Section 2: US Involvement and Escalation

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Section 2 US Involvement and Escalation
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• Section 2 Homework Quiz
• Who was William Westmoreland? Why did he want
  more troops in Vietnam? What was the main US
  advantage in Vietnam? What was our weakness?

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Who Is the Enemy?

• NVA North Vietnamese Army
• Vietcong
• Farmers by day guerillas at night.
• Very patient people willing to accept many
  casualties.
• The US grossly underestimated their resolve and
  their resourcefulness.

The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the
conventional army loses if it does not win.
-- Mao Zedong
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Who Is the Enemy?
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The Ground War 1965-1968

• No territorial goals
• Body counts on TV every night (first living
  room war)
• Viet Cong supplies over the Ho Chi Minh Trail

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The Ground War1965-1968

• General Westmoreland, late 1967

Credibility Gap? We can see thelight at the
end of the tunnel.
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The Air War1965-1968

• 1965 Sustained bombing of North Vietnam
• Operation Rolling Thunder (March 2, 1965)
• 1966-68 Ongoing bombing of Hanoi nonstop for 3
  years! Esp. targets the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
• Downed Pilots P.O.W.s
• Carpet Bombing napalm

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The Air WarA Napalm Attack
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War of Attrition

• Westmoreland hoping to destroy morale
• VC would not quit
• US never lost a battle in Vietnam, but we did not
  win war
• The Vietnamese were fighting for their country,
  we were not.
• US soldiers did all that was asked of them, but
  could not fight the war the way they needed too

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Hearts and Minds

• Need to win over the people to win the war
• Our weapons were not making friends
• Napalm
• Search and Destroy
• Never learned about people

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Sinking Morale

• US troops morale sunk
• Some turned to drugs
• Corruption of SV gov.
• Fulfilling a patriotic duty

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Great Society not looking so Great

• War grew more costly
• New taxes
• TV
• Credibility Gap
• Fullbright Pres was not being honest
• America is lost and was splitting