Vietnam: In Search of a Strategy

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Vietnam In Search of a Strategy Situation to
1965
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Lesson Objectives
Describe the U.S. involvement in Vietnam in
the context of the Cold War. Understand and
describe the challenges posed by the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam (DRV) against the south.
Understand and describe the situation in the
Republic of Vietnam (RVN) after 1959 and the RVN
reaction to the challenge from the north..
Describe the doctrine of limited war and
counterinsurgency as espoused by the Kennedy
Administration. Relate the timeline of events
that led to U.S. involvement in Southeast
Asia. Analyze the early roots of the U.S.
search for a strategy for the Vietnam War.
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(No Transcript)
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Timeline
Kennedy ordered 2,530 more advisors to South
Vietnam
1961
2,530
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Timeline
Kennedy ordered 2,530 more advisors to South
Vietnam
May 61
US Army helicopters arrived in South Vietnam
11 Dec 61
USAF personnel began training ops in VNAF
aircraft
Mar 62
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US Advisors
(to Army of the Republic of Vietnam - ARVN)
?? (first 200)
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US Advisors
(to Montagnard irregulars)
?? (500)
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Early Air Operations
Aircraft Markings
VNAF
USAF
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Early Air Operations
YouTube 303-800
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The Vietnam War
Operation Ranch Hand
Defoliation Spray Missions
More
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Operation Ranch Hand
YouTube 800-902
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Timeline
Kennedy ordered 2,530 more advisors to South
Vietnam
1961
US Army helicopters arrived in South Vietnam
11 Dec 61
USAF personnel began training ops in VNAF
aircraft
Mar 62
RVN initiated Strategic Hamlet Relocation Program
Mar 62
May 62
VC began battalion-sized operations (Central
Highlands)
1 Aug 62
Kennedy signed Foreign Assistance Act of 1962
Provided assistance to countries under
Communist attack
Battle of Ap Bac VC inflicted major defeat on
RVN force
3 Jan 63
Significant setback for US faith in Diem
government
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Timeline
Kennedy ordered 2,530 more advisors to South
Vietnam
1961
US Army helicopters arrived in South Vietnam
11 Dec 61
USAF personnel began training ops in VNAF
aircraft
Mar 62
RVN initiated Strategic Hamlet Relocation Program
Mar 62
May 62
VC began battalion-sized operations (Central
Highlands)
1 Aug 62
Kennedy signed Foreign Assistance Act of 1962
Provided assistance to countries under
Communist attack
Battle of Ap Bac VC inflicted major defeat on
RVN force
3 Jan 63
Significant setback for US faith in Diem
government
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Timeline
Buddhist unrest, repression in South Vietnam
May- Aug 63
Kennedy Administration discusses options for Diem
Aug-Oct 63
CIA-supported ARVN coup overthrows Diem
1 Nov 63
Diem and this brother killed by ARVN
22 Nov 63
President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas
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US Locked In
General William C. Westmoreland, who seven months
after Diem's assassination replaced General Paul
Harkins as commander of MACV, summed up the
consequences of President Kennedy's involvement.
In his zeal, the young president made a grievous
mistake in assenting to the overthrow of South
Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963,
Westmoreland said. In my view that action
morally locked us in Vietnam. If it had not been
for our involvement in the overthrow of President
Diem, we could perhaps have gracefully withdrawn
our support when South Vietnam's lack of unity
and leadership became apparent.
Why It Was Impossible for the U.S. to Stay
Uninvolved Col. William Wilson, USA
(Retired) Vietnam Magazine, April 1997
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(No Transcript)
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Situation 1964
White House concerned about the 1964 election
Staffers realized current advising strategy was
not succeeding
Predicted North Vietnamese takeover that year
Hoped to stave off collapse until after election
Fredrik Logevall Lyndon Johnson and
Vietnam Presidential Studies Quarterly, March
2004
Link
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Timeline
Mar 64
Secret CIA bombing of Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos
began
Civilian pilots (Air America) flying old U.S.
aircraft
May 64
LBJ staff begins drafting Congressional support
resolution
Temporarily shelved due to lack of support in
Senate
Summer 64
Guerilla warfare spreading throughout South
Vietnam
Now supported by NVA regulars
2-4 Aug 64
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
7 Aug 64
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by Congress
Authorizes president to use force to protect
U.S. forces
President orders retaliatory strikes against
North Vietnam
14 Dec 64
US begins secret bombing of HCMT in Laos
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Timeline
16 Oct 64
China explodes its first nuclear weapon
I Nov 64
VC attack Bien Hoa Air Base
First attack on Americans five Gis killed
3 Nov 64
Lyndon Johnson elected to presidency by landslide
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Attacks on US Airfields
I Nov 64
VC attack Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigom
First attack on Americans five Gis killed
6 Feb 65
VC attack US base at Pleiku (central Highlands)
Eight Americans killed, ten aircraft destroyed
President orders air strikes against North Vietnam
7 Feb 65
Operation Flaming Dart continues to 24 Feb 65
7 Mar 65
President authorizes Operation Rolling Thunder
Progressively escalating air attack against
North Vietnam
Dual military and political objectives
Ran until 2 Nov 68
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Operation Rolling Thunder
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Support for Buildup
Even in the aftermath of the Gulf of Tonkin
incident, as the Johnson administration began
increasing troop levels in Southeast Asia,
45 percent of Americans wanted to stay the
course in Vietnam,
36 percent wanted to 'step up the war by
carrying the fight to North Vietnam,' for
example, through more air strikes against
communist territory,
while only 19 percent supported pulling out.
In short, by a large margin, Americans demanded
victory of their leaders ...
A
Lyndon Johnson, then, was acting with the full
faith and support of his electorate.
Joshua Zeitz "1964 - The Year the Sixties
Began" American Heritage, October 2006
Source
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LBJs Dilemma
In later years Johnson lamented
'I knew from the start that I was bound to be
crucified either way I moved.
If I left the woman I really loved, the Great
Society, in order to get involved in that bitch
of a war on the other side of the world, I would
lose everything at home. All my programs.
... But if I left that war and let the communists
take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as
a coward and my nation would be seen as an
appeaser, and we would both find it impossible to
accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the
entire globe.
Joshua Zeitz "1964 - The Year the Sixties
Began" American Heritage, October 2006
Source
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The Great Society
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LBJs Dilemma
Escalate or Withdraw
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Discussions on Escalation
Feb 65 Jul 65
Part 1 Feb-Mar 64
Part 2 May64
Part 3 Jun-Aug64
Part 5 Jun-Jul65
Part 4 Feb-Jun65

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End
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LBJs Dilemma
In later years Johnson lamented 'I knew from
the start that I was bound to be crucified either
way I moved. If I left the woman I really loved,
the Great Society, in order to get involved in
that bitch of a war on the other side of the
world, I would lose everything at home. All my
programs.

... But if I left that war and let the
communists take over South Vietnam, then I would
be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen
as an appeaser, and we would both find it
impossible to accomplish anything for anybody
anywhere on the entire globe.'" Joshua
Zeitz "1964 - The Year the Sixties
Began" American Heritage, October 2006
Source
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Buildup In Vietnam
Why was our buildup in Vietnam so slow?
Vietnam 1964 - 1968 Gulf War Aug 1990 - Jan-Mar
1991
Gradual escalation?
Fear of Soviet or Chinese intervention?
Lack of infrastructure?
Probably a little of each!