Start of Vietnam War Moving towards Conflict. France in Vietnam France was involved in fighting Vietnam during the French Indochina War—tried to re-establish.

Start of Vietnam WarStart of Vietnam War

Moving towards

Conflict

France in VietnamFrance in Vietnam

France was involved in fighting Vietnam during the French Indochina War—tried to re-establish its rule over Vietnam after WWII

US supported France in Vietnam by giving them economic and military support

French in VietnamFrench in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh—1930 he began to organize Vietnams independence from France

He was CommunistVietminh—an organization whose goal was

to win Vietnam’s independence from foreign rule.

Ho Chi MinhHo Chi Minh

France Battles VietminhFrance Battles Vietminh

French took over South VietnamHo Chi Minh was in control of North

VietnamUS aided France because of Domino

TheoryDomino Theory is countries on the brink of

communism waiting to fall on each other like dominos

DominosDominos

France losesFrance loses

Dien Bien Phu—French surrendered after the Vietminh overran to the French outpost in northwest Vietnam.

Geneva Accords—divided Vietnam into North and South

Communists=NorthDemocracy=South

French Tank Left BehindFrench Tank Left Behind

The United States Steps InThe United States Steps In

President Eisenhower and President Kennedy provided economic and military aid to South Vietnam

Ngo Dinh Diem=South Vietnamese President He was corrupt and give little land to peasants Also restricted the practice of Buddhism because

he was Catholic

President DiemPresident Diem

US Steps in to VietnamUS Steps in to Vietnam

1957-Vietcong began attacks on Diems government

Ho Chi Minh supported them—used paths along the borders of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia known as Ho Chi Minh trail

End of DiemEnd of Diem

He moved many Vietnamese during the hamlet program=very upset

He killed and imprisoned hundreds of Buddhist clerics and destroyed their temples

US wanted Diem to be removedHe was assassinated and President Kennedy

was assassinated a few weeks later.

Monks protestingMonks protesting

President DiemPresident Diem

The Tonkin Gulf ResolutionThe Tonkin Gulf Resolution

President Johnson takes over as PresidentAugust 2, 1964 North Vietnamese patrol

boat fired a torpedo at an American destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin

It missed, 2 days later in a heavy storm they say they were fired on again=many claim they never saw or heard hostile gunfire

Gulf of TonkinGulf of Tonkin

Tonkin Gulf ResolutionTonkin Gulf Resolution

LBJ wanted to launch bombing strikes on North Vietnam

Asked Congress for “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression”

All senators voted yes except 2

Declaring WarDeclaring War

Do you feel the US president should have the power to send troops to any part of the world/conflicts with out a declaration of war?

Tonkin Gulf ResolutionTonkin Gulf Resolution

American people or Congress did not know LBJ was leading secret raids against the N. Vietnamese and US destroyer was collecting information for these raids

Also, LBJ had the resolution prepared months before hand just wanted for a chance to push it through congress

Rolling ThunderRolling Thunder

LBJ used new war powers to launch “Operation Rolling Thunder”=bombing of North Vietnam in 1965

By June 1965 50,000 American troops in Vietnam=the Vietnam War has now become Americanized

Rolling ThunderRolling Thunder

Ia Drang ValleyIa Drang Valley

http://www.awesomestories.com/assets/ia-drang-we-were-soldiers-1

We were soldiers

War in VietnamWar in Vietnam

1965 Most of the United States supported containing Communism in Vietnam

61% supported, 24% opposedLBJ began sending in more USA troopsEnd of 1965180,000 American troops

US InvolvementUS Involvement

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)General William Westmoreland wanted

more US troopsThough Vietnamese couldn’t stand up to

the US fighting potential1967About 500,000 U.S. Troops in

Vietnam

Fighting in the JungleFighting in the Jungle

US had superior weaponsVietcong used guerrilla tactics to turn war

into stalemateVCUse hit and run and ambush tactics

Elusive EnemyElusive Enemy

Booby traps, land mines, under ground tunnels connecting villages through out the country side

Frustrating War of AttritionFrustrating War of Attrition

Westmoreland’s strategyWin by war of attrition

The idea of body count in the United StatesGoal destroy the moral of the VietcongVietcong remained defiant

Battles for the Hearts and Battles for the Hearts and MindsMinds

Part of American strategy winning support from South Vietnam populationleave the Vietcong no place to hide

Napalmgasoline-based bomb to set fire in Jungle

Agent Orangeleaf-killing toxic chemical

US TacticsUS Tactics

Search-and-destroy missionsuprooting civilians with suspected ties to Vietcong

Kill livestock, burn villagesCreated 3 million refugees in the South

Moral of Soldiers warm-upMoral of Soldiers warm-up

What are advantages to drafting soldiers?What are disadvantages to drafting soldiers?

Vietnam divides AmericaVietnam divides America

80% of drafted were lower economic level whites or minorities

Opposition towards war starts in college students

Sinking MoraleSinking Morale

US troops frustrated with guerrilla warfare, jungle fighting

Many soldiers that were drafted did not want to serve

These soldiers turned to drugsalcohol, Marijuana, Fragging officers

Vietnam divides AmericaVietnam divides America

1967 antiwar movement turned to resistance500,000 protestors were in New York’s

Central Park shouting “Burn cards, not people!” and “Hell, no, we won’t go!”

Threw draft cards into bonfireOverall200,000 people accused of draft

resistance, 4,000 draft resisters, 10,000 fled to America

Fulfilling DutyFulfilling Duty

Most soldiers believed in the cause to halt communism

Most fulfilled patriotic duty

Vietnam divides AmericaVietnam divides America

LBJ’s Great Society suffers$6 billion dollar reduction in funding

Vietnam 1st living-room warShowed combat footage, body-count

statistics, Americans in body bagsCredibility gapLBJ administration was

saying and what was really happening

Vietnam divides AmericaVietnam divides America

Most soldiers who fought were drafted under Selective Service System

Men 18-26Most common way to avoid war was

college defermentMost college students in 1960s white and

wealthy

Vietnam DraftVietnam Draft

Vietnam divides AmericaVietnam divides America

New Left movementFree Speech Movement at Berkeley1964

Started Campus Activismwanted to change dress codes, curfews, dormitory regulations

Protest movement emerges among college students

Berkeley CollegeBerkeley College

Vietnam dives AmericaVietnam dives America

Protest Movement grows1966 LBJ said college students needed to be

in good standing to get defermentsStarted huge college campus protestsStudents for a Democratic Society (SDS)

called for Civil Disobedience at Selective Service stations and told students to flee to Canada

Protests in AmericaProtests in America

The other voiceThe other voice

“I’m bitter…It’s people like us who give up our sons for the country…The college types, the professors, they go to Washington and tell the government what to do…But their sons, they don’t end up in the swamps over there, in Vietnam. No sir. They’re deferred, because they’re in school. Or they get sent to safe places…What bothers me about the peace crowd is that you can tell from their attitude, the way they look and what they say, that they don’t really love this country.”

Firefighter who lost his son in Vietnam

Vietnam divides AmericaVietnam divides America

Tet offensive1968, surprise attack by the Vietnamese on their New Years celebration

Took Americans 1 month to get back control of South Vietnam

Vietcong lost 32,000Americans 3,000However, psychological and political defeat

for Americans

Tet OffensiveTet Offensive

Dropped LBJ’s approval rating to 60% disapproval

50% of Americans felt it was a mistake to send in troops to Vietnam

American PresidentAmerican President

Election in 1968LBJ does not seek re-electionNixon vs. Hubert HumphreyDemocratic convention in Chicago 10,000 protestors12,000 Chicago police came…Riots broke

out

Nixon WinsNixon Wins

Nixon wins and promises to pull out of Vietnam

NixonNixon