The Vietnam War

Libertyville HS

Background of the War

• France est. empire in “Indochina”: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

• Japan and WWII

• France and WWII– FDR reluctant to

help Fr. hold onto empire

Truman and Vietnam

• France (1946-1954)– DeGaulle convinced

Truman of necessity (contain communism)

– US cost = >$110 million per year

– Equal to 80% of war

– Opium connection

Ike and Vietnam“Domino Theory”

• Ike believed that if Vietnam fell to communism, so too would Cambodia, Laos, Philllipines, Indonesia – maybe even Australia and New Zealand!

• Sent about 160 advisors

Dien Bein Phu (1954)

• French defeat by communists

• North Vietnam established

The Vietnamese Leadership• Geneva Accords divided

country at 17th Parallel• North Vietnam– Capital: Hanoi– Leader: Ho Chi Minh– Communist

Ho Chi Minh

Nguyen Diem

• South Vietnam• Capital: Saigon• Leader: Nguyen Diem• Democratic• Diem Catholic in Buddhist

Country (tension)

Vietnam in 1954

Kennedy and Vietnam

• JFK sent a total of 16000 “military advisors”

• Diem’s regime was very unpopular– Repression of Buddhists– Nepotism

• National Liberation Front, or “Viet Cong” was directed from North

• JFK was very concerned @ being sucked into combat ops in Vietnam…

Buddhist monk immolating himself in protest in Saigon, 1963, to protest torture of Buddhist monks and priests. According toeyewitnesses, the monk never spoke, cried out, or moved whilehe burned.

LBJ And Vietnam• Johnson escalated the war

effort• “I’m not going to be the

president who saw SE Asia go the way China went”

• August 1964: engineered the Gulf of Tonkin resolution– Fake (?) attack on US destroyer

off coast of N Vietnam– Congress passed resolution

authorizing military to “take all necessary measures … to prevent further aggression”

USS Maddox

LBJ Escalation

• LBJ increased troop levels from 16,000 to over ½ million by 1968

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968

U.S. Troops

The Ground War

Average age of US Soldier in Vietnam = 19

The Ground War

The Air War• Operation “Rolling

Thunder”– March 1865 to 1968– B-52s – 70k pounds of

conventional bombs– Frag bombs– Agent Orange– Napalm– Carpet Bombing– “Puff the Magic Dragon”

• Close air support• 3 miniguns w/ 6000 RPM

By tonnage, more bombs were droppedon Vietnam than during the entiretyof World War II.

Who is the Enemy?

• Vietcong:– Farmers by day; guerillas at night.– Patience with willingness to

accept many casualties.– Underestimated by the United

States.

The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win. -- Mao Zedong

Who were the Enemy?

Who were the Enemy?

Who were the Enemy?

Children flee after USAF mistakenly dropped bomb on village, 1972

My Lai Massacre• Mylai Massacre, 1968• 200-500 unarmed villagers

• Lt. William Calley,Platoon Leader

Tet Offensive, 1968

Tet Offensive, 1968

Tet Offensive, 1968

South Vietnamese police chief executes suspected Viet Cong fighter

Tet Offensive, 1968

American Army Morale

z The poor and minorities.

z Racial problems.z Drug

problems.z Extended

combat tours

Protesting Vietnam

Protesting Vietnam: “Hanoi Jane” Fonda

Fallout from the War

• Johnson made announcement in March 1968:

“…I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

Nixon and Vietnam

• “Peace with Honor”

• “Silent Majority”

• Vietnamization– Withdraw

American soldiers and shift burden of defense to S. Vietnamese

Ceasefire, 1973

• “Peace is at hand” Kissinger, 1972

• 1973: Ceasefire signed between U.S., South Vietnam, & North Vietnam

• “Peace with honor”attained

The End

The End

America Abandons Its Embassy, April

30, 1975

The End

Communism, Ascendant

Counting the Cost

1. 3,000,000 Vietnamese killed2. 58,000 Americans killed; 300,000

wounded3. 2.59 million mobilized4. “The wring war in Asia destroyed

the right war at home.”- LBJ5. $150,000,000,000 in U.S. spending6. U.S. morale, self-confidence, trust

of government, decimated

Vietnam Today

2,583 American POWs / MIAs today.

POWs: “The Hanoi Hilton”

Vietnam Memorial

A Hero

MEYERKORD HAROLD DALE LT O3 N 19371009 19650316 ST LOUIS MO 01E 096

Harold Dale Meyerkord was born 9 October 1937 atSt. Louis, Mo. He graduated from Navy Officer Candidate School at Newport, R.I. on 14 June 1960 and was assigned to the heavy cruiser Los Angeles (CA-135), where he and myDad became close friends. He reported to the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam 13 July 1964. He was Senior Naval Adviser to the South Vietnamese 23d River Assault Group, responsible for suppressing Vietcong terror in South Vietnam's "rice bowl"; the group probed the Delta waterways, engaging Vietcong guerrillas in operations in which Lieutenant Meyerkord distinguished himself for coolness, resourcefulness, and concern for his men.

While leading his assault group into Vietcong-held territory 16 March 1965, Lieutenant Meyerkord's patrol was ambushed. Though wounded, he steadfastly returned the enemy's fire until hit again, this time mortally. Lieutenant Meyerkord's heroism was recognized by posthumous award of the Navy Cross. He was also awarded the Air Medal for completing20 low-level aerial reconnaissance missions under enemy fire.