Vietnam War

Vietnam War

1964-1968

LBJ: 1964LBJ: 1964• “Tuesday Lunch Group” began Feb. 4:• (1) LBJ

• (2) McNamara (DOD)

• 3) Rusk (State)

• (4) McGeorge Bundy (NSC)

• (5) Maxwell Taylor replaced Henry Cabot Lodge as ambassador to S. Vietnam

• (6) General Earle Wheeler became Chairman of JCS

• (7) Gen. William Westmoreland became MACV commander

• (8) William Bundy became head of the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs.

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• USS Maddox fired at 3 NV patrol boats Aug. 2

• Maddox reported 22 torpedoes fired Aug. 4, almost hit USS Turner Joy

• LBJ went on TV at 11:30 pm

• Congress passed Bundy resolution Aug. 5 giving the President the authority to take "all necessary measures" to repel attack and prevent further aggression

Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)

• By vote of 466-0 in House, 88-2 in Senate (except Ernest Gruening of Alaska, Wayne Morse of Oregon)

• But Congress was not told about Plan 34A

• LBJ did not seek declaration of war or total mobilization for victory, instead, waged a limited war "in cold blood"

Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)

• U.S. and South Vietnamese naval forces initiate Operation Plan (Oplan) 34A, which calls for raids by South Vietnamese commandos, operating under American orders, against North Vietnamese coastal and island installations.

• Although American forces were not directly involved in the actual raids, U.S. Navy ships were on station to conduct electronic surveillance and monitor North Vietnamese defense responses under another program called Operation De Soto.

• The Oplan 34A attacks played a major role in events that led to what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

Operation Plan 34A (1964)Operation Plan 34A (1964)

• Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

• Section 1: That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)• Section 2: The United States regards as vital to its

national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.

• Section 3: This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

Grandma’s Grandma’s NightshirtNightshirt

• In one of the most famous quotes of his presidency, LBJ compared the contents of his Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to “…grandma’s nightshirt. It covered everything.”

Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)

Pleiku (1965)Pleiku (1965)• (February 7) NLF forces attack a U.S. base near Pleiku

• Hit & run attack

• The confident Americans had been caught off guard & some were shot in their beds

• In less than 15 minutes, 7 Americans had been killed & more than 100 wounded

Operation Rolling Thunder (1965)Operation Rolling Thunder (1965)• (March 1965 – November 1968)

• The 4 Objectives:

• 1) Bolster the sagging morale of South Vietnam

• 2) Convince North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam

• 3) Destroy North Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses

• 4) Stop the flow of men and material into South Vietnam. F-105 Thunderchiefs radar-bombing at

direction of B-66 leader.

Rolling Thunder (1965 – 1968)Rolling Thunder (1965 – 1968)• Problem #1: Restraints imposed upon the U.S military

• Problem #2: Military aid and assistance received by North Vietnam from its communist allies, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China (PRC).

• The operation became the most intense air/ground battle waged during the Cold War period, indeed, it was the most difficult such campaign fought by the U.S. Air Force since the aerial bombardment of Nazi Germany during World War II.

USS Kitty Hawk in support of Rolling Thunder Mar. 1967

Rolling ThunderRolling Thunder• Thanks to the efforts of its allies, North Vietnam used sophisticated air-to-air and ground-to-air weapons that created one of the most effective air defense environments ever faced by American military pilots.

• Another result of the operation was that Vietcong forces attacked US air bases in South Vietnam.

• General Westmoreland told Washington that he could not defend these bases with the men he had, therefore President Johnson ordered the sending of many more troops to Vietnam.

Rolling Thunder (1965 – 1968)Rolling Thunder (1965 – 1968)

Rolling Thunder Begins

Rolling Thunder (1965 – 1968)Rolling Thunder (1965 – 1968)• After one of the longest aerial campaigns ever conducted by any nation, Rolling Thunder was terminated as a strategic failure in late 1968 having achieved none of its objectives

• About 643,000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam.

• In economic terms, the bombing hurt the economy of the United States more than North Vietnam.

•By the beginning of 1968, it was estimated that $300 million of damage had been done to North Vietnam.

• However, in the process, 700 US aircraft, valued at $900 million had been shot down.

• When all factors were taken into consideration it was argued that it cost the United States "ten dollars for every dollar's worth of damage inflicted."

B-52 Heavy enroute to target, Operation Rolling Thunder

• April: The first American combat troops, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, arrive in Vietnam to defend the U.S. airfield at Danang.

• Scattered Vietcong gunfire is reported, but no Marines are injured.

Marines Arrive at Danang (1965)Marines Arrive at Danang (1965)

Saigon

• The first conventional battle of the Vietnam war takes place as American forces clash with North Vietnamese units in the Ia Drang Valley.

Ia Drang Valley Ia Drang Valley (1965)(1965)

Ia Drang Valley (1965)Ia Drang Valley (1965)

• The U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division employs its newly enhanced technique of aerial reconnaissance to finally defeat the N.V.A., although heavy casualties are reported on both sides.

Ia Drang Valley (1965)Ia Drang Valley (1965)

1/7 Cavalry at LZ X-Ray

Ia Drang Valley Ia Drang Valley (1965)(1965)

Soldiers of 1/7 Cavalry sweep through the jungle at LZ X-Ray

• U.S. troop levels approach 200,000 by the end of 1965.

Ia Drang Valley (1965)Ia Drang Valley (1965)

Soldiers of B Company, 1/7th Cavalry advance at X-Ray perimeter

We Were Soldiers is a 2002 American war film that dramatized the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965, the first major engagement of United States forces in the Vietnam War. The film was directed by Randall Wallace and stars Mel Gibson. It is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once… And Young by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, both of whom were at the battle.

• January 8 – 26: In a major ground war effort dubbed Operation Cedar Falls, about 16,000 U.S. and 14,000 South Vietnamese troops set out to destroy Vietcong operations and supply sites near Saigon.

• A massive system of tunnels is discovered in an area called the Iron Triangle, an apparent headquarters for Vietcong personnel.

• Bunker Replaces Cabot Lodge as South Vietnam Ambassador

Operation Cedar Falls (1967)Operation Cedar Falls (1967)

Riverboat of the U.S. Brownwater Navy deploying an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat mounted flamethrower.

• In a show of military might that catches the U.S. military off guard, North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces sweep down upon several key cities and provinces in South Vietnam, including its capital, Saigon.

Tet Offensive Tet Offensive (1968)(1968)

Communist targets during the Tet Offensive

Tet Offensive (1968)Tet Offensive (1968)

• Within days, American forces turn back the onslaught and recapture most areas.

Tet Offensive (1968)Tet Offensive (1968)

Vietcong troops pose with new AK-47 assault rifles and American field radios

U.S. Marines battle in Hamo village

Tet Offensive (1968)Tet Offensive (1968)

• From a military point of view, Tet is a huge defeat for the Communists, but turns out to be a political and psychological victory.

Tet Offensive (1968)Tet Offensive (1968)

A Vietcong guerrilla awaits interrogation following his capture in the attacks on Saigon.

Civilians sort through the ruins of their homes in Cholon, a heavily damage section of Saigon

• The U.S. military's assessment of the war is questioned and the "end of the tunnel" seems very far off.

Tet Offensive Tet Offensive (1968)(1968)

• The Battle for Hue rages for 26 days as U.S. and South Vietnamese forces try to recapture the site seized by the Communists during the Tet Offensive.

• Previously, a religious retreat in the middle of a war zone, Hue is nearly leveled in a battle that leaves nearly all of its population homeless.

Battle for Hue (1968)Battle for Hue (1968)

U.S. Marines advance past an M-48 tank during the battle for Hue

• Westmoreland Requests 206,000 More Troops soon after.

Battle for Hue (1968)Battle for Hue (1968)

Evacuation of Marine wounded during the Battle of Hue City

Marines fighting at Hue.

Battle for Hue (1968)Battle for Hue (1968)• Following the U.S. and A.R.V.N. victory, mass graves containing the bodies of thousands of people who had been executed during the Communist occupation are discovered.

Relatives of the victims view recently unearthed remains

Battle for Hue (1968)Battle for Hue (1968)

Rows of rough plywood coffins with unidentified bodies lie in a Huế school converted to morgue

Battle for Hue (1968)Battle for Hue (1968)

Burial of 300 unidentified victims

Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)

Map of northern Quang Tri Province, sight of the Siege of Khe Sanh

Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)

Combat on Hill 875, the most intense of the battles around Dak To.

Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)

Walt Whitman Rostow showing President Lyndon B. Johnson a model of the Khe Sanh area in February 1968

Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)Siege of Khe Sanh (1968)

Marine Corps sniper team searches for targets in the Khe Sanh Valley

• The battle itself was a tactical victory for the Marines, but the strategic implications of the battle still remain unclear.

• On March 16, the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division enter the village of My Lai.

• "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it," say their superior officers.

• A short time later the killing begins.

• When news of the atrocities surfaces, it will send shockwaves through the U.S. political establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided American public.

My Lai Massacre (1968)My Lai Massacre (1968)

An alleged NLF activist, captured during an attack on an American outpost near the Cambodian border, is interrogated.

A Marine from 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, moves an alleged NLF activist to the rear during a search and clear operation held by the battalion 15 miles (24 km) west of Da Nang Air Base.

U.S. soldiers searching a village for NLF.

Diagram depicts the many possible entrances and levels found in Viet Cong tunnels.

The Vietnam War (Begin at 3:30)

National Chief of Police Nguyen Ngoc Loan, executes an NLF officer in Saigon during Tet. Images of the killing shocked the world.

Children flee a South Vietnamese napalm strike. This picture was to become one of the most iconic of the war.

Victims of the My Lai Massacre. Reported November 1969