The Vietnam War

Costs of War

Low morale of soldiers quickly lost all hopes of winning the war (*many turned to drugs)

first television war ‘living room” *horrible graphic pics contradicted the war scenario

-credibility gap develops- of what Johnson’s administration was reporting & then what was actually happening.

Opposition

Hawks unleash military to win war

Doves believed we should withdraw forces

The Draft

Tet Offensive Leaders predicting end of war soon.

Cease fire called to celebrate Tet holiday

Viet Cong and NVA attacked the American embassy. Major coordinated attack on Jan. 1968

Military victory for US, but not really

Johnson’s popularity drops after Tet.

Walter Cronkite: “More Certain now the war will end in a bloody stalemate”

“If I’ve lost Walter, I’ve lost Mr. Average Citizen”- LBJ

Protests Begin

Students for a Democratic Society demanded changes in AM. Society- claimed Am was ran by “The Machine”

- Known as the “New Left”

-backlash against anti-war view : Conservatives

Protest Movement

Kent State University: students attacked businesses & ROTC buildings- Gov. Called in Nat’l Guard which opened fire on 4 students

Jackson State University: violent protests-police called in and kill 2 students.

1967-March on Washington: 100,000 march to Pentagon to protest war.

• As protests spread into Vietnam, soldiers began to protest the war.

• Fragging

• Insubordination

Protest Movement

“March of Death”

Pentagon Papers (Daniel Ellsberg): -classified documents taken from the Pentagon that document the actions of several Presidents during Vietnam acting without Congressional knowledge

New York Times v. US, 1971

The Draft

Based on birthday

Deferments: Good academic standing=you would NOT be drafted

500,000 men dodged the draft – 8 million enlisted

Draft targets: Youth, Minorities, Poor

Project 100,000

Drug Abuse

Year 1968 LBJ scales back war effort and decides to not seek

re-election.

RFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated

Riots of ‘68 as nation mourns

-Democratic Convention, Chicago

rioting occurs (1000s)

Against the Dem Party– pressured them to adapt an ANTI-war Platform

Nixon Presidency

My Lai Massacre, 1968: War time atrocities, killing hundreds of innocent civilians

Vietnam Veterans Against the War - war crime trials: John Kerry

Nixon begins pulling troops out of Vietnam

Vietnamization: handing war back over to S. Vietnam – withdrawal of American troops

Bombing of Laos and Cambodia to stop Viet Cong supply lines.

Easter Offensive: massive conventional offensive by N. Vietnamese.

Christmas Bombing: 36,000 tons of bombs dropped on Hanoi

Nixon Presidency

Jan. 1973: Paris Peace Accords signed

American troops leave and Vietnam is still divided at 17th parallel.

American advisors left behind

Nov. 1973: War Powers Act-- limits the ability of Presidents to wage war

- President must notify Congress when sending troops into battle, If Congress does not Approve within 48 hrs, troops must be withdrawn

Passage of 26th amendment: lowers voting age to 18.

Fall of Saigon

American soldiers have left Vietnam – only advisors are left in S. Vietnam.

N. Vietnam attacks S. Vietnam – takes less than 60 days to reach Saigon.

Thousands of Americans and some refugees are evacuated

May 1, 1975 – End of S. Vietnam government

Aftermath

2000: 1,498 Americans unaccounted for from Vietnam

PTSD: Nightmares, Night Sweats, Sleep Walking, Flashbacks

Higher rates of suicide, drug addictions

Sicknesses & birth defects from Agent Orange exposure