This Day in History

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This Day in History

• May 6th, 1954 Roger Bannister becomes the first
  man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes

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Chap 29

• Vietnam War

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• I. Vietnam (1962-1964)
• A. French influence
• 1954, Dien Bien Phu French surrender. (U.S. will
  take over)
• 1954, Geneva Accords, divides North and South
  Vietnam (17th Parallel).

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• B. Domino Theory
• 1. Eisenhower--- one falls they all fall
• C. 1962-3, Kennedy
• Ho Chi Minh supported by China, USSR. (Viet Cong)
• Ngo Diem supported by U.S.

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• D. Viet Cong
• Lacking support Diems government falls. (Diem
  arrested and later killed)

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• E. Gulf of Tonkin incident
• 1. Aug 1964, North Vietnamese boats attack U.S.
  destroyer.

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• F. Gulf of Tonkin resolution
• 1. Gives the president the ability to take all
  necessary means to repel any armed attack against
  the United States.

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• III. Vietnam (1965-1968)
• North Vietnamese supplied by Ho Chi Minh trail,
  through Laos and Cambodia.

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• 1. Viet Cong Defensive War Strategy
• If we survive to fight another day they will get
  tired, and their own people will demand that the
  war be ended.

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• U.S. involvement increase
• C. Taking sides In U.S.
• Hawks supported war
• Doves against war

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• D. Nov, 14-18 1965 La Drang Valley
• 1st time regulars on both sides faced off

Hal Moore in Command Joe Galloway
Basil Plumley
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Feb 2012, Basil Plumley, Hal Moore, Joe Galloway
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• E. U.S. confident
• 1. Better Weapons
• 2. Napalm- Jellied gasoline mixed with White
  Phosphorous.
• 3. Agent Orange Herbicide/defoliant sprayed on
  the jungles to make it easier to spot VC from the
  sky.

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• 4. US govt. assures the public that we are
  winning the war.
• That the VC are wearing down and progress is
  being made. (Robert McNamara- Sec. of Defense
  and Gen. Westmoreland)

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• IV. 1968 The War Changes (Credibility Gap)
• A. Tet Offensive (1968)
• Jan 30th, Vietnamese New Year. Viet Cong and
  North Vietnamese, Launch massive attack along
  the entire Southern front.

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• 2. Advance stopped with heavy losses. (North
  50,000 vs U.S. 6,000)
• 3. Major turning point in the war. Psychological
  victory for North proved nowhere in South was
  safe.

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• 4. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, director of South
  Vietnam's national police force, kills suspected
  VC.

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• B. Atrocities (during Tet)
• During Tet, 3000 Vietnamese who worked for
  Americans rounded up, killed and dumped in a mass
  grave near city of Hue.
• March 1968, My Lai massacre, Lieutenant William
  Calley rounds up people in village, killing
  nearly 400 children, women and old men.

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This Day in History

• May 14th, 1948 Israel proclaimed independence

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• V. Student of a Democratic Society (SDS)
• . Cal Berkley (free speech movement)
• 1. 1964, 1st anti-war demonstration.

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• 2. Draft deferments for those in college. Lower
  income or those not going to college drafted
  sooner.

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• b. 1968 (Political troubles)
• Johnson decided not to run again, V.P. Humphrey
  runs for President.
• Bobby Kennedy and MLK killed.
• Protest at Democratic National convention turns
  to violence.
• Nixon (Republican) wins election over Humphrey.
• 26th amendment passed lowered voting age to 18.

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• VI. End of the War
• Peace with honor
• 1. 1969 Nixon begins to pull troops out, starts
  Vietnamization process.
• 2. Changes draft to a lottery system
• 3. Begins secret bombing of strategic sites, into
  Cambodia.

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• b. Kent State(1970)
• May 4th, Protestors burn ROTC building, ends with
  four killed. Nine others wounded

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• c. American Withdraw
• 1 not as heroes, spit on, accused as Baby
  killers

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• 2. 1971- Pentagon Papers released by N.Y.
  Times history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
• 3. January 1973 Paris Accords gave formal
  agreement of peace
• 4. 1973 War powers Act- requires 48 hour notice
  of troop deployment and Only 60 days action
  without congress Approval.

Henry Kissinger
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• d. Results
• 1. U.S. assumptions of victory because of money,
  technology, were proved false.
• 2. March 30th, 1975 Danang falls. (first U.S.
  Base in 1965)

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• 3. April, 1975 Fall of Saigon, ends South
  Vietnam(U.S. airlifts over 7000 people out of the
  Capitol)

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• 4. U.S. over 58,000 kia, 300,000 wia. Over 2500
  MIAs. 1 in 10 Vietnamese killed or wounded.
• 5. 1982, was a Vietnam monument dedicated.

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