The Vietnam War: War in Southeast Asia

Section 20.1

Today’s Agenda

• Presentations (up to day 13)

• 20.1 slide show

• Complete Crossword Puzzle (I’ll go over it quickly tomorrow)

• Homework

• Test on Chapter 18 and 19 Wednesday

What words would you use to describe America’s role in WWII?

What words describe the Vietnam War? Watch the following video

clips and make a list of at least 10 words to describe it.

What words describe the Vietnam War?

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to answer the following:

• Where is Vietnam?

• How did we get involved in the Vietnam War in the first place?

• Why did we get involved?

• What was it like to be an American/North Vietnamese soldier?

• What were the battle tactics?

Describe Vietnam after WWII.• A French Colony

– Rich in natural resources• War torn

– Japanese occupation ended – Americans and Vietminh fought

together• Led by Ho Chi Minh

– Used words of Declaration of Independence to declare Vietnamese independence

• War of Independence– “If ever the tiger pauses the

elephant will impale him on his mighty tusks. But the tiger will not pause and the elephant will die of exhaustion and loss of blood.”

Why did the US decide to support the French in their war with Mihn?

• Cold War– Containment – Afraid of losing France

as ally

• Domino Theory– China fell and like a

domino others would become communist if not contained

Why was Vietnam divided in 1954?

Dien Bien Phu (1954)

Why was Vietnam divided in 1954?• French defeated at Dien Bien

Phu• Geneva peace agreement

called for a temporary division along 17th parallel – Vietminh controlled North– French in South

• Elections in 1956 to decide who would lead reunified country

• Eisenhower believed South would vote communist– Refused to sign agreement

Describe the rule of South Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem.

• Wealthy landowners controlled nation, poor peasants lived in poverty

• Diem– Anticommunist/Dictator

• Strongly supported by US– Gave him $1 billion in aid

(1954-61)

• Spent 80% on military, little on helping poor

• Rigged votes to make US think he was popular

What was the National Liberation Front?• Coalition of Vietminh and other

anti Diem groups• Better known as Vietcong

– Communists• Promised peasants

economic reform, reunification with N. Vietnam

– Terrorist• Assassinated 2 thousand

officials• Gradually supported by Ho Chi

Minh, China, and Russia

Describe JFK’s Vietnam policy.• Expanded Eisenhower’s

policy• Sent South Vietnamese

military equipment and advisers (16 thousand)

• Pressured Diem to make political and economic reforms

• Supported overthrow of Diem after finding out about his brutal repression of Buddhist monks– Monk set himself on fire in

protest• Diem assassinated during

coup d’ etat

Click to see Madam Nhu’s Response

Gulf of Tonkin Presentation

What is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?• Congressional act which

allowed LBJ to greatly expand US involvement in Vietnam

• Signed under pretext that N. Vietnamese gunboats had fired on US destroyer unprovoked

• “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack …”

• LBJ withheld evidence– Ship not attacked– Destroyers were sending

S. Vietnamese on commando raids

USS Maddox

Click to see McNamara's Response

Gulf of Tonkin

What was operation Rolling Thunder?

What was operation Rolling Thunder and why is it important?

• Massive US bombing campaign against N. Vietnam– Roads, bases, supply

lines hit• Ho Chi Minh Trail targeted

– Supply line from N. Vietnam, through Laos, Cambodia

• Significance• N. Vietnam suffered heavy

loses yet kept fighting• LBJ decided to sent

hundreds of thousands of troops

Why was the US optimistic about winning the war?

• Much more powerful military arsenal– Air power– Believed it could break

Vietcong’s will to fight• Measured success by

body-counts, not territory• “You can kill ten of my

men for every one I kill of yours, but even at those odds, you will lose…” – Ho Chi Minh

Unconventional Warfare

How did the US fight the war? • Air War

– Over 100 thousand raids in 1967– B52– Limited success

• Vietcong dug 30 thousand miles of underground tunnels (supply routes)

• Ground War– “search and destroy” missions– Jungle patrols – Heat, mosquitoes, leeches, snakes– Carried 50-70 lbs of equipment

• “Hearts and Minds”– Provided medical care, farming

advice– Development projects

“They were fighting for home.”

How did the VC respond?• Vietcong

– Guerilla warfare– Avoided open

battles– Ambushes, hit and

run raids– Booby traps

(Bouncing Betty)

• Advantages over US– Knew the country– Were Vietnamese

(nationalism)

“Can I survive?”

Describe the American soldier fighting in Vietnam.

• Average Age– Between 19-22 years old– According to text

• Over 9 Million military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975.

• 58,148 were killed in Vietnam• Some uncertain of war’s purpose• Terrified

– The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter.

• Some motivated to survive, not win– Only in Vietnam for 1 year

• 3. 75,000 were severely disabled.• Textbook says that soldiers were usually from

poor or middle class background, – Disproportionately from minority groups

The Television War