Vietnam War Vietnam War 1954 1973 o Assist the French because of the Truman Doctrine Helped out by sending military machinery Advisors not wanted French can only use French foreign legion Vietnam soldiers for the French and ordinary French soldiers o Dien Bien Phu 1954 French wanted to establish a base here It was a terrible choice at the base of a valley and surrounded by mountains Really only assessable by air Ended up getting surrounded with artillery on the hills The casualties were so great they had to count spinal chords found This signals the end of the Indochina war o North v South 1956 decided to divide the country between communist north and democratic south o Ho Chi Min leader of communist unit o Ngo Dinh Diem Leader of the South Staunch anti communist and Catholic Catholics are minority with Buddhism as majority Led a very oppressive rule Catholics and family received preferential treatment Elected in 1955 Buddhist Crisis o Buddhist monks would set themselves on fire to protest Coup in 1963 o Kennedy authorized a CIA op to dispose Diem US involvement in South Vietnam o Started 1950 o Kennedy Actively supports South Vietnam financially Military Assistance Command Vietnam MACV est 1962 o 3400 soldiers acting as military advisors o They changed their name because of a huge increase in resources o Why a huge Vietnam commitment Bad experience in Korea National Liberation Front Viet Kong Communist insurgency in South Vietnam supported by North Johnson takes over the war o The Great Society vs Vietnam The great Society was original focus Johnson sends more advisors because he doesn t want to waste much time with it Eventually consumes so much of his time that the Great Society falls by the wayside o The Gulf of Tonkin incident Aug 2 1964 A US destroyer was attacked by NV forces in international waters Resolution Allowed Johnson permission to declare war on Vietnam and deploy troops Authorizes an expansion of US involvement o Committing troops in March 1965 3500 US Marines to Da Nag a US air base Often considered to be the start of the Vietnam War December 200 000 troops The war escalates o National Liberation Front Viet Kong o Ho Chi Min trail Supply corridor between the North and the South How the Vietnamese supply the guerilla warfare o Battle of Ia Drang Valley Nov 1965 Two battalions fly 1400 into a valley looking for NVA regulars infiltrating the country They find more than they were looking for roughly 4000 NVA troops First time they meet each other toe to toe NVA decides to rely solely on NLF forces Body count system keep track of who is winning by how many troops are killed on each side o Strategic Hamlets Program Originally a British program Separate the insurgence from the population Special Forces Organize hill tribes in SV to help fight the VK If they win over their hearts and minds they will win Johnson pulls a lot of the resources form the program and basically kills it o By 1968 we have 500 000 troops in Vietnam Australian New Zealand Philippines Thailand All have troops in V from 1963 1973 Tet Offensive Jan 30 1968 o Viet Kong attacks all over the country Usually a truce to allow the citizens to celebrate We destroyed the Viet Kong and the NVA has to take over o Hue City Held one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history o Saigon o TV coverage Everything was on TV Lost a lot of support for the Vietnam war Started an upsurge in anti war movements and got people politically activated Opposition to the war o Particularly after the Tet Offensive o Opposition to the Draft 42 of the soldiers in Vietnam are draftees College students received a deferment but if you were poor and could not afford college you got drafted Al Gore volunteered for the Vietnam war served four months and never saw combat o 1968 Democratic National Convention Johnson is so unpopular with the people that he is not allowed to give a speech here or on college campuses because the secret service cannot insure his safety Johnson announces he wont be running for reelection Robert Kennedy decides to enter the race He is assassinated in California This is seen as a loss of hope In addition to Kennedy s assassination MLKJ is also killed Convention Held in Chicago Anti war protests are planning to attend About 10 000 protestors and 20 000 police officers Protests are violently put down and all on national television o Kent State Shootings May 4 1970 Prior to the shooting Students burnt down the ROTC building National guard was called in to help contain protests Students attacked police and firemen with stones and anything they could find The shooting In the confusion a national guardsmen said something close to fire and the soldiers fired against them Four were killed These soldiers did not want to be there Only joined the guard so they could not be drafted into Vietnam war 1968 Presidential Election o A year of violence and turmoil Marshall law was enacted in Washington DC Soldiers were set up to defend the capital o Robert Kennedy assassinated o MLKJ assassinated o Richard Nixon Republican candidate for presidency Campaign is to end the war in Vietnam Peace with Honor Platform of stability and security o George Wallace Third party individual who actually makes an impact He opposes integration of public schools Receives 49 electoral votes and wins 5 states in the south o End to the New Deal coalition Kept democratic Presidents in the White House with one exception End of southern support for the democratic party Prior to this point they had been solidly democratic Nixon escalates the war o Cambodia and Laos invade 1970 Nixon focused his energy on the Ho Chi Min Trail Authorized ground invasion and attack the trail expanding the war Operation Menu Expand the war to end the war o By this point 42 of the Army in Vietnam is draftees buy 58 of the casualties are as well Support continuously going down More people of socioeconomic class are being put on the front lines and dying o Pentagon Papers 1971 Secret documents that were leaked An in house pentagon history about previous administrations This exposed all of the lies about the Johnson administration Nixon tried to suppress the publication of the papers which damages his credibility o Vietnamization Replacing US combat troops and operations with South Vietnamese troops and operations o Paris Peace Accords 1973 Call for a cessation of hostility and the US will retract its troops They will trade POW s North Vietnamese were not required to
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