Title: The Vietnam War
1The Vietnam War
By Dorothy Delerme
2Background on the Vietnam War
- Known as-Vietnam Conflict or the Second Indochina
War. - Cold War military conflict.
- Location-Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
- Duration-November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975 when
Saigon fell.
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4Belligerents
- Communist-Viet Cong
- North Vietnam- supported by communist allies
- Anti-Communist- North Vietnamese
- South Vietnam- supported by the United States and
other anti- communist nations.
5The Viet Cong
- Lightly armed communist controlled common front.
- Fought guerilla war against anti-communist forces.
6Viet Cong
7North Vietnamese Army
- Vietnam People's Army
- Engaged in conventional war
- U.S and South Vietnamese forces relied on
- Air superiority
- Overwhelming fire power to conduct search and
destroy operations
8Vietnam People's Army
9Vietnam After WWII
- Vietnam-French colony 1.French grow rich
- 2.People do not accept French rule
- Ho Chi Minh- Communist leader
- 1. declare independent Democratic
Republic of Vietnam - 3) WWII Allied Victors-
- 1. believed Vietnam belong to French
- 2. French try to regain control
- 3. Minh- look for peaceful solution
10Ho Chi Minh
11Us Involvement in the War
- US enter war- 1960s
- To prevent communist takeover of South
Vietnam-master plan of containment - Increased involvement during- Tet Offensive
- US- forced to withdraw due to Vietnamization
12French Departs
- September 1950- US create Military Assistance and
Advisory Group (MAAG)? - To screen French requests for aid, advise on
strategy - 1954 US supply- 300,000 small arms
- Spent 1 billion US dollars
- Shoulder 80 of war
- US intelligence skeptical of French success
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14Operation Vulture
- Proposed plan
- send 60 B-29s from US bases in the region
- supported by as many as 150 fighters
- launch from US Seventh Fleet carriers
- To bomb Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap's
position -
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16- 1) VP- Richard Nixon (hawk) on Vietnam
- Suggest to put American boys in war
- Pres. Eisenhower looked for Britain to support
idea - London opposes
17Viet Minh
- Receive support from Soviet Union and PRC
- Border Campaign of 1950
- Allow supplies to come from PRC into Vietnam
18Battle of Dien Bien Phu
- Mark end of French involvement in Indochina
- May 7, 1954 French Union garrison surrendered
- Geneva Conference
- French negotiate ceasefire agreement
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20Transition Period
1)Vietnam partition at 17th parallel 2)Minority
Catholics- flee south 1) fear of persecution by
communists 3)US Propaganda 1) The Virgin Mary
headed south 4) Us funded 93 million relocation
program 1) ferrying refugees with seventh fleet
21Diem Era 1955-1963
- Domino Theory-
- argue that if one country fell to communist
forces then all of the surrounding countries
would follow - proposed as policy by Eisenhower
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23Ngo Dinh Diem
- Devout Roman Catholic
- Fervently anti-communist, nationalist, and
socially conservative - Represented narrow and extremist nationalism
united with autocracy and nepotism
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25Diem
- 1955 launch Denounce the Communists campaign
- Communists and other anti-government elements
were arrested, imprisoned, tortured or executed. - 12,000 suspected opponents of Diem killed
- 40,000 jailed
26Insurgency in South- 1956
- Sino-Soviet spilt- led to reduction of PRC
- Truong Chinh- N.Vietnam's pro-PRC party first
secretary- demoted - Hanoi- authorize communist to begin low level
insurgency - Insurgency- response to Diem's Denunciation of
Communists campaign - Hanoi- authorize creation of NLF (National
Liberation Front) as common front controlled by
communist in the south
27During Kennedy Administration 1961-1963
- John F. Kennedy- won 1960 US presidential
election - Stressed long-range equality with Soviets
- Interested in using special forces for
counterinsurgency warfare in Third World
countries threatened by communist
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29Kennedy's Struggle
- Kennedy faces three-part failure crisis
- Bay of Pigs invasion
- Construction of Berlin Wall
- negotiated settlement between pro-Western gov. of
Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement - Kennedy believed another failure on US part to
gain control and stop communist expansion would
damage US credibility and ruin JFK reputation
30Kennedy and Diem
- Kennedy's policy rested on
- Assumption that Diem and his forces defeat
guerrillas - 2)Kennedy against deployment of US combat troops
-
31Army of Republic of Vietnam
- A Played in emasculation of army
- Poor
- Bad leadership
- Corruption
- Political promotions
32- Kennedy advisers-
- Maxwell Tyler and Walt Rotsrow- ask Kennedy to
deploy troops as flood relief worker to Vietnam-
Kennedy refuses - 1963 South Vietnam- 16,000 military personnel
33Strategic Hamlet program
- Plan by US and South Vietnam gov. to combat
Communist insurgency by popular transfer
34Coup and Assassinations
- Battle of Ap Bac- small band of Viet Cong beat
well equipped S. Vietnam army - US- conclude Diem incapable of beating communist
and might make a deal with Minh
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36Hue Phat Dan Shootings
- Unarmed Buddhist shot a hands of gov. forces of
Diem
37Coup and Assassination of Diem
- CIA contact gen. to remove Diem
- Diem overthrown over and executed
- Kennedy- not approved of Diem's murder
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39After Deim's Murder
- Vietnam- chaos ensue
- Hanoi- take advantage
- South Vietnam-period of extreme political
instability - US military embedded at every level of
S.Vietnamese
40- US Commander of US forces in S.Vietnam-Gen. Paul
Harkins 1)Predict victory by Christmas
1963 - CIA- less optimistic
- CIA Special Activities Division-
- Trained and led Hmoung tribesmen in Laos into
Vietnam - Conducted-action missions
41Johnson's Administration 1963-1969
42Lyndon Johnson Expands War
- Took over after assassination of Kennedy
- Initially did not consider Vietnam as priority
- More concerned with Great Society
43- Johnson reverse Kennedy disengagement policy in
withdrawing 1,000 troops - Military revolutionary council-
- 12 Countries
- Headed by- Gen. Duong Van Minh
- Regime overthrown in Jan.1964 by Gen. Nguyen Khanh
44USS Maddox USS Turner Joy
- Aug.2 1964- fired upon and damage torpedo boats
in Gulf of Tonklin - Second attack- USS Turner Joy and Maddox
1) murky attack
45USS Maddox
46USS Turner Joy
47Gulf of Tonklin Resolution
- Second attack led- to air strikes
- Prompt congress to approve Resolution
- Gave president power to conduct military
operations in Southeast Asia without declaring
war - Johnson pledged that he was not ... committing
American boys to fighting a war that I think
ought to be fought by the boys of Asia to help
protect their own land
48Armies Strength
- Viet Cong-
- 1959- 5,000
- 1964- 10,000
- People's Army-
- 1961-1964 850,000 to nearly a million
- US-
- 1961- 2,000
- 1964- 16,500
49Bombing Campaign
- National Security Council-recommend three stage
escalation of the bombing of N.Vietnam - Operation Flaming Dart, Operation Rolling Thunder
and Operation Arc Light- commence - Lasted 3 years
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51Reason for bombing
- Force N.Vietnam to cease support for NLF by
threatening to destroy N.Vietnam's air defense
and industrial infrastructure
52Escalation and ground war
- US Air Forces- need protection
- Mar.8.1965- 3,500 US Marines dispatched to
S.Vietnam - Marked beg. Of US ground war
53Marines in Vietnam
- Defensive
- Deployment increase
- US commanders unsuited to a defensive mission
54ARVN
- Suffered heavy loses in- battle of Binh Gia
- Battle that both sides viewed as watershed
- Communist forces utilized hit-and-run guerrilla
tactics - Defeat AVRN with conventional warfare
55- Gen. William Westmoreland inform Admiral Grant
Sharp that the situation was critical - Westmoreland- convinced US troops can take fight
to NLF - Westmoreland- advocating aggressive departure
from America's defensive posture
56Westmoreland Three-Point Plan
- Phase1 commitment of US and other forces
necessary to halt losing trend by end of 1965 - Phase2 US and allies mount major offensive
actions to seize the initiative to destroy
guerrilla and organized enemy forces. - Phase3 If enemy persisted, a period of twelve to
eighteen months following phase2 would be
required for the final destruction of enemy
forces remaining in remote base areas
57- Plan approved by Johnson
- Mark profound departure from previous
administration's insistence that the gov. of
S.Vietnam responsible for defeating guerrillas - Westmoreland- predict victory end of 1967
58Allies Help
- Washington- encourage SEATO to contribute troops
- NATO nations Canada and UK- refuse
- US and allies mounted complex operations
59Tet Offensive
- Military campaign
- Purpose-to strike military civilian command
control centers throughout S.Vietnam and spark
general uprising among population that would
topple the Saigon gov. thus ending the war in a
single blow. - Trumped Westmoreland predictions
- Political victory and ended career of Johnson
60Nixon Administration and Vietnamization1969-1972
61Nixon Doctrine
- Was to build up the AVRN so that they could take
over defense of S.Vietnam
62Vietnamization
- Result of Tet offensive
- Purpose-expand, equip, and train S.Vietnam's
forces and assign to them an ever-increasing
combat role,at the same time reducing the number
of U.S. combat troops
63Opposition to War1962-1975
- Groups united who opposed to US anti-communism,
imperialism and colonialism - Shooting of four anti-war protesters at Kent
State University - Riots broke out at 1968 Democratic National
Convention
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65Paris Peace Accord
- Between N.Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Duc Tho
and US Sec. Of State Henry Kissinger and
S.Vietnamese Pres. Thieu - US military withdrew from S.Vietnam and prisoners
exchanged - N.Vietnam allowed to continue to supply
communist troops in South
66Gerald Ford1974-1975
67Ho Chi Minh Campaign
- Called for capture of Saigon before May.1
- Two bloody weeks of fighting
- April.21 garrison surrendered
- Pres.Thieu resign same day
68Fall of Saigon
- Pres. Ford gave a speech on April.23 declaring
end to war - April.29.1975- evacuation of Saigon by helicopter
of last US diplomatic, military, and civilian
personnel - April.30 last of US Marines evacuate embassy
- VPA troops capture key buildings and
installations - 1130 am NLF flag raised
- Pres. Duong Van Minh surrendered
69Chemical Defoliation
- Rainbow Herbicides
- Agent Pink
- Agent Green
- Agent Purple
- Agent Blue
- Agent White
- Agent Orange
70Casualties
- NLF- 1.1 million dead
- 600,00
- US-200,000
- South Vietnamese-250,000
- Civilians- two million