Transcript the vietnam war - weebly

The
Vietnam
War
1954 - 1975
Map
Brink of War
 New leader in S.V. = Nguyen Khanh
 N.V. takes advantage of S.V. unrest/chaos =
increased attacks

Pres. Johnson = U.S. troops needed to help S.V. (both @
border & V.C. within S.V.)
 Gulf of Tonkin incident – Aug. 1964

Pres. Johnson claimed N.V. “attack” on USS Maddox &
ordered bombing strikes on N.V. - ** gives justification for
U.S. military involvement now
 Tonkin Gulf Resolution – passed by
Congress; granted president broad military
powers in Vietnam
The Air War
1965-1968
 1965: “Operation Rolling Thunder” =
Sustained bombing of N.V.

U.S. tactic: Carpet Bombing w/Napalm = gasolinebased bomb


Used to set fire to jungle & root out tunnels
Overwhelm N.V. w/superior airforce
“The Americans thought that the
more bombs they dropped, the
quicker we would fall to our
knees and surrender. But the
bombs heightened rather than
dampened our spirit.”
The Ground War
1965-1968
 Fighting V.C. in S.V.; U.S. can’t tell who’s the
enemy (S.V. & V.C. look same)
 June 1965 – 50,000 U.S. troops in S.V.
 Terrain = jungles & rice paddies; sweltering
heat & humidity
 V.C. tactic: Elusive network of tunnels

Allowed surprise attacks then disappear quickly
 V.C. tactic: Ambush U.S. w/land mines &
booby traps

Even disassembled & reused U.S. land mines
“For most of us, the Vietnam War was
an endless plodding across flooded
rice fields and tangled jungle trails in
search of an elusive enemy. Most
often we were harassed more by heat
and leeches than by the communists.”
U.S.’s War of
Attrition
 U.S. tactic: Search-and-Destroy missions =
uprooting civilians w/suspected ties to V.C.,
killing their livestock, & burning villages
 U.S. weapon: Agent Orange = leaf-killing toxic
chemical
 Helped w/dense jungle terrain
 U.S. weapon: Napalm
 Helped to expose V.C. tunnels
 Use of these weapons often wounded civilians
and left villages & surrounding areas in ruins
Troop
Disillusionment


@ start of war, troops believed fighting to halt
communism AND win “hearts and minds” of
Vietnamese peeps w/econ. & social aid
U.S. misunderstood its foe
– U.S. = war was strictly a military struggle
– V.C. = battle for their very existence & ready to pay any
price for victory

Morale declined as war progressed
– no gains, jungle terrain fighting & U.S. deaths increased

By 1967 – 500,000+ U.S. troops
“Wherever we were, we had to win
over the [Vietnamese] people if we
wanted to accomplish our mission . . .
American soldiers fighting in their
country for them to have a free
society.”
“Vietnam is no gain that I
can see, Dad. We’re
fighting, dying for a
people who resent our
being over here. This war
is all wrong.”
“We Americans aren’t the guys in the white
hats, riding white horses. Maybe we shouldn’t
be in Vietnam. Maybe I’d gotten my a** out in
these bushes for nothing.”