Napalm

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Napalm
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The Vietnam War 1965-1973

• Our Longest War Comes To An End

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Democratic National Convention of 1968

• The Democrats met in Chicago in 1968 to hold
  their convention and choose their presidential
  candidate
• Easier said then done LBJ decided not to run for
  reelection, the leading Democratic presidential
  candidate was assassinated, and the party was
  split on how to handle the war in Vietnam
• 10,000 antiwar protestors showed up
• Millions of Americans watched the chaos on
  television

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June 5, 1968
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The Presidential Election of 1968

• Richard M. Nixon makes a political comeback from
  his 1960 defeat and wins the presidential
  nomination from the Republican party
• He goes up against Democrat Hubert Humphrey
• Vice President under Johnson
• George Wallace (former governor of Alabama)
• Championed school segregation
• Proponent of states rights
• Who do you think wins?

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Nixon Begins Pullout

• President Nixon and his National Security
  Advisor, Henry Kissinger, come up with a
  withdrawal plan
• Vietnamization- Nixons strategy for ending U.S.
  involvement in the Vietnam War by the gradual
  withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement
  with South Vietnamese forces
• By August 1969, the first 25,000 U.S. troops
  returned home

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My Lai Massacre

• In November of 1969, the New York Times broke the
  story
• March 16, 1968, a U.S. platoon was searching for
  Vietcong rebels in the small village of My Lai
• They found none, but rounded up the villagers and
  shot more than 200 innocent civilians
• Women, children, elderly

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My Lai Massacre
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Invasion of Cambodia

• On April 30, 1970, Nixon announced troops had
  invaded Cambodia to clear out Vietcong and North
  Vietnamese supply centers
• Congress then repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• More than 1.5 million students went on strike,
  closing down 1,200 campuses

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Tragedy at Kent State
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May 4, 1970 Kent State University
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• http//www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/02/kent.state.ap/ind
  ex.html

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Will This War Ever End?!

• 1971- 60 of Americans thought we should withdraw
  from Vietnam
• March 1972- North Vietnamese launch their largest
  attack on South Vietnam since the Tet Offensive
• Nixon responded with a heavy bombing campaign,
  which halted the North Vietnamese attack
• Nixon realizes he must end this war if he wants
  to win reelection in November 1972

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Suspected Vietcong soldiers
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Interrogating a Vietcong suspect
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American Involvement Ends

• January 27, 1973 Agreement on Ending the War and
  Restoring Peace in Vietnam was signed
• North Vietnamese troops would peacefully remain
  in South Vietnam
• Nixon said he would respond with full force if
  the peace was broken
• On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops
  left for home

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All For Not?

• For America, the war was over in 1973
• Within months, the peace between North and South
  Vietnam collapsed
• On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks rolled
  into Saigon and captured the city
• South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam
• Vietnam is now a united, Communist nation

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War Facts

• The Vietnam war became our longest war ever
• In all, 58,000 American troops died in Vietnam
• 303,000 wounded
• North and South Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million

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Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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The War Is Over, Pain Is Not

• No brass bands, no victory parades, no cheering
  crowds
• 15 of the 3.3. Million soldiers who served
  developed post-traumatic stress disorder
• Reoccurring nightmares, severe headaches, memory
  lapses
• Others began abusing drugs and alcohol
• Several thousand committed suicide

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Aftermath of the Vietnam War

• Government abolished the draft, which aroused so
  much anti-war sentiment
• Passed the War Powers Act
• President must inform congress within 48 hours of
  sending forces into a hostile area without a
  declaration of war
• Overall, citizens lost faith and trust in their
  government

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Vietnam Veterans Memorial