Vietnam: Before, During,

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Vietnam Before, During, After

• Chapter 24

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Post WWII Vietnam

• In 1946 war broke out between the Vietminh and
  the French. In 1949 the French reached an
  agreement with the non-communist nationalists and
  recognized the Republic of Vietnam. The Vietminh
  mounted a major offensive against the French
  puppet government.

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• Vietminh were a nationalistic group which
  launched an attack against the new Republic of
  Vietnam
• Led by Ho Chi Minh
• Bao Dai head of the Republic of Vietnam

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Vietnam Conflict

• The Split 1953-1954
• US began sending military aid to support Frances
  colonization of Vietnam vs. the Vietminh (aided
  by the Soviets)
• But No Troops
• 17th Parallel

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• Geneva Accords divides Vietnam
• Communist north
• Ho Chi Minh
• Anti-Communist south
• Ngo Dinh Diem
• US provided aid to South Vietnam

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• Preventing the spread of communism
• Domino Theory
• President Eisenhower
• You have a row of dominoes set up. You knock
  over the first one and what will happen to the
  last one is the certainty that it will go over
  very quickly.
• If one nation falls to communism the other
  nations will follow

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• JFK LBJ both determined to keep communism out
  of South Vietnam
• Contributed economic aid to South Vietnamese
  govt
• 1963 LBJ sent 16,000 military advisors
• 1965 more and more troops are sent

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After the Bay of Pigs fiasco (1961) Kennedy
decides the US would show its strength and
ability to contain communism in Vietnam
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Kennedys Vietnam Policies

• A 1961 special task force advised JFK to send US
  combat troops to South Vietnam to assist the Diem
  regime
• JFK was concerned that the only way the Diem
  government could survive was with the support of
  the Vietnamese people who disliked his corrupt
  dictatorial Catholic government
• JFK continued to send troops and supply Diems
  troops with helicopters, allowing US pilots to
  fly combat missions

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Press conference
Press Conference
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• Ngo Dinh Diem
• Imprisoned critics of govt
• Filled govt positions w/ family members
• Gave US aid to military corrupt officials
• Insisted Buddhists obey Catholic religious laws
• US conveyed to S. Vietnamese military leaders,
  they wouldnt object to Diems overthrow
• Kennedy will be assassinated 3 weeks later

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Ngo Dinh Diem moves Vietnamese peasants from
their ancestral villages into walled cities
called strategic hamlets

• Because of Vietcong infiltration, Diem abolished
  village elections appointed Catholics as chiefs
• Imprisoned and murdered those opposed to his
  policies
• Vietnamese villagers resented being moved from
  their ancestral villages and frequently welcomed
  the Vietcong into their villages

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Diem was a Catholic ruler of a primarily Buddhist
country. He insisted Buddhists obey Catholic
religious laws. A Buddhist monk set himself on
fire to protest the corrupt Diem
government. Diem imprisoned hundreds of Buddhist
monks and nuns and destroyed Buddhist pagodas or
temples. The US tried to get him to stop his
attack on the Buddhists who were the majority of
the population. He refused.
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Diem is assassinatedNovember 1, 1963
Unfortunately the new government turned out to
be even more unstable and ineffective
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So. Vietnamese generals who planned the coup
overthrowing Diem
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Secretary of Defense - Robert McNamara

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• McNamaras Role
• Helped shape Kennedys and Johnsons policies in
  Vietnam
• Handled war like a business (under JFK)
• Pushed for direct US involvement (under LBJ)

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• Johnson takes over
• Viet Cong
• Communist guerrillas in the south
• Aided by Ho Chi Minh and the N. Vietnamese
• Johnson determined to win war
• I am not going to be the President who saw SE
  Asia go the way China went.

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• Gulf of Tonkin Attacks
• Supposedly N. Vietnamese torpedoed US destroyers
  in international waters
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• 1964 Congressional resolution authorizing
  President Johnson to take military action in
  Vietnam

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Fighting the War (24.2)

• The Battlefield
• Americans
• Superior arms supplies

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• Viet Cong
• Guerrilla warfare
• Familiar w/ swamps and jungles
• Protection across Cambodia and Laos borders
• Support of local population

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• Ground War
• Viet Cong hid in underground tunnels
• Set booby traps
• Punji traps camouflaged pit w/ razor sharp
  stakes
• Land mines explosive devices planted in the
  ground
• Trip wires linked to grenades

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• Air war
• B-52 bombers dropped thousands of tons of
  explosives
• Saturation bombing dropping of a large
  concentration of bombs over a certain area

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• Fragmentation bombs type of bomb that upon
  explosion, causes pieces of thick metal casings
  to be thrown in all directions

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• Agent Orange herbicide used as a chemical
  weapon to kill vegetation and expose enemy hiding
  places

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• Napalm Highly flammable chemical dropped from
  US planes in firebombing attacks

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The Course of the War 1965-68

• Following the 64 Election, LBJ begins a gradual
  escalation of the war
• Expansion
• Sent more and troops

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• Intensifying the War
• Viet Cong grew stronger through the Ho Chi Minh
  Trail
• Supply route that passed through Laos and
  Cambodia

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• Johnson sent more soldiers at the request of
  General Wm. Westmoreland
• Objective force the enemy to stop fighting
• Not to conquer N. Vietnam

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• Operation Rolling Thunder
• Relentless bombing campaign that lasted almost 3
  years
• Viet Cong dug thousands of miles of underground
  tunnels

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• Hawks and Doves
• Hawks those who supported the war
• Doves those who opposed the war

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Tet Offensive

• Attack by Viet Cong and N. Vietnamese forces
  throughout S. Vietnam
• Surprise attacks on cities
• S. Vietnamese capital of Saigon attacked
• American embassy presidential palace

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• Brutality
• Communists slaughtered anyone labeled enemy
• Teachers, minor officials, doctors
• Anyone who had worked for Americans

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• My Lai
• American troops killed more than 400 Vietnamese
  civilians
• Village supposed to shelter 250 Viet Cong
• None were found
• Liet. William L. Calley, Jr. in charge
• Later went to jail for his role in attack
• Hugh Thompson landed his helicopter b/w troops
  civilians ending the attack

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End of the War (24.4)

• Nixons Presidency
• Paris peace talks
• Negotiations b/w US and N. Vietnam, beginning
  1968
• Never worked out

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• Vietnamization
• Policy of replacing American military forces w/
  those of S. Vietnam
• Ordered secret bombing raids

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• Invading Cambodia
• Use it as bargaining chip
• Strengthen American position
• Brought civil war in Cambodia protest in US

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• Beginning of the End
• N. Vietnam launches major offensive
• US bombs the N. Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and
  other targets

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• January 1973 US, N. S. Vietnam, and the Viet
  Cong sign a formal agreement in Paris
• Provisions
• US would w/draw all forces w/in 60 days
• All POWs would be released
• All would end military activity in Laos and
  Cambodia
• 17th parallel would continue to divide

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After the War

• Fighting continued in Vietnam for 2 more years
• S. Vietnam fell to the Communists 4/30/75
• Domino theory never did happen
• Laos Cambodia fell but no others in the region