Vietnam

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Vietnam

• Also called Indo China

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Went communist 1949
Went communist 1975
Did not go communist thanks mainly to a military
govt from 1947
Indo China
Went communist 1975
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Background to the Vietnam War

• Various colonies owned by France in the 19th
  century. Area known as Indo China
• Occupied by Japanese during WW2
• French attempts to retake colonies failed, they
  faced opposition from the superbly organised
  communists under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh

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Vietnam War French Involvement

• 1954 French army surrounded at Dien Bien Phu
• Politicians met at Geneva agreed that Indo
  China could be independent.
• Vietnam divided along 17th Parallel communists
  in North, Western friendly govt in South
• Capitals Hanoi North, Saigon - South

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Dien Bien Phu the events
A fortress near the Chinese border, along the Red
River. It lay isolated in the jungle, 50 miles
from the nearest roads. It was surrounded by
mountains. A single road supplied the base.
Unfortunately for the French, the Viet Minh
forces were building a road so that they could
move heavy weapons into the mountains and so
surround the fortress. The French supplied the
area by air drops, which fell off target and were
scooped up by the Viet Minh. After months of
heavy casualties, the French surrendered
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Enter the Americans
A communist organisation called the Vietcong was
set up in S. Vietnam
In 1957 civil war started
Americans became frightened that S. Vietnam
might go communist
This might lead to the rest of S.E Asia going
communist
They sent advisors to help the S. Vietnamese
By the mid 1960s they were fighting a war
Like dominos
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The Ho Chi Minh Trail
Supplied the Vietcong from North Vietnam
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The Horrors of War

• The Vietcong terrorised villages to force them
  into supporting the communist cause
• The Americans used aircraft to drop high
  explosive bombs. More bombs were dropped in
  Vietnam than the whole of WW2
• Napalm was used against people and chemicals were
  used to destroy trees
• Huge numbers of men, women and children were
  killed or maimed
• The USA also bombed Cambodia because it was used
  as a base by the Vietcong

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My Lai Massacre
The My Lai massacre, which took place on the
morning of March 16, 1968, was a watershed in the
history of modern American combat, and a turning
point in the public perception of the Vietnam
War.
In the course of three hours more than 500
Vietnamese civilians were killed in cold blood at
the hands of US troops. The soldiers had been on
a "search and destroy" mission to root out
communist fighters in what was fertile Viet Cong
territory. Yet there had been no firefight with
the enemy - not a single shot was fired at the
soldiers of Charlie Company, a unit of the
Americal Division's 11th Infantry Brigade. The
48th Viet Cong Battalion - the intended target of
the mission - was nowhere to be seen. When the
story of My Lai was exposed, more than a year
later, it tarnished the name of the US army. Most
Americans did not want to believe that their
revered GI Joe could be a wanton murderer. My
Lai was the sort of atrocity American patriots
preferred to associate with the Nazis.
The My Lai massacre, which took place on the
morning of March 16, 1968, was a watershed in the
history of modern American combat, and a turning
point in the public perception of the Vietnam
War.
In the course of three hours more than 500
Vietnamese civilians were killed in cold blood at
the hands of US troops. The soldiers had been on
a "search and destroy" mission to root out
communist fighters in what was fertile Viet Cong
territory.
Yet there had been no fire fight with the enemy -
not a single shot was fired at the soldiers of
Charlie Company, a unit of the American
Division's 11th Infantry Brigade
Some of the 120 or so soldiers opted out of the
killing spree, but troop commander Lt William
Calley was not one of them. In one incident, Lt
Calley ordered two of his men to fire on a group
of 60 civilians they had rounded up. When one
refused, Calley took over and, standing 10 feet
from the crowd, blazed his gun at them.
Elsewhere in the village, other atrocities were
in progress. Women were gang raped Vietnamese
who had bowed to greet the Americans were beaten
with fists and tortured, clubbed with rifle butts
and stabbed with bayonets. Some victims were
mutilated with the signature "C Company" carved
into the chest. By late morning word had got
back to higher authorities and a cease-fire was
ordered. My Lai was in a state of carnage. Bodies
were strewn through the village. The death toll
totalled 504. Only one American was injured - a
GI who had shot himself in the foot while
clearing his pistol.
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The BBC account of the Massacre
The brief for the March 16 mission was to prise
out the Viet Cong, whose elusive troops were
thought to be hiding in My Lai - a hamlet of the
Son My village. Two platoons moved in shortly
after 8pm in the morning, while a third held back
for "mopping up" duties. Both platoons soon
splintered and once the shooting started it
seemed to spark a chain reaction. Soldiers went
berserk, gunning down unarmed men, women,
children and babies. Families which huddled
together for safety in huts or bunkers were shown
no mercy. Those who emerged with hands held high
were murdered.
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Some of the 120 or so soldiers opted out of the
killing spree, but troop commander Lt William
Calley was not one of them. In one incident, Lt
Calley ordered two of his men to fire on a group
of 60 civilians they had rounded up. When one
refused, Calley took over and, standing 10 feet
from the crowd, blazed his gun at them.
Elsewhere in the village, other atrocities were
in progress. Women were gang raped Vietnamese
who had bowed to greet the Americans were beaten
with fists and tortured, clubbed with rifle butts
and stabbed with bayonets. Some victims were
mutilated with the signature "C Company" carved
into the chest. By late morning word had got
back to higher authorities and a cease-fire was
ordered. My Lai was in a state of carnage. Bodies
were strewn through the village. The death toll
totalled 504. Only one American was injured - a
GI who had shot himself in the foot while
clearing his pistol.
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Napalm
Napalm was first developed in 1942 by Harvard
researchers cooperating with the U.S. army and
used in bombs and flame throwers by mixing a
powdered aluminium soap of naphthalene with
palmitate (hence napalm).  On their own,
naphthalene and palmitate are relatively harmless
substances. Napalm itself, is a jelly obtained
from the salts of aluminium, palmitic or other
fatty acids, and naphthenic acids. Napalm is the
most controversial weapon of war used in WWII and
the Vietnam war.  During World War I, both
Germany and the U.S. used an early form of napalm
in combat flamethrowers, but the substance burned
out too quickly to be very effective at igniting
targets.  Napalm was a big hit with the allied
forces, who used it extensively in World War II
in flamethrowers and fire bombs. Military records
indicate that about half of the bombs that rained
on Dresden, creating that city's notorious
firestorm, were napalm bombs.
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Agent Orange
Agent Orange was a chemical dropped on the
Forests of Vietnam it was designed to defoliate
ie get rid of the trees.
Agent Orange is a weed killer which contains
dioxins
In areas sprayed with agent orange dioxins are 13
times higher than anywhere else
However, it did more than that, the effects of
this chemical are still around today
This childs deformities are thought to be caused
by Agent Orange