 Vietnam
 Laos
 Cambodia
 Colony of France since
The 1800’s
What country ruled Vietnam since the 1800’s
 1890-1969
 In his 20’s, he traveled to
the US and England
 At Versailles Conference,
he petitioned for independence
for Vietnam, but was ignored
 Becomes a Communist and travels to USSR and China
 Returns to Vietnam in 1941
 Viet Minh are a guerilla force led by Ho
 Fight the French for independence
 Japan invades French Indochina
 Viet Minh fight the Japanese
 US supports Ho Chi Minh
 Common Enemy
 After WW II French regain power
 Ho demands independence
 1946-1954 War against French for Independence
 French
 Emperor Bao Dai
VS
 Viet Minh
 Ho Chi Minh
 Vo Nguyen Giap
 Communists strength is in North and villages
 Nationalists control Southern cities
 Containment
 Chinese Civil War
 Soviets get the A Bomb
 China goes Commie
 Korean War
 Guerilla War
 US supports French and Nationalist side
 Truman
 Eisenhower
 “Domino Theory”
 By the end US is paying 90% of the War!
 French surrounded at Dien Bien Phu
 General Giap is superior to French leader
 56 day siege
 French ask for direct US help
 Want US to use nukes
 Nixon supports idea
 Ike doesn’t
 French surrender
 8000 POWs
 Vietnam divided at 17th parallel
 Supposed to be temporary
 Plan for “free elections”
 French leave
 North - Communist
 Ho Chi Minh
 Hanoi
 South – Backed by US
 Bao Dai
 Saigon
 US does not sign agreement
 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
 NATO for SE Asia
 To protect South Korea and South Vietnam
 USA
 UK
 France
 Australia
 Taiwan
 Thailand. Etc.
 1955 – Ngo Dinh Diem elected in the South
 Rigged election to replace Bao Dai
 More people voted in Saigon than lived there
 Viet Cong (National Liberation Front)
 Guerilla force (insurgents)
 Opposed to Diem
 Operates in South, supported by the North
 1956 Election to reunify Vietnam cancelled by Diem
 Temporary divide becomes permanent
 Leader – Ho Chi Minh
 Capital – Hanoi
 Military – NVA (North Vietnamese Army)
 Formerly the Viet Minh
 Viet Cong (live in South but fight for North)
 Backed by Communists (USSR, China)
 Leader – Ngo Dinh Diem
 Capital – Saigon
 Military – ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam)
 Backed by the United States
 With military advisors
 1960 – 900
 1961 – 3,200
 1962 – 11,500
 1963 – 16,300
 1964 – 23,300
 1965 – 184,300
 1966 – 425,300
 1967 – 485,600
 1968 – 536,100
 Corrupt
 Brother Ngo Dinh Nhu was head of the secret police
 1st Lady Madam Nhu was very unpopular
 Discriminated against Buddhists
 Buddhist monks
protest by using
self-immolation
 Win their “Hearts and Minds”
 “Strategic Hamlet Program”
 Increase number of “advisors”
 Create the Green Beret
 Nov. 2, 1963 – Diem overthrown by S. Vietnamese
military
 Believed US approved
 Diem and Nhu
assassinated
 South Vietnam will be ruled by a succession of
Generals
 Aug 2, 1964 - USS Maddox attacked in the Gulf of





Tonkin
Aug 4, 1964 –
USS Maddox and
USS Turner Joy
report that they
are attacked again
 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara recommends
US attack N Vietnam
 Aug 5, 1964 – US launches air strikes
 Aug 7, 1964 – Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution giving LBJ permission to use military force
in Vietnam
 Passed House 416-0
 Senate 98-2
 Official reason for fighting the Vietnam War
 Problem?
 2nd incident never happened, we weren’t attacked
 LBJ later said, “For all I know, our Navy might have
been shooting at whales out there.”
 Over 58,000 Americans will die in the Vietnam War
 Nov 1965 – 7th Air Cavalry
 Col. Hal Moore
 Rick Rescorla
 1st use of Helicopters
 US reliance on firepower
 US loses 234
 NVA loses 2000
 Considered a US Victory
 Determines tactics for the war
 Sec of Defense – Robert McNamara
 General William Westmoreland
 War of Attrition
 Kill enough of them and they will give up
 Body Counts
 Search and Destroy Missions
 B-52s
 Napalm
 Agent Orange
 Free Fire Zones
 Guerilla warfare
 Using native material
 Bamboo
 Vines
 Tunnels
 Ho Chi Minh Trail
 Not 1 trail but a supply network
 War of Attrition
 Kill enough Americans to make them leave
 18-26 yr olds
 Mostly 18-20
 Most men of draft age never serve
 Lottery
 Exemptions
 Conscientious Objectors
 Muhammad Ali
 Deferments
 College
 Draft Dodgers
 1977 Amnesty – Jimmy Caret
 College enrollment doubles in the 60’s
 SDS – Students for a Democratic Society
 Tom Hayden
 Vietnam Veterans Against the War
 Dr. Spock
 Dr. King
 Sen. William Fulbright
 Columbia University
 Draft evasion increases
 VC attack major cities and US bases
 Saigon
 Hue
 Khe Sanh
 Military defeat for VC – over 40,000 killed
 Moral defeat for US
 Before Tet: Hawks 62% - Doves 22%
 After Tet: Hawks 41% - Doves 42%
 TURNING POINT OF VIETNAM WAR
 Lyndon Johnson
 “Hey, hey LBJ how many
kids did you kill today?”
 Sen. Eugene McCarthy
 Antiwar
 Sen. Robert Kennedy
 Antiwar
 LBJ drops out of the race
 VP Hubert Humphrey runs
 Republican – Richard Nixon
 “Law and Order”
 Independent – George Wallace
 “Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation
Forever
 Apr 4 – Dr. King assassinated in Memphis
 Most major US cities erupt in riots
 James Earl Ray
 Arrested 2 months later in England
 June 6 – Bobby Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles
 Had just won the California Primary
 Sirhan Sirhan
 Killed RFK because
of his support of Israel
 Because of RFK’s death there was no clear candidate
 Hippie antiwar protests
 Mayor Richard Daily
 Police Riot
 Chicago 7
 Humphrey
wins nomination
 R – Richard Nixon
43.4%
 D- Hubert Humphrey 42.7%
 I – George Wallace
13.5%
301 Electoral Votes
191
46
 Happened March 1968, reported Nov 1969
 US soldiers murdered 350 civilians
 Military covered it up
 Finally reported by
Seymour Hersh
 Lt. William Calley convicted
of ordering the killing
 Sentenced to life in prison
 Released after 4 months
 Nixon’s plan to turn over control to the S. Vietnamese
 Gradually pull US troops out
 Increased bombing
 May 1970 US invades Cambodia
 Attack the Ho Chi Minh Trail
 By 1972 US had pulled over
400,000 troops out of Vietnam
 Apr 30 - Nixon announces invasion of Cambodia
 May 1 - Antiwar protest on campus
 Friday night – vandalism downtown
 Police shut down bars
 May 2 – Mayor declares state of emergency
 Gov. James Rhodes sends in the National Guard
 Students burn down ROTC building
 Students bayoneted by Guard
 May 3 – Larger protest held
 Guard tear gasses and bayonets students
 College has classes
 Over 2000 protesters gather at noon on “The
Commons”
 Guard orders them to disperse
 Tear gas
 March up hill with bayonets
 Guard gather on practice field
 Kneel and point rifles at students
 Regroup and march back up the hill
 Most protesters think it’s over
 At the top of the hill, by the Pagoda
 Guard turns and opens fire!
 4 Students killed, 9 wounded
 2 students killed and 12 wounded the next week at Jackson
State in Miss.
 End of College for 1970
 Top secret history of Vietnam War compiled by
Defense Department
 Detailed lies about the war
 1971 – Leaked to the NY Times by Daniel Ellsberg
 Nixon tried to stop the NY Times from publishing
 NY Times v U.S. – 6-3 ruling for publishing
 1st Amendment
 “The Plumbers” break into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist's
office
 Paris Peace Talks began in 1968
 US negotiator Henry Kissinger
 Le Duc Tho – N. Vietnam
 Nguyen Van Thieu – S. Vietnam
 Cease Fire announced just before 1972 election
 Kissinger “Peace is at hand”
 Agreement falls apart
 US bombs Hanoi – “Christmas Bombing”
 Cease fire signed Jan 21, 1973
 US withdraws combat troops
 US listed 1350 Americans as POWs
 At the end of the war 591 were returned
 Some had spent 8 years as prisoners
 War continues for 2 years after US withdrawal
 US evacuates orphans and over 100,000 South
Vietnamese that had helped us
 Many more left behind
 Saigon is captured in April 1975
 Now called Ho Chi Minh City
 Over 3 million Vietnamese died
 Over 58,000 Americans died
 Over 300,000 Americans wounded
 Cost more than $150 Billion
 Vietnam became Communist anyway
 US resumed diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the
1990s
 Americans are still divided in their opinions over the
Vietnam War
 Over 2.5 million Americans served in the Vietnam War
 The served tours of 1 year
 Many suffer from PTSD
 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
 The were treated different
when they can home
than veterans of previous
wars, by protesters and
veterans alike