Getting to California

1
Getting to California
Ch 25 Sec 2 Going to War in Vietnam

• Highlight in your Reading Quiz Notes
• Vietcong
• Strategic Hamlets
• Buddhist Monks Protests
• Overthrow of Diem
• Gulf of Tonkin Incident / Resolution
• Operation Rolling Thunder
• search and destroy
• napalm
• Agent Orange
• Ho Chi Minh Trail

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Intro 3
Chapter Objectives
Section 2 Going to War in Vietnam

• Describe how President Johnson deepened American
  involvement in Vietnam.

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Intro 2
Textbook Assignment (pp.776-779)
Section 2 Going to War in Vietnam

1. Who were the Vietcong and how were they able to
   become so powerful in South Vietnam?
2. How did Ngo Dinh Diems actions against Buddhist
   monks make him even more unpopular and how was he
   removed from power?
3. What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and how
   did it effect Americas role in the Vietnam War?
4. How did Operation Rolling Thunder change
   Americas course of action in the Vietnam War?

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Intro 2
Textbook Assignment (pp.779-781)
Section 2 Going to War in Vietnam

1. How were the Vietcong able to overcome the fact
   that they lacked the firepower of American
   troops?
2. What was a search and destroy mission?
3. Why did the United States military use products
   such as napalm and Agent Orange when fighting the
   Vietcong?
4. Where was the Ho Chi Minh Trail and why was it
   able to help the Vietcong against the United
   States?

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Section 2-5
American Involvement Deepens

• After Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold national
  elections, Ho Chi Minh and his followers created
  a new guerrilla army known as the Vietcong.

(pages 776778)
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FYI 4-1
WHO is Charlie and WHERE is he?
One of the greatest strengths of the Vietcong
(also known as Charlie), is that American
soldiers had a tough time identifying who they
were. They also built a very sophisticated
tunnel system throughout South Vietnam.
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Section 2-5
American Involvement Deepens

• Their goal was to reunify North and South
  Vietnam.
• The United States continued to send aid to South
  Vietnam.

(pages 776778)
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Section 2-6
American Involvement Deepens (cont.)

• The Vietcongs power, however, continued to grow
  because many Vietnamese opposed Diems government.

(pages 776778)
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Section 2-6
American Involvement Deepens (cont.)

• President Kennedy continued the nations policy
  of support for South Vietnam, agreeing with past
  presidents that Southeast Asia was important in
  the battle against communism.

(pages 776778)
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Section 2-7
American Involvement Deepens (cont.)

• The unpopularity of South Vietnams President
  Diem increased because his government was
  corrupt, he created strategic hamlets, and he
  discriminated against Buddhism, one of the
  countrys most widely practiced religions.

(pages 776778)
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FYI 4-1
What did the Vietnamese Buddhists learn from MLK?
To protest the actions of Diem, seven Buddhists
Monks lit themselves on fire in the streets of
Saigon and Hue, but not without first alerting
the American press of their planned actions.
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Section 2-7
American Involvement Deepens (cont.)

• Diem was overthrown and executed on November 1st,
  1963.
• This further weakened South Vietnams government,
  forcing the United States to become more involved.

(pages 776778)
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Section 2-8
American Involvement Deepens (cont.)

• After Kennedys assassination, President Lyndon
  Johnson inherited the problem of Vietnam.

(pages 776778)
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Section 2-10
Johnson and Vietnam

• At first, President Johnson was cautious
  regarding Vietnam, yet he was determined to
  prevent South Vietnam from becoming Communist.

• Politically, Democrats needed to keep South
  Vietnam from becoming Communist, or Republicans
  would use it against them.

(pages 778779)
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Section 2-11
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• On August 2, 1964, President Johnson announced
  that North Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on two
  American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

(pages 778779)
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Section 2-11
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• A similar attack reportedly occurred two days
  later.
• The Senate and the House passed the Gulf of
  Tonkin Resolution on August 7, 1964, authorizing
  the president to take all necessary measures to
  repel any armed attack on U.S. forces.
• Congress had given its war powers to the
  president.

(pages 778779)
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Section 2-12
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed,
  the Vietcong began attacking bases where American
  advisers were stationed in South Vietnam.

(pages 778779)
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Section 2-12
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• After an attack in February 1965, Johnson sent
  aircrafts to strike in North Vietnam.

(pages 778779)
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Section 2-13
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• While the polls showed that Johnsons approval
  rating had increased, some dissenters in the
  White House warned that if the United States
  became too involved, it would be difficult to get
  out.

(pages 778779)
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Section 2-13
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• In March 1965, however, Johnson increased
  American involvement by ordering Operation
  Rolling Thunder which was a round the clock
  bombing campaign of North Vietnam.

(pages 778779)
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FYI 4-1
Bombing North Vietnam back to the Stone Age?
The size of North Vietnam is 63,360 square miles
(a little smaller than Florida) yet during the
Vietnam war, the U.S. dropped more tons of bombs
on North Vietnam than ALL nations dropped on one
another during World War II COMBINED!!!
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Section 2-13
Johnson and Vietnam (cont.)

• Also in March 1965, Johnson ordered the first
  American combat troops into Vietnam to fight
  alongside the South Vietnamese troops against the
  Vietcong.

(pages 778779)
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Chapter Summary 1
Ch 25 Sec 2 Review
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Section 2-15
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges

• By 1965 some 180,000 American combat troops were
  fighting in Vietnam, with the number doubling by
  1966.

• Many Americans believed they could win in Vietnam.

(pages 779781)
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Section 2-16
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• To take Vietcongs hiding places away, American
  planes dropped napalm, a jellied gasoline that
  explodes on contact, and Agent Orange, a chemical
  that strips leaves from trees and shrubs.

(pages 779781)
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Section 2-16
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• Farmlands and forests were turned into wastelands.

(pages 779781)
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FYI 4-1
After effects of Agent Orange attacks

• WARNING!
• Graphic
• Footage

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Section 2-17
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• Americans underestimated the Vietcongs strength,
  stamina, and morale.

(pages 779781)
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FYI 4-1
Return of the Vietcong?
Star Wars director George Lucas modeled his
climatic scene in Return of the Jedi to be
based on the Vietnam War with the technology of
the Empire (United States) defeated by the
guerilla tactics of the Ewoks (Vietnamese)
fighting for their homeland.
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Section 2-17
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• Johnson refused to order a full invasion of North
  Vietnam, fearing China would get involved in the
  war.

(pages 779781)
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Section 2-17
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• President Johnson also refused to allow a
  full-scale attack on the Vietcongs supply line,
  known as the Ho Chi Minh trail.

(pages 779781)
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Section 2-17
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• This made winning difficult.

(pages 779781)
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Section 2-18
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges (cont.)

• As American casualties increased, many American
  citizens began questioning the United Statess
  involvement in the war.

(pages 779781)
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You Dont Say 2-1
Helicopters GI slang referred to helicopters as
TWA-teenie-weenie airlines. They were used on a
massive scale during the Vietnam War. With gas
turbines replacing piston engines, the
helicopters had remarkable range and
maneuverability.
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Chapter Summary 1
Ch 25 Sec 2.2 Review
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End of Section 2