United States History II
“The Vietnam War”
Handout 11-1
I. Background Information
* Vietnam is naturally divided into north and south by the ___________ Delta and the _______
River Delta in those respective regions. It is a long, narrow nation of thick __________
and a mountainous interior.
* The _________ ruled the northern part of Vietnam for centuries until local groups expelled the
invaders in the _____ century A.D.
* _______ merchants and missionaries began exploring and settling the area in the _____ century
as they sought raw materials. France then sent soldiers in ______ to turn Vietnam into
an official colony, though they faced fierce resistance as they were not able to ________
the population until 1893.
* The French _________ Vietnam by taxing the people heavily and by exporting _____ and other
raw materials for profit, and the French and those Vietnamese with close ties to the
colonial government took over most of the _____. Prior to French rule, most Vietnamese
had owned land, but by the 1930s, over _____ of the people were landless.
* The strict French rule created fierce ____________ resistance and inspired ___________ as was
occurring in other colonial areas of the world in the early 20th century. The ____________
leader who emerged was ___________, a great patriot known to his people as “________.”
* Ho Chi Minh looked to the ____________ for support against colonialism in 1919, but America
did not come to their aid for two reasons: a) the WW I alliance with ________, and b) the
prevalence of some ______________ among Ho’s supporters.
* In response, Ho founded a communist party to attract __________ support, and many people
embraced this philosophy because it was ____________________ that had been the root of
French exploitation for so long.
* Ho and his followers formed the ___________, a nationalist organization, during WW II to fight
both the French and the invading __________, and by the end of the war, he controlled the
______________ part of the country and proclaimed independence, even borrowing some
language from the American Declaration of Independence (like “We hold the truth that
_____________________________________”).
* After the agenda at the ____________ Conference did not include a discussion of Vietnam, the
French moved quickly to reconquer the territory, but _____ resisted as he still controlled
the north and had active _____________ in the south.
* The French tried to get American aid by appointing a former Vietnamese rule named _________
as chief of state, and his government was very _________ yet continued to receive ______
U.S. support because American officials viewed it as a __________ against communism.
* After China fell to _____________________ communists in China in _____, President Truman
convinced Congress to approve _____ million in aid and ____ military advisors for
Vietnam in 1950.
* By 1954 American dollars were paying _____ of France’s war costs, but the French were losing
as Ho and his forces were receiving Chinese and _______ military aid and training. Ho’s
troops then launched a major strike at a large French base at ___________________ in the
northern jungles. France pleaded for American intervention (including ________ strikes),
but President Eisenhower knew that with the __________ War so fresh in people’s minds,
the United States would not risk entanglement in another war. The French then
faced final defeat in Vietnam as _____________________ fell in May, _____.
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II. Early American Involvement
* An international ______ at Geneva, Switzerland that summer yielded the _____________ which
established a __________ and temporarily divided the nation at the __ parallel, leaving the
Vietnminh ruling North Vietnam from ________ and the pro-Western government in the
south with the capital at __________. The deal scheduled elections for 1956 to unify the
country, and the U.S. was concerned that the _____________ would win, leading to a
potential “______ effect” with communism spreading throughout the ________ peninsula.
* Eisenhower’s Secretary of State _____________________ engineered a regional alliance called
SEATO (___________________ Treaty Organization) with Britain, France, New Zealand,
Australia, ________, the Philippines, and __________. The Geneva Accords barred South
Vietnam from joining any ___________, but SEATO thought differently.
* The Vietminh took firm control in the ______, redistributing ____ and executing or imprisoning
former landlords as thousands of government opponents fled _______.
* _______________ staged a _________ in the south and seized power from _______, and he was
a member of the small _______ minority with little support from the majority __________.
Yet, he had support from U.S. officials who hoped that he could control the various
political and religious __________ and keep the south out of _____________ hands.
* Diem refused to schedule the ___________ called for by the Geneva Accords, and in response, a
group of guerrillas (mostly communist) known as the “______________” formed.
* The U.S. sent Diem almost ________ from 1954 – 1959, and American advisors (the maximum
number of ____ set by the Geneva Accords) trained the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(________).
* President Kennedy faced a tough situation with Diem having a ________ hold on power, and the
North Vietnamese Army was assisting the Viet Cong. JFK feared that letting the country
to fall under communist rule would send a message of ____________ to the Soviets and
Chinese, but he did not want to risk _______________ with one of those major powers.
* JFK chose a “_________________,” sending more aid and military advisors (nearly _______ by
1964), and the fine line between advising and _________ became hazy. Nearly ____
Americans had died there by ______, but the American public was mostly unaware.
* Diem resisted American pressure to ease his ___________ policies as he rejected land reform,
and he forced villagers into detention compounds (called “_______________”) to prevent
them from aiding the ____________. He replaced village councils with his own officials,
appointed _________________ to powerful positions, and imprisoned political opponents.
* Diem’s policies aroused many protests from _____________, and as the violence increased, one
monk named ____________ even ______ himself alive in protest. Finally, encouraged by
the United States, _______ officers seized power and executed ______.
III. Lyndon Johnson Expands the Conflict
* Diem’s overthrow plunged the south into chaos as various ________ fought among themselves
and could not direct the war effort as power changed hands ___ times in a year.
* ____ was bombarded with advice as he faced this chaotic situation when he became president,
and he shared Kennedy’s fear of appearing weak to the _______ and _______. He decided
that inaction would be political suicide in the upcoming ______ presidential election.
* He publicly steered a moderate course of continuing aid, but he ________ authorized American
raids against communist bases in nearby ______. He also had the military draft plans for
bombing North Vietnam, but officials refused to take that step without _______________
approval.
* Unknown to the American public, two U.S. ____________ were in the ______________ (off the
North Vietnamese coast) supporting South Vietnamese gunboat raids, and these U.S. ships
reported that they had been _______________.
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* Without waiting for _______, LBJ seized the opportunity by asking Congress for a resolution
authorizing him to take “all __________________” to repel armed attacks and to prevent
further aggression. Congress passed the _________________________ – unanimously in
the House of Representatives and with only two _______________ in the Senate.
* LBJ had misled Congress by not revealing the nature of the _____ mission nor confirming what
happened in the attacks, but the American public very much supported “___________” at
the time. Both Senators who voted against the resolution (from ________ and ________)
even lost their next bids for reelection.
* The North Vietnamese channeled advisors and modern weapons to the Viet Cong via the
“__________________,” a web of jungle routes through Vietnam as well as neighboring
_________ and ______. In response, LBJ launched Operation ________________ which
lasted for ___ years, hitting military sites, roads, and _________, but the strikes avoided
_______ and the parts of the trail in neighboring countries (as the U.S. did not want to
risk involving China, the ____________, or any other nation).
* This massive bombing campaign had very limited success as more North Vietnamese troops
headed south to aid the ________________.
* General ________________________ asked for two marine battalions to defend the air base at
________ in early 1965, and these soldiers were the first official American combat troops
in the region. LBJ quickly agreed to additional requests as the war “____________” to
___________ troops by the end of 1965 and over ___________ by 1967.
* America’s draft rules allowed ___________ for those in college and certain other professions
so a _______________ number of soldiers were from poor, working-class backgrounds –
especially _______________________ and Hispanic Americans. Many of these racial
minorities were upset at fighting for a nation that treated them as ____________ citizens.
* A policy of constantly rotating soldiers into new ________ also proved to be a great hindrance
to unity on top of the existing __________________.
IV. The Nature of the War
* Soldiers referred to themselves as being “___________” while in Vietnam (or just “____”), and
they served a tour of duty before returning to “_______________.”
* The Americans were armed with modern weapons and were vastly superior on land and _____.
In particular, America used an explosive jellied gasoline called ________ and a chemical
called “____________” that destroyed vegetation to prevent food and cover for the enemy.
* Yet, the Viet Cong were _______, using guerrilla tactics that relied on harassing and _________
the enemy, and the U.S. infantry (the “________”) faced the most dangerous conditions –
ever fearful of setting off a _________ or some other booby trap – like a pit with ________
stakes. In addition, the climate and terrain aided the Viet Cong with ___________ rains
grounding aircraft and stifling artillery in mud fields.
* U.S. patrols set out on “________________” missions, never knowing exactly who the enemy
was. They might burn villages suspected of hiding ___________ soldiers, and the constant
fear and frustration led to ____________________ that could morph into horrible violence
against civilians. The best example was the _________ massacre in 1968 when American
soldiers commanded by Lieutenant William ________ killed ____ civilians, leading to his
court martial. Many Americans began to wonder how many similar incidents may have
happened without being ____________.
* As LBJ “______________” the war, the _______ ARVN became increasingly dependent on the
United States as the influx of American goods and dollars increased _________ in Saigon.
The South Vietnamese government was in no way really ______________.
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* The American strategy was also quite _________________ at times as U.S. officials talked of
“winning the _________________” of the people while launching major bombing strikes
that would kill large numbers of _________. One pilot summed up the American strategy
as “ feed ‘em and ___________” while another officer noted that “it became necessary to
________ the town in order to _______ it.”
* Cultural differences also created problems as the American individualist mentality was
sometimes at odds with the Vietnamese values that emphasized loyalty and honor to
the ________ and the _________, and many U.S. soldiers were also quite racist, using the
derogatory term “________” to describe the enemy and making no distinction between
killing a soldier or a civilian.
* Due to the uncertainty about the enemy, the U.S. military designated many targets as “_______
________________,” giving the green light for unrestricted firepower.
* The Viet Cong engaged in similar violence against villages suspected of harboring or aiding
the enemy as thousands of civilians died each year with over __ million becoming ______.
* For most average citizens of Vietnam, the distinctions between ___________/___________ and
communism meant little.
V. The Turning Point
* American and _______ forces had gained much territory by 1968, but wherever they withdrew
from “__________” areas, the Viet cong usually moved back in and tried to solidify more
loyalty and support.
* LBJ was losing support at home as the American _______ was becoming deeply divided. Many
__________ wanted America to get out while conservatives felt that we needed a stronger
_______ commitment to ensure victory. One bumper sticker read: “________________.”
* LBJ wanted to convince the __________ so he pushed military leaders to demonstrate progress,
and this pressure led to _______________ reports that LBJ used to reassure the public that
victory was just around the corner.
* In January, 1968, the U.S. _______ in Saigon planned a party to celebrate ____, the Vietnamese
________, sending out invitations that read: “Come see the light at the ______________.”
* Yet, on January 30 – the first day of _____ – __________ communist soldiers launched a major
offensive throughout the south, and though American and _______ troops repelled the
invasions, the communists had scored a stunning ____________ victory – especially in its
dramatic effect on the American public. It was the perfect example of a “______ victory.”
VI. The Antiwar Movement
* The shock of the TET Offensive greatly strengthened the ______ movement in the United States
as American casualties reached ________ in that year alone while the U.S. was spending
_________ per year. Many people felt that these lives and dollars could much better used
to support _____________ programs at home rather than supporting a ________ regime.
* Some Americans agreed with __________ but thought this war was ____________ while others
viewed it to be a _______ war in which the U.S. had no business intervening.
* Many young men became “____________________” (people who refused to take part in a war
because of ______ or _________ beliefs) while others were simply opposed to fighting in
Vietnam. Many young males burned __________, went to jail, and/or injured themselves
to gain medical ______________. About ___________ took refuge in other nations while
approximately 50,000 ___________.
* America became increasingly divided between “_______” (pro-war) and “_______” (anti-war).
* Government policies bred distrust among many youths, adding fuel to the “_______________”
(_____) movement, and many families experienced dramatic tension and bitter arguments.
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* College students initiated many protests with a variety of slogans, including: “Hey, hey, _____,
how many ______________________?”
* Support for the war in Washington, DC also ______ as Senator William ________, chair of the
Senate ________________ Committee, became a leading critic of LBJ, and Congress held
___________ hearings of that committee in 1966 and 1967 as __________, educators, and
government, and business leaders all spoke out against the war. Secretary of Defense
Robert __________ and other key advisors resigned over _______________ with the war.
* Many soldiers in Vietnam were frustrated and __________ by the protests while other soldiers
returned home to become active in the ___________ movement themselves.
* As the war progressed, racial tensions continued to grow as more ________________ wanted to
quit the war – especially after ______________ assassination in 1968. North Vietnamese
guards even tried to use this racial tension with captured ______ to try to turn their loyalty.
* The Impact of the Media:
-- Military leaders blamed the ______ for the decline in public support as the war was the
first to be widely _______ as well as covered by newspaper and magazine reporters
in the field. As a result, articles, photographs, and especially actual ____________
shocked many Americans.
-- News coverage was generally positive and supportive prior to the ______________, but
most key media figures then became increasingly pessimistic and __________.
-- When famed CBS anchorman Walter _________, the nation’s favorite and most trusted
TV ____________, announced that he had lost faith in the war effort, LBJ noted,
“If I’ve lost ________, I’ve lost the support of ___________________________.”
VII. Nixon and the Vietnam War
* The TET Offensive and growing opposition to the war destroyed LBJ’s hopes for _________ in
______, and his withdrawal led to a dynamic and intense Democratic primary season.
Senator Eugene __________ was a major antiwar advocate who was popular with _____
voters, and Senator Robert _________ (a “______” by this point) looked to be the probable
Democratic nominee until he was assassinated by _______________ in a hotel kitchen just
minutes after giving a speech in ___________ after winning the _____________ primary.
* Vice-President _________________ eventually emerged as the leading Democratic candidate,
though his convention speech that included a defense of LBJ’s _________ policy angered
delegates who sought a complete _______________.
* Outside of the Democratic National Convention in _________ in 1968, thousands of _______
protestors clashed with ______________ troops and police as violence and blood filled
TV sets across the nation. This chaos was in stark contrast to the quiet, _______, peaceful
Republican convention in ______ as they nominated _____________ from California who
pledged to restore “_______________” and to “bring us together.”
* The 1968 election also included a major third-party candidate – _________ Governor George
_______ of the American Independent Party. He was more “_______” on the war, but his
main agenda and appeal centered around a _________________ platform as he declared,
“Segregation _____, segregation _____________, and segregation _________.”
* In a very close race, Nixon and Humphrey each received ___% of the popular vote, but Nixon
won a modest electoral victory ____ – ____ with Wallace winning ___ electoral votes – all
from ____________ states.
* Vietnamization:
-- Having promised “peace with ________,” Nixon was determined not to be the first
president to “______” a war, but he recognized that the antiwar _________ was too
strong to allow for an all-out military effort to ensure total __________.
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-- In late 1969, he announced a ________ withdrawal of American forces with continued
withdrawals dependent on the enemy’s actions and on the progress of peace talks
taking place in _______.
-- He also announced that continued withdrawal would depend on the “_______________”
of the war – essentially the U.S. army training and equipping the _______ to fight
on their own. He wanted to ensure that the _______________ were strong enough
to stand alone and to defend their own ___________.
-- Nixon supporters – which he referred to as the “________________” – attended popular
“___________” rallies while the antiwar movement responded with more protests.
-- Secretly Nixon also pursued a secret war in _________ as North Vietnamese troops had
set up bases there which were used to strike at _________________. The military
launched a secret bombing campaign against these bases in Cambodia, but the
communist raids continued while peace talks _________.
-- The Cambodian communists (known as the “____________” under the leader _______)
were threatening to take over their own nation by early 1970 so Nixon then
ordered troops into _________, and while this move slowed communist activity in
South Vietnam, it increased conflict in Cambodia and _______ the war at the same
time he was talking about ending it, making the entire policy appear ___________.
-- The invasion of Camdodia set off furious _________ – including the one that is now the
most famous at ___________ University in _____ on ______, 1970 where National
Guard troops fired into a crowd, killing ___ students. Two more died at a similar
rally at _____________ College in Mississippi, but the number of “____________”
demonstrations also increased.
-- Members of Congress claimed that Nixon had exceeded his _______ by ordering troops
into a ________ country so Congress repealed the ______________ Resolution and
prohibited the use of American troops in ____________ and ______.
-- Nixon was still intent on blocking the _______________ in Laos to help the situation in
South Vietnam so he settled for ______ ground troops with American air support.
This initial test of “____________” was a miserable failure as the invasion of Laos
in early 1971 did not dent the communist _____________.
-- Many South Vietnamese now began to sense doom and to accuse the Americans of
___________ them, but American troops – frustrated by a seemingly ___________
war – grew more reckless as _______ soared, racial tensions flared, and some ___
even attacked their officers.
-- Over _______ protestors marched in Washington – including ______ Vietnam veterans.
-- Criticism continued to grow – especially when a former ______ Department aide named
Daniel ________ gave copies of secret documents to the ______________. These
“_____________________” revealed that officials in both the Johnson and Nixon
administrations had ______ to the nation about the Vietnam War.
VIII. The End of the War
* Nixon had reduced the number of U.S. troops by over ______ by early 1972, but he continued
air strikes against the _________ and the North Vietnamese Army – including locations in
Cambodia and ______. The communists launched a major offensive against the south, but
the Americans countered with intensive bombing of _______ and the northern port of
__________. Nixon also tried to stop the flow of Chinese and Soviet supplies by ordering
a naval _________ of North Vietnam and by bombing key supply routes and __________.
* While the official peace talks involved numerous countries and ___________, most of the real
negotiation was done between Nixon’s foreign policy advisor Henry _________ and North
Vietnam’s __________ who talked directly in Paris on several occasions for over __ years.
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* Kissinger announced a breakthrough in late ______, and Nixon halted the bombing. Yet, the
South Vietnamese President _________________ objected to the deal as North Vietnam
began to _____, leading an angry Nixon to resume heavy bombing for nearly _________
until the communists agreed to resume talks.
* All parties finally signed the “Agreement on _______________________________ in Vietnam”
in early 1973. This document called for an immediate __________, the withdrawal of all
American forces, and the release of American _____. _____ was instructed to work with
the Viet Cong to organize ___________ in the south, and North Vietnam was permitted to
keep __________ troops there.
* Over _____ POWs were released soon, and the last American forces left that spring as about
______ U.S. civilians and a few _________ personnel remained in the country.
* When Thieu ________ on his agreement to cooperate with the Vietcong, the North Vietnamese
launched a final assault in March _____ as they took city after city while marching south.
The ARVN retreated to _______, and ______ resigned while blaming the __________ as
evacuation flights were leaving the city around the clock in late ________.
* On April 29, Saigon’s American-owned radio station played “________________” followed by
a coded weather report: “The temperature in Saigon is _____ degrees and ________.” On
this signal, Americans began to flee, but they had to do so by _____________ as the
communists had taken control of the Saigon __________.
* Approximately _______ South Vietnamese were evacuated via helicopter to ships nearby, but
many were left behind in the __________ evacuation.
* U.S. Marines lowered the _______________ from the rooftop of the American embassy on the
morning of __________________ as the last helicopter left on the same day that Saigon
surrendered as Vietnam was united under a single ______________ government with its
capital at ________. The communists renamed Saigon “_______________________.”
IV. The Vietnam Legacy
* The homecoming for ___ million returning veterans was difficult as they did not find a ______
welcome as had been the case in _____________. Rather, many Americans blamed them
for “__________.”
* Due to improved medical services, more _______ soldiers survived in Vietnam when compared
to previous conflicts, but many of these individuals needed painful, expensive, ongoing
medical and ________ care. Many of them found that benefits provided by the ________
______________ (VA) did not adequately cover their expenses.
* Veterans pressed the VA to admit that exposure to _____________ had caused ______ and liver
disease as well as _____________ in their children, and the manufacturers of the chemical
finally reached a settlement to pay _________________ to victims in ______.
* Psychological problems were also common as thousands of veterans suffered from _________
_______________________” – involving panic, anxiety, depression, and vivid flashbacks.
Many would awake to frequent ______________ or go into shock with a loud noise, and a
high number committed ___________.
* Many veterans went through years of ______, and a number turned to the ____ – music, poetry,
visual arts, and dramas (live and on screen) – to help them work through their emotions.
* Veteran ______________ began the push for a Vietnam War _________, and he worked to raise
funds and support for this project which was finally opened on the mall in Washington, DC
in late _____. A young college student named __________ was the surprise winner of the
contest to design the memorial, and she was later chosen to design the _______________
Memorial in ________________, Alabama that would open in 1988.
* Approximately _____ Americans are still listed as _____ as their deaths were never witnessed,
and their ___________ never recovered.
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* The Vietnam War produced about __ million ___________, and suffering continued under
communist rule as the regimes in both Vietnam and ____________ forcibly relocated
thousands of urban dwellers to harsh “____________” camps in ______ areas while a
devastating cycle of droughts and floods destroyed the _____-based economy.
* Vietnam strengthened ties with the _________________ while their relations with ______ and
Cambodia worsened, leading the Vietnamese to invade ___________ and overthrow the
_________________ in 1978.
* By 1985 over ____ million Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians had fled this __________,
and many of them did so on flimsy boats, leading the survivors to be known as the
“___________.” Over half of them settled in the United States where they faced many
challenges with _________________ and cultural adjustment.
* A special group of refugees were known as “_____________” – the children of Vietnamese
______________ and American __________.
* Lessons of the Vietnam War:
-- Some people argue that the United States could have won with a more complete
_________ effort, arguing that ___________ tied the hands of military leaders.
-- Others argue that the U.S. lacked a clear overall _________, citing that the Americans
won every major ________ but not the _____.
-- Other leaders cited other lessons: looking at implications for ___________, being
careful about trusting _____________ statements, siding with an ____________
regime, questioning the truth of the “________ theory” (as other regional nations
did not fall to ______________).
-- Congress passed the _________ Act in 1973, forbidding the president from sending
troops into combat for more than ___ days without congressional approval, and
they have made slight amendments to add more restrictions over the years.
Yet, some___________ and military leaders in recent decades have argued that
these restrictions hamper diplomacy by preventing the president from being
able to use ___________ force to back up ____________ efforts.
-- In a 1985 New York Times poll, over ___% of Americans felt that the war had been a
_______ while a Newsweek poll found that ___% of Americans felt that the U.S.
should be more __________ in using military force in the future.
Sources:
Garraty, John A. The Story of America. New York City: Henry Holt and Company, 1994.
King, David C., Norman McRae, and Jaye Zola. The United States and Its People.
Menlo Park, NJ: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1995.
Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J., et al. United States History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2008.
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