A. France ruled Vietnam from the late 1800’s until World War II.

B. Japan occupied Vietnam during World War II.

C. Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independent in 1945.

D. Truman and Eisenhower support France’s war against the Vietminh.

1. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French are defeated (go figure) by Gen. Vo Nguyen.

2. The Geneva Accords of 1954 temporarily divide Vietnam into North and South at the 17th parallel and formalized the end of Vietnam's war with France.

A. South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem cancels unifying elections because Ho Chi Minh is sure to win.

1. Diem restricts Buddhist’s practices.

2. North Vietnam was able to supply Vietcong troops in South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

B. Corruption and repressive policies pervade Diem’s regime. Buddhist monks in protest set themselves on fire.

C. In 1963, Pres. Kennedy backs plans to overthrow Diem.

A. Diem’s successors fail to curb the Vietcong’s influence in South Vietnam.

B. The United States' MAIN goal in Vietnam was the containment of communism.

C. In July, prior to the presidential election, the USS Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese PT boats.

D. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution of 1964 grants Pres. Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam.

E. In February 1965, Pres. Johnson escalates U.S. involvement in Vietnam. (1)Use air power against North Vietnam and (2) Increase the number of ground troops in South Vietnam

F. Operation Rolling Thunder – bombing of North Vietnam

ROLLING THUNDER

A. Robert McNamara , as secretary of defense, supported a build-up of U.S. forces in Vietnam.

C. Between 1965 and 1967, the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam reached 500,000

D. Gen. William Westmoreland the commander of U.S. troops in Vietnam was

E.The MAIN purpose of introducing the "body count" was to persuade the Vietcong to surrender.

1. Battle of Ia Drang Valley Nov.14-18,1965

a. The 1/7the Cavalry were flown in to the Ia Drang Valley.

b. They were surrounded by 1000’s of NVA and outnumbered.

c. The battle marked the first military engagement between US and North Vietnamese ground forces.

d. The US inflicted heavy casualties on the North Vietnamese (2500 dead) and lost 234 of its own soldiers.

a. Starlite was one of the most successful amphibious operations by the Marines .

b. In August 1965, three Marine Corps battalions overran the 1st Vietcong Regiment

A. Vietcong military forces use tunnels, and hit and run tactics against U.S. forces.

B. The Vietcong destroyed the notion of the frontline.

C. U.S. uses Agent Orange that harms the rural landscape and population.

D. Napalm was used to flush out the enemy.

E.The frustrations of guerilla combat, brutal jungle conditions and the war’s stalemate cause a decline in U.S. troop morale.

A. War costs begin to drain the U.S. economy and undercut domestic reform programs.

B. TV broadcasts of live combat cause public support for the war to wane

A. Draft policies favor young men from privileged backgrounds. In the early years of the war, a young man could be automatically deferred from the draft by enrolling in college.

B. Most American soldiers in Vietnam are minorities and lower-class whites.

C. African-Americans make up as much as 20% or even more of Army personnel at the start of the Vietnam War. They volunteered for infantry and airborne units.

  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

1 305 086 108 032 330 249 093 111 225 359 019 129

2 159 144 029 271 298 228 350 045 161 125 034 328

3 251 297 267 083 040 301 115 261 049 244 348 157

4 215 210 275 081 276 020 279 145 232 202 266 165

5 101 214 293 269 364 028 188 054 082 024 310 056

6 224 347 139 253 155 110 327 114 006 087 076 010

7 306 091 122 147 035 085 050 168 008 234 051 012

8 199 181 213 312 321 366 013 048 184 283 097 105

9 194 338 317 219 197 335 277 106 263 342 080 043

10 325 216 323 218 065 206 284 021 071 220 282 041

11 329 150 136 014 037 134 248 324 158 237 046 039

12 221 068 300 346 133 272 015 142 242 072 066 314

13 318 152 259 124 295 069 042 307 175 138 126 163

14 238 004 354 231 178 356 313 198 001001 294 127 026

15 017 089 169 273 130 180 322 102 113 171 131 320

16 121 212 166 148 055 274 120 044 207 254 107 096

17 235 189 033 260 112 073 098 154 255 288 143 304

18 140 292 332 090 278 341 190 141 246 005 146 128

19 058 025 200 336 075 104 227 311 177 241 203 240

20 280 302 239 345 183 360 187 344 063 192 185 135

21 186 363 334 062 250 060 027 291 204 243 156 070

22 337 290 265 316 326 247 153 339 160 117 009 053

23 118 057 256 252 319 109 172 116 119 201 182 162

24 059 236 258 002 031 358 023 036 195 196 230 095

25 052 179 343 351 361 137 067 286 149 176 132 084

26 092 365 170 340 357 022 303 245 018 007 309 173

27 355 205 268 074 296 064 289 352 233 264 047 078

28 077 299 223 262 308 222 088 167 257 094 281 123

29 349 285 362 191 226 353 270 061 151 229 099 016

30 164 -- 217 208 103 209 287 333 315 038 174 003

31 211 -- 030 -- 313 -- 193 011 -- 079 -- 100

D. Most American women in Vietnam serve as military nurses or volunteers

A. The New Left movement including such activists groups as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Free Speech Movement(FSM), pushes for social and political change.

B. SDS and FSM tactics spread to college campuses nationwide.

C. College students begin joining together to protest the Vietnam War.

A. Campus protests mount as more college students become eligible for the draft.

B. More young Americans resist the draft.

C. The American public becomes deeply divided into opponents and supporters of the war.

D. Colonel Bui Tin interviewed on August 3, 1995 in the Wall Street Journal .

1. Question: Was the American antiwar movement important to Hanoi's victory?

Col. Bui Tin

2. Answer: “ It was essential to our strategy. Support of the war from our rear was completely secure while the American rear was vulnerable. Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement.”

“…Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses.”

A. Early in 1968, North Vietnam and the Vietcong launch a surprise attack on Jan 31,1968..

B. General Vo Nguyen Giap: Plans Tet offensive. By 1968, NVA morale was at it's lowest point ever. The plans for "Tet" '68 was their last desperate attempt to achieve a success, in an effort to boost the NVA morale.

1. The Marines could shell the trail from Khe Sahn.

2. The NVA and VC attack the Marine fire base at Khe Sahn.

3. Khe Sanh was relieved on April 6th.

1. Five battalions of NVA/VC gradually infiltrated the city without notice.

2. The U.S. Embassy was stormed by VC.

Fighting was over by Feb 21.

The US army drove the NVA and VC out of Saigon.

1. The main NVA VC goal was the Citadel.

2. Thousands of "enemies of the state" were rounded up and many were shot.

3. The fight for Hue ended by February 25th

4. In the villages outside Hue, the battle went on for another week

5. Giap's ambition to win a massive victory against the Americans was thwarted

1. The Tet offensive sours the media’s and the public’s view of the war. 

2. The media coverage of the Tet offensive was the MOST effective in leading the American public to conclude that the war was unwinnable.

3. By the end of February, Pres. Johnson’s popularity has plummeted.

1. When it was over, General Giap and the NVA viewed the Tet '68 offensive as a failure, they were on their knees and had prepared to negotiate a surrender. At that time, there were fewer than 10,000 U.S. casualties, the Vietnam War was about to end, as the NVA was prepared to accept their defeat.

Then, they heard Walter Cronkite (former CBS News anchor and correspondent) on TV proclaiming the success of the Tet '68 offensive by the communist NVA. They were completely and totally amazed at hearing that the US Embassy had been overrun.

Further reports indicated the riots and protesting on the streets of America. According to Giap, these distorted reports were inspirational to the NVA. They changed their plans from a negotiated surrender and decided instead to hold on. Eventually the protesters in American would help them to achieve a victory they knew they could not win on the battlefield.

A. The impressive showing of an anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy, in the New Hampshire Democratic primary prompts Robert Kennedy to join the presidential race.

B. In March , Pres. Johnson announces a dramatic change in Vietnam policy and bows out of the presidential race.

C Doves welcomed news of Johnson's decision not to run for reelection

D. King, and Kennedy are assassinated -campus protests surge.

A. Protests spark rioting in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention.

B. Delegates at the Democratic convention bitterly debate the party’s antiwar plank.

C. Vice-President Hubert Humphrey wins the Democratic Party’s nomination.

D. Hubert Humphrey had the party's nomination guaranteed before the national convention took place.

E. The Republicans nominate Richard Nixon, wins the election

A. Nixon initiates a policy of Vietnamization-a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and replacement with South Vietnamese troops.

B. Negotiations to end the war reach a deadlock.

C. A key goal of Vietnamization is to achieve “peace with honor.”

D. Nixon orders the bombing of North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail (in Cambodia), in order to bring the North Vietnamese to the peace conference.

A. News accounts of the My Lai massacre horrify the American public.

B. Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia spurs nation-wide protests. Which set off the first general student strike in U.S. history.

The slaying of student protestors and bystanders at Kent State and Jackson State rocks the nation.

New Left = people believed change was needed b/c of racism and poverty

D. Lyndon B. Johnson's administration's efforts to mislead the American people were revealed with the publication of the top-secret Pentagon Papers, further erodes support of the war.

E. Congress passed the War Powers Act in order to limit the president's authority to wage war.

A. After Nixon’s reelection, peace talks break off and U.S. bombing resume. Dec. 16, 1972 Linebacker II- (the Christmas bombing) brings the North to Paris.

B. In 1973, the United States and North Vietnam sign a cease-fire agreement and the last U.S. combat troops withdraw from Vietnam.

C. The cease-fire collapses and in 1975 South Vietnam falls to North Vietnam.

D. Ho Chi Minh's goals were achieved with the reunification of Vietnam.

Some American Prisoners of War were held in the Hanoi Hilton.

A. Vietnam veterans receive a cold homecoming and some face difficulties in readjusting to civilian life.

B. Approximately 58,000 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War. 303, 000 US were wounded. 2 million Vietnamese were killed.

C. The war’s end ushers in a violent, chaotic period in Southeast Asia.

1. 1.5 million “boat people” flee Vietnam

2. U.S. invasion of Cambodia unleashed a brutal civil war in which Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot seized power and killed over one million peasants

D. The Draft is abolished in the United StatesE. The War Powers Act is passed stipulating that president must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into a hostile area without a declaration of warF. Troops may remain there no longer than 90 days without Congressional approval or declaration of warG. The war still stirs up controversy and leads to major U.S. policy changes.