The Vietnam War

1
The Vietnam War

• Part II
• 1968-73

2
The Limited War

• Johnson fight the war in cold blood
• Surgical
• Limited mobilization
• Proves impossible
• Draft by lottery is instituted
• Very unpopular

3
A Soldiers Life
If you were one of the "lucky" ones, a "grunt"
as they were called, you got to (1) wade through
swamps carrying a hundred pounds of crap on your
back, (2) sleep and eat (if you could) in the
rain and the mud with the rats, leaches and
mosquito's, and on occasion (3) shoot it out with
NVA regulars (or VC) if you weren't being shelled
by your own artillery or bombed by your own Air
Force.
4
The Tet Offensive

• January 1968
• NLF and DRV launch coordinated attacks against
  major SV cities
• NLF wants to convince US to come to bargaining
  table
• March Johnson will not run for president

5
My Lai

• March 18, 1968
• US Soldiers massacre 347 villagers
• After Tet offensive
• Soldiers on high alert
• Considered revenge killings for Tet Offensive
• Initially covered up, but when story broke
  support for war diminished sharply

6
(No Transcript)
7
Protesting the War, 1968

• Columbia University
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
• Radical organization
• Shuts down Columbia University for six days
• Police finally break-up protest

8
(No Transcript)
9
Protesting the War1968

• 1968 Democratic Convention
• Chicago
• Protestors descend on convention center
• Mayor Daly orders police to use force to remove
  protestors

10
Vietnamization

• Nixon says he has secret plan to end war
• Wins election of 1968
• Plan
• US reduces ground forces, giving over more and
  more responsibility to SV
• US increases air campaign
• Known as Vietnamization

11
Expanding the War

• Nixon orders air force to bomb targets in
  Cambodia and Laos
• Ho Chi Minh trail used to move troops and
  supplies from North to South
• Expansion of war into neutral countries angers
  many in US

12
Kent StateUniversity May 4, 1970

• Protest against expanding war into Cambodia
• Ohio National Guard kills 4 students
• 2 not part of protest
• Public outraged

13
The Fall of Saigon

• April 30, 1973
• US Diplomats try to evacuate as many SV staff
  workers as possible, right up until NV troops
  take city
• SV basically abandoned to North
• The end of the war

14
End of War

• Even though US forces were reduced, Nixon
  continued war until 1973
• 1972 Christmas Bombings
• Nixon orders bombing of NV cities
• Condemned by most nations
• Nixon feels pressure to settle and get out
• Paris Peace Agreement, January 23, 1973

15
Critical Thinking