Ch. 19 - Vietnam War-Skelly Notes
Indochina (Vietnam now) was formerly controlled by the French until the fall of
Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Vietnam then became divided at the 17th parallel
North Vietnam came under communist control led by______________________.
He led the Viet Minh in the war for independence from the French.
South Vietnam was led by _______________________(NO din Ziem) with
backing from the U.S. government.
In the late 1950’s, the ____________________, who were communist from
SOUTH Vietnam, wanted communism in the south and began fighting to
overthrow Diem, to reunite North and South as one communist state.
Pres. Eisenhower & Pres. Kennedy both sent military aid to help Diem’s
government in the South. By late 1963, Kennedy had increased the number of
“advisors” (or military trainers) to 16,000.
Pres. Johnson campaigned “not to widen the war”, but when he reached office in
1964 Diem had been assassinated.
Diem was a corrupt leader and the U.S. supported him to try to keep the south out
of communist hands (similar to support for Chiang in China early on).
-Diem was brutal & taxed the middle and lower classes heavily.
- He was seen by some as being as bad or worse than Ho Chi Minh
- He was Catholic, & for this the Buddhist people disliked him and
protested.
Kennedy gave him support hoping to avoid “________________________”where all SE Asian neighboring countries might become communist if one did.
-After Diem, the south Vietnamese government became very unstable.
Under Pres. Johnson, the U.S. would become more and more involved in Vietnam.
-Johnson like JFK, feared the Domino Effect if the U.S. didn’t help.
-He felt he had no choice but to go to war in Vietnam, because of the
instability
of the S. Vietnamese govt.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- President Johnson “reported” to Congress that on August 2 & 4th
1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on 2 U.S. destroyers.
He then asks for permission to bomb North Vietnam. Up until this
time fighting was only between the VietCong guerillas and the
South Vietnamese (supported by U.S.)- but no North Vietnam
official action in the war.
-on Aug. 7th, Congress passes__________________________, which
totally changes the war and U.S. involvement. This resolution gave
Pres. Johnson authority to use armed forces in Vietnam as he saw fit.
-After this resolution, North Vietnam sends troops into South Vietnam
for the first time
In Feb. 1965
-Johnson orders and escalation of the war.
This occurred after the Vietcong attacked an American base in S.
Vietnam
-Pres. Johnson ordered the bombing of targets in North Vietnam
- In April 1965, U.S. ground troops were ordered to begin combat
in the Vietnam.
Opposition to the American stand in Vietnam
- This was a different conflict than Korea
- Korea was a ___________________________
- In Vietnam, the US acted on its own
- Many other countries opposed US involvement
- The Communist had wide support in S. Vietnam, especially in
the rural areas
- They also had support of N. Vietnam
- Many others in S. Vietnam were opposed to the changing
current govt., or didn’t care if they became communist.
- The US govt. also faced opposition by people in the US- draft
protestors
-Kent State incident- student protestors fired upon, killed- after protest
of the invasion of Cambodia by the U.S.
What Kind of War is this?
In the Vietnam campaign, the US faces different tactics than it had in
many previous wars.
Vietcong – Used guerilla warfare tactics
- ambushes, hit and run, boobytraps, and small
scale attacks to surprise US troops
-they often traveled at night
- used terrorist attacks in cities vs. civilians
and military
-they controlled most of the countryside
- there was no real “frontline” like there had
been in WWI, WWII, and Korea
- the terrain was rugged mountains, rainforest
and camp was very unaccommodating
U.S. “answers” to this type of war
1. Search and________________ missions
-find and bomb enemy positions
-force them into the open for combat
2. Destroy supply lines
- this was a miserable attempt to repeatedly try
to take out the________________Trail.
3. Use airplanes to bomb Vietcong and NVA positions
-by 1966 US had used same tonnage as in WWII
Pacific Campaign
4. Napalm
-this was a jellified petroleum product like gasoline
-it explodes and sticks to whatever it touches
-usually dropped from planes
5. Agent Orange
- chemical defoliant sprayed from airplanes to
destroy forest for better vision from the air
- “super 2-4D”
- turned farmland and forests to wasteland
- damaged water supplies
6. U.S. troops raided and burned villages suspected of
holding communists, and supporters of the Vietcong
Continued Escalation through the Johnson Administration
- By 1968 US had over 500,000 troops in Vietnam
- By 1968, over 14,000 US men had died in Vietnam
- The US continually tried to set up peace negotiations, but
failed between 1965-67
- Other countries such as Britain, Poland, & Soviet Union
tried to arrange peace talks, but could not.
“
OFFENSIVE”
- Toward the end of 1967, Gen. William Westmoreland of
the US, felt the end of the war was near, sensing an
American victory.
-On Jan. 30, 1968- the US and S. Vietnam were shocked by
a surprise attacks by the Vietcong and NVA all across
South Vietnam.
-These attacks came on the Vietnamese New Year, called
Tet, and caught the US off guard.
- Vietcong attacked the US Embassy in Saigon, and many
other bases were attacked by Vietcong and NVA
- Most of S. Vietnam’s major cities and provincial capitals
were attacked as well.
-The communist offensive was finally drove back after a
long hard fight.
-The Tet Offensive made the US realize the war was far
from over.
- People in the US were shocked, and many more protests
began
- Gen. Westmoreland, who had claimed the war’s end was
near, now called for an additional 209,000 troops
Peace Talks Begin
March 31, 1968
- Johnson announces the halt of bombing in North Vietnam
- He offered peace negotiations with both the Vietcong
and North Vietnam
April 3, 1968
Ho Chi Minh agrees to negotiate.
May 1968- Negotiators meet in Paris
- No peace terms were agreed upon
- The war soon escalated again- lasting 5 more years.