US Involvement in Vietnam Grows

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US Involvement in Vietnam Grows

• US History
• 20.2

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The Ground War 1965-1968

• No territorial goals
• Body counts on TV every night (first living
  room war)
• Viet Cong supplies over the Ho Chi Minh Trail

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The Air War1965-1968

• 1965 Sustained bombing of North Vietnam
• Operation Rolling Thunder (March 2, 1965)
• 1966-68 Ongoing bombing of Hanoi nonstop for 3
  years! Esp. targets the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
• Downed Pilots P.O.W.s
• Carpet Bombing napalm

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Weapons

• Napalm-Jellified Gasused previously but used a
  great deal in Vietnam
• Agent Orange- Defoliantused to kill jungle so
  Viet Cong could not hide. Found to causecancer
  and birth defects

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The Air WarA Napalm Attack
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Defoliation

• Dense jungle needed to be cleared so NVA/VC could
  not hide.
• Agent Orange
• Napalm

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The Ground War1965-1968

• General Westmoreland, late 1967

We can see thelight at the end of the tunnel.
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STRATEGY IN THE NAM

• Search and Destroy Missions
• Drive the enemy from hideouts
• Then call in air strikes
• Vietcong and NVA would later return to the
  villages
• Pacification(win the heart and mind)
• Calm people in the countryside
• Villagers relocated, village often destroyed

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Who Is the Enemy?

• Vietcong
• Farmers by day guerillas at night.
• Very patient people willing to accept many
  casualties.
• The US grossly underestimated their resolve and
  their resourcefulness.

The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the
conventional army loses if it does not win.
-- Mao Zedong
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Who Is the Enemy?
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Facing Challenges

• Faced Ambush
• Couldnt tell Vietcong from Civilians
• Some peasants turned into Vietcong
• Booby Traps
• Punji stakes

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Death Everywhere
Bouncing Betty Mines
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American Morale Begins to Dip

• Disproportionate representation of poor people
  and minorities.
• Severe racial problems.
• Major drugproblems.
• Officers in combat6 mo. in rear 6 mo. Enlisted
  men in combat for 12 mo.

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US ForcesMobilize

• 2.5 million American Serve in the war
• Military draft
• 25 excused for health reasons
• 30 get deferments (college)
• 1969 attempt to reform system (lottery)
• 3 escape the draft

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Noncombatpositions

• Administration, communication, engineering,
  medical care, and transportation
• Still in danger/could get killed
• Women
• 10,000 served in noncombat positions(ex. Nurses)
• 20,000-45,0000 work in civilian capacities (ex.
  Relief agencies/ Red Cross)

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Public OpinionShifts

• Media coverage
• Living Room War
• People see the horror of war
• Nightly body counts (INFLATED???)
• Reporters question the war
• Doves opposed to the war
• Hawks support the goals of the war