Fighting the War

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Fighting the War
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What it was like for the 3 million Americans that
served in Vietnam

• Carried 60 pounds of gear
• Dug chest-deep fighting holes
• Slept 1-2 hours at a time for months at a time
• Patrols, ambushes, listening posts, radio watches
• Ringworm, hookworm, malaria, dysentery were
  common.
• Trench foot.

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Both sides had some advantages

• The U.S. advantages
• 1. had superior arms and supplies
• Viet Cong advantages
• 1. were familiar with the swamps and jungles
  (home field advantage).
• 2. They also could find protection in Cambodia
  and Laos.
• 3. Often had the support of the S. Vietnamese
  population. They were indifferent to this war.
  

Mrs. Kelly likes you to know advantages and
disadvantages
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U.S. disadvantages

• U.S. soldiers were confused. The South
  Vietnamese people could care less that they were
  trying to defend their freedom.
• Good quote from a Marine
• We are the unwilling working for the unqualified
  to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful. Kit
  Bowen
• Government in Saigon was inept and corrupt.
• Never sure who was a friend or a foe. Children
  carried grenades, women were spies

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The Ground War

• Because the Vietnamese lacked the equipment that
  the U.S. had, they avoided head-on clashes.
• Instead they used guerilla warfare in small
  units. Sneak attacks and sabotage.
• Had elaborate underground tunnels. Some had
  running water, electricity and hospitals.

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Lets take a look at the tunnels
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Vietnamese Traps

• Punji traps with poisonous stakes
• Land mines- explosive device planted in the
  ground.
• Trip wires concealed grenades
• There was always the possibility of sudden
  danger. Snipers were everywhere.

Weapons and tactics are important
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• Because of the confusion of the American soldiers
  as to who was a friend and who was a foe all
  Vietnamese civilians would suffer. Widespread
  destruction hurt all.

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The Air War

• B-52 bomber is introduced. Could bomb roads and
  bridges.
• Saturation bombing- planes dropping thousands of
  tons of explosives over N. Vietnam.
• Fragmentation bombs- A type of bomb that, upon
  explosion, causes pieces of its thick metal
  casings to be thrown in all directions.
• Roads, bridges and large areas of land were
  destroyed.

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Chemical Weapons

• Agent Orange- a herbicide that killed the leaves
  and undergrowth. This allowed the planes flying
  overhead to see the Viet Cong. It also killed
  crops. Later found to be hazardous to your
  health.

I think you know why I am here.
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Napalm

• Jellylike substance that burned uncontrollably.
• Would stick to your body and sear off your flesh.
  
• Chemical weapons destroyed people and plants.

This chemical warfare is awful.
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The Course of War 1965-1968

• After 1964 election Johnson starts a military
  escalation- or expansion of the war. He puts in
  more money and personnel.
• Now we are not advising we are fighting for S.
  Vietnamese military officer Nguyen Ky.

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Intensifying the War

• By 1965 the Viet Cong were expanding in S.
  Vietnam.
• N. Vietnamese troops and supplies were coming in
  via the Ho Chi Minh Trail- a supply route that
  passed through Laos and Cambodia.

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Attack at Pleiku

• N. Vietnamese kill 8 Americans and wound 126.
• Johnson responds- Authorizes the bombing of North
  Vietnam.

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William Westmoreland

• Commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam.
• Requests more men
• Beginning of 1965- 25,000 soldiers in Vietnam.
• End of 1965- 184,000 soldiers in Vietnam.
• The escalation has begun BIG TIME!

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Regardless of the escalation

• We are at a stalemate.
• Our objective was not to conquer
• North Vietnam but rather to force
• the enemy to stop fighting.
• Operation Rolling Thunder- Bombing campaign that
  lasted for almost 3 years. It produced heavy
  damage but it did not stop the Viet Cong.
  Nothing would stop them from fighting.

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Hawks and Doves

• Criticism at home-
• Hawks- supported the war
• Doves- opposed the war and raised questions about
  the expansion of the war.

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Another new leader

• 1967- Thieu succeeded Ky as president of South
  Vietnam. But even with our advanced weaponry we
  could not win.
• Escalation again-
• 1966- 385,000
• 1967- 485,000
• 1968- 536,000
• Communists escalating also.

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Tet- The Vietnamese New Year

• Jan. 30, 1968- Viet Cong and N. Vietnamese launch
  a major offensive which is called the Tet
  Offensive.
• They had surprise attacks on major cities and
  American military bases. Saigon has fierce
  fighting for weeks.

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The Tet- A Psychological Victory for the North

• This is the turning point of the war
• The North is pushed back but they now realize
  that they can attack the South whenever they
  want.
• And at home people who were at one time for the
  war now want our soldiers to come back home.

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Communist Brutality- The Atrocity at Hue

• During the Tet enemies were slaughtered by the
  Communists
• While occupying Southern cities (Hue) they killed
  those that worked for the Americans in civil
  service jobs or any military personnel.
• All the dead were placed in a mass grave.

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Massacre at My Lai- An American Atrocity

• Our soldiers were under extreme distress and
  surrounded by brutality.
• My Lai- small town in S. Vietnam
• We got news that this town was sheltering Viet
  Cong so the we came in to clear it out.
• We found no enemy soldiers, just women, children
  and the elderly.

Bad stuff is about to happen.
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My Lai

• We gathered up all the prisoners and shot them
  all. About 400 dead.
• It would have been more if a U.S. helicopter crew
  did not stop the slaughter. They almost had to
  fire on U.S. troops.

What punishment, if any, should be given to these
men?
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With all of these problems

• Tet Offensive loss/win
• My Lai Massacre
• Hue Massacre
• All this brutality is shown on the T.V
• People want this to end.
• Johnsons popularity goes down.

This sounds so familiar
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Review

• The US had great soldiers and weapons
• The N. Vietnamese had home-field advantage,
  guerilla warfare techniques and help from S.
  Vietnamese civilians and the Viet Cong. They had
  tunnels and dealt with sabotage.
• US soldiers were confused- who is with us and
  who is against us?

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Weapons and tactics

• Bombings
• Chemical Warfare
• Trip wires
• Land mines
• Spies

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• By 1964 we are fighting- no more advising. But
  the North has no problem getting supplies and men
  to the South.
• The Ho Chi Minh Trail was extremely useful to the
  North.
• We are getting no where! We must escalate our war
  efforts.
• Another new person is in charge of the South.
  Now we have had Diem, Ky and now Thieu.

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3 thing you must know to understand the Vietnam
War

• Hue
• My Lai
• Tet

Must know information
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Worksheet then Quiz Time

• 12 points