The Vietnam War: 1954-1975

1
The Vietnam War 1954-1975

• Fighting the War 1965-1968
• At home and abroad.
• And its one, two, three,
• What are we fightin for?
• -Country Joe and the Fish

2
VIETNAM - Escalation and Fighting

• The violence and brutality of the Vietnam War
  affected civilians as well as soldiers.

3
Escalation of American involvement began in 1965
and continued through 1968.

• Beginning of 1965 - 25,000 troops
• End of 1968 - 500,000 troops

4
How did battlefield conditions in Vietnam affect
American soldiers?

• The Vietnam war was characterized by small
  engagements (fights) that involved guerilla-type
  warfare.
• For US soldiers, it was difficult to know the
  difference between friend (ARVN South Vietnamese
  regular army) and foe (VC Viet Cong)

5
Battlefield conditions in Vietnam

• American tactics consisted of search and
  destroy missions and massive bombing of VC
  targets.
• Operation Rolling Thunder - intensive bombing
  campaign from 1965-1968
• Americans had absolute mastery of the air
  throughout the course of the war.

6
Bombing during Vietnam inflicted heavy damage on
the landscape and thousands of military and
civilian casualties.

• Americans used saturation bombing and
  fragmentation bombs
• Americans also used chemicals to defoliate the
  landscape
• Napalm
• Agent Orange

7
US casualties increased.

• Casualties began to mount and TV networks
  broadcast scenes from the battlefield
• Weekly body counts became standard TV fare for
  nightly news.

8
Americas first TV War

• Peoples perceptions of the war were more and
  more influenced by television news reports

9
Hawks and Doves

• Hawks - supported the war
• Doves - opposed the war
• Although the majority of Americans still
  supported the Vietnam War, there was increasing
  disagreement in both government and the public
  mind over US Vietnam policy.

10
A Growing Antiwar Movement

• More and more people saw the Vietnam war as a
  waste of federal tax money that could have been
  applied to LBJs Great Society domestic social
  programs.

11
LBJ attempted to rally support

• War faced growing protest and unpopularity at
  home.
• LBJ continued to promote the war in order to
  maintain support for GREAT SOCIETY programs in
  the USA.
• Escalation continued.
• A growing credibility gap.

12
A coordinated set of attacks by Viet Cong and
North Vietnamese during Tet (Vietnamese New
Year) US tactical victory - inflicted heavy
losses on the VC and North Vietnamese North
Vietnamese strategic advantage - American public
support of war dropped

• The Tet Offensive 1968

13
The impact of the Tet Offensive on American
Public Opinion

• After the Tet Offensive in Jan-Feb of 1968,
  public opinion turned more sharply against
  continuing the war.
• Vocal anti-war protests increased
• Many Americans felt that
• US soldiers were not given a chance to win
• US didnt have a clear objective in Vietnam for
  victory
• LBJ made surprise announcement he wouldnt seek
  re-election in 1968

14
Tet Illustrated Communist (VC) brutality and the
brutality of the war in general

• In recapturing Hue (Vietnamese city), VC murdered
  5000 civilians before surrendering.
• Suicide bombers hit civilian targets as well.
• South Vietnamese responded in anger and brutality
  as well.

15
My Lai Massacre- 1968

• US soldiers under Lt. William Calley murdered
  Vietnamese civilians at My Lai (village) 250
• US helicopter crew stopped the slaughter
• Story with pictures published in LIFE magazine in
  1971
• American public horrified.
• An isolated incident but shocking that American
  soldiers could or would commit such atrocities

16
Review Questions - answer these questions on a
separate sheet of paper

• Describe how the battlefield conditions affected
  the following people in Vietnam
• US Soldiers
• Vietnamese civilians
• Explain why the initial military action resulted
  in a stalemate.
• Describe the Tet Offensive of 1968. Explain how
  and why it proved to be a turning point in the
  Vietnam War.
• Choose a position either for (hawk) or against
  (dove) the war. Write a brief letter to the
  editor from that position.