Vietnam Conflict

1
Vietnam Conflict

• 1964-1973

2
Background

• 1884-1948 French Colonial Domination
• Ho Chi Minh
• Democratic Republic of Vietnam Declared
• Minh and followers - Vietminh

3
Following WWII

• 1945-1950 France tries to reclaim lost territory
• Vietnam divided
• North- Follow Ho Chi Minh
• South- fertile south French take over
• 1946 given free state on French terms emplace Bao
  Dai.

4
Advisory Period

• 1950-1963 Beginning US intervention
• Truman
• Military Assistance Advisory Group- MAAG
• Funding War
• SU and China- Vietminh

5

• Eisenhower
• Containment
• Brinkmanship
• Trade agreements and alliances
• Covert operations
• New Look
• Eisenhower Doctrine- power of pre-emptive war
  without congressional approval.
• Confrontational
• containment

6
Battle of Dien Bien Phu

• 1954- French attack Vietminh
• US aid- money and supplies
• French surrender 1954

7
Geneva Accords

• Meet in Geneva, Switzerland to decide French
  Indo-China war.
• Vietnam divided at 17th Parallel- DMZ
• Democratic Republic of Vietnam takes north
• Elected government takes South
• Elections in two years to determine who would
  rule united country.
• SEATO- prevent the spread of Communism in that
  region

8
Problems after Geneva- End of Advisory Period

• Problems
• Vietcong
• Guerilla tactics
• Relocating to Hamlets
• Strategic Hamlet Program- attempted to separate
  rural peasants from communist insurgents by
  creating fortified villages and forcing the
  peasants to take an active role in the civil war.
  

9
Ho Chi Minh Trail

• North Vietnamese were being supplied by the
  Soviets and the Chinese
• Vietcong(Charlie) were being supplied by the
  North Vietnamese via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

10
Vietnam Phase II Escalation Period

• 1963-1974

11
Lyndons War

• 1963-1969
• Lyndon Johnson inherits Vietnam
• His view he hated the war
• no way out. He inherited the imperial
  presidency
• With that kind of power and the world looking up
  to you would you have followed your instinct and
  pulled the US out?
• weak president

12
Gulf Tonkin Incident

• secret naval missions into North Vietnam via the
  Gulf Tonkin
• USS Maddox
• No hard evidence has ever been produced to
  confirm that Joy was being torpedoed at.
• Johnson had found his way to escalate the war.
• Golf Tonkin Resolution
• Johnson requested a blank Check (power, money,
  and personnel) to repel any armed attack on
  American Forces and to prevent future
  aggression. Resolution passed

13
Bombing North Vietnam

• Operation Rolling Thunder Jan. 1965 systematic
  bombing of North Vietnam and other targets.
• Chemical and biological warfare used chemicals
  to destroy the foliage and dense cover that the
  NVA used for the their guerilla tactics.
• Napalm jellied gasoline
• Agent orange code name for a herbicide developed
  for the military, primarily for use in tropical
  climates.

14
The Draft

• Use the Draft- calling all 18-26 yr olds.
• medical and college deferments or joined the
  Coast Guard.
• Many found a legal way out by declaring
  themselves conscientious objectors
• Grunts vs. Officers
• -Fragging

Vietnam war protestors burn draft cards at the
1968 Democratic Party Convention on August 1,
1968, in Chicago, Illinois.
15
Covert Operations

• Phoenix program CIA wanted to locate,
  interrogate and assassinate Vietcong leaders.
• Meo Allies CIA recruited Meo tribes of Laos
• Meo were actually Hmong
• Attacked NVA on trail
• Directed US bombing missions
• Flew combat missions
• Rescued downed pilots
• Gathered intelligence on NVA.
• Hmong fled to Thailand from Laos to avoid
  extermination by the communist and are now being
  brought to the US.

16
Vietnam and US in 1968

• Tet offensive

17
Tet offensive

• Tet, Vietnams new year holiday North Vietnam and
  Vietcong launch surprise attack.
• The Vietcong were defeated
• the psychological and political standpoint the
  Vietcong were successful.
• The Tet offensive changed Americans opinions that
  the war
• Walter Cronkite

18
Loss

• Johnson addressed the nation
• Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
• In June Robert Kennedy was fatally shot
• Protests- College
• In Chicago, thousands of antiwar demonstrators
  came to the city to protest the Democratic
  National Convention in August.
• http//abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/aug-28-1968-a
  nti-vietnam-protests-10690501
• Hubert Humphrey was meant to be named the
  Democratic party candidate
• Nixon Presidency in 1968
• He campaigned to restore law and order and to end
  the war in Vietnam.