-----

• Individual who following religion, moral or ethical status dictates of his or her country deems themselves incompatible with being a military combatant in military service

Aftermath 1970

• Massive antiwar demonstrations take place

• As the protest from the Tet Offensive and the My Lai Massacre grew they began to become more violent

• Kent State University Incident-

Kent State

• Kent, Ohio • Involved the shootings of students by members of the

Ohio National Guard • 4 were killed and Nine were wounded • Why were the students protesting• Students were protesting Nixon sending troops into

Cambodia (part of the Vietnam War) • Nixon had been elected on the premise that he would

end the Vietnam War • The My Lai Massacre had just been exposed • First lottery draft since World War II had been institutited

Kent State

• Since the war was suppose to be winding down the students were and a new invasion had been announced students and teachers began to worry about being drafted

• Across the country campuses erupted in protest Time magazine called it “a nation wide student strike”

Why were they Shot

• National Guard had been there a couple of days to ensure safety

• They were being taunted and called “Pigs”

• Threw tear gas canisters at the men

• Quickly it erupted into shootings by the National Guard

• Guardsmen claimed they fired in self defense

End is in Sight

• Nixon begins bringing troops home

Paris Peace Talks

• Peace talks begin and were signed by 1973

• The intent was to establish peace in Vietnam and put an end to the Vietnam War

Provisions for Peace

• U.S. troops withdraw completely within 60 days

• U.S. prisoners of war (along with other foreign troops) would be released and allowed to return home as well as

• Reunification of Vietnam through peaceful means

• Free elections would take place to determine the fate of the country

End is in Sight 1973

• End of draft announced

• Last American troops begin leaving

• Communist begin taking control of Vietnam

• Ford calls the Vietnam War finished