CICERO
History Beyond The Textbook
Vietnam War
1954–1975
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History Beyond The Textbook
Table of Contents
Dien Bien Phu
Lead-up to War
Operation Chopper
Viet Cong Guerillas
Battle of Ap Bac
Operation Ranch Hand
Gulf of Tonkin Incident Gulf of Tonkin (continued)
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Project “596”
Battle of Binh Gia
Operation Flaming Dart
Operation Rolling Thunder Rolling Thunder (continued)
The First Bombing
Tet Offensive
My Lai Massacre
My Lai Continued
Aftermath of My Lai
Operation Menu
Cambodian Campaign
Kent State Massacre
Operation Lam Son 719
Easter Offensive
Kim Phúc
Operation Linebacker II
The Paris Peace Accords
Fall of Saigon
Aftermath of the War
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Viet Minh defeat the French
Dien Bien Phu
March 13–May 7, 1954
France had been fighting to reestablish
its former colony in Vietnam since
1946, when Japanese invaders were
driven out after the end of World War
II. The United States had backed the
French with money and weapons.
On May 7, 1954, however, Vietnamese
forces occupied the French command
post at Dien Bien Phu, and the French
commander ordered his troops to cease
fire. The last battle of the FrenchIndochina War had lasted fifty-five
days. Three thousand French troops
were killed, 8,000 wounded. The Viet
Minh suffered worse, with 8,000 dead
and 12,000 wounded, but the
Vietnamese victory shattered France’s
resolve to carry on the war.
French Union paratroopers
dropping from a “Flying Boxcar”
End
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President of South Vietnam,
Ngo Dinh Diem
The Lead Up to
the Vietnam War
Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh established a land
reform that led to war between the classes, resulting
in the murder of almost 100,000 people. In his
hometown of Nghe-An, villagers were deported or
executed for insubordination. Those that criticized
the North Vietnamese government were exiled,
arrested or executed. Village chiefs appointed by
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem were
killed by the Viet Cong. President John Kennedy
sent over a thousand advisers to assist Diem and
South Vietnam. It was decided to have Diem
removed as president of South Vietnam. President
Kennedy complied with South Vietnamese
generals. Diem was assassinated in a military coup,
and President Kennedy was assassinated three
weeks later. Before his assassination, he
reconsidered his Vietnam strategy, and hundreds of
American soldiers were already en route to
Vietnam.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
War Against Viet Cong
Guerrillas
The National Front for the Liberation of
South Vietnam, or Viet Cong, was an
insurgent organization fighting against
the government of the Republic of
Vietnam (also known as “South
Vietnam”) during the Vietnam War. The
organization was funded, supplied and
staffed by both South Vietnamese who
opposed the South Vietnamese
government and the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam, or North Vietnam.
In late 1961, President Kennedy ordered
more help for the South Vietnamese
government in its war against the Viet
Cong guerrillas. U.S. backing included
new equipment and more than 3,000
military advisors and support personnel.
Viet Cong guerrilla laying a mine
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Chopper
January 12, 1962
Operation Chopper was America’s
first combat mission in the war in
Vietnam. United States Army pilots
flew helicopters carrying 1,000
South Vietnamese soldiers to
search for National Front for the
Liberation of South Vietnam
insurgents, or Viet Cong.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Ranch Hand
Four-plane defoliant run, which
was a part of Operation Ranch
Hand.
The goal of Ranch Hand was to clear
vegetation alongside highways, making it
more difficult for the Viet Cong to conceal
themselves for ambushes and to transport
troops and supplies. As the war continued
the scope of Ranch Hand increased. Vast
tracts of forest were sprayed with “Agent
Orange,” a herbicide containing the
deadly chemical dioxin. Guerrilla trails
and base areas were exposed, and crops
that might feed Viet Cong units were
destroyed.
Unfortunately, Agent Orange proved toxic
to people too, and many American airmen
and Vietnamese civilians who were
exposed to it were later stricken with a
number of serious and often fatal ailments.
The effect on Vietnamese wildlife and
ecology was undetermined.
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History Beyond The Textbook
Battle of Ap Bac
January 2, 1963
The Battle of Ap Bac was a smallscale battle early in the Vietnam War
which resulted in the first major
combat victory by the National Front
for Liberation of South Vietnam
guerrillas against regular South
Vietnamese forces. The battle took
place on January 2, 1963, near the
hamlet of Ap Bac, sixty-five
kilometers southwest of Saigon in the
Mekong Delta. Forces of the 7th
Division of the Army of the Republic
of Vietnam, equipped with armored
personnel carriers and artillery and
supported by American helicopters,
faced off against an entrenched
battalion of guerrillas.
Wrecked helicopter
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Gulf of Tonkin
Incident — 1964
A chart of the United States Navy’s understanding
of the first part of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
prompted a large-scale escalation
of United States armed forces in
Vietnam. It was supposedly a pair
of attacks carried out by naval
forces of the Democratic Republic
of Vietnam against two American
naval ships, the USS Maddox and
the USS Turner Joy, operating in
international waters off the North
Vietnamese coast. Government
documents released in 1971 and
other classified documents
released in 2005 and 2006 reveal
much conflicting information
about what really happened,
where it happened and which side
initiated the shooting.
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History Beyond The Textbook
Gulf of Tonkin
Incident (continued)
A chart of the United States Navy’s understanding of
the first part of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
End
President Johnson said at the time
that the North Vietnamese had
been the first to fire on the U.S.
ships. Subsequent information
seems to show that the United
States provoked and then
exaggerated the attacks.
The importance of the Gulf of
Tonkin Incident was twofold.
Despite why it occurred, it was
the pretext used to justify a major
expansion of the war by U.S.
forces. Secondly, the conflicting
information about it eventually
undermined public confidence in
the U.S. about how the war was
being conducted and whether the
government was telling the truth.
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History Beyond The Textbook
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a
joint resolution of the U.S. Congress
passed on August 7, 1964 in direct
response to the Gulf of Tonkin
Incident. It is of historical
significance because it gave President
Johnson blanket authorization,
without a formal declaration of war
by Congress, for the use of military
force in Southeast Asia. The Johnson
administration subsequently cited the
resolution as legal authority for its
rapid escalation of U.S. military
involvement in the Vietnam War. By
1968, American troops in Vietnam
numbered about 580,000.
President Johnson signs the Tonkin
Resolution.
End
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“596”
History Beyond The Textbook
Chinese Nuclear Weapons Test
October 19, 1964
Fireball from the Chinese
atomic bomb.
The first Chinese atomic bomb, code
named 596, was detonated on October
16, 1964 at the Lop Nor nuclear test site.
The test had a yield of 22 kilotons. China
would manage to develop a fission bomb
capable of being put onto a nuclear
missile only two years later, and would
detonate its first hydrogen bomb only
three years later in 1967.
This meant that the two major
communist powers, the Soviet Union and
the People’s Republic of China, were
both nuclear powers. The use of fullscale war against either one was no
longer an acceptable option. U.S. leaders
saw fighting the communists in smallerscale surrogate wars like Vietnam as
perhaps their only military option in
defeating communism.
End
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Battle of Binh Gia
Toward the end of 1964, South Vietnam
was facing political instability following
the coup against President Ngo Dinh
Diem. Taking advantage of the
government’s political and military
situation, along with orders from Hanoi to
initiate military offensives, the Viet Cong
sought to commemorate the fourth
anniversary of its establishment with a
major victory on the battlefield.
The first operational Viet Cong unit, the
9th Division, was given the honor of
carrying out the mission. In many ways
the Viet Cong had more than achieved
their objective; the subsequent fighting in
and around Binh Gia demonstrated that the
NLF’s military wing had come of age and
was able to tackle the best the South
Vietnamese government could send
against them.
Viet Cong propaganda photo
of the Battle of Binh Gia
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History Beyond The Textbook
Viet Cong Guerrilla Attacks
Operation Flaming Dart
February 6–8, 1965
Viet Cong guerrillas attacked a United
States military compound in Pleiku,
central Vietnam. Eight Americans
were killed and ten United States
military aircraft were destroyed. As a
result, President Johnson approved
Operation Flaming Dart, which was
the bombing of a North Vietnamese
army camp near Dong Hoi.
Preparations soon began for the first
step of Operation Flaming Dart. Fortynine sorties were flown for Flaming
Dart 1, followed by ninety-nine more
for Flaming Dart II, which was the
direct result of the Viet Cong attacking
U.S. citizens at a hotel.
Viet Cong soldiers
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Rolling Thunder
March 2, 1965–November 1, 1968
F-105 Thunderchiefs
The four objectives of the operation were:
to bolster the sagging morale of the Saigon
regime in the Republic of Vietnam; to
convince North Vietnam to cease its
support for the communist insurgency in
South Vietnam; to destroy North
Vietnam’s transportation system, industrial
base, and air defenses, and to restrict the
flow of men and material into South
Vietnam. Attaining these objectives was
made difficult by both the restraints
imposed upon the United States and its
allies by Cold War demands, and by the
military aid and assistance received by the
North Vietnam from its socialist allies, the
Soviet Union and People’s Republic of
China.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
The First Bombing Raids
of Rolling Thunder
March 2, 1965
VNAF A-1 Skyraiders
After a number of delays, the first
bombing raids of Rolling Thunder
were launched. The first mission of the
new operation was launched on March
2 against an ammunition storage area
near Xom Bang. On the same day, 19
VNAF A-1 Skyraiders struck the
Quang Khe Naval Base. The
Americans were shocked when six of
their aircraft were shot down during
the mission. Five of the downed
crewmen were rescued, but it was a
portent of things to come.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Rolling Thunder
(continued)
March 2, 1965–November 1, 1968
The operation became the most intense
air/ground battle waged during the Cold War
period since the Korean War. It was the most
difficult air campaign fought by the U.S. Air
Force since the aerial bombardment of
Germany during World War II. Thanks to the
efforts of its allies, North Vietnam fielded a
potent mixture of sophisticated air-to-air and
ground-to-air weapons that created one of the
most effective air defense environments ever
faced by American military aviators. After
one of the longest aerial campaigns conducted
by any nation, Operation Rolling Thunder was
terminated as a strategic failure in late 1968
having achieved none of its objectives
U.S. troops in search of Viet Cong
guerrillas
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Tet Offensive
January 30–September 23, 1968
One of the more significant events of the Vietnam War,
was the joining of forces by the Viet Cong Guerrillas
and People’s Army of Vietnam. Together they began
attacking hundreds of South Vietnamese cities and
towns, during the Tet New Year’s holiday. The Tet
Offensive hoped to weaken civilian support of the
Saigon government, thus causing an insurrection in
South Vietnam. With this plan in place the Viet Cong
and People’s Army of Vietnam hoped to end the war in
a single blow.
Ironically, the offensive was a military defeat for the
communists. They were beaten back everywhere they
attacked, with heavy losses. But American leaders had
been optimistically boasting that the war was almost
over in late 1967. The scope of the Tet Offensive and
the difficulty in defeating it proved that was not the
case. It proved to be a military defeat for the Viet Cong
and North Vietnamese forces but a political victory. It
helped turn popular opinion in the United States further
against the war in Vietnam.
U.S. Marines marching through Dai Do
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
My Lai Massacre
March 16, 1968
The My Lai Massacre was an event that
resulted in the murders of 350 to 500 unarmed
Vietnamese civilians by American troops.
The 20th Infantry Regiment suffered a number
of deaths in March 1968, by enemy mines or
booby-traps. During this time, they received
word that the 48th Battalion of the Viet Cong
had retreated and was hiding out in a small
Vietnamese village known as Sơn Mỹ. The
U.S. troops planned to go in aggressively, on
Colonel Oran K. Henderson’s orders. Lt.
Colonel Frank Barker ordered them to burn the
village to the ground. They planned to attack
during a time when they did not expect
civilians to be present. They only expected Viet
Cong and their sympathizers. The question was
asked if they were to kill women and children.
The answer was “all suspected Viet Cong.”
The Viet Cong were known to sometimes have
women as soldiers and use children
occasionally as well.
An American soldier setting fire to the
homes of Vietnamese civilians
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
My Lai Massacre Cont’d
Upon moving into the My Lai area, none of the suspected
Viet Cong soldiers were seen. They suspected they were
hiding out in the homes of their elders and women. On the
orders of Lt. William Calley, the soldiers went in shooting
anything that moved, Viet Cong, women, children, and
animals. One group of seventy to eighty civilians was
rounded up and shot by Calley and other soldiers. They
performed sweeps and killed those who were hiding, finishing
off the wounded.
Hugh Thompson Jr., a young helicopter pilot supporting the
American troops, was flying over the village and witnessed
the dead and dying civilians. All he saw were babies,
children, women and old men; he did not see any armed Viet
Cong. He witnessed Captain Ernest Medina kill a woman at
point-blank range. Thompson was confused. He then took off
in his helicopter. From the sky, he saw a group of unarmed
civilians being approached by U.S. soldiers. He landed
between the soldiers and the civilians. He warned the soldiers
that if they try to shoot those people, he would open fire on
the soldiers, his own men. He loaded some of the civilians
onto the helicopter, and brought some of the wounded onto
the chopper as well. In 1998, thirty years later, Thompson and
two other soldiers that tried to stop the massacre, Glenn
Adreotta and Lawrence Colburn, were awarded the Soldier’s
Medal by President Clinton for their actions at My Lai.
End
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The burning of a Vietnamese home
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History Beyond The Textbook
Aftermath of My Lai
There is not an official death toll of the My Lai Massacre, but it has been estimated between
three-hundred forty-seven and five hundred four men, women, children, and babies. The
original reports claimed that during a firefight between Viet Cong and U.S. troops one
hundred twenty-eight Viet Cong guerrilla soldiers were killed, and twenty-two civilians were
caught in the crossfire. The troops were originally commended for their work. A young
soldier named Tom Glen wrote a letter to General Creighton Abrams accusing U.S. troops of
brutality against Vietnamese civilians. The letter was extremely detailed and showed some
merit. Future Secretary of State, Colin Powell, a 31-year-old major in the Army at the time,
was put in charge of investigating the allegations. Glen’s letter did not name the My Lai
Massacre. In his report Powell wrote, “In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that
relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent.” He would
later be criticized for “whitewashing” the incident. It was not until a letter written by another
soldier, Ron Ridenhour, that the events of My Lai came to light. He wrote letters to President
Nixon, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and members of
Congress. The letters were sent out a year after the massacre. Almost all recipients of the
letter ignored it, with exception of Arizona Governor Morris Udall. Calley was then charged
with murder in September 1969, along with other soldiers. An investigation was launched into
the massacre and its coverup. Colonel Henderson was acquitted. Calley was convicted and
sentenced to life imprisonment. President Nixon released him pending an appeal. Calley
would later only serve four and a half months in prison. Captain Medina was acquitted, but
later admitted to covering up evidence about the number of civilian deaths. All the other men
charged were exempt from prosecution, having already left the service.
Suspicions remained about whether My Lai was an isolated incident or an example of
standard procedure by the military during the Vietnam War. The story contributed to the
growing critical opinion in the United States about the war.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Menu
March 18, 1969–May 28, 1970
Operation Menu was the code name for the
secret bombing of eastern Cambodia by
the United States Strategic Air Command.
It targeted eastern Cambodia because it
had reason to believe there were bases for
the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.
Newly elected president Richard Nixon
was sending a message to the North
Vietnamese government that he was in
support of the Saigon government. The
campaign was set up and operated in
complete secrecy, due to the growing
displeasure over the Vietnam War with the
American public. Nixon had won the
election partly due to his claim of having a
“secret plan” to end the war. War critics
were surprised to find the “secret plan”
included “secretly” bombing other
countries, expanding the war even more.
End
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A map of the communist bases
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History Beyond The Textbook
Cambodian Campaign
April 29–July 22, 1970
President Nixon announces the invasion of
Cambodia
The Invasion of Cambodia was a series of
military operations that were executed in
eastern Cambodia by United States and the
South Vietnamese military. There were 13
operations conducted in all. The invasion
was not received well in the United States.
There were a number of angry protests
conducted around the country. The
invasion was designed to defeat the 40,000
troops from the People’s Army of Vietnam
and the Viet Cong that stationed
themselves around the border of eastern
Cambodia. The campaign resulted in the
seizure of large amounts of communist
supplies, and also, led to the expansion of
the Cambodian Civil War.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Kent State Massacre
May 4, 1970
On May 4, 1970, on the campus of Kent State
University in Kent, Ohio, a series of antiwar
protests, some of which caused fires and
property damage, resulted in the deaths of
four college students.
The students of Kent State were protesting
the American invasion of Cambodia. On the
last day of the protests, Ohio National Guard
troops opened fire on a group of unarmed
students and protesters. The four students
killed were Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause,
Sandra Scheuer, and William Knox
Schroeder. Some of the students shot were
not involved in the protests, but were
changing classes at the time. Nine people
were wounded, including one who was left
paralyzed from the waist down.
The circumstances of the controversial
shootings only served to divide Americans
more over the war and about the way the
government was handling it, both in Vietnam
and at home.
Fourteen-year-old runaway Mary Ann
Vecchio kneels over the body of
Jeffrey Miller
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Lam Son 719
February 8 – March 25, 1971
U.S. military helicopters over Laos
Operation Lam Son 719 was an
offensive campaign by South
Vietnam with the help of the United
States against North Vietnamese
forces. The operation sent South
Vietnamese troops into another
neighboring country, Laos, against
Viet Cong supply lines. United States
forces were prohibited by law from
using U.S. ground forces in the
Kingdom of Laos. So, it helped South
Vietnam by providing aerial views,
logistical information, and artillery
support. The campaign was designed
to thwart any future attacks or
operations conducted by the People’s
Army of Vietnam. This campaign was
not successful for South Vietnam and
United States. The North Vietnamese
suffered heavy losses, but the
campaign did not result in forcing the
North Vietnamese from the area.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Easter Offensive
March 30 – October 22, 1972
The Easter Offensive was a military campaign
carried out by North Vietnam and Viet Cong
soldiers against South Vietnam and the United
States. This was the largest military invasion since
the Korean War. The purpose of the invasion by
North Vietnam was not to finally win the war
outright, but to gain as much territory and gain the
possession of a variety of South Vietnamese
military bases.
This campaign reflected another aspect of Nixon’s
strategy, “Vietnamization.” He sought to slowly
reduce the American forces in Vietnam by getting
the South Vietnamese Army to take over most of
the fighting. This had not worked earlier in the
war, but Nixon thought it would work now. It
proved to be only partially successful.
South Vietnamese civilians flee after North
Vietnamese invasion
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Kim Phúc
June 8, 1972
Nine-year-old Kim Phúc (center) had her clothes
burned off her body as the result of a
U.S. napalm attack.
On June 8 , 1972, the village of Trang
Bang in South Vietnam was under attack
from North Vietnamese forces. During the
attack, United States forces dropped a
napalm bomb on the village to cripple the
North Vietnam forces. Nine-year-old Kim
Phúc joined a group of South Vietnam
soldiers and civilians as they fled the
scene. A U.S. helicopter mistook them for
the enemy, and dropped a napalm bomb
on the group. When the bomb hit, the
napalm stuck to Kim Phúc’s clothes and
burned them from her back. She was badly
burned. Kim Phúc almost died, but due to
the quick thinking of Vietnamese
photographer Nick Út, Kim Phúc was able
to survive. After the war, she emigrated
from Vietnam and eventually moved to
Canada.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Operation Linebacker II
December 18–29, 1972
Operation Linebacker II was an aerial
bombardment of North Vietnam by
American and South Vietnamese
forces. This was a last ditch-effort by
the United States government. It was
the largest bombing campaign by the
United States since the Second World
War. These missions were a
continuation of the bombing
orchestrated by the United States
from May to October during that
same year. The difference was the
switch from fighter planes to the large
Stratofortress bombers. The result of
this operation is still highly debated.
In Vietnam the United States dropped
more than three times the amount of
bombs used in World War II. Because
Vietnam was not heavily urbanized, it
did not have as much of an effect on
the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese as
was expected.
End
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U.S. B-52 Stratofortress on a bomb run
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History Beyond The Textbook
The Paris Peace Accords
January 27, 1973
While the war ground on, the Nixon administration stepped up
efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to end the war. Those efforts
were led by U.S. National Security adviser and close confidant to
the President Nixon, Henry Kissinger. After long and difficult
negotiations, the Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27,
1973 by the governments of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and
the United States. The peace treaty was designed to set up peace in
Vietnam and officially end the war. The peace accords ended the
United States’ direct involvement in Vietnam. It also temporarily
ended the fighting between the North and South. Kissinger and
North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho negotiated the peace.
They were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.
End
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History Beyond The Textbook
Fall of Saigon
April 30, 1975
The Peace Agreement proved fragile. The
North Vietnamese Army invaded and
captured South Vietnam’s capital city of
Saigon on April 30, 1975. Most American
troops had been removed from Vietnam by
that time. American troops evacuated the
American embassy in Vietnam. The
remainder of American civilians and
military personnel evacuated the city,
along with tens of thousands of South
Vietnamese civilians. This culminated in
the largest helicopter evacuation in
history, otherwise known as, Operation
Frequent Wind.
This event marked the end of the Second
Indochinese War, otherwise known as the
Vietnam War. The communist government
combined North and South Vietnam, and
established its new communist regime at
its capital, Hanoi. The city of Saigon was
renamed Ho Chi Minh City, in honor of
the leader of the Vietnamese resistance in
the war against France, the leader of North
Vietnam until his death in 1968, Ho Chi
Minh.
End
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South Vietnamese try to flee on the CIA
Air America after North Vietnam seized
Saigon
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•
•
•
•
•
Aftermath of the War
Vietnam
On July 2, 1976, Socialist Republic of
Vietnam was established.
Encouraged by the Vietnam War, a
communist movement called the Khmer
Rouge succeeded in gaining control of
Cambodia and attempting to radically
restructure Cambodian society.
The results were disastrous. More than 2
million people were killed in Cambodia
and the Khmer Rouge fell from power.
Vietnam and China fought in a border war,
otherwise known as the Third-Indochina
War. The war lasted only a month with a
disputed result
By the turn of the 21st century, Vietnam,
like China, had moved away from its
socialist economy to welcome aspects of
free market capitalism. Vietnam became
an active trading partner with the United
States, though it remains a communist
country politically.
End
•
•
•
•
United States
Many veterans suffered from the aftereffects of the war. (i.e., depression and
post-traumatic stress.)
Many felt that the United States’
withdrawal was due to the political defeat
not a military defeat.
Almost 3 million Americans fought in the
war between 1965 and 1973. The war cost
the United States $120 billion, which put
the United States in a large federal deficit.
The United States’ defeat showed that a
political superpower does not have
unlimited strength and resources, and does
have the capability of being defeated.
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