THE VIETNAM WAR

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THE VIETNAM WAR
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History of French Rule
? Controlled Vietnam from 1893-1954

• Vietnamese lost land and culture
• Lost control during WWII to Japan, but given
• back at wars end

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Ho Chi Minh Leads Revolution
? Communist leader formed Vietminh

• Guerilla warfare effective despite American aid

• French withdrew in 1954

Ho Chi Minh
French P.O.W.s after Dien Bien Phu
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Geneva Accords--1954
? Vietnam divided at 17th parallel

• North VietnamHo Chi Minh, communist

• South VietnamNgo Dinh Diem, anti-communist

• Elections to unite country to be held in 2 years

Ho Chi Minh
Ngo Dinh Diem
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Growth of Vietcong (National Liberation Front)
80 of the countryside were Vietcong

• Communists living in south

• Diem refused election

• Unsuccessful Strategic
• Hamlet Program

• Strategic Hamlet Program
• Move villages
• Add walls and moat
• backfired

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Growth of Vietcong (National Liberation Front)

• Diem persecutes Buddhists

• 1963Diem overthrown, unstable govt follows

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U.S. Aids South
? Eisenhower sent aid because of domino theory

• JFK sent military advisors-our first soldiers
• in 1961

By 1963, 16,000 American troops are Training in
South Vietnam
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Tonkin Gulf Resolution

• August 2, 1964
• U.S. destroyer
• Maddox
• attacked
• in Gulf
• of Tonkin

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Tonkin Gulf Resolution

• Congress gave Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) war
• powers

Senate Vote 88 to 2 to take all
necessary steps, including the use of armed
force
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American Escalation

• General William Westmoreland, U.S. commander

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American Escalation

• U.S. Strategy--bomb North , ground troops South

• By 1968, 538,000 Americans serving

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Operation Rolling Thunder
? Air bombardment of North Vietnam
643,000 tons of bombs 5 times Hiroshima 3
years Air Force Chief of Staff Lemey about
bombing them back to the stone Age.
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Operation Rolling Thunder

• Also focused on Ho Chi Minh Trail

? Unsuccessful
Dealt with 2,700 roads And tunnels NVA
actually increased supply NVA Tung, The
bombs heightened rather than dampened our
spirits.
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Ground War

• ? Search and Destroy Missions destroyed villages

• Jungle warfare and defoliants used

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A Search and Destroy Mission, known also as a
Zippo War
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Agent Orange, a defoliant, being sprayed in
Vietnam
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NVA and Vietcong Strategy

• Commander of NVA Vo Nguyen Giap
• 1965 NVA moved to guerilla tactics

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NVA and Vietcong Strategy

• Vietcong - tunneled base camps, booby traps, and
  punji spikes.

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Khe Sanh

• Important for intelligence on Ho Chi Minh Trail
• 30,000 NVA vs. 6,000 U.S. for over 2 mths.
• Wiped out Vietcong

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Tet Offensive
? Massive attack by North on Vietnam New Year

• Military victory for South/U.S.

• Morale victory for North