Discussion Questions

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Discussion Questions

• What did Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh want? How
  and with whom did he make his case?
• What was President Trumans response? Why?
• Explain President Eisenhowers Domino theory.
• According to Ike, what is the strategic
  importance of Indochina?
• President Eisenhower's News Conference, April 7,
  1954, Public Papers of the Presidents, 1954, p.
  382

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Southeast Asia
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Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson,
and Nixon Nearly 20 years of involvement 58,195
American deaths 300,000 Americans wounded 2.4
million Vietnamese deaths 120 billion spent
between 1965-1973 Pervasive legacy that divided
the nation HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
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The Vietnam Conflict

• Thinking Skill State implications of US
  involvement and the consequences of US escalation

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Vietnam
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Vietnam History in Brief

• 1887 French colonized Indochina
  (Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia)
• 1945 Democratic Republic of Vietnam formed after
  defeat of Japan in WWII
• 1947 Ho Chi Minh fled to the hills, led Vietminh
  resistance against French (guerilla warfare)
• 1954 France suffered great defeat at
  Diembiemphou withdrew despite US funding 80
  of French war effort
• 1954 Geneva Accords temporarily divided N
  Sfree elections promised for 1956.
• Ho Chi Minh (N) v. Ngo Dinh Diem (S)

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Ho Chi Minh
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Ngo Dinh Diem
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Beginnings of US Involvement

• Promised countrywide elections never held
• Domino Effect
• Ho Chi Minh (communist) would win

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Resistance Intensifies

• Vietminh/North Vietnamese regulars
• National Liberation Front (NLF)/Vietcong (VC)
  blended into civilian populace
• JFK deploys 15,000 advisors Green Beret
  special forces
• Buddhist monks protest with self-immolations
• Ngo Dinh Diem assassinated Nov. 1963

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Gulf of Tonkin Incident

• Aug 2, 1964 USS Maddox was attacked by North
  Vietnamese patrol boats
• Aug 4, 1964 2nd round of attacks
• LBJ authorizes retaliatory airstrikes
• LBJ uses outrage to press Congress to pass the
  Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• granted extraordinary war-making powers
• Blank Check (House 416-0, Senate 88-2)

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Dear America Letters Home From Vietnam (1987)

• Discussion Questions
• How did the soldiers views change over the
  course of the war?
• What impact did the environment have on US
  ability to successfully wage war?
• What effect did the American media have on the
  conflict?
• What is the psychological impact of the
  statement, We own the day, Charlie owns the
  night?

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Dear America Letters Home From Vietnam

• Discussion Questions
• What was the significance of the Tet Offensive?
• How did the constant threat of attack impact
  morale?
• Why did the US fail to achieve its military goals
  in Vietnam? Who is ultimately responsible?
• Did LBJ have any realistic alternative to
  escalation?

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Pleiku Attacks

• American military base attacked, Feb. 1965
• Effects
• Gen. Westmoreland called for massive retaliatory
  air strikes against N. Vietnam
• Operations Flaming Dart, Rolling Thunder
• US ground forces increased from 75,000 to
  250,000 1967- 485,000 and 1969- 543,000
• LBJ made Vietnam an American War

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General William Westmoreland
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President Lyndon Johnson
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Foot Soldiers War
A Typical Grunt
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Women in Vietnam
About 11,000 women served from 1962-1973 (DoD)
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Pontoon Boat on patrol
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US Air Power
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Effective Bombing?
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Chinook Helicopter
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Huey helicopter
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Hitting the LZ (landing zone)
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On Patrol
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Supplies
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Jungle Conditions
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Where is the Enemy?
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Khe Sahn military outpost
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Waiting
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Victims
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Who is the Enemy?
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Vietnam Conflict Part II

• Thinking Skill Examine information from more
  than one point of view
• Objective Assess the goals of all sides in the
  conflict through 1968

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TET Offensive

• What was the significance of the Vietnamese New
  Year in 1968?
• N. Vietnamese and V.C. attack virtually all
  cities in S. Vietnam
• Shocks US military, who eventually win
• Public in US is demoralized (TV)
• V.C. are re-energized and fight escalates
• Anti-war protests increase in US

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South Vietnamese Soldier shooting a VC prisoner
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Napalm Attacks
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My Lai Massacre March 16, 1968

• Lt. William Calley
• 347 -504 victims

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Student Protests Continue
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LBJ How can we get out without losing face?
Answer Im afraid there are few acceptable
alternatives
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Soldiers become disconnected from war effort
Some turn to drugs, alcohol, and await the end of
their tour
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Soldiers Morale begins to fade
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The fight for peace at home
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Privileged Or Protestors
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March 1968 LBJ Withdraws from Race
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Nixon Elected 1968
Plan to exit Vietnam?
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The Pentagon Papers
Vietnamization Begins
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Kent State 1970 Ohio Neil Young Tin Soldiers
and Nixon coming, Were finally on our own. This
summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio
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May 4th, 1970 One of the bodies from Kent State
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US troops begin to pull out of Vietnam
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Saigon falls in 1975. The Vietnam War is over
the Communist forces have won. Will the dominoes
begin to fall?
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• Vietnam and Korea -- Comparisons
• Cold War - Containment
• US couldnt claim total victory in either war
• Both undeclared wars constitutional issue
• Civilian control over the military an issue in
  each
• Fronts different type of fighting

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Maya Lin
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TET Offensive

• Vietnamese New Year 1968 Tet offensive
• N. Vietnamese and V.C. attack virtually all
  cities in S. Vietnam
• shocks US military, who eventually win
• Public in US is demoralized (TV)
• V.C. are re-moralized and fight escalates
• Anti-war protests increase in US

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• Vietnam and Korea -- Comparisons
• Cold War - Containment
• Proximity
• US couldnt claim total victory in either war
• Both undeclared wars constitutional issue
• Civilian control over the military an issue in
  each
• Fronts different type of fighting

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Letters Home from Vietnam

• LBJ
• Gulf of Tonkin
• Escalation of War
• Questions
• How do the opinions of soldiers change over the
  course of the war?
• What do you think of the conditions of Vietnam?

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Letters Home contd

• Major Battles Khe Sahn, Tet Offensive
• War escalation
• LBJ resigns
• Nixon
• Vietnamization
• Atrocities
• Questions
• How do US soldiers morale change?
• What were the psychological effects of war?
• How do they respond to events at home?