Vietnam War (1954-1975)

Vietnam War (1954-1975)

• 1500 miles north- south along coastline of Southeast Asia

• Coastal lowlands

• Swampy river deltas

• Plateaus • Mountain

Jungles

Political Players

• 900 US troops in Vietnam

• 4,000 US troops in Vietnam

• 200,000 US troops in Vietnam

• 543,000 US troops in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh

• Raised under French rule—strong anti-colonialist

• Educated in Paris—well-travelled and cultured

• Impressed by Marxism—trained in Russia as revolutionary

• Vision: A United Vietnam governed by Vietnamese

US Strategies of 1960s• Based on Gulf of Tonkin

Resolution of 1964• US Combat forces to assist

in fighting Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA)

• Bombing of North Vietnam (later Cambodia)

• Winning hearts and minds of South Vietnamese

US Tactics of ‘60s

• Score-keeping by body count

• Search and destroy missions

• Perimeter defense and fire support bases

• Troop transport by helicopter

Late ’60s-Early 70s Shift

• Expanding weapons of S. Vietnam

• Gradual withdrawal of US troops

• “Strategic Hamlet” program

McDonough arrives at this time with 173rd Airborne Brigade

M-16

173rd uniform

173rd Brigade

Platoon Leader

on Radio

Vietnam Village

Dead soldier

End Game

• 1973 Armistice signed among US, North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and Viet Cong

• 1974 NVA overwhelmed the South

• 1975 Last Marine airlifted from US embassy in Saigon

James McDonough

• McDonough today

• Secretary of Florida

Corrections System