Post on 12-Jan-2015
description
• Spring Break review: answer the following ?’s
• 1. What country was Kim Jong Il in charge of?
• 2. What is the DMZ?
• 3. What imaginary line divides Korea?
• 4. How did the Korean war end?
Ho Chi Mihn
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• The North Vietnamese threw out the French in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
• The United States was heavily supporting the French and President Eisenhower was worried if one fell they all would – Domino Theory
My Doctrine to the RESCUE!
• Stated in the Truman Doctrine, the United States would have to step in here. – This was our major justification
for U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War
• Geneva Conference– Vietnam then becomes divided
at the 17th parallel with a Communist North and a Democratic South
– Authorized the President to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression.”
– This essentially gives the war powers of Congress to the president
• The Communist North led by Ho Chi Minh
• “Democratic South Vietnam” led by Ngo Dinh Diem
• Vietcong – These are Communist Guerillas who were South Vietnamese.
• By 1963, Diem is assassinated and America’s military commitment rose.
• By 1965, we have 185,000 troops in Vietnam under President Johnson. Bullet marked walls from
President Diem's assassination.
• We were fighting a guerilla war in unfamiliar territory.
• The South Vietnamese government we were defending was very unpopular.
• We could win every battle and still lose the war.
• U.S. bombing raids only strengthened people against the South Vietnamese government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZoI6EeBNd8
• Agent Orange is an herbicide (plant killer) used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War
• An estimated 21,136,000 gal. of Agent Orange was sprayed across South Vietnam
• 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects
Agent Orange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXu2KmzAX-A
• New Calvary • The attack helicopter
became a vital new weapon
• Mobility allowed for quick movement of soldiers
• Smaller space needed to land soldiers
• By 1968, the American people had been told we were winning and then came the Tet Offensive
• News broadcasts said we are “mired in stalemate” with no end in sight.
Officer shoots man (An execution of a Vietcong prisoner) February 1, 1968
• When Richard Nixon was elected, his plan of Vietnamization (The gradual withdrawl of U.S. troops) was a promise.
• The last U.S. forces left in 1973 and within two years, Communists overran South Vietnam.
• 58,000 Americans died during the war.
Time to LEAVE!
USAViet Cong
• “Search and destroy” missions– bring the enemy into the open to fight
by bombing and cutting off supply lines
• Agent Orange– Chemical that strips plants of leaves;
ruins farmland and destroys jungle• Important in the thick jungle areas
of Vietnam
• Napalm– Jellied gasoline that explodes on
contact; ruins farmland and destroys jungle
• Ambushes• Booby traps• Guerrilla tactics• Blended in in with
general population• Ho Chi minh Trail
– Trail that the Viet Cong used to transport arms and supplies to armies in the South; transported through various countries via the jungle
Traps
American boys playing soldier