Reading Challenge
Ch. 51 – Facing Frustration in Vietnam /EQ: What made Vietnam difficult to win?
Reading Challenge
1.
The greatest geographic challenge for American troops
in Vietnam was
the swamps and jungle-clad mountains.
2.
How were the Viet Cong able to avoid detection by U.S.
troops?
all of the above
3.
What was the weakness of the search-and-destroy
mission tactic?
Small platoons of American soldiers became easy
targets for enemy attack.
4.
How successful was General Westmoreland's war of
attrition?
It failed because there were too many Viet Cong
and North Vietnamese forces to eliminate.
5.
Pacification was a policy designed to
promote security and stability in South Vietnam.
6.
The United States planned to undermine the communist remove the Viet Cong and their sympathizers from
insurgency in South Vietnam by having the ARVN
the villages.
7.
How did the United States lose the support of many
Vietnamese?
List 3 answers
8.
What was the result of the pacification campaign?
It failed to make South Vietnam stable and secure.
9.
In television coverage of the war, the credibility gap was the reality of the war and the Johnson
the difference between
administration's portrayal of it.
10. As the war dragged on, how did television influence
public opinion toward the Vietnam War?
The TV networks showed the graphic realities of
the war, leading many Americans to question the
war.
11. Before the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, They were old enough to be sent off to war at age
what angered men between the ages of 18 and 21?
18, but not old enough to vote against the war.
12. The antiwar movement thrived on many college
campuses in part because
male college students could be drafted after
graduation.
13. Why did the North Vietnamese choose the holiday of Tet Many South Vietnamese troops would be home on
for their attack on South Vietnam?
leave to celebrate Tet.
14. How did the Tet Offensive influence American public
opinion about the war?
Unconvinced that the Tet Offensive was a U.S.
victory, American opposition to the war increased.
15. What did President Johnson mean when he said, "If I've
lost Cronkite, I've lost America."
Cronkite announced that he no longer supported
him, so Johnson had lost the nation's support.
16. What made 1968 such a turbulent year in American
history?
List 3 things
17. How did President Johnson respond to General
Westmoreland's request for more troops after the Tet
Offensive?
He fired Westmoreland and announced he would
seek the opening of peace talks.
18. What was Agent Orange?
an herbicide sprayed by the U.S. military to
defoliate the forests where the Viet Cong and NVA
hid
19. What was the economic impact of the Vietnam War?
The war led to increased inflation and higher taxes.
20. Why was the commitment of the Viet Cong and the
North Vietnamese to the war so strong?
They saw the United States as another colonial
power that had to be expelled from their country.