United States Involvement in Vietnam

Keven Fears3A IB Hist11

• JFK believed in the Domino Theory. He believed that if South Vietnam fell to communism, its neighboring states would as a result.

• (Domino Theory- if a state participated in a particular event, neighboring states would also do so as a reaction/consequence.)

• During John F. Kennedy’s 1st year as president, Kennedy tripled the amount of US military and economic aid in South Vietnam

• Kennedy believed a withdrawal from South Vietnam would result in a collapse in South Vietnam and also Southeast Asia.

• During his 2nd year as president, Kennedy tripled the amount of military and economic aid that he sent in his 1st year as president.

• Kennedy stated that America should “Pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

• Kennedy agreed that America should finance an increase of the South Vietnamese Army from 150,000-170,000.

• He also agreed to send an extra thousand US military advisors to South Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese Army.

Strategic Hamlet Program

• Kennedy introduced the Strategic Hamlet Program in 1962 in South Vietnam. The program was intended to stop any contact between peasants and influence from the National Liberation Front.

• The program relocated peasants to areas that were under the South Vietnam army. The program’s aim was to create new communities for those peasants under the South Vietnam Army control

cont.• Many peasants were angry that the program made

them relocate. The peasants had to leave their farms and fields, leave their families, and abandon their traditions and rituals.

• The program intended to increase loyalty from peasants toward the government, but instead the program decreased support and drove them closer to communism.

• In a 2 years span, membership to the NLF increased by 300% while Strategic Hamlet was in operation.

• Kennedy responded by sending more military advisors and about 300 helicopters with US pilots to South Vietnam.

• The Diem Coup also lost support for the Strategic Hamlet.

• Kennedy was convinced that South Vietnam could not reunite and he agreed that the CIA should devise a program to overthrow Diem.

• After Diem was overthrown in November 1963, the Strategic Hamlet program fell apart and the peasants began moving back into their native homes

• Kennedy was assassinated 3 weeks after the Diem was killed.

• President Lyndon Johnson succeeded President Kennedy.

• He was a supporter of the Domino Theory. He supported South Vietnam and was against the National Liberation Front.

• He stated: “If we quit Vietnam tomorrow, we’ll be fighting in Hawaii and next week we’ll have to be fighting in San Francisco.”

• His advisors advised him to take a forceful approach to Vietnam.

• General Khanh of the South Vietnam Army told Johnson he didn’t believe they could defeat the NLF by themselves

• Johnson initially didn’t want to send troops to Vietnam because he knew it wouldn’t be popular and he was facing a election in 1964.

• Johnson told the Joint Chiefs of Staff he would do all he could to support Khanh except send any troops to Vietnam until after Johnson’s election

• The military complained that they wanted greater US involvement, but Johnson was still hesitant to do so because he knew it would be unpopular in America and he knew it would hurt him in the election in 1964.

• Though he refused immediate help from US troops, he did support the use of Asian mercenaries to perform acts of sabotage in North Vietnam.

• Johnson sent in the USS Maddox to scout the north Vietnam's naval defenses, which resulted in the destruction of the ship.

• Johnson as a result to the attack ordered bombing raids on North Vietnam.

• After his presidential election in 1964, he sent in more US troops. In 1965 he authorized Operation “Rolling Thunder”- the wholesale bombing of North Vietnam and the NLF.

• The operation was only intended to last 8 weeks, but lasted 3 years.

• On March 8, 1865, South Vietnam needing more help, Johnson sent 3500 more troops

• As the war dragged on, the war began to take many American lives.

• Johnson began losing support from the public because of all of the lives that were lost from combat.

• People began rioting and protesting against Johnson and the Vietnam War. Colleges students and others burned draft cards.

• People would shout out “Hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” People protested Johnson almost everywhere he went.

• He wasn’t allowed by the Secret Service to attend the 1968 Democratic Convention where thousands of people opposed to Johnson’s policies both in Vietnam and in the ghettos protested.

• In 1968 the “hawks” rejected Johnson’s refusal to continue the war indefinitely, and the “doves” rejected his current war policies

Nixon

1969 - 1974

Nixon’s Policy of Vietnamization

• 1969 to 1974. • The objective was to train and support the

Southern Vietnam army (ARVN) to be self-sufficient while gradually withdrawing troops.

• In June of 1969, Nixon announced that the 540,000 US troops were to be reduced by 25,000. The following December, another 60,000 were to leave.

Détente

• Détente- Nixon’s policy with the aim of gradually easing tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.

• Instated in the early 1970s. Ideals of Vietnamization align with détente.

Nixon in the Paris Peace Talks

• Paris Peace Talks- Johnson turned over the presidency to Nixon 8 months into the talks. Very unproductive. NLF representatives said they would sit there, “until the chairs rot.”

• Madman Theory – One of the chief US negotiators, Bob Haldeman, was told to give the impression the Nixon’s hatred of communism was so intense that he would consider using nuclear weapons on North Vietnam in order to intimidate them into a compromise.

Operation Giant Lance

• October 27, 1969, • A squadron of bomber planes loaded with

nuclear weapons. They circled Soviet Airspace for 3 straight days.

• Nixon never intended for bombs to be dropped, just hoped to scare Soviets into believing that he would start a nuclear war so that they would pressure NLF to relent and compromise in Paris Peace Talks.

Phoenix Program

• Program in which the CIA trained Vietnamese to infiltrate peasant villages and identify North Vietnam (or NLF, National Liberation Front) sympathizers.

• Death squads then entered the communities and executed sympathizers.

• Between 1968 and 1971, an estimated 40,974 members of the NLF were killed in this way.

Opposition to the War

Pentagon Papers

• Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara created the Vietnam Study Task Force on June 17, 1967.

• Create a detailed record of the war• 3000 pages of historical analysis along with 4000 additional

pages of government documents. These were broken down into 47 volumes

• marked as “Top Secret – Sensitive”. Daniel Ellsberg had worked with McNamara in 1964-1965.

• Gave 43 of the 47 volumes to reporter Neil Sheehan. The New York Times began publishing excerpts on June 13, 1971.

My Lai Massacre• March 16, 1968.• Lt. William Calley led the Charlie Company into thevillage of My Lai.

Many of the company had been severely wounded or killed in this area in the preceding weeks as it was infiltrated by the Vietcong.

• More than 300 men, women and children were massacred. • November 1969, word of the massacre reached the American public

until journalist Seymour Hersh published a story detailing his conversations with a Vietnam veteran, Ron Ridenhour who heard of the massacre from members of the Charlie company.

• Before speaking with Hersh, he had appealed to Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon to investigate the matter.

• Calley was charged for murder in September 1969, two months before the story was published.

VVAW

• VVAW – Vietnam Veterans against the War• founded in New York City in April 15,

1967 “Spring Mobilization to End the War” anti-war demonstration with

• over 400,000 other protesters • six Vietnam vets marched. • Grew to a membership of over 30,000

throughout the United States and those on active duty stationed in Vietnam.

Kent State Massacre

• Monday, May 4, 1970. • Guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13

seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

• Hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of four million students, and the event further affected the public opinion over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.

Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam

• a massive demonstration and teach-in against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War

• took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. It was• followed by a large Moratorium March on Washington on November

15, 1969. • 500,000 demonstrators against the war, including many performers

and activists on stage at a rally across from the White House.• late in the day conflict broke out at DuPont Circle, and the police

sprayed the crowd with tear gas. • Over 40,000 people gathered to parade silently down Pennsylvania

Avenue to the White House, where protesters walked single file all evening, each calling out the name of a dead soldier as he or she reached the sidewalk directly in front of the president's home.

End of the Vietnam War

American troops withdraw

• The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973• Under the Paris Peace Accords, a ceasefire

was created between North and South Vietnam.

• The U.S. ended direct involvement in the war, removed all personnel, and destroyed all water-mines that were placed in North Vietnam

Paris Peace Accords Article 2• A cease-fire shall be observed throughout South Viet-Nam as of

2400 hours G.M.T. [Greenwich Mean Time], on January 27, 1973.• At the same hour, the United States will stop all its military

activities against the territory of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam by ground, air and naval forces, wherever they may be based, and end the mining of the territorial waters, ports, harbors, and waterways of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. The United States will remove, permanently deactivate or destroy all the mines in the territorial waters, ports, harbors, and waterways of North Viet-Nam as soon as this Agreement goes into effect.

• The complete cessation of hostilities mentioned in this Article shall be durable and without limit of time.

Nixon and the End of the War

• President Nixon attempted to appeal to the “silent majority” of Americans whom he believed supported the war. “Peace with Honor”

• Nov. 3, 1969, “Silent Majority” speech: “I recognize that some of my fellow citizens disagree with the plan for peace that I have chosen. Honest and patriotic Americans have reached different conclusions as to how peace should be achieved. In San Francisco a few weeks ago, I saw demonstrators carrying signs reading, "Lose the war in Vietnam. Bring the boys home."

• His policy of Vietnamization supported the war.• Nixon’s attempt to broaden the scope of conflict was

sabotaged by news of the My Lai massacre.

My Lai Massacre

• On March 16, 1968, the My Lai Massacre took place. Lt. William Calley commanded a “Search and destroy” to his troop.

• 300 unarmed civilians including women and children were massacred

• The My Lai massacre was a manifestation of the American soldiers’ fatigue from a brutal war and war fatigue at home became eminent.

Vietnam Veterans Against the War

• On April 23, 1971, John Kerry gave a testimony against the Vietnam war after serving shortly. He mentions the My Lai massacre.

• We rationalized destroying villages in order to save them. We saw America lose her sense of morality as she accepted very coolly a My Lai and refused to give up the image of American soldiers who hand out chocolate bars and chewing gum.

We learned the meaning of free fire zones, shooting anything that moves, and we watched while America placed a cheapness on the lives of orientals.

After U.S. withdrawal

• The war raged on between the North and South until April 30, 1975 when Saigon was captured and renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

• 1976 – Vietnam is unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

• America had spent $120 billion on the war.• The negative reception of Vietnam veterans is

also notable.

Sources

• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/kennedy_vietnam.htm

• http://vietnamartwork.wordpress.com/vietnam-war-jfk/

• http://romanushistory11.wetpaint.com/page/Vietnam+Conflict+K.M.,+M.M.,+E.B.+Block+2

Sources

• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNvietnamization.htm

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/honor/peopleevents/e_paris.html

• http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-03/ff_nuclearwar?currentPage=all

• http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/pentagon_papers/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=pentagon%20papers&st=cse

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html

• http://www.vvaw.org/about/• http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen

.htm

Sources• http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Accords#CESSATION_OF_HOST

ILITIES_-_WITHDRAWAL_OF_TROOPS.2C• http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war#a5• http://voices.yahoo.com/peace-honor-nixons-role-vietnam-war-1968-290

0034.html• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/psources/ps_against.html• http://chnm.gmu.edu/hardhats/silent.html