The Vietnam War

By Yash Kamani, Erin Hardy, and Bella Felisberto

Opposing sides in the War

•The opposing sides in the war were the supporters of communism, North Vietnam, against the supporters of democracy, South Vietnam.•Communism- System of social organization where everyone is equal and no single person or group of people rules others.•Democracy- System of government where leaders are elected by the people.

For Communism•China- The People's Republic of China, which was mainland China, fought alongside North Vietnam in the war, supporting Communism.•U.S.S.R.- The U.S.S.R, which is now Russia, also fought in favor of communism. They were involved in combat as well.

For Democracy•United States- In the Vietnam war, the United States fought against communism. We were very involved in combat.•Australia- The Vietnam war was actually the longest period of conflict for Australia and they sent in 60,000 troops over all to help fight in support for democracy.•New Zealand- New Zealand came to a final decision to involve themselves in the Vietnam war and stand for democracy even though it caused some controversy at home.

For Democracy•South Korea- South Korea was another nation who supported democracy and joined into the battle in favor of it.•Thailand- Thailand was a close ally of the United States and fought with them against communism.•Philippines- The Philippines were involved in combat while fighting for democracy. There were many U.S. airbases in the Philippines.

BattlesSome of the major battles that occurred in the Vietnam war

Battles•The battles of the war really took a toll on the troops fighting in them. •They were gruesome and many troops died.•In total, 9,087,000 soldiers were sent to fight in the Vietnam war. •It is estimated that over one million people died in the war.•The United States lost 58,000 of their troops. They even lost 8 nurses, who were aiding the soldiers. •The Vietnam war was surely no cold war.

Statistics•58,148 soldiers died in Vietnam.•The average age of these soldiers was 23.11 years•The oldest man killed was 62•Youngest was only 16•9,000 Vietnam Veterans have committed suicide after returning due to trauma from the war•79% of the troops had a high school degree (most educated group of solders to that date)•Only 85% of Vietnam Veterans made a successful transition to regular life.

1963-

American backed

Vietnamese forces

opened fire on

South Vietnamese

demonstrators

that were

demonstrating for

religious freedom.

 Nine people were

killed.June 11th, 1963-

Thich Quang Due, a sixty-six

year old monk, set himself

on fire in Saigon in protest to

the oppression of the Diem

administration, as seen

below.  Diem's response to

this action was: "Let them

burn, and we shall clap our

hands."

1964- Lyndon Johnson is Elected for an official term as President

1965- Operation Rolling Thunder begins, USA officially involved in the war. Sustained Bombing of North Vietnam starts.

1965-First US troops are deployed to Danang. They are Marines

1965- First Conventional battle of the war. US troops clash with N. Vietnam at Ia Drang Valley

Timeline

1966- South Vietnam government takes Hue and Danang

1966- President Johnson Meets with South Vietnam leaders. Gives support to them but also warns them that US will be monitoring to make sure they spread Democracy and fair economics

1967- Operation Cedar Falls begins: joint operation between S. Vietnam and USA. 30,000 total troops in operation

1968 February- Battle for Hue starts. 26 day battle. US/ S. Vietnam win

1968 March- My Lai Massacre. US troops massacre whole village in Communist town. America is outraged

1969- Nixon Comes to Power, starts secretly bombing Cambodia to get rid of Communist Supplies. Peace talks begin. Troop withdrawal begins

1973- Official Cease Fire is put in place. Although US troops had been out for the most part since 1971. War is now officially at cease fire for all parties involved

Timeline

Continued

Reactions to the War• Initially there was not that

big of an anti war movement; not as much involvement by US

• When Johnson started actively bombing in 1965, big anti-war movement started

• US Government official position was that they were involved due to a request from S. Korea

• Also claimed to want to stop growth of communism

Reactions to The War continued• Two sides formed in

America• Known as Hawks and

Doves• Hawks- wanted USA to

use full force and end war quickly

• Doves- thought it was immoral for USA to get involved in what was basically a civil war

• Called for immediate withdrawal or gradual withdrawal of troops

Protests• There were many demonstrations all

around the country • Began mainly on college campuses

(Members of SDS)• In 1967, when 500,000 US troops were

in Vietnam widespread protests started• Protests were big and small many

times demonstrators were arrested.• Showed how the war split the country• The draft also caused protests, 40,000

troops were being drafted each month• Draftees protested many times as well

Lincoln Memorial Protest• October 21, 1967• Most prominent anti war

demonstration• 100,000 demonstrators

marched at the Lincoln Memorial

• 30,000 of them went to the Pentagon later that night

• Clashed with Marshalls and soldiers at the Pentagon

• Hundreds arrested• Book "Armies of the Night"

chronicled the event.Demonstrators at the Lincoln Memorial

Sources• http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war-protests• http://vietnamwar3.tripod.com/id1.html• http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/causes.htm

Protests• http://www.nps.gov/vive/• http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/

timeline.htm• http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/• http://www.essortment.com/all/vietnamwarprot_rlcz.htm

• http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html