The Vietnam War: 40 Years Later

8/9/2019 The Vietnam War: 40 Years Later

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The Vietnam War

It has been 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War. Now, it’s time to reflect on it in a higher level. I wroteabout the Vietnam War (which lasted from 1945 to 1975) on many occasions, but this time feels different. Iwant this work to be my official statement on the Vietnam War as a human being. Vietnamese people havebeen the victims of colonialism, racism, economic exploitation, and imperialism by a corrupt Western powerstructure. This power structure is not just found in America or in the UK. It is an international power structure,which has been used to suppress the human rights of people, especially people of color (and it gets thenatural resources of nations via vulturistic capitalism). The voices of the oppressed have the right to beheard and we have the right to find the truth. I was not born when the Vietnam War transpired, but myparents lived during that time period of the Vietnam War. Even today, the Vietnam War has affected thepsyche of American society. The Vietnam War was not only an evil, unjust imperialist war. It caused thedeaths of millions of Vietnamese people and the deaths of thousands of American people. The Vietnam Warhad over 2.5 million Americans who served there.

Vietnamese and American human beings suffered torture, abuse, and murder during the Vietnam War. Thereis no justification for that whatsoever. No human being should experience unjust abuse and mistreatment



Over half of the peasants of Tonkin and Annam were landless during the 1930’s. Cochinchina had about 75percent of their population being landless and the rest owned next to nothing.

Tenant farmers and sharecroppers had to pay from 50 to 70 percent of their crops to landlords and inaddition to provide free gifts and services. French economic exploitation of Vietnam continued. Rubberplantations were the locations where many Vietnamese workers were tricked into working at. The conditionsfor the workers were slave-like. There was malnutrition, malaria, etc. in various Michelin company plantations.The French didn’t just use economic exploitation against Vietnam. They used a paternalistic and racistmentality against the Vietnamese people. The French back then thought that they were bringing “civilization”and “liberty” to Indochina when the French were bringing tyranny and oppression. Even before the Frenchconquest, 80 percent of the Vietnamese people were literate and wrote Chinese ideographs for writtenVietnamese. The French banned the Chinese characters and introduced either French or quoc ngu, the Latinalphabet for the Vietnamese language. It proved to be a disaster. On the eve of the Second World War, lessthan one fifth of school age Vietnamese boys were attending school. Vietnamese people, under Frenchcolonialism, were denied of basic human rights. Dissent, which was organized against the French, wasrepressed. The French police confiscated books and newspapers that they deemed “subversive.” Many of thewealthy Vietnamese people, who set their children to school in France, returned home to Vietnam underrepression still.

"...Our resistance will be long and painful, but whatever the sacrifices, however long the struggle, weshall fight to the end, until Vietnam is fully independent and reunified..."

-Ho Chi Minh's statement on December 19, 1946The Beginning of Ho Chi Minh

Then, there came Ho Chi Minh. Modern Vietnamese nationalism existed in the first decade of the 1900’s via adissident section of the mandarin class . Some mandarins served the puppet emperors of the French. Yet,some of them questioned their role in colonial Vietnam. Some wanted to use the Chinese and the Japaneseas a means for them to defeat the French. Others wanted to use the French to cause Vietnam to be amodern society. Members of both factions were still arrested and oppressed by the French. Ho Chi Minh



grew up in a nationalist household with a father. His father was a disaffected mandarin. Ho’s father hated theFrench and the mandarin system. Ho Chi Minh participated in demonstrations against the French in 1908when he was just 15 years old.

When the French repressed the demonstrations harshly, Ho Chi Minh was furthered inspired and radicalizedin his life. The French police monitored him. He left Vietnam in 1911 in fear of arrest. He went to France via aFrench ocean liner (where worked there on a job). Ho Chi Minh would never return to Vietnam until 30 yearslater. In 1917, he moved to Paris. During this period, was the First World War I. There was the RussianRevolution occurring, which ended the Russian Czarist regime. He lived with a very large Vietnamesecommunity in France with 100,000 people. They had political debates. Ho Chi Minh was known as NguyenAi Quoc or Nguyen “the patriot” ironically enough. Ho worked with activists in the French Socialist Party.He became a leading Vietnamese activist quickly in France. Ho Chi Minh wanted desperately for Europeanpolicies to respect the self-determination of the Vietnamese people during the 1919 Versailles peaceconference. That conference was established as a way for European power to resolve the First World War. HoChi Minh came there to petition for the human rights of Vietnam. He was inspired by U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson’s 14 Points program that called for the rights of nations to have self-determination. Hostopped short of calling for independence for Vietnam back then. Yet, he wanted more democratic rights forVietnamese people along with the release of all political prisoners. Ho Chi Minh was turned away when hetried to meet with the American delegation. Wilson wanted self-determination mostly for European countriesnot for oppressed, colonial peoples. Yet, Ho Chi Minh gained prestige for his courageous stand for hisVietnamese people at Versailles.

He was the Indochinese delegate to the French Socialist Party conference in Tours. The party was about tosplit between a majority who wanted to ally with the Communist International or Cominterm in Moscow anda minority who did not. Ho Chi Minh read a copy of Lenin’s “ Thesis on the National and ColonialQuestions.” It inspired him to further advocate self-determination of the Vietnamese people. Lenin said thatoppressed nations have the right to express self-determination.

"At first, patriotism, not yet Communism, led me to have confidence in Lenin, in the Third International. Stepby step, along the struggle, by studying Marxism-Leninism parallel with participation in practical activities, Igradually came upon the fact that only socialism and communism can liberate oppressed nations," he toldan interviewer in 1960. Ho joined the new French Communist Party and after several more years of politicalactivity in France he left for Moscow in 1924. In Moscow, the Comintern was degenerating politically. Stalinwanted the creation of socialism in one country at a time (or a nationalist state led development instead ofworking class internationalism). Even Lenin in his 1920 Cominterm thesis warned revolutionaries to notmerge bourgeois democracy in the colonial nations, so the independence of the proletarian movement canexist more thoroughly. Stalin opposed the opposite policy in China. Ho Chi Minh would be a Stalinist for therest of his life. In Vietnam, many revolutionary groups were formed to fight against the French colonialregime during the 1920’s. These people included peasants, workers, and intellectuals. There were the 1928

strikes, which started in Saigon. It included petroleum workers, brewery workers, rubber workers, railroadworkers, etc. The French suppressed the strike.

Ho Chi Minh went to the February 1930 Communist meeting. Communist groups agreed to unite in Vietnamin the ICP or the Indochinese Communist Party. They wanted to overthrew the French imperialists, haveVietnam to establish independence, confiscate the stolen wealth held by the French, have equality of thesexes, have universal education, and create an eight hour day including an abolition of unjust taxes. TheFrench imprisoned thousands of ICP members. The French made token concessions like opening up the



election process. The French Popular Front government led by the Socialist Leon Blum came to power in July1936. Later in 1939, a right wing government existed in France. Vietnam saw more repression against thenationalists and the communists. The ICP went underground. Some members like Von Nguyen Giap fled toChina too. He led the Vietnamese troops from 1946 to 1980. Almost all of his immediate family died inprison. Ho Chi Minh’s second wife was executed by the French.

Vietnam and World War II

The Second World War came when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. Japan soon controlled Vietnamfrom the French. Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1941 to fight the French and the Japanese imperialists.Vietminh was created to fight against the Japanese fascists and the French imperialists. They wanted arevolutionary government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Guerrilla fighting occurred for three years.The Japanese and the French worked together to try to destroy the Vietminh, but they couldn’t do it. TheVietnamese people died in heavy numbers because of the famine of the early 1940’s.Yet, Vietnminh forcescontinued to fight on. The OSS worked with the Vietminh in locating and helping downed Allied pilots inVietnam. Many of the OSS expressed great sympathy for the Vietnamese struggle for independence and a

deep hatred for French colonialism. The August Revolution of August 13, 1945 caused the Vietnamesepeople to independently create their own independence via insurrection. Emperor Bao Dai wanted to be acitizen not a King. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam. Vietnamwas a provisional government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Hanoi, Hue, and Saigon became free.Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence in front of a crowd of 200,000 people in Hanoi including members ofthe American O.S.S. Vietnam was the first colony to declare independence after WWII.



Vietnam vs. the French imperialists

The opening line of Ho Chi Minh's speech paraphrased the American Declaration of Independence –"All menare created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights: among these are Life,

Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." During that day, Ho wanted desperately to seek American aid tosupport Vietnam’s independence even invoking the American Revolution. He didn’t want France to ruleVietnam again. Yet, the first Vietnam War will exist between the Vietnamese and France from 1945 to 1954.France and Great Britain didn’t want Vietnam to be independent obviously. Chinese nationalist troops werein Vietnam in late August 1945. More than 200,000 Chinese troops were in Tonkin by mid-September. Ho’sgovernment was in Hanoi. The British General Douglas Gracey went into Saigon on September 22, 1945. TheBritish wanted the French to have an empire in Indochina while controlling their own Empire (under theguise of “anti-communism”). The British came into Vietnam; they rearmed the French, and fought theVietminh. French residents assaulted and killed Vietnamese people on the streets of Saigon. The Vietminhcounterattacked on September 24, 1945.



This image shows French General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc in the left, Ho Chi Minh in the center, andFrench Commissioner Jean Sainteny (in the right) having a toast in Hanoi. This was when these peoplesigned an agreement on March 15, 1946. This agreement allowed the French army to occupy Vietnam

including the cities of Saigon and Hanoi. Obviously, the French broke their agreement and Ho Chi Minhhad every right to organize his Vietnamese people to defeat the French imperialists.

O.S.S. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Dewey was killed that night outside of Saigon– the first American to die inVietnam. In his last message to O.S.S. command, he issued his warning that "we ought to clear out ofSoutheast Asia." Gracey fought and negotiated with the Vietminh. The Americans soon armed and equippedthe French under Marshall Leclerc. Gracey used a coup to try to bring the French to power. The U.S.government approved by Gracey’s evil. Still, the French didn’t control all of the Vietnam. The Vietminhfought back, but they initially welcomed the British landing. The Vietnamese Trotskyist Committee leaguedisagreed with this. The Vietminh wanted to negotiate with the imperialists in a “moderate” course. Theywere opposed to the national struggle being transformed into a class struggle against the Vietnameselandlords and capitalists. Later in a few months, the Vietminh murdered the leadership of the Trotskyistmovement. This left the Vietminh control of the nationalist movement. Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh madethe error of having an agreement with the French in March of 1946. Ho justified this by saying that he ratherhas a deal with the French than with the Chinese. Once again, the French double crossed the Vietnamesepeople. The French made Boa Dai the emperor of a new nation based in Cochinchina.

The French refused to recognize the DRV or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or a tiny mini state inTonkin. By October 1946, French and Vietminh military forces fought. The French Prime Minister George

Bidault ordered the shelling of Haiphong (which was supported by French deputy prime Minister and headof the French Communist Party Maurice Thorenz), which killed 6,000 Vietnamese people. So, this was thebeginning of the first Vietnam War and it began with the support of the French Communist Party. The U.S.aided the French from 1947. America funded most of the French war effort by 1954 in the realm of 80percent or 2 billion dollars. Ho Chi Minh abandoned Hanoi. Ho realized that he stood alone againstimperialist brutes. He said that: “…We apparently stand quite alone; we shall have to depend on ourselves."The French had early success.



Then, the Vietminh came back and defeated the French. The Vietminh had support among the peasants. TheFrench could never break the spirits of the peasantry. Even 40,000 Legionnaires (over half fought for theNazis in WWII) could not defeat the Vietnamese people. Mao’s government aided the Vietnamese forces. By1950, Russia and China finally recognized Ho Chi Minh’s government. The French lost a lot of people. About90,000 French soldiers died, were wounded, or were captured by 1953. The French said that light was at the

end of the tunnel, but there wasn’t. You shall reap what you shall sow. The French were finally defeated atDien Bein Phu in 1954. The French had a siege and they were defeated by the Veitminh. The Frenchsurrendered on May 7, 1954.

The 1954 Geneva Accords

Later, a conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland. The Geneva Accords were a temporary interludebetween the two wars. The Geneva meeting involved the U.S, Britain, France, Russia, Vietnam, and China. TheGeneva Accords were signed by the Vietminh delegation and the French. They agreed to divide Vietnam into2 parts into troop re-groupment zones along the 17th parallel with a demilitarized zone separating them.The divide was temporary. There would be elections in 2 years to decide who will run Vietnam. Laos andCambodia would become independent countries. America never signed the accords. America just said that itwould abide by them, which they didn’t. During this time, Eisenhower was President and the fanatical anti-communist Secretary of State John Foster Dulles didn’t want a nationalist movement to rule Vietnam (thatwasn’t controlled by America back then). Dulles didn’t want the Vietminh to have full victory. Any electionwould allow Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh to win a majority of the Vietnamese people. The Chinese putpressure on the Vietminh to make some concessions involving the Geneva Accords. The U.S. wanted toprevent Ho Chi Minh to be elected leader of all of Vietnam. So, they wanted to stop elections and create apuppet anti-communist state in South Vietnam (which was in violation of the Geneva Accords). The U.S.formed a mini state in South Vietnam.

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Later, that regime in South Vietnam used police state tactics, arbitrary arrests, and so many violations ofhuman rights that coups occurred. The South Vietnamese regime was so unpopular that American troopscame to intervene to keep it from collapsing. The U.S. got Emperor Bao Dai to appoint Ngo Dinh Diem asPresident of the new Republic of South Vietnam. Diem was a Roman Catholic who had powerful influencesfrom Cardinal Spellman and then Senator John F. Kennedy. Also, then Senator John F. Kennedy in the 1950’scriticized Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles for contemplating the usage of atomic weapons at Dien BeinPhu to bail out the French in 1954. JFK visited Saigon in 1954 to meet with Edmund Gullion. Edmund Gulliontold JFK that anti-colonial movements in the world couldn’t be stopped by Western imperialism. The Diemfamily was wealthy. Some compare the Diems to Duvaliers of Haiti and the Somoza family of Nicaraguaincluding the Maroces of the Philippines. Nhu or Diem’s brother was the head of the secret police. His otherbrother was the Catholic Bishop of Hue. Diem was educated in America, but he wanted to have anauthoritarian rule of South Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem

The dictator Diem held a rigged referendum on his rule in 1955 after which he announced that he had won98.2 percent of the vote. Diem wanted to control Saigon. So, the CIA sent a team led by Colonel EdwardLansdale to help Diem launch a war for the control of Saigon. Lansdale defeated armed religious groups, etc.Lansdale used covert acts in North Vietnam. He also helped create the flight of almost one million Catholicrefugees to South Vietnam. Many of these refugees were the political base along with landowners, formerFrench collaborators and the local bourgeoisie, for Diem’s anti-communist government.

Diem created a wave of terrorism against the supporters of the Vietminh. By the late 1950’s, thousands ofVietminh members were jailed, killed, or wiped their presence. Diem’s government’s own figures–which most



likely underestimated the numbers–reported that they had placed up to 20,000 Vietminh supporters indetention camps and had jailed 48,250 people between 1954 and 1960. In one district of 180,000 people,7,000 were imprisoned and another 13,000 simply disappeared. So, Diem used a counterrevolution inVietnam and used the power of the state to return the rich landlords to power. U.S. military and economicaid poured into the country. This formed a new corrupt business class and garrison state loyal to Diem.

Opposition grew against Diem in the late 1950’s. Diem supported the Law 10/59, which allowed the Saigongovernment to jail any person under the allegation of “communist activity." By 1960, Diem’s regime was socorrupt that it was isolated. The masses of the population expressed huge opposition to Diem. FormerVietminh cadre began to rebuild their decimated ranks in the countryside and resume the armed struggle.The streets were filled with people who opposed Diem too. They were led by Buddhist monks. The Buddhistssuffered at the hands of Diem’s strident Catholic regime. In Northern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh and his WorkersParty (the newly renamed Vietminh) consolidated their regime during the late 1950’s. They implemented theGeneva Accords when Diem disregarded it. The Vietminh fighters and political organizers (including theirfamilies) wanted Ho Chi Minh to do something about Diem’s repressive regime. Vietminh forces were inNorth and South Vietnam. On 1959, Ho Chi Minh finally became committed to liberate the South fromDiem’s dictatorship and his U.S. supporters.

The NLF or the National Liberation Front was created in 1960. The NLF wanted the Diem regime to be gone.The NLF included Communists and non-Communist opponents of Diem. The NLF wanted a program ofdemocratic reform and eventual reunification of the country. They used the rural population as a basis forsupport. They used armed struggle. U.S. forces called the NLF "the Viet Cong." By 1960, the NLF had 5,000armed guerrillas. By the end of 1961, it grew to 15,000. The CIA reported that in 1962, the NLF was in controlof most of the South Vietnamese countryside. President John F. Kennedy was inaugurated President in 1961.JFK was once a Diem’s supporter, but President Kennedy knew that Diem was increasingly corrupt. Diem wasfacing disaster. Diem still refused to stop the repression in South Vietnam. Kennedy wanted to use pressureon Diem to broaden his government base. President Kennedy at first increased the number of military andcivilian advisers in Vietnam. He supported counterinsurgency techniques. There was testing of herbicidalwarfare in Vietnam via Operation Ranch Hand. The U.S. used the counterinsurgency project of using militaryincursions to clear the guerrillas.



John F. Kennedy had secret correspondences withSoviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in seeking détentewith the Soviets. President Kennedy signed theNuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. He promoted aneutral government in Laos. President John F.

Kennedy refused to invade Cuba and he secretly haddiscussions in trying to establish an accommodationalso with Cuba in 1963 (which has been proven byrecently revealed documents) after Kennedy refusedto invade Cuba doing the Cuban Missile Crisis. JFKmade a secret deal with the Soviets (during theCuban Missile Crisis of 1962) to get rid of missilesfrom Turkey while Russian ships left Cuban shores.President John F. Kennedy had said he was willing toaccept an invitation from President Sukarno to visitIndonesia in the spring of 1964. JFK was also working

with Kwame Khrumah of Ghana. JFK supportednationalist movements globally, which otherPresidents have not. This is not just Oliver Stonementioning these words. Great scholars and authors

like James W. Douglas (via his book entitled, "JFK andthe Unspeakable), Jim DiEugenio, etc. have outlinedthis information.

Diem’s overthrow caused more chaos in Vietnam and

it set the stage for the U.S. invasion of Vietnamovertly (in a high level) by 1965. Now, this doesn'tmean that JFK loved Communism. He abhorred it andhe didn't want Vietnam to be a Communist state (ashe has publicly stated), but he refused to usethousands of grounds troops to invade Vietnam. Wecan only speculate what Kennedy would have done.Lyndon Baines Johnson became the new President inlate 1963. LBJ was more aggressive involving Vietnampolicy than President John F. Kennedy. AfterKennedy's assassination, President Johnson passed

NSAM 273 on November 26, 1963. It reversedKennedy's decision to withdraw 1,000 troops, andreaffirmed the policy of assistance to the SouthVietnamese.



The Vietnam War expands

Diem’s new successor was General Duong Van Minh or “Big Minh.” Many people in South Vietnam greetedMinh. Some Americans soon didn’t like General Minh, because he expressed a rapprochement with theBuddhist forces that organized the massive demonstrations against the Diem regime. Minh was talking

about possibly opening talks with the NLF which could have ended the war sooner. Minh called hisgovernment non-communist instead of anti-communist. This raised the hopes that that he wanted topromote the policy of “neutrality” in foreign policy world affairs. This clearly angered Americans who wantedan anti-Communist hardliner for a leader. Then, the Americans organized another military coup. They usedthe Military Assistance Command in Vietnam (or the main body that the U.S. military aid and advisers whowere organized through in Vietnam). The coup occurred in January of 1964. It has been called the “PentagonCoup.” Here is a source (which is from the book entitled, “The Vietnam War: Vietnamese and AmericanPerspectives” on pg. 238. It was written by many authors. It was edited by Jayne Werner and Luu DoanHuynh) on this time of the Vietnam War:

“…At the end of 1963, an in early 1964, the NLF called on Duong Van Minh, who had replaced Diem as

President, to start negotiations with the NLF to organize free elections. President Ho Chi Minh also sent amessage to President Johnson proposing peace talks. French President Charles de Gaulle was willing to actas an intermediary to help bring about compromise and peace. UN Secretary-General U Thant also proposedthat Washington support a coalition government in South Vietnam. The new President of South Vietnam,General Duong Van Minh, also expressed a desire for talks, free elections, a neural policy, and a coalitiongovernment in South Vietnam. The Buddhist and student movements in South Vietnam strongly protestedagainst the war and demanded a solution involving neutralization of South Vietnam. Having suffered greatlyfrom the prolonged war, almost all Vietnamese, and all the opposing parties in Vietnam, including the twoopposing sides in the South, earnestly desired peace talks, coalition, and neutrality. The world and the UNSecretary-General supported the wishes of the Vietnamese people, but the United States stood alone inignoring these desires, preferring instead to continue and intensify the war with the unyielding desire to

make South Vietnam an anti-Communist state. President Johnson rejected all peace talks and all neutralisttendencies. He instructed Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge to crush any talk of neutrality, the moment itsurfaced. Duong Van Minh was then replaced by Nguyen Khanh who truculently called for “a march to theNorth.” With the massive commitment of troops to the war effort, the United States launched a local war insouthern Vietnam as the second rung of the “flexible response” strategy while conducting a destructive airwar against North Vietnam…”



Soon, General Nguyen Khanh was bought to power. Khanh was firmly in opposition to the NLF. He acceptedU.S. military strategies and political strategies from the U.S. embassy. He immediately faced a new wave ofanti-war activity from the Buddhists and radical students of South Vietnam. Khanh was shocked by this andhe began to talk about a negotiated end to the war. The CIA found out that Khanh contacted the NLF inDecember of 1964. Khanh had more contact with the NLF during January and February of 1965. Certainly,

the Western imperialists wanted him to go. So, the Americans (who were led by the new U.S. AmbassadorMaxwell Taylor. Taylor was a retired general who returned to government services under Kennedy) sent hugepressure on Khanh. Khanh left Vietnam and was in exile in France.

The power in South Vietnam was sent to the military triumvirate of Generals Nguyen Cao Ky, Nguyen ChanhThi, and Nguyen Van Thieu. These 3 men ruled South Vietnam for years. The leading person was Ky. Ky wasan evil person. Ky would be the Prime Minister while Thieu became the chief of state. Ky had power until1967 when elections excluded anyone holding “pro-communist” or “neutralist’ views. This caused Thieu to bethe Prime Minister. Thieu won only 35 percent of the vote. Ky worked with the CIA back in the early 1960’s intheir covert operations against North Vietnam. Ky was wrong to tell reporters that his only real hero wasHitler. Ky and Thieu were both trained by the French and had fought against their own people in the FirstVietnam War. So, both men were traitors to the Vietnamese people. On March 1, 1965, they pledged tonever negotiate with the NLF or the North Vietnamese. They said that they would follow the lead ofWashington on all military, political, and diplomatic affairs. Military coups harmed Saigon in 1964 and in1965. By mid-1964, the U.S. strategies developed by the establishment were not working to combat the NLF.

The Vietcong worked with the nationalists, who controlled 40-50 percent of the countryside. The U.S.sponsored counter insurgency tactics only turned the peasantry against the South Vietnamese regime.Another disaster was the Strategic Hamlet program . This U.S. & South Vietnamese program was about thepeasants being uprooted from their traditional villages and burial ground by force. They were sent intoconcentrated walled camps. The villages became concentration camps which were used to separate thepeasant population from the guerrillas. NLF fighters kept on fighting. The Army of Vietnam troops (or theARVN-Diem’s forces) deserted in droves. They didn’t want to defend the regime. Even the Marinepacification expert Lieutenant Colonel William R. Corson admitted that the role of the U.S. puppet regime inSouth Vietnam was "to loot, collect back taxes, reinstall landlords, and conduct reprisals against the people."As historian James Gibson summed up the situation:

"Strategic hamlets had failed….The South Vietnamese regime was incapable of winning the peasantrybecause of its class base among landlords. Indeed, there was no longer a ‘regime’ in the sense of a relativelystable political alliance and functioning bureaucracy. Instead, civil government and military operations hadvirtually ceased. The National Liberation Front had made great progress and was close to declaringprovisional revolutionary governments in large areas."

The NLF grew, because there was massive class inequality in South Vietnam, absence of basic democratic

rights in South Vietnam, and a strong desire to the reunification of Vietnam. The puppet U.S. backed SouthVietnam regime failed to do these things. The Vietnam War evolved from a proxy war being funded byAmerica to a full-fledged American war. The NLF gained ground and U.S. intelligence said that the Saigongovernment was on the verge of collapse.



The Gulf of Tonkin incident

The escalation of the Vietnam War came with the 1964 election and the Gulf of Tonkin incident. LyndonJohnson, in the 1964 Presidential election, ironically spoke about how he didn't want to be involved in amassive American military invasion of Vietnam. Lyndon Baines Johnson was battling against the RepublicanSenator Barry Goldwater (who was one man who, according to some scholars, modernized theconservative/liberatarian movement), who threatened to use nuclear weapons if necessary against NLFforces. LBJ said during the campaign that: “…We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousandmiles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” Yet, the Johnsonadministration behind the scenes was planning to send hundreds of thousands of U.S. ground forces inVietnam after the 1964 election. Many of the policies were concealed from the public back then. Thecredibility gap was about the gap that formed between what the Johnson administration said in public abouttheir policies and what they actually did in Vietnam for real. Gareth Porter’s article entitled, “How LBJ wasDeceived on Gulf of Tonkin” documents how the pro-Vietnam War hawks manipulated President Johnson toadvance a massive bombing campaign in retaliation for the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The article mentionedthat Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara misled LBJ by withholding certain information. Thatinformation was that the U.S. commander in the Gulf later had serious doubts of the initial report andwanted a full investigation by daylight (after the U.S. Commander at first reported the attack).

The Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 was the incident that caused the Vietnam War to go into a more massivemilitary direction. The incident involved a real attack on U.S. forces first on August 2, 1964 (The U.S. used



provocative actions in the waters) and then a phantom or nonexistent attack on the USS Maddox on August4, 1964 (as documented by an updated NSA publication declassified in 2005). There was U.S. Naval ship USSMaddox was conduct DESOTO Operations in Northern Vietnam. The second phantom, false incident stillcaused the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to be passed. On August 7, 1964, the Senate voted 98 to 2 and theHouse of Representatives voted 441 to 0 in favor. It was enacted on August 10, 1964. It was not repealed by

Congress until January of 1971. The resolution allowed Johnson "to take all necessary measures to repel anyarmed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” This resolution gaveLyndon Johnson the legal authority to wage war in Vietnam. LBJ waited after the November 1964 election forhim to invade Vietnam in a higher level since American forces were already in Vietnam for years.

Lyndon Johnson at first resisted his advisers wanting him to start systematic bombing of North Vietnam. Hedidn’t even oppose the South Vietnamese negotiating a neutralist agreement with the Communist. Then, onJanuary 1965, McNamara and Bundy wrote a joint letter to him that he would be responsibility for the defeatof South Vietnam. Then, LBJ began the bombing of North Vietnam. LBJ was caught into the Vietnam Warand while LBJ should be responsibility for his role in the war, he wasn’t the only one involved in it.McNamara, Bundy, and others deserve blame too. On March 8, 1965, there was the beginning of the massiveU.S. troops build. Marines landed in Da Nang. At the peak of the Vietnam War, over 500,000 Americantroops were in Vietnam. The Vietnam War caused the strongest military on Earth to issue unprecedentedviolence militarily in one of the poorest nations in the world. The United States government still led anaggressive military foreign policy against Vietnam even when there were times when a negotiatedsettlement could have been created. The U.S. government even rejected a coalition government andneutrality in Saigon. The NLF was ready to accept a proposal.

Even Charles De Gaulle or the President of France back then was willing to establish such a plan all overSoutheast Asia during that time period. Yet, the West fought against a nationalist movement that defeatedFrench imperialists a decade before. Lyndon Johnson said in 1964 that “Surrender anywhere threatensdefeats everywhere.” He said these extreme words since he supported the Cold hysteria myth that if Vietnamwas ruled by non pro-Western forces then Communists will take over the whole world. During that time,some people were so paranoid about Communism (which came from the Red Scare, McCarthyism, etc.), thatsome felt that any negotiation to solve the Vietnam crisis was equivalent to total appeasement. America,after WWII, was the leading capitalist country. Therefore, America wanted to preserve its Empire. On May 27,1964, President Lyndon Johnson gave his honest views on the Vietnam War. He told National SecurityAdviser McGeorge Bundy (via a recorded telephone conversation) the following words:

“…I’ll tell you them more that I stayed awake last night thinking of this thing, the more I think of it, Idon’t what in the hell it looks to me like we’re getting into another Korea. It just worries the hell out ofme. I don’t see what we can ever hope to get out of there with, once we’re committed. I believe that theChinese communists are coming into it. I don’t think we can fight them ten thousand miles fromhome…I don’t think it’s worth fighting for and I don’t think we can get out. It’s just the biggest damned

mess I ever saw.”

Many of the Vietcong acted farmers by day and military troops at night (in a guerilla war type offashion). The Vietcong viewed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution as a declaration of war by Americans. TheNorth Vietnamese forces also created an elaborate, complex array of tunnels all over Vietnam wherefood, weapons, supplies, etc. would spread across the maze of locations.



Military Escalation

One aspect of that Empire was in Vietnam. The U.S. has many military bases globally while the British Empiredecreased its power after 1945. On March 1965, Robert McNamara asked John McNaughton (or the assistantsecretary of defense) to summarize U.S. political strategy and war aims in Vietnam. McNaughton neverwanted a political settlement or a U.S. withdrawal at all. The war hawks like Maxwell Taylor, McNaughton, etc.felt that a withdrawal would lead to chaos and defeat. Vietnam had no direct economic or strategicimportance to America. Vietnam never attacked America either. The war was brutal.

In November 1, 1964, the Vietcong use a surprise attack at the U.S. Bien Hoa Airbase in South Vietnam.It was the first North Vietnamese attack against American personnel in the war. So, American militaryforces evolved from acting as military advisors to more overt combat roles. 4 Americans are killed. TheVietcong also attacked the U.S. Pleiku Airbase in February 7, 1965. 8 Americans are killed and 126people were wounded. Weeks later, LBJ authorized the massive bombing campaign in North Vietnam ina plan called Operation Rolling Thunder. It lasted from March 2, 1965 to November 2, 1968. Theoperation wanted to prop up the Saigon regime. It also wanted to destroy North Vietnam’s transportationsystem, industrial base, and air defenses. It wanted to halt the flow of men and resources into SouthVietnam too. This operation was conducted by the U.S. 2 nd Air Division (later the Seventh Air Force),the U.S. Navy, and the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF). The VNAF are allies of Americanforces. In the midst of this time, U.S. ground troops in a massive scale would come into Vietnam.

Operation Rolling Thunder involved over 100 American fighter bombers bombing targets in North Vietnam.It was planned to last for 8 weeks, but it lasted for over 3 years. The first U.S. air strikes would occur in the HoChi Minh trail, which was a strategy location where the NLF transported weapons and supplies from North toSouth Vietnam. The bombings would cause millions of South Vietnamese refugees to exist as numerouscivilian villages were destroyed. Operation Rolling Thunder included Western & South Vietnamese aerialbombings of North Vietnam. B-52 carpet bombed North Vietnamese people. There are pictures ofVietnamese children running naked with their flesh scorched by napalm. The U.S. invaded and occupiedSouth Vietnam in 1965. The NLF controlled most of the countryside. North Vietnamese army and the NLFfought side by side. The Ho Chi Minh trail was a huge, complex network of roads connected North and



South Vietnam among 12,000 miles. General Vo Nguyen Giap was one leader of the guerilla movement inthe South.

On March 8, 1965, 3,500 Marines land in South Vietnam. This was when battle ready ground troops werestarting to fight in the Asian mainland overtly. On March 30, 1965, the Vietcong exploded a car bomb nearthe U.S. Embassy in Saigon. Many people were killed.

The U.S. Army General William C. Westmoreland organized the U.S. military response. Westmoreland was agraduate of West Point and he went to Harvard Business School. He was a former commander of the 101stAirborne Division and superintendent of West Point. He came to Vietnam for the first time in June of 1964.$2 billion was spent on the war. Huge American ports and road networks were formed by America too.Westmoreland’s war strategy had huge weaknesses, because he wanted to decimate the North Vietnamesepopulation via a war of attrition. Yet, he failed to outline political solutions or massive social movements togain support of the South Vietnamese people.

On July 28, 1965 in Washington, D.C., President Lyndon Baines Johnson issued a press conference. It wastelevised to the nation. Lyndon Johnson said that he asked Westmoreland about what is needed. He ordered

air mobilization and wanted to send 125,000 forces immediately to Vietnam including more. 150,000 cometo Vietnam by the fall of 1965. Heavy usage of helicopters were used in the war.

The bombing of North Vietnam and the search and destroy missions in the North only galvanized thenationalist movement of Ho Chi Minh. The massive U.S. troop presence and bombing campaign causedVietnamese people to abhor the reactionary Saigon government. U.S. atrocities in Vietnam caused theVietnamese people to resist U.S. occupation even more. Operation Starlight was when the U.S. engaged theNLF militarily using air, land, and sea power. 6,000 Marines killed 573 people and lost only 46 of their own.The Vietnamese left mostly to fight another day.

This is an image of GIs trying to save the life of soldier during the battle of Ia Drang.

The early battle of Ia Drang in November 1965 allowed a fast hit and run battle. Both sides would claimvictory for different reasons. Americans said that the battle was a success of military power while the NorthVietnamese (like Colonel Nguyen Huu An) saw the battle as strengthening their military tactics. The massivemilitary buildup came from 1965 to 1967. By 1967, over 500,000 American troops were in Vietnam.



This picture shows a napalm strike, which erupts into a fireball near U.S. troops on patrol in South Vietnam in1966 during the Vietnam War. President Lyndon B. Johnson wasn’t just responsible for this. We ought to showthe truth that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and AverellHarriman allowed the dropping of more than 338,000 tons of napalm (or jeillied gasoline) on Vietnam. This warcaused the death of more than two million Vietnamese human beings including civilians, women, and children.

South Vietnam was in chaos with a leadership vacuum for a time. The Saigon government was in trouble.President Johnson used reactionary advisors which escalated the war. These men or advisers were DefenseSecretary William McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisers Walt Rostow andMcGeorge Bundy. These were the men who would eventually take the U.S. into total war in Vietnam, but inthe meantime they struggled with finding the "right man" to lead the Saigon government.

The Battle of Dong Xoai occurred form June 9-13, 1965. It was a Viet Cong victory. This battle and othersrefute the long lie that American forces won every major battle in the Vietnam War. First, the Viet Cong272nd Regiment led an offensive and attacked and captured the Civilian Irregular Defense Group and U.S.Special Forces camp there. The ARVN (or South Vietnamese military) Joint General Staff ordered the ARVN1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, to retake Đồng Xoài district. They arrived on the battlefield on June 10,but were quickly overwhelmed by the Viet Cong 271st Regiment near Thuận Lợi. Later that day, Đồng Xoàiwas recaptured by the ARVN 52nd Ranger Battalion, who had survived an ambush while marching towardsthe district. On June 11, further South Vietnamese reinforcements arrived in the form of the ARVN 7thAirborne Battalion. The South Vietnamese paratroopers, while searching for survivors of the 1st Battalion inthe Thuận Lợi rubber plantation, were defeated in a deadly ambush by the Viet Cong. On June 13 U.S. ArmyGeneral William Westmoreland decided to insert elements of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade into a majorbattle for the first time, because he feared the Viet Cong could secure a major base area in Phước LongProvince. By that time, however, the Viet Cong had already withdrawn from the battlefield, so the U.S.paratroopers were ordered to return to base without a fight.

By January 1966, there were about 180,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam. In May of 1966, there were U.S. 280,000troops in Vietnam. By July of 1966, there were 300,000 troops and 325,000 troops in September of 1966. InJanuary of 1967, 389,000 U.S. troops were in Vietnam (and one third of them were volunteers). The Vietnam



War was a different war. During the daytime even, temperature can be 100 degrees or higher. Massivemisquotes existed. Many people were exposed to Agent Orange. Some soldiers have to cut 8 feet tall gas.Poisonous insects and snake surround the territory. Numerous traps existed in the land too. The war was nota game. It was real.

One of the symbols of the Vietnam War was this medical helicopter. Nearly one million patients wereairlifted in Medevac choppers during the Vietnam War. The average time from the battlefield to a hospitalwas one hour. Tons of Vietnamese and American people were injured, mutilated, and killed as a product of

the Vietnam War.

The U.S. attrition strategy didn’t work for numerous reasons. There was the massive U.S. and Western trooppresence in Vietnam. There were massive bombing campaigns. These actions only increased the hostility inVietnam among the people. The failure of the attrition strategy showed up again by Operation Junction City.This was done in the first three months of 1967. It was the largest American operation of the war to thatdate. It involved 35,000 American and South Vietnamese troops sweeping along the Cambodian bordernorthwest of Saigon. They wanted to destroy the NLF bases of support. There was a huge mobilization oftroops, but the U.S. troops failed to engage the NLF in significant fights. The NLF just carefully avoided anycontact. The Americans left and the NLF moved in. This transpired throughout the war. Even the Joint Chiefsof Staff and the CIA admitted that the Vietnam War will be long and costly. The U.S. won a large number ofbattles. Both Battles of Prek Klok were victories of U.S. forces. Both battles occurred in February and March of1967. These battles occurred in Operation Junction City. This was about an 82 day military operation. It wasthe largest airborne operation since Operation Market Garden during World War II.

The U.S, during the operation used 30,000 men, 240 helicopters, more than 700 combat vehicles, like theM48 tank and the M113 APC. The first Battle of Prek Kok happened on February 28, 1967. The 1st Battalion,16th Infantry of the United States headed east and were attacked from the front by Viet Cong infantry withgunfire, rockets and mortars. Soon after, they were attacked from all fronts as the communists tried tosurround them with a battalion-sized force. However, with superior firepower available, the Americans called

in air strikes and artillery, and by mid afternoon, had repelled the communist attacks. The Americans lost 25killed while the communists lost 167. The second battle involved the U.S. military repelling another NLFattack. There were dozens of battles during the Vietnam War. The PLAF and the PAVN lost many troops, butthere was no massive political solution enacted. The US never dominated the field outside of the immediatebattle successes. The Johnson administration in private knew that their strategy wasn’t working, but theycontinued (because they had a fear of being labeled "cowards" or "traitors").



At the end of 1967, General Westmoreland said that the light was at end of the tunnel by 1968. That wasn'tthe case at all. The war was in a stalemate. In December of 1967, 16,520 Americans have been killed inVietnam. About 186,000 North Vietnamese troops were killed in the same time as well. Public support for thewar dropped from 80% in 1965 to 46% in 1967. Many U.S. troops were brought into camps and brutalized.Many U.S. troops used racist terms against the Vietnamese people, which was wrong. There is no need forracism in any form. Even Westmoreland made the evil, racist comment that, “The Oriental doesn’t

value life in the same way as a Westerner....We value life and human dignity. They don’t care aboutlife and human dignity." Even Colonel George S. Patton III or son of the WWII general George Patton sentChristmas cards in 1968 which showed photographs of Viet Cong soldiers dismembered and stacked in apile. Villages regularly aided NLF. Massacres transpire.



These are some of the Vietnamese people in March 16, 1968 just before they were murdered by evil soldiersin the evil My Lai Massacre. Pictures of their dead bodies have been shown worldwide.

The My Lai massacre of March 1968 was when Charlie Company (led by Captain Ernest Medina andLieutenant William Calley), murdered over 350 unarmed women and children. These atrocities againstinnocent Vietnamese civilians occurred all over Vietnam via Operation Phoenix and other programs. Thesmuggling of heroin and opium along the Mekong River and around Bangkok including Saigon was verywidespread or rampant. Tons of accurate books documented the Drug Trade which existed during the

Vietnam War.Also, many Americans G.I.s in Vietnam were the victims of torture and unjust abuse by NLF forces. JohnMcCain was a victim of torture during the Vietnam War including numerous American POWs. These actionswere wrong as well. Many U.S. soldiers resisted the war too. The NLF used nationalism and class relationshipsin the nation to continue in their fight. To many people in the countryside, the NLF was a latest name of theViet Minh (who fought for independence of Vietnam and land reform since the 1940’s). Vietminh forcescame into the south to fight. The anti-war movement grew into the next level by 1967. Muhammad Ali andso many courageous people opposed the Vietnam War.



The Tet Offensive and 1968

The Tet Offensive was a turning point in the Vietnam War. It showed the American public the volatile natureof the Vietnam War. It proved to the world that the U.S. establishment was outright wrong aboutproclaiming that the U.S. was having massive progress in the Vietnam War from a social and politicalstandpoint. In 1968, there are nearly 500,000 American troops in Vietnam (with massive bombings inNorthern Vietnam and massive search and destroy missions in the South). American forces won the Tetoffensive and numerous major battles in Vietnam, but the Vietnamese would never surrender. Tet shockedAmericans and increased doubt that a Western victory was in sight. It massively decreased the popularity ofPresident Lyndon Johnson. General Westmoreland toured the U.S. in 1967 at the behest of LBJ.Westmoreland wanted to defend the war and he said that the Viet Cong was thinning. Tet was the LunarYear of a major holiday in Vietnam. During the holiday, relatives would travel long distances to visit eachother. This was the perfect time for an attack from NLF forces. The U.S. bombing had driven many peopleinto the cities, so many people traveled into the largest cities. The Tet holiday involved fireworks and manystrangers would be around. During Tet, Vietnamese human beings would celebrate their ancestors. In fact,the plans for Tet existed a year before in Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh approved of the Tet offensive plan. The NorthVietnamese wanted to use Tet as a way for them to shift the course of the war against America. The actualoffensive began as early as late 1967. This was during the dry season in Vietnam. This offensive was abouthow the North Vietnamese and the NLF launched military feints to provoke the American military forcesaway from the major cities. Before Tet, the major cities had seen little of a war which mostly occurred in thecountryside.



The French newspaper Le Mondereported in January 1968 that a"sustained and general offensive"had the Americans pinned back indefensive positions. On January 20,the North Vietnamese Army begana siege of the U.S. Marine base atKhe Sanh near the Laotian border.Westmoreland believed that theVietnamese wanted to repeat atKhe Sanh the victory they had at

Dien Bien Phu 15 years earlier.Johnson wanted Khe Sanhdefended at all cost. He even had areplica or model of Khe Sanh in theWhite House. He was so nervousthat he made his generals pledgethat Khe Sanh could be held nomatter what. President Johnsonreportedly barked at his generalsthat: “I don’t want any d____Dinbinphoo!” Khe Sah was a base

of little strategic value. The NVAwas attacking Khe Sanh andWestmoreland then rushed troopsto reinforce his besieged troops.

The NLF moved in place to startTet. In January of 1968, NLF troopsmoved into larger provincial townsand cities. They smuggledweapons and explosives in coffins.They buried them in cemeteries forfuture use. There was widespreadsympathy for the nationalistmovement, so no one told theSaigon government or theAmericans that a large NLF militarybuildup was transpiring. As oneAmerican journalist observed, once

in the cities "the Viet Cong wereabsorbed into the population bythe urban underground like out ofrelatives attending a familyreunion." On the night of January29-30, 1968, the main part of theoffensive starts. About 70,000NVA/NLF soldiers attacked 34 of44 provincial capitals, 64 districtcapitals, and many militaryinstallations. Over 100 targets were

hit all over South Vietnam. Thisincluded the American embassy inSaigon or the citadel of Americanpower. On, January 31, 1968, theTet Offensive overtly goes againstAmerican forces. At 2:00 am, (inJanuary 31, 1968), GeneralWestmoreland’s headquarters atTan Son Nhut airbase suddenlycome under attack by NVA mortarand rocket fire. At 2:37 am, 19

Vietcong commandos suddenlybreach the wall surrounding theU.S. embassy in Saigon. At 2:55am, hundreds of NVA troopsattack and burn the SouthVietnamese Governmentalheadquarters in the ancient townof Hoi an. In 3:33 am, 8,000 NorthVietnamese troops mass upon thecity of Hue while Vietcongcommandos begin to execute

governmental officials in theirhomes. Many people reportedattacks to Tam Ky. Later, U.S.Marines and other soldiers fightback in Saigon, especially in theU.S. embassy. Outside Saigon (inTan Son Nhut airbase), 905 U.S.

ground troops fought in combatagainst 1200 NVA. The Americansin Khe Sanh Marine base face ahuge battle with the NVA andsome resort to hand to handcombat.

The combined North VietnameseArmy and NLF forced capturedHue or the ancient capital ofVietnam for a time. Westmorelandbelieved that the Tet Offensive wasa desperate attempt of the NLFand he compared it to the Battle ofthe Bulge by the Germans duringthe final time of WWII in Europe.The USA responded with a massiveresponse. Massive air power wasexecuted by the U.S. in response tothe Tet Offensive. "The Viet Conghad the government by the throatin those provincial towns,"explained one U.S. military adviser."Ordinary methods would havenever gotten them out, and thegovernment did not have enoughtroops to do the job, so firepowerwas substituted." The NLFnationalists occupied Hue for threeweeks. Americans overtook Hueafter Americans virtually destroyedHue "Nothing I saw during theKorean War, or in the Vietnam Warso far," wrote Robert Shapen, whotoured Hue after its destruction,"has been as terrible, in terms ofdestruction and despair, as what Isaw in Hue."

The Tet Offensive revolves around some of the most brutal aspects of the brutal Vietnam War.



Ben Tre in Kien Hoa province was obliterated by U.S. firepower. American firepower ended the Tet Offensive(and the US forces won the Tet offensive) and pushed back the NLF/NVA forces. The costs were heavily.During the offensive, South Vietnamese (ARVN) forces were heavily mauled by the NVA and the NLF.Americans suffered nearly 4,000 causalities between January and March 31. Many American military forceswere demoralized after Tet. More U.S. military rebellions grew, especially during the last years of the war. AMarch 3 State Department report dismally concluded: "We know that despite a massive influx of 500,000 U.S.troops, 1.2 million tons of bombs, 400,000 sorties per year, 200,000 KIA in three years, 20,000 U.S. KIA, etc.,our control of the countryside and the defense of the urban levels is now essentially at pre-August 1965levels. We have achieved a stalemate at a high commitment." The Vietnamese fighters still didn’t quit in war.About 1,000 fighters fought off 11,000 U.S. troops and ARVN troops for three weeks. Tet also caused a hugecost for the NLF. The NLF fighters were attacked in the villages and the Tet Offensive would be a defeat forthe NLF/NVA forces. The Tet Offensive was reported by the media and shown to millions of Americans. Formany Americans, it was showed them the unrestricted view of the graphic images of war.

Tet caused huge political consequences in America.

The anti-war movement grew into a higher level in 1967 and in 1968. More politicians like Eugene McCarthy,Robert Kennedy, etc. opposed the war. They were running for President for the Democratic Party. RobertMcNamara or the secretary of defense and one architect of the escalation of the Vietnam War resigned.Johnson was even told by John J. McCloy, Dean Acheson, and others (of the wise men clique. These menwere some of the major architects of the U.S. Cold War policy) to withdrawal from Vietnam. Johnson wasstunned and decided to not run for President in 1968. Lyndon Baines Johnson said these words on March 31,1968 that he will not seek the nomination of President of the United States. The sentiment of the Americanruling class can be summed up by Walter Cronkite, dean of American broadcast journalism, who made a

fresh report on Vietnam on February 27:"To say that we are closer to victory is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who havebeen wrong in the past…. It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out, then, willbe to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people…[who] did the best they could."

1968 would be one of the most revolutionary years in American history. The Presidential race was continuing.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (a strong opponent of the Vietnam War) was assassinated on April 4, 1968.Afterwards, over 100 American cities would erupt in rebellion. Robert Kennedy was assassinated after he wonthe California primary in June. In the Democratic convention, Chicago Mayor Daley’s cops attacked brutallyantiwar demonstrations. This showed the world more of the political repression in America. Some Soldiers inVietnam showed rebellion against the war in Vietnam.



One little known event of the Vietnam War is about how Lyndon Johnson’s peace negotiations with Vietnamwas ended because of the 1968 campaign efforts. Nixon wanted to prevent the peace talks in Vietnam, so hecould be elected President and execute his own plans in dealing with the Vietnam War. Nixon was in a tightrace with Hubert Humphrey, because Humphrey just before the election ended came out to support an endto the bombing of North Vietnam. Humphrey called for a ceasefire. So, Nixon via the operative AnnaChennault (who was an anti-Communist extremist) advised the Saigon government that the Nixonadministration would offer them a better deal. That is why Saigon rejected the course of the peace process.Lyndon Johnson in private conversations called his action as treason and he was only prevented from sayingthis in public via his advisors (and LBJ wanted to promote continuity in American politics). Also, PresidentJohnson allowed the FBI to wiretap the activities of Chennault too.

The Paris Peace talks failed and President Nguyen van Thieu supported Nixon. Walt Rostow has discussedabout this story too. Robert Parry’s excellent book entitled, “America’s Stolen Narrative” documents thetreasonous actions of Richard Nixon too. Tom Charles Huston was the national security aide assigned byPresident Richard Nixon to investigate what President Lyndon Johnson knew about why the Vietnam peace

talks failed in 1968. He concluded that Nixon was behind a secret Republican plan to sabotage thosenegotiations whose collapse cleared for the continuation of the conflict. “Over the years as I’ve studied it, I’veconcluded that there was no doubt that Nixon was – would have been directly involved, that it’s notsomething that anybody would’ve undertaken on their own,” Huston said in an oral history done for theNixon presidential library in 2008 and recently released in partially redacted form. So, the Vietnam War hadmany secrets that tons of people don’t know about. President Lyndon Baines Johnson was wrong onVietnam, but he was right to sign the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Head Start, the Fair Housing Act,Clean Water Restoration Act, the Freedom of Information Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and other progressivelegislation.



Nixon claimed that the “silent majority” was with him. The era of Nixon grew the reactionary

counterrevolution. Richard Nixon wanted to end the Vietnam War in the realm of “peace with honor,”but his administration lacked honor.

The Nixon era

Hubert Humphrey was narrowly defeated by Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon said that he had a secret plan toend the Vietnam War, but the end of the war would end in the midst of Nixon’s aggressive militarycampaigns. The U.S. left Vietnam in a controversial fashion just like the U.S. started the Vietnam War. Theantiwar movement wanted the US to leave ASAP while Nixon wanted America to leave Vietnam withthe South Vietnamese government intact via his Vietnamization plan. The inauguration of Richard Nixoncame about in January of 1969. Richard Nixon executed a counterrevolutionary movement (with the GOP’sSouthern Strategy as well). His supporters say that Nixon passed the EPA, the Clean Air Act, OSHA, theearned income tax credit, détente, and other progressive legislation that I have no problem with. Yet, Nixoncollaborated with J. Edgar Hoover to basically crush the heroic Black Panther Party movement and he wantedto pacify the anti-war movement. For example, in 1969 alone, 27 Black Panthers were killed by the police and749 were jailed or arrested. The FBI and local police agencies were directly and indirectly involved in themurdering of the Black Panthers . On December 4, 1969, Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark weremurdered by the Chicago police. Richard Nixon said a lot of hateful, bigoted statements as documented bytapes. Even with the EPA, Nixon refused to invest money massively in it.

Nixon was forced to enact some progressive policies by pressure from social movements. He also allowedthe ouster of the progressive leader Allende. He vetoed the Clean Air Act of 1972 . Congress overrode hisveto and Nixon still used his presidential powers to impound half of the money. Richard Nixon even

opposed extending the 1965 Voting Rights Act and he lobbied Congress to end the fair housingenforcement program. Leon E. Panetta (who was the director of civil rights for the Department of Health,Education, and Welfare) resigned from the Nixon administration in protest of Nixon’s bad anti-civil rightspolicies (like Richard Nixon trying to allow a segregationist G. Harold Carswell of Florida to be on theSupreme Court. Nixon failed). Vice President Spiro Agnew criticized progressive activists, but he would resignbecause he was caught doing financially corrupt actions. So, we can’t fall for the okie doke. Don’t get ittwisted. Richard Nixon was not a liberal. He was a slick reactionary. Now, it is important to note that



On April 30, 1970, American troops invaded Cambodia to assist General Lon Nol and to fight theCommunists. Blum wrote that the invasion was met with a huge protest from the peace movement in theUnited States, and four members of Kissinger's NSC, including the above-mentioned Roger Morris, resignedin protest. Pol Pot’s genocide came in the 1970‘s which killed over 1 million lives. Ironically, it would be theVietnamese who would intervene in 1978 and stop Pol Pot’s genocide against Cambodian human

beings . What’s wild is that the U.S. backed the murderous Pol Pot regime when Vietnam invaded Cambodia(after the Khmer Rouge attacked and killed ethnic Vietnamese people on the Cambodia, Vietnam border).Blum recounts the fact that during the Vietnam War, China sold several thousand tons of steel to the USmilitary in South Vietnam to help in the building of Air Force and Army bases. White House envoy AlexanderHaig met with Chinese Premier Zhou En-Lai in January of 1972, and Haig later wrote of his impressions of themeeting, “…Though he never stated the case in so many words, I reported to President Nixon that the importof what Zhou said to me was: 'don't lose in Vietnam; don't withdraw from Southeast Asia…” So, the evil,unjust Vietnam War was a war filled with surprises.

Henry Kissinger wanted to even use a land invasion of the North and bomb dikes, so to destroy its foodsupply (with the bombings of Hanoi and Haiphong). Kissinger's plan wasn't executed. Nixon announced thewithdrawal of 25,000 troops in June 1969. This was a token measure and the anti-war movement knew it. OnOctober 15, 1969, the first Vietnam Moratorium Day existed. On that day, more than 100,000 rallied inBoston and Coretta Scott King led a march of 30,000 past the White House in a silent candlelight processionto protest the Vietnam War. On April 30, 1970, Richard Nixon publicly said that U.S. forces were invadingCambodia. People protested immediately. Strikes exist in more than 100 campuses nationwide. GI soldiersrebelled and protested the war as well. In the summer of 1971, a former RAND corporation worker DanielEllsberg released the Pentagon Papers. The Pentagon Papers included documents that detailed the secrethistory of Vietnam from the Kennedy to Johnson administration. It described 3 decades of lies anddeceptions made up by administrations as a means to justify the Vietnam War. Nixon tried to legally stopEllsberg from releasing the Pentagon Papers in public, but he was unsuccessful. American troops continuedto come home. On March 5, 1971, the United States returned the 5th Special Forces Group. This was the

first American unit deployed to South Vietnam, and on that date, the military force returned home to itsformer base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On May 9, 1972, Richard Nixon would execute OperationLinebacker I, which U.S. jets laying mines in Haiphong harbor and other bombings of NVA forces.

Richard Nixon won the 1972 Presidential election in a huge margin against Democratic candidate GeorgeMcGovern. George McGovern was a U.S. Senator from South Dakota and he advocates an “immediate and



complete withdrawal” of U.S. troops from Vietnam. Nixon hypocritically claimed that he wanted peace, buteven on December 18-29, 1972, he allowed B-52 bombings of Hanoi and Haiphong (which has been called“the Christmas bombings” or Operation Linebacker II). The U.S. dropped 36,000 tons of bombs onfactories, railroad years, and bus stations. Hanoi’s largest hospital was bombed and the residentialneighborhood of Kheim Thiem. These are war crimes without question. The Christmas bombings would be

condemned by anti-war activists, the media, various politicians, the Pope, and other world leaders. Thesebombings would be the most intensive bombing campaign of the entire war with over 100,000 bombsdropped on Hanoi and Haiphong. Many American soldiers were POWs and they were tortured by some NLFforces too. That was wrong and that should be condemned. Torture and abuse are immoral actions nomatter who does it. POWs increasingly came home into America by the early 1970’s.

Hanoi's delegate Le Duc Tho cheers to the crowd while leaving the International Conference Center in Parison January 23, 1973, after meeting with presidential adviser Henry Kissinger, center. Le Duc Tho andKissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.

Here is Le Duc Tho and Kissinger.

The End of the Vietnam War

The war ended in a brutal fashion. The peace treaty ending officially American military involvement in thewar came about via the Paris Peace Accords on January 23, 1973. The Paris Peace Accords was betweenAmerica and the North Vietnamese (North Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Duc Tho worked with U.S.Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in order for the accords to come about). South Vietnamese PresidentThieu was skeptical of it, but he agreed to sign it reluctantly. The deal with those U.S. military forces wouldwithdraw from South Vietnam and prisoners would be exchanged. North Vietnam was allowed to continue

to supply communist troops in the South, but only to the extent of replacing expending materiel. Thecommunist leaders expected that the ceasefire terms would favor their side. Saigon was given a surge of U.S.aid before the ceasefire went into effect. They began to roll back the Viet Cong. Then, the communistsdeveloped a new strategy to conquer Saigon. According to the memoirs of Tan Van Tra, this plan wasmapped out in Hanoi on March 1973. Nixon implied that if the North Vietnamese violated the ceasefire, thenhe would militarily intervene with U.S. forces. That is why the U.S. Senate passed the Case-ChurchAmendment to prohibit such of an intervention. In 1973, there was the oil crisis caused after the Yom KippurWar, so resources weren’t readily sent to South Vietnam and the South Vietnamese suffered as a product of



these developments. The Viet Cong recaptured its territory lost during the dry season on January 1974.Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal. He and many of his administration officials were involved innumerous crimes against the American people.

Nixon faced impeachment, so he resigned on August 1974.

Gerald Ford became the new President. President Ford faced a heavily Democratic Congress who caused thewithholding of financial aid to South Vietnam. At this time, Congress cut financial aid to South Vietnam from$1 billion a year to $700 million. The U.S. midterm elections in 1974 brought in a new Congress dominatedby Democrats who were even more determined to confront the president on the war. Congress immediatelyvoted in restrictions on funding and military activities to be phased in through 1975 and to culminate in atotal cutoff of funding in 1976. The Vietnam War continued. Proponents of the war say that the NorthVietnamese violated the Peace Accords and others disagree. By 1975, the North Vietnamese grew continuedto increase its military power. They controlled major Vietnamese cities. U.S. Congress did not give SouthVietnam forces military aid. The Saigon government soon fell. In April of 1975, the remnants of the Saigongovernment surrendered to the invading forces of the NVA. Many Vietnamese people in Saigon escapedinto America and other places of the world.

By December 1974, as Tra wanted, North Vietnamese forces attacked Route 14 in Phouc Long Province.Phouc Binh fell in January 6, 1975. In 1975, the South Vietnamese had more military artillery than the NorthVietnamese, but the oil crisis prevented them from using much of their forces. The North Vietnamese usedGeneral Dung in March 10, 1975 to execute Campaign 275. Gradually, the South Vietnamese surrenderedand experienced defeat. Hue fell in March 25, 1975. On April, the final offensive against Saigon by the NorthVietnamese came about. President Thieu of South Vietnam resigned and he said that the USA betrayedSouth Vietnam. He criticized Kissinger for tricking him to sign the Paris Peace agreement. On April 30, 1975,NVA troops entered Saigon. They overcame resistance and captured key buildings and installations. Fordordered Operation Frequent Wind to evaluate all Americans (which included U.S. Marines and someVietnamese people who wanted to escape from the U.S. embassy in Saigon) from South Vietnam. Soon, the

Viet Cong flag was raised above the gates of the Independence Palace in Saigon. President Doung Van Minhsurrendered. The Vietnam War was over.

The United States suffered a defeat in front of the world. The legacy of the Vietnam War is diverse. One partof the legacy is that no one should underestimate the self-determination of oppressed people. Otherlegacies include that political and social solutions long term ought not to be abandoned, foreign policy iscomplex not simplistic, solutions to crisis don’t deal necessarily with a one size fit all solution, andimperialism is blatantly wrong and immoral.



In Memoriam (The Vietnam War Memorial)

The Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. is one of the most solemn places on Earth. It commemoratesthe people who passed away from Vietnam War. It has been a place of grief, reflection, and prayer. It’s aplace where some folks can be educated on the fact that war is nothing to be played with. War changes livesand it will affect lives forever. Its history was a very interesting one. A college student, back then, namedMaya Lin won the memorial design contest. She was a 21 year old Yale University student. She created herdesign or a class. This was after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund held a design contest. The guidelines

said that the memorial will have to contain the names of every American who died in Vietnam and remainedmissing in action, it would make no political statement about the war, and it would be in harmony with itssurroundings. It would be contemplative in character. Maya Lin won the contest after over 1,400 submissionscame about. Maya Lin is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Unfortunately, she was suspected to racism,because of her design. Yet, she was courageous and stood her ground. The Vietnam Veteran Memorial wasfirst unveiled on November 13, 1982. Over 4.2 million visitors came to the location in 2012 alone. There wasa U.S. flag and a statue of three servicemen added to the memorial too. There was another sculpture of threewomen caring for an injured solider too. Soon, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be very popular inAmerica. Names have been added to the Memorial too.

There was a recent 2006 addition to the Memorial of a marine corporal whose 2006 death from a stroke was

determined to be the result of wounds received in action back in 1967. Photographs, bracelets, militarymedals, dog tags, religious items, etc. are placed at the memorial in remembrance too. The memorial wasbuilt without government funds. Jan C. Scruggs is a wounded Vietnam War vet. He studied post-traumaticstress disorder when he returned to America. He called for a memorial to help with the healing process forthe roughly 3 million Americans who served in the conflict. After watching the movie “The Deer Hunter,”Scruggs used $2,800 of his own money to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979. People usedtheir own money to help construct the memorial. Ordinary people, corporations, foundations, veteransgroups, civic organizations, and labor union have given 8.4 million dollars to the project. The money was



worth it, because we have to remember. The names of the soldiers on the wall have been read in 1982, 1992,2002, and 2007. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a fitting location where people can use reflection andremembrance about the Vietnam War.

Conclusion

It has been over 40 years since the fall of Saigon. The fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War.There is a lot of historical significance involving the Vietnam War. The fall was the most decisive defeat of thelargest U.S. military intervention in American history. 2 years before, the last U.S. combat forces left Vietnam.

Later, the puppet regime of General Nguyen van Thieu and its 700,000 strong U.S. trained and U.S. armedSouth Vietnamese army collapsed virtually without a fight. There are many images of the U.S. personnelfleeing the besieged city of Saigon. There were helicopters that left the embassy. Many Vietnamese escapednot just Americans. The Vietnam War represented a huge debacle of American foreign policy. The effects ofthe Vietnam War still exist today. U.S. intervention in Vietnam existed even before the days of Eisenhower(when he was President) and it continued until the time of Nixon.

The Vietnam War was a genocidal expression of imperialism. The U.S. dropped more bombs in Vietnam thanwhat the U.S. dropped in Europe during WWII. 536,000 American troops were in Vietnam during its peak. 15million tons of munitions were dropped in its aerial campaign. Over 58,000 Americans died and over 3million Vietnamese lost their lives as a product of the war. Vietnam experienced more than 20 million gallons

of toxic chemicals. The environment of Vietnam was damaged and even babies being born in Vietnam nowhave been damaged by pollution from Western military actions. The leaders in planning and prosecuting thewar have not been prosecuted for war crimes. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the evil war. Thefall of Saigon allowed an oppressed people to be victorious against the most imperialist nation on Earth. TheVietnamese people defeated French colonialism and U.S. imperialism. Yet, today, the West became very slickand is an ally of Vietnam (via neoliberal policies, trade deals, and other policies). Transnational corporationshave exploited the Vietnamese workers, so they can make huge profits in the 21st century. 40 years later,



U.S. warships return to Vietnam, so the West can promote its “Pivot of Asia” agenda (which is aboutencircling China, so China’s hegemony won’t exceed U.S. hegemony).

One of the real goals of the TPP is for the U.S. to check China’s rising economic power. The treaty could endsome of Vietnam’s state run enterprises. While China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, the US has becomeits largest export market. The Maoist regime in China invaded Vietnam in 1979 after Hanoi ousted the evilregime of Pol Pot of Cambodia. China’s invasion caused over 100,000 Vietnamese civilians to die and some125,000 soldiers including militia members to die too. The U.S. antiwar movement and Vietnamese workerscontributed to the end of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War existed in midst of urban rebellions, civil rightsdevelopments, and massive strikes in America and throughout the Earth. We face the threats of imperialism,austerity, the 2 big business parties’ agenda, and other attacks on the working class. The essence of theVietnam War is that imperialism is not only wrong, but that the working class including the poor shouldunite to end the oppressive system (so a system of justice can exist).

Appendix A: The Anti-War Movement (involving the Vietnam War)

T . T , , , H , A , , ,

, , , , , , I . B ( 1960' ), . T

, A A F , I , .S. F

. , M C 1950' , A . M , C

. P R A .



B 1960' , . M C O L . F O L . T O L

, , C . T ,

O L N C S N P

T P . SANE 1957 , . B . T . T '

1960' O L ,

. T , 1960. T N L O L .

The New Left, SNCC, and the Anti-War Movement

T N L , O L N

. T SDS S D S N L SP . T SP S P 1959 C . T

) SDS . T O L . T N L

( 1960 1965). T SDS . M F S SNCC . T SDS

D . M L K J ., J F , E B , .

SNCC A 1960 S . SNCC S ESNCC' ,

. T SDS P H S ( J 1962),

. T .



I 1963, . O M , A E A . T R L ( ) S

1963 .S. .S. S . T

M N N C . T RL O 9, 1963 300

M N D N ( D ) A N C .

I 1964, .S. . A F 29, 1964, SDS R F

, N C . I 1964, G T J

. T , . S A . S . O

, . T P L P A M 2, 1964 S FM , S . 700 S F . O M 12, 1964, 12 N

. T A F S 1964, SNCC

B .S. C C . T M ( S FSM. I , )

1964.

O D 19, 1964, T N C ( R L ,R C N A , S P , S P

1500 ), S F ( 1000 ), M , M , A , SP , C , D.C, B , C , . B 23,000 A . M

. I 1964 1965, . M

A ( ' 18, 1965, M S . H

:

“…The same thing. It shows the real ignorance of those who control the American power structure. IfFrance, with all types of heavy arms, as deeply entrenched as she was in what then was calledIndochina, couldn’t stay there, I don’t see how anybody in their right mind can think the U.S. can get inthere--it’s impossible. So it shows her ignorance, her blindness, her lack of foresight and hindsight; andher complete defeat in South Vietnam is only a matter of time...”

SNCC SDS . T , SNCC ( , SNCC

1964 D SNCC

D P . T SDS



), . S , SNCC SDS

. , SNCC SDS . B M , . A

M J N :"...Most liberals think Mississippi is anaccurate reflection of America's values and morality. Why can't the people who killed Andrew,James, and Mickie be brought to justice, unless a majority of the community condones murder?Sheriff Rainey is not a freak; he reflects the majority. And what he did is related to the napalmbombing of 'objects' in Vietnam."

B M A . F ,

NAACP L , LBJ, A

. T 1940' . M A ). T ( )

A . T . E NAACP L . I

N .



The Early Anti-War Movement Grows

A A . 1965 . ,

B , H . T , 200 A A RA S P K . O F 8, 1965, SDS

. T L . T . T

, , , . T SDS M A A . A 3,000

. I 1965, .S. . O M1965, 82 D A H

. A , M , D C ( J R , S ) 100,000 B , C .

I A 17, 1965, SDS , D.C. I 15,000 . P P . P

S T . S M , S L , S E G A , . J B , J C

F S O . P D.C. . S P :

“…What kind of system is it that allows good men to make those kinds of decisions? What kind of system isit that justifies the United States or any country seizing the destinies of the Vietnamese people and

using them callously for its own purpose? What kind of system is it that disenfranchises people in theSouth, leaves millions upon millions of people throughout the country impoverished and excluded from themainstream and promise of American society, that creates faceless and terrible bureaucracies and makesthose the place where people spend their lives and do their work, that consistently puts material valuesbefore human values-and still persists in calling itself free and still persists in finding itself fit to police theworld? What place is there for ordinary men in that system and how are they to control it, make it benditself to their wills rather than bending them to its?”



T A 17 M O L ( A.J. M N T , SANE)

I M 1965, B M B . M A . 1965 M L K J . 1965,

. D . K 1965

S ( SNCC, DC L, .) R. , , D . M L K J .

, . O J 1965, B J S . H M C , MS 1961. A

A , A M . M

1965) "N M N N . T MFDP J 28, 1965.

O J 5 1965, D . K " N D . K

. S , D . K ( P ) 1965 1966 . I A 12, 1965, D . M L .S. N

A G D . K . A N A G ( J

D . K . LBJ . D . K . H

C M F . CALCA ( C L C A )

1965. I . D . M L K CALCA S .

B . S . T N C O 30, 1965. SANE M

N 27, 1965. SANE A . J F B R . 15 20,000

. C S K D.C. N1965. H D M , I , D 1965

" " R K ' . T D M S D , 1969 .S. S C

, T . D M .

I 1966, . SNCC . SNCC B P ,

( B P . I , B P ,

. E D . M L K J . ,



. A , B P . O B P ). SNCC

SDS. B ' . S SDS SNCC . G

S P ,

S J . SNCC . S B SNCC D S . H .S. N , M , A . M S , S

T , A J 3, 1966. , O A . SNCC ,

SNCC E E .

SNCC

1966. T :

T S N C C S . T S N C

S ' : S

D R , C , S A , R , . ... T S T , A ,

, , , . I S

. S S S

..."

.

SNCC C S K T . M SNCC J F , J L , D N , M B , J B , A



B , R D S R , G , E H N , A M , G . SNCC

. T NAACP 1966 SNCC . SNCC SNCC G CJ B . J B 1966 , SNCC

, . T G S L . E D . M L K J . B J 10, 1966. T A C L AC

B . I 1966, S S C 9 0 F (385 .S. 116) G H R B

. I 1966, D . K . H , J (D . K

G S M 29, 1966, D . K F N .

A , M 25 26, 1966 S D I P . I N C C , SANE, S P , C N A SDS. T 20,000 25,000 N . D

C , D.C., D , O C , S F , O , L , O , S T . I 1966, M A . A

( 1 ) F 1966, .

). M A O 1960

18 . H ( S L ) 1964. M , . T

M A M A . A ' C ... T ." I , M

. I D . M L , "L M A , B B



." M A . P S L

J 3, 1966.

There can be no full understanding about the Black Panther Party without acknowledging the huge role that BlackWomen have had in the party. Sisters like Kathleen Cleaver, Tarika Lewis (who was the first Sister to join the BPP

for Self Defense back in 1967), Assata Shakur, Varlie Douglas, Barbara Easley-Cox, Dorothy Phillips, BrendaHall, Leslie Booker, and many other courageous, strong black women did their part in the struggle. Today, we will

continue in this struggle. We want the human race to be liberated fully.

O O 1966, B P P O , C H P. N . I E "B M " H , S

R F , B H . T BPP . T

, , , . I

100 . I , 1966 P P :"...

... .

, , . , ...." T B P P , ,

O , FBI COINTEI N 1966, D . M L K J .

. D . K , . T S

C D 1966.



A New Era of the Anti-War Movement

1967 . A S C , N T , A L D . K

. T . D . M L K J . . F , D . M L K J .

. T , J J 1967 , D G F H ? H J

, , , , . B . B J

. B D . K MOBE 15 , 1967. D . M L K J . .

D . K , J 1967. H

. T D . K R T C

P . P , , . O F 21 22, 1967, D C

, ) 19 . SDS D C

.

O F 25, 1967, D . K . M H , G E M C . D . M L K J . . H ( G

S A ) A . H

. FBI NSA

M A , . E D . K L . S



. M ( R , ), , D . K

. T .

D . M L K J . J C ,

L J D . K . D . K L D . T

. D . K L A F . D . K

M L K J . , .

D . K . H . L ,

J .

O M 17, 1967, P . OD . M L K J . 5,000 C S

. A R , D . B S , B L ,

. I M C , D . K :

“…Poverty, urban problems and social progress generally are ignored when the guns of war become anational obsession. When it is not our security that is at stake, but questionable and vague commitments toreactionary regimes, values disintegrate into foolish and adolescent slogans… Those of us who love peace



must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread thepropaganda of peace. We must combine the fervor of the civil rights movement with the peace movement.We must demonstrate, teach and preach, until the very foundations of our nation are shaken. We must workunceasingly to lift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a morenoble expression of humaneness…”

D . M L K R C N C 1968.

O D . M L K J . R 4, 1 67. CALCA R D . K . H

. D . K R . D . M L K J .

H , .S. HG K , , (

).

I R C , D . M L K :

“…I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos

without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my owngovernment . For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds ofthousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent ...A true revolution of values will soon lookuneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look acrossthe seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa andSouth America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries,and say: "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say:"This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to



learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say ofwar: "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm,of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veinsof people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physicallyhandicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A

nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs ofsocial uplift is approaching spiritual death ."

D . K A . D . M L K J .

G S H . I , D . MK J . . T N T , P , L M (

R R H )M L K J . . T NAACP, CP C , , D . K . S

D . M L K J . P 1967, D . K ( D . K

). S , SNCC , CORE ( F M K . I N P NAACP

L . D . K R J A H D . K .

T N C A 15, 196

T N M C E MOBE (MOBE ) A 15, 1967 . D . K . L , R



. T S M M A 15, 1967

D . M L K J ., H B , J B , D . B A A

), N C . T S F

S C S K . C S K K SF J B . K T F M K ( CCORE ) N C T MOBE N C 100,000 125,000 . T

N . M K C P , M , N P . AA , BE , N B A A D , N B D C . IE A A H : 5 S , GI

. S , GI A . T . M S (

A , ) .

A .S. A F A 28, 1967 H . A

$10,000. O , A . A , . O N S A

. O J 20, 1967, M A. H .S. S C . D . M

K J . M A .

MOBE O 21, 1967 , D.C. P P P . D D M . D

. A 650 , N M P . A A

S , A H J R (H R

O ,



. D . K , D . K

. T . A .

I O 1967, D C . T

. T . T

. T , . S , O , C . S ,

S D O 16 20, 1967. M SDS, R L ,

R . S . L , . T . T

. T SDS 1967 .

T 1968 S P. T , ,

, . , S E M C M . H P N 30, 1967. M C P J

. H LBJ , N , O , C1968 , P J A

. T D P . M C . H , E M C

G T . A , M C . M C P

, I ). H A . E M C

C . T

O D 4, 1967, 500 88 S F B . B S N C D 1967.



1968

1968 . 1968 . S E K , H J

, , , . T . T

. T . E K .

R N .S. P F 1, 1968. T N D M C LBJ M 12, 1968. M C

. H L B J . P P . R K O M ,

M L K J . 1960' , . R K M C , . A , R

. R K . B 1960 , A R K

M 14, 1968, D . M L K J . G P H S G D , M . I , D . K

D L C B . T D . K )

. D . K T O , , ,

G P :

“…One, I want to say that if we’re to move ahead and solve this problem we must re-order our nationalpriorities. Today we’re spending almost thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight what I consider an

unjust, ill-considered, evil, costly, unwinnable war at Viet Nam. I wish I had time to go into thedimensions of this. But I must say that the war in Viet Nam is playing havoc with our Domesticdestinies. That war has torn up the Geneva accord… Ultimately, a genuine leader is not a succor forconsensus but a mold of consensus. And on some positions cowardice ask the question is it safe?Expediency asks the question is it politics? Vanity asks the question is it popular? The conscience asksthe question is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe norpolitics nor popular but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right…”



F , 16, 1 68. RK . T RFK

. RFK .S. . H ,

. RFK S A , ,

( ). T C G R R

K B G . A , R, , ,

C C S C .. . R K . 25, 1 68 ( 68

R A . H R E G ), D . M L K 1968 P :

.I I . T SL C . . H ,

. I 1968 , I J N . I

C , I . I S K M C , I S M C S K

. I . S , I D P

O M 17, 1968, L . T 300 . O A 3, N . O 1,000 . I B , 15,000 .



The passing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a tragedy. Sister Coretta Scott King in the picture to theright is holding her daughter Bernice King on April 9, 1968. Dr. King and Coretta Scott King’s lives

remind us that nonviolent social change is strong, that love is important to promote prodigiously, andthat justice is a legitimate goal that we all should strive for.

D . M L K J . I H B M S A 3, 1968 . D . K

( . M L , . A

M D . K ). D . M L K A 4, 1968. T . T ,

A A 1968. H

. M . 1968. T F M ,

C , M , .

I 1968, R K . H I A 4, 1968 M M

S C , O A 5, 1968 . , , . I

A , A A , H ,

. E M C . H

R K . A , M C O K ' " " , A L , K ' . M C K

. M C . R K E . E M C

A 1 , . O M 31, 1968, LBJ

P . M C P . P



H P A 27. O A 30, 1968, N R P GOP .

Robert Kennedy is in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles shaking people’s hands in March 26, 1968.

H RFK S D . R K N M M C O . T D S

C . I J 1968, K M C C . T J 1, 1968. R KC J . RFK S D . T R

, , A , H , A . R F. K

, , GI . RFK , H , , , A A

P . A S , K .

A , K A 2, 1968. I . I P . (A S . 872). C R

R J L C E M R K . R A G , I RFK T .



These are images from the funeral of Robert Kennedy which took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedralon June 8, 1968.

O J 5, 1968, R K L A , CA ( AH ) A , , ,

. I L A , : “…Ithink we can end the divisions within the United States. What I think is quite clear is that we can worktogether in the last analysis. And that what has been going on with the United States over the period ofthat last three years, the divisions, the violence, the disenchantment with our society, the divisions -whether it's between blacks and whites, between the poor and the more affluent, or between agegroups, or in the war in Vietnam - that we can work together. We are a great country, an unselfishcountry and a compassionate country. And I intend to make that my basis for running...So my thanks toall of you. And now it's on to Chicago and let's win there." A , L AH J 6, 1968. H . R K

. M C , H . O E M C

.

T . A 28,000 A 1968. M .S. , , ,

O P . R N R . TG P 1968 I .

A ( , , J C . D ,

A . . A .

( J 1966 N C 1

M ). H , , N A . S ,

.



. R M C P . T

. E S A R C G . D .S , . H

P . H D . EP 1968 F P P . H 35 , P . L , H J

H H N ) , R N P 1968.

T 1968 G S . I , E M C

, , R 1980 ( I . H FAIR F A I R . FAIR

I ). , . I D 2000 P .

R N T P . H 2005. A , 19 D P R

( , , ). S , 1968 . ,

R D ( D P A . I , , D P

, D . T

, , .



The End of the Anti-War Movement (involving the Vietnam War)

1969 A . T SDS 1969 . , SDS PLP

1969, SDS. T , . T D R

. A 287 C . 15, 1 6 , D.C. B . S

G M G B . T 1969. T 1960

.

4 K S 1970. T

. T 1971. T

. M . T A

. O A 23, 1971, 700 C

. T ,

N

1969 . I 1972, R N N N O L . T

A M 13, 1972. A 1973, M R , D.C.

After the Vietnam War, the anti-warmovement is still in existence. This imageshows protesters in New York City yearsago protesting the Iraq War. The Iraq Warwas not only destructive, but it was basedon fabrications and outright falsehoods.



“…But at that time, at that time, we felt very alone because when we start saying, “The war is wrong in Vietnam,”well people looked at us like we were something out of space. But when they talked about the other day of theGallup Poll being fifty-eight percent of the people against the war in Vietnam then we see if you are right, you

have to stand on that principle and if it’s necessary to die on the principle because I am sick of the racist war inVietnam when we don’t have justice in the United States …And we keep on saying we’re against the war. One

crowd of people can’t change the status quo , but if two and two and fifty make a million, we’ll see the day comearound that we will have our boys home. And we’ll be able to stand and fight together for the things that we

rightfully deserve, not in Vietnam, not in Vi-Afra, but right here in the United States to make democracy a realityfor all of the people of the world regardless of race or color. Thank you.”

-Fannie Lou Hamer on October 15, 1969 at the Vietnam Moratorium Rally in Berkeley, California

*A , . T 2015. I . S , . T

, , , , , . ,

. ( ). .

. .

. ,

By Timothy



Appendix A: A Review of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's Vietnam War documentary

One of the most emotional wars in human history was the Vietnam War. It was an unjust war. KenBurns and Lynn Novick made a historic documentary about the Vietnam War , which has spannedmultiple decades. To be fair in the analysis of it, first, an introduction must be made, thedocumentary’s strengths will be outlined, the documentary’s weaknesses will be mentioned, and afitting conclusion must be made. In introduction, the Vietnam War is part of American history and

Vietnamese history. To this very day, soldiers among both sides are hesitant in talking about it,because of its brutal nature, its controversial compositions, and its turmoil that harmed the lives ofmillions of human beings. It was a war that divided America on many generational and culturallines. It inspired many social activists and caused more Americans to question governmental policy,especially at it relates to foreign policy affairs (as we know that Western governments has useddeception and manipulation for decades and centuries. The Pentagon Papers totally prove that to betrue). The documentary is very lengthy with 10 episodes. There are strengths to the film. It took

years of research for the organizers of the film to gather the images, the maps, the testimonies, andthe rare interviews in order for them to cover the breadth of the conflict which lasted for threedecades. The documentary had people who interviewed not only Americans, but Vietnamesesoldiers, Vietnamese civilians, and other people who were involved in the Vietnam War era.

It allowed the Vietnamese people, among its many classes and its many walks of life, to expresstheir honest feelings about the war conflict (including the American involvement in the war). Itshowed music that is diverse from soul music to rock music. It has articulate or eloquentcommentaries about the different eras of the war from the beginning, the Dien Bien Phu, theGeneva Accords of 1954, the migrations of peoples from North to South Vietnam (and vice versa),the American advisers, the Ap Bac battle of 1963, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the OperationRolling Thunder, the Tet Offensive, the evil shooting of students in the Kent State Universitylocation, the release of the Pentagon Papers to the public, the Paris Peace Accords, the Watergatescandal, Nixon's resignation from the White House, and the end of the war in 1975. There is asubsequent book (about the Vietnam War) with over 500 pages that outlines the war in its diversehistory and its far reaching impact historically and socially. I brought the book and the book hasextensive analysis about the time period. The movie made the accurate point that the roots of the

war came long before 1945 (as after World War I, Ho Chi Minh desired freedom and independence



for his people) and it involved the quest of the Vietnamese people to have independence fromFrench colonial oppression. It gives especially young people a window for them to further researchthe Vietnam War.

The image to the left shows American military forces in Vietnam. The image to the right shows a Vietnamese woman being accused of being part of the NLF (or what Westeners call “Viet Cong”).She is awaiting interrogation. The image from the right is from August of 1965 and it’s found in the Associated Press and from Ken Burns’ & Lynn Novick’s Vietnam War documentary (as found

on PBS).

The documentary showed how the U.S. made many mistakes during the time period. Thedocumentary did a great job to show the history of the Vietnam War Memorial. The documentaryshowed the tapes of Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.

Those tapes prove that they said some words in public which contradicts their views in private.Many of them knew that the war would not be successful, but they continued in advancing the

Vietnam War regardless for the sake of promoting the myth of the domino theory. Also, they hadfears of being labeled "soft" on Communism. Now, a critique has to mention the documentary's

weaknesses too. One weakness of the film was the omission of many important aspects of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War omitted the many GI revolts in Vietnam that tried to end the warand promote social justice. The lengthy film also omitted JFK’s NSAM 263, which accepted therecommendations to withdrawal 1,000 American military personnel by the end of 1963 andhopefully the bulk of that personnel by 1965. NSAM stands for National Security ActionMemorandum. Lyndon Johnson disagreed with an explicit withdrawal plan.

LBJ told Robert McNamara on February 20, 1964 (in a declassified phone conversation) thefollowing words: “…I always thought it was foolish for you to make any statements about

withdrawing. I thought it was bad psychologically. But you and the President thought otherwise,and I just sat silent…” The documentary was too critical at times of the anti-war movement. Theanti-war movement included students, teachers, military soldiers, children, civil rights leaders,athletes, musicians, and a diverse amount of people who used eloquence, powerful arguments,



protests, and courage to oppose the Vietnam War. The anti-war movement should never apologizefor disagreeing with the war and desiring it to end. Many anti-war heroes risked their lives to speaktruth to power about the evils of unwarranted militaristic aggression and any injustice. Ken Burns’

Vietnam ignored the complexities of communismand socialism.

Communism is not monolithic and manycommunists and socialists opposed theauthoritarianism plus the brutal anti civil libertyactions of Joseph Stalin. Before 1917, the Czarsused anti-Semitism, violations of people's humanrights, and other evils. Many Trotskyites werepersecuted and murdered by many Stalinists. Theepisodes in the film definitely ignored the harshnessof Western imperialism in an in-depth way. Western

Imperialism (done by the French and the Americans in the region of Southeast Asia) wasdone out of a stone cold, ideological drive to getresources, control people, and enforce a radicalanti-Communism in Southeast Asia. That is why

they or Western political elites originally funded Diem since he was Western educated and he was aradical anti-Communist (Diem would make the mistake of being brutally vicious against dissidentsand Buddhists in South Vietnam. That is why many Buddhists and dissidents readily protestedagainst Diem's regime. The coup of November 1-2, 1963 caused Diem and his brother to be killed).Ken Burns and Lynn Novick put their thesis out in the following quotation: “It was begun in goodfaith, by decent people, out of fateful misunderstandings, American overconfidence, and Cold Warmiscalculation.”

Yet, the reality is that there was no misunderstanding on the part of the Western capitalists. They orthe Western policy makers, who were involved in executing U.S. war strategies, wanted to go outand advance capitalist markets and further exploit the regions of the Third World continuously.

This pattern has existed in the U.S. involvement in Operation Ajax in Iran and how the U.S. helpedto overthrow Jacob Arbenz in Guatemala. Therefore, the war crimes of not only Diem, but othergenerals from America were not miscalculations. They were overt acts of terrorism against thepeople of Vietnam. The documentary used the argument of violence on both sides as a commontheme to outline even the claim of moral equivalency when there is no comparison. The bad actions

of some North Vietnamese forces involving torture and other acts are heinous and withoutjustification. American soldiers being tortured and forced to make erroneous statements in prisoncamps is also evil and wrong. Likewise, American forces dropped bombs, dropped napalm, using

Agent Orange, some were involved in free fire zones, and other atrocities came about in a higherlevel by U.S. forces than North Vietnamese forces. During the Vietnam War, no North Vietnamesesoldier bombed an American city or town. No Vietnamese army regiment from the North invaded

America. Many Americans suffered during the Vietnam War. Also, we should acknowledge the

The anti-war movement contributed to the war ending much sooner. Also, the anti-warmovement educated many human beings onthe value of protest and dissent courageously.



suffering of the Vietnamese people in which millions of Vietnamese men, women, and childrendied as a product of the conflict.

This map of Vietnam territory is from National Geographic.

Eight million tons of bombs were dropped on North and South Vietnam alone, far more than in all

theaters of World War II combined. In addition, US warplanes dropped 370,000 tons of napalmand sprayed 21 million gallons of toxic defoliant chemicals like Agent Orange. To this very day, Vietnamese babies suffer birth defects as a result of the chemical bombings of Vietnameseterritories. Also, there is no excuse for the U.S. invasion of Vietnam when peaceful resolutions wereespecially available to resolve the conflict. The Pentagon, the State Department, the Council onForeign Relations, and the rest of the military industrial complex had a vested interest in trying toprop up a pro-Western Southern Vietnamese state. When that failed, they cut their losses and left.Ironically, Vietnam is an American ally today via negotiation and trade deals. The documentary wasfunded by many corporate foundations and banking interests (like receiving grants from Bank of

America and the Koch brothers). The documentary omitted the imperial defense contractors thatfinancially benefited from the Vietnam War, except Dow Chemical funding napalm (which wasused in the conflict. Napalm harmed many innocent Vietnamese men, women, and children). In thedocumentary, it showed many Americans and Vietnamese people coming together in trying to formreconciliation.



In conclusion, we would want a resolution to the Vietnam War. The problem is that ironically,many Westerners (plus others) haven’t learned the lessons from the Vietnam War conflict. We havea continued war in Afghanistan, the Iraq War existed (which existed as a product of the neo-conservatives showing a false premise among other reasons), the U.S. destabilized Libya, and otherforeign policy crisis transpired. So, while we need dialogue about how the Vietnam War existed andended, U.S. imperialistic arrogance, and criminality can never be omitted or sugarcoated. As NoamChomsky accurately stated in 1969,

“…There are, to be sure, costs of empire that benefit no one: 50,000 American corpses or thedeterioration in the strength of the United States economy relative to its industrial rivals. The costsof empire to the imperial society as a whole may be considerable. These costs, however, are socialcosts, whereas, say, the profits from overseas investment guaranteed by military success are againhighly concentrated in certain special segments of the society. The costs of empire are in generaldistributed over the society as a whole, while its profits revert to a few within…”

By 1975 (when the war ended), 58,318 Americans died including about 3,000,000 Vietnamesehuman beings died as well from the Vietnam War. The crimes of imperialism must always becondemned period as imperialism is evil and unjust. We need more people to speak their mindsamong all sides. Yet, in order to find true peace, we have to organize the poor and the working classin order to defeat the same system that advances wars in the first place. In order to havereconciliation involving the Vietnam War, we have to discuss, form dialogue among Americans plus

Vietnamese people, establish the fact permanently that the Vietnam War was a foreign policydisaster (plus an unjust war), and fight to end injustices worldwide (which is about promotinginvestments to help Vietnam War veterans suffering homelessness, economic exploitation, or otherconditions in their lives. We should additionally express empathy and solidarity with the Vietnamesepeople too). That is how we honor the memories of those who passed away from this conflict.



By Timothy

We will follow the truth regardless.

The Vietnam War: 40 Years Later

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Transcript of The Vietnam War: 40 Years Later