Chapters 32 pages 809-814

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• Chapters 32 pages 809-814

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Vietnam 2 Reading Quiz

• 1) What was the Tonkin Gulf Resolution?
• 2) What was the Credibility Gap?
• 3) How did LBJ widen the war?
• 4) Why were we in Vietnam?
• 5) What was the Tet Offensive?
• 6) What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
• 7) What happened in the 1968 democratic primary?
• 8) What did LBJ announce in 1968?

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U.S.S. Maddox- On 2 August 1964, while on patrol
in the Gulf of Tonkin, she was attacked by North
Vietnamese motor torpedo boats- torpedoes and
machine gunfire.
During the night of 4 August a second attack was
believed to have taken place against both the
Maddox and the Turner Joy, leading to retaliatory
strikes on North Vietnam by U.S. carrier planes.

• Orders were to conduct some electronic
  eavesdropping, monitoring North Vietnamese radio
  traffic, and to support South Vietnamese patrol
  boat raids on North Vietnamese Coastal Radar.
• Most historians are nearly certain that no
  communist attack had occurred.

U.S.S. Maddox
U.S.S. Turner Joy
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Tonkin Gulf Resolution- Jan 7, 1964

• The resolution passes unanimously in the House,
  and by a margin of 82-2 in the Senate. The
  Resolution allows Johnson to wage all out war
  against North Vietnam without ever securing a
  formal Declaration of War from Congress.
• Resolved by the Senate and House of
  Representatives of the United States of America
  in Congress assembled, That the Congress approves
  and supports the determination of the President,
  as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary
  measures to repel any armed attack against the
  forces of the United States and to prevent
  further aggression.
• Johnson did not believe the Commander in Chief
  needed this resolution (approval)

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1965

• U.S. combat troops in Vietnam- 3,500
• Johnson orders bombing of North Vietnam.
• The one thing that the American people will not
  take is another shooting war in Asia. Thats
  what they got.
• To avoid defeat more and more American power was
  needed. Johnson committed the U.S. to victory in
  Vietnam. We must avoid humiliation.
• Over 47,000 men to Vietnam
• By the end of 1965- over 185,000 men in Vietnam.

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Civilian Casualties in Vietnam
117 min.
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Why are we in Vietnam?

• Domino Theory- Eisenhower
• Stop Aggression
• Protect our reputation- our credibility

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Credibility Gap

• Johnson did not tell Congress his intention to
  escalate the war.
• He did tell Congress how much it will cost.
• He was worried the the full truth would hurt the
  Great Society plans.
• He wanted to be a leader in war and a leader of
  peace.
• Credibility Gap- between what the President
  wanted people to believe and what was really
  believable.
• People began to doubt what their President would
  tell them.

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The Peace Offensive Anti-War Protest

• Senators who voted for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
  changed their minds.
• Anti-War Teach-ins
• Protest marchers in Washington D.C.
• December 23, 1965- LBJ halts the bombing- a
  peace offensive to explore diplomatic avenues to
  end the war.

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1966- Support and Opposition

• 1966- 400,000 men and women in Vietnam.
• Casualties rising- 2,500 in 1965 to 33,000 in
  1966.
• War not making progress
• New Left- student groups- anti war.
• Most Americans believe that the U.S. should not
  walk away.
• 1965-Opinion polls show Americans favor LBJ- 66
• 1966- 44 support LBJ
• Sec. of Defense McNamara wants a negotiated peace.

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1967- Support and Opposition

• 1967- 1,000 non-combatants are killed weekly.
• U.S. dropping more bombs on Vietnam than all of
  WWII.
• 1967- Pentagon papers- a commissioned study of
  the role of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
• 1967- 475, 000 troops, and casualties of 80,000.
• 300,000 march in New York 100,000 at the
  Pentagon.
• College demonstrations across the country.

12
Anti-War Protest- Vietnam Moratorium
RFK denounces war24 min.
401 min.
13
Rolling Thunder
210 min.
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1968- Tet Offensive

• January- Tet lunar new year.
• Gen. Westmoreland tells the country how the war
  is being won.
• The Vietcong and North Vietnamese 84,000,
  attacked 36 of 44 provincial towns in addition to
  5 of 6 autonomous cities, 72 of 245 district
  towns, and many military bases and airfields on
  the same day. They even attack the U.S. embassy.
• All is retaken in few difficult weeks.
• NLF, Vietcong, are crushed as a fighting force.
• Westmoreland wants 206,000 more troops and more
  fighter squadrons.
• Graphic film footage of the fighting reinforced
  concerns about casualties, and the fact the
  offensive took place undermined the White House's
  claims that victory had been in sight.
• Did we really win the Tet Offensive?

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Tet Offensive
204 min.
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My Lai Massacre - March 16, 1968

• American soldiers under the command of Lt. Calley
  entered the village of My Lai on a Search and
  Seizure mission.
• By the end of the day the soldiers had slaughter
  between 175-400 men, women and children of the
  village.
• Lt. Calley called the victims- non humans, an
  enemy with whom one could not speak or reason.
• Lt. Calley had no remorse, and said simply that
  he was following orders- the mere gook rule,
  which meant he could be a self appointed Judge,
  jury and executioner.
• Due to some large losses in Charlie Company,
  Calley had said the Capt. had given orders to
  treat all native as the enemy and destroy
  everyone and everything in My Lai.
• Often prisoners in such cases were used as guides
  over trails that could be booby trapped or to
  walk first through mine fields. If they were too
  slow they were shot.
• The orders of the day were common- burn the
  houses, kill the animals, destroy food and wells
  and round up the people. Lt. Calley was found
  guilty and served 1/3 of the sentence, and
  received a dishonorable discharge.

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Fall of LBJ

• Anti-War activists challenged LBJ for the
  Democratic nomination for President in 1968-
  Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy
• LBJs advisors and other world leaders thought
  the war was being handled badly and the U.S.
  should get out.
• Mar. 31, 1968- LBJ resticts bombing and calls for
  peace talks.
• I shall not seek, and I will not accept the
  nomination of my party for another term as your
  president.
• Peace Talks begin in May of 1968 and drag on for
  months without success. Our longest war.

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NVA Tunnels
Angled walls airshafts were camouflaged and
entryways disguised by filled wells dropping 50
feet. Variety of types squad-size tunnels- less
than 6-feet deep and 100-feet long company-size
tunnels were wider b and battalion-size tunnels
could burrow 50 feet underground and up to four
different levels. Extensive booby-trapping
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New Weapons of Combat in Vietnam
145 min