The Vietnam War Americas Longest War

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The Vietnam WarAmericas Longest WarThe Most
Unpopular WarThe First Television War
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LBJ confers with Dean Rusk, Sec. of State
Robert S. McNamara
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Tonkin Gulf1. Aug 2, 4, 1964
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Destroyer Maddox (DD-731) on patrol in the Far
East during 1964
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Resolution-Aug. 51. the President, as Commander
in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel
any armed attack against the forces of the US and
to prevent further aggression.2. Civil War
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A Douglas A-4C Skyhawk catapults from an aircraft
carrier during operations in the Gulf of Tonkin
Aug. 5, 1964. A Swatow gunboat and P-4 motor
torpedo boat come under attack during Operation
Pierce Arrow retaliatory strikes that followed
attacks on Maddox
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Ho Chi Minhfought with the US against the
Japanese in WWII, then against the French, and
finally against the US before dying in 1979 May
1954, with two children who presented him with
flowers Uncle Ho loved to be photographed with
children, although in conducting national affairs
he easily shed this avuncular veneer
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A brilliant military tactician, General Giap
commanded the Vietminh forces that liberated
Vietnam from French colonial rule, fought the
Americans and the South Vietnamese, and reunified
Vietnam. After the reunification, Giap served as
Vietnam's minister of defense and later as deputy
prime minister
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General William Westmoreland
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V-Communists1. 1965-bomb north2. 4/1/65-against
VCWhy?1. Domino Theory2. Stop
aggression3. US reputation a. Credibility 
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Dominican Republic1. Communism2. May 5, 1965-
LBJ-troops
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SP4 William Langley of the 11th Armored Cavalry
peers through the elephant grass near Fire
Support Base Henderson
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The elusive VC-North Vietnams primary asset in
the war against the Southraiding party, probably
waiting in ambush. The weapon is a B-40
anti-tank rocket, widely used by the VC
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Mekong Delta villagers are seen in the black
pajamas of the VC guerrilla with Soviet-designed
weapons
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Terror in South Vietnam these children were
killed by VC guerrillas during a raid on a
village 10 miles north of Saigon
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North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars on parade in
Hanoi during the 1960s
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This cache of VC/NVA weapons captured during Feb.
1968 illustrates the wide range of weapons used
by the communist forces
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Headgear
Soldiers received a standard issue "pot" or
steel helmet, which, in addition to providing
some protection against shrapnel or bullets,
often saw duty as a chair, cookpot, or even
"butt armor." Helmets also protected valuables
such as cigarettes, matches and personal letters
from frequent downpours. Many men emblazoned
their helmets with slogans such as "Don't Shoot,
I'm Short" or "God is My Pointman."
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The pots were heavy and, in high jungle
temperature, extremely hot some soldiers
abandoned them in favor of floppy, fabric hats in
the field.
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M-16 RifleStandard issue for infantrymen, fired
.223 caliber/5.56mm bullets at a rate of 750-900
rounds per minute on automatic setting, or as
fast as a soldier could pull the trigger on
semiautomatic. The rifle had an effective range
of about 435 yards. Before a late 1966
redesign, the fussy M16s responded poorly to wet,
dirty field conditions, and often jammed during
combat, resulting in numerous casualties. M16
cartridges came in 20 or 30-round "clips," which
could be quickly popped in and out of the rifle's
loading port during firefights.
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M60 Machine Gun Light enough to be carried on
patrol and deadly in a firefight, the M60 fired
up to 550 high-velocity bullets from a
gas-powered belt fed system at a range of over
1,900 yards. The M60 could be fired from a bipod
or tripod or from the hip. Perhaps its greatest
limitation was the weight of its cartridge belts,
which limited the amount of ammunition that could
be carried into the field.
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Soldiers fire a 105mm howitzer in support of
infantry. This was the main artillery piece used
by the US Army
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ARVN soldiers with a captured VC prisoner after a
June 1962 sweep on a suspected insurgent
villageSouth Vietnamese Marines subject a VC
prisoner to on-the-spot interrogation. The
prisoners head is held under the water until
hes about to drown. Hes then brought up and
questioned. The process is repeated
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Bell UH-1 Helicopter The Bell UH-1helicopter,
popularly known as the "Huey," was the workhorse
aircraft for US forces. Well adapted for jungle
warfare, the Huey could fly at low altitudes and
speeds, land in small clearings, maneuver to
dodge enemy fire, and carry an array of powerful
armaments. Among other duties, the versatile
chopper transported troops, equipment, supplies,
and support personnel into the field provided
additional firepower to troops engaged on the
ground and evacuated the dead and wounded.
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A Huey hovers to off-load members of the 101st
Airborne (WWIIs famous Screaming Eagles) in a
search-and-destroy mission near the DMZ
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Drop zone. A Huey lifts off after dropping
Marines in the jungle
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Before/AfterB-mangrove forest sprayed with
Agent Orange in 1965.A-1970 the black patches
show surviving trees
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An A-1 Skyraider drops napalm
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The most famous picture of the war. Children flee
a misplaced napalm strike. The girl suffered
severe back burns but her life was saved by an
American doctor This child was burned by napalm
when US air force bombers attacked his village,
where guerrillas were thought to be hiding
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Credibility Gap  Peace OffensiveThe
growing casualties among US troops unfamiliar
with guerilla warfare began to turn public
opinion in America.
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A GI carries two small children to safety during
a fire-fight with the VC A member of the 39th
Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, carries a sick
woman through a muddy rice field to a central
medical staging area
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OPERATIONS IN VIETNAMRanch Hand Rolling
ThunderArc Light-SE AsiaBullet
Shot-Southeast AsiaFreedom Train-N.VietnamPo
cket Money-N.VietnamLinebacker
I-N.VietnamLinebacker II-N.VietnamEndsweep-
N.VietnamIvory Coast/Kingpin-N.VietnamTailwi
nd-Laos
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B-52 Stratofortress Designed in the late 1940s
to carry nuclear bombs on long-range,
high-altitude missions to targets in the Soviet
Union. Outfitted with conventional metal bombs at
bases in Thailand and on Guam, B-52s flew tens of
thousands of low-altitude, high-density bombing
sorties in North and South Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Laos. The massive bombing runs did not paralyze
the enemy as they might have during more
conventional warfare, but the B-52 proved
instrumental in containing or breaking up North
Vietnamese offensives, disrupting supply lines,
and bringing the Communist forces to the
negotiating table.
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Smoke rises from a rail yard in Hanoi
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A North Vietnamese soldier and a Vietcong
guerrilla dig in at a bunker position
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A NVA soldier reveals the entrance to a tunnel
used as a hiding place by VC guerrillas
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One of the tunnels in Cu Chi
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Booby Traps-pungi sticks
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Tin-can Grenades
Spiked Ball
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The VC used a variety of everyday objects-in this
case, a book-to make booby traps
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Hidden Mines-A favorite spot for a mine was
around a fallen tree or log lying across a path
SSgt. James Craig of the 2nd Squadron, 11th
Cavalry, gingerly inspects a 22-lb Chinese mine
during clearing operations near Quan Loi on Dec.
26, 1969
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Jungle patrol. Troops of the 5th Cavalry cross a
stream during a sweep operation near Bong Son in
February 1966
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LBJ Loses Support1. New Left2. Pentagon
PapersThe picture of the worlds greatest
superpower, killing or seriously wounding 1,000
noncombatants a week, while trying to pound a
tiny backward nation into submission on an issue
whose merits are hotly disputed, is not a pretty
one. 
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Tet Offensive1. Gen. WestmorelandThe VC/NVA
launched coordinated attacks in virtually all the
major cities and important towns
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ARVN troops advance against communist positions
in Saigon during the Tet Offensive while large
sections of the city burn, set afire by VC
insurgents
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19 VC infiltrated the US embassy grounds in
Saigon after blasting this hole in the wall
surrounding the compound
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Saigon after the Tet Offensive
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Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a VC
officer captured in Saigon during Tet
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My Lai MassacreLt. William Calley
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Fall of LBJ1. Eugene McCarthy2. Robert Kennedy
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Hosea Williams (left), Jesse Jackson, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., Rev. Ralph David Abernathy on
the balcony of the Lorraine Motel Memphis hotel,
a day before King's assassination. April 4,1968.
http//www.authentichistory.com/audio/1960s/1960s_
news_01.html
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