Chapter 24

The Vietnam War1954-1975

Chapter 24Section 1: The War Unfolds

A Divided Vietnam• As a result of the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided near the

17th parallel into two separate nations in July 1954. Two months later, the United States and seven other nations formed the Southeast Asia Treaty organization (SEATO). The goal of this alliance was to stop the spread of communism.

• Ho Chi Minh became president of the new Communist-dominated North Vietnam, with its capital in Hanoi. Ngo Dinh Diem, a former Vietnamese official who had been living in exile in the United States, became president of anti-Communist South Vietnam, with its capital in Saigon. The Geneva agreements called for elections to be held in 1956 to unify the country. South Vietnam refused to support this part of the agreement, claiming that the Communists would not hold fair elections. As a result, Vietnam remained divided.

United States Involvement

• President Eisenhower pledged his support to South Vietnam’s Diem. By 1960, about 675 United States military advisors were in South Vietnam to assist in that country’s struggle against the North. Thus the United States became involved in the Vietnam War.

Kennedy’s Vietnam Policy

• Kennedy sent Vice President Lyndon Johnson to Vietnam to assess the situation there. Diem told Johnson that South Vietnam would need even more aid if it was to survive. In response, Kennedy increased the number of American military advisors to Vietnam. By the end of 1963, that number had grown to more than 16,000.

• Military aid by itself could not ensure success. Diem lacked support in his own country. He imprisoned people who criticized his own family. United States aid earmarked for economic reforms went instead to the military and into the pockets of corrupt officials.

Diem’s Downfall• Diem launched an unpopular program which relocated peasants

from their ancestral lands to “strategic hamlets.” In addition, Diem was a Catholic in a largely Buddhist country. When Diem insisted that Buddhists obey Catholic religious laws, serious opposition developed. In June, 1963, a Buddhist monk burned himself to death on the streets of Saigon.

• Kennedy finally realized that the struggle against communism in Vietnam could not be won under Diem’s rule. United States officials told South Vietnamese military leaders that the United States would not object to Diem’s overthrow. With that encouragement, military leaders staged a coup in November 1963. They seized control of the government and assassinated Diem as he tried to flee.

Communist Advances

• Diem’s successors established a new military government in South Vietnam that proved to be both unsuccessful and unpopular. The ruling generals bickered among themselves and failed to direct the South Vietnamese army effectively. Communist guerillas in the south, known as Viet Cong, and their political arm, called the National Liberation Front, gained control of more territory and earned the loyalty of an increasing number of the South Vietnamese people. Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese aided the Viet Cong throughout the struggle.

Communist Advances cont.

• While he did not wish to pursue a full-scale war, he also did not want to risk damaging the authority of the United Sates by pulling out. In the end, Johnson was convinced of the need to escalate the war.

Expanding Presidential Power• In August 1964, Johnson made a dramatic announcement:

North Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked United States destroyers in the international waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, 30 miles from North Vietnam. This announcement would change the course of the war.

• Although details were sketchy, it was later shown that the attacks did not occur. In any case, Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin incident to deepen American involvement in Vietnam.

• Congress passed this Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7 by a vote of 416 to 0 in the House of Representatives and 88 to 2 in the Senate.

Chapter 24Section 2: Fighting the War

Setting the Scene

• Nearly 3 million Americans served in the Vietnam War. These soldiers found themselves thousands of miles from home, fighting under conditions that were different from those they had seen in films.

Battlefield Conditions• American forces had superior arms and supplies. The Viet Cong,

however, had some advantages of their own. For one thing, they were familiar with the swamps and jungles of Vietnam. In addition, they could find protection across the border in Cambodia and Laos. Finally, the Viet Cong could often count on the support of the local population.

• American soldiers found the war confusing and disturbing. They were trying to defend the freedom of the South Vietnamese, but the people seemed indifferent to the Americans’ effort.

• American troops never knew what to expect next, and they never could be sure who was a friend and who was an enemy. The Vietnamese woman selling soft drinks b the roadside might be a Viet Cong ally, counting government soldiers as they passed. A child peddling candy might be concealing a live grenade.

The Ground War• The Viet Cong lacked the sophisticated equipment of the United

States troops, so they avoided head-on clashes. Instead they used guerrilla warfare tactics, working in small groups to launch sneak attacks and practice sabotage. They often frustrated American search parties by hiding themselves in elaborate underground tunnels.

• The various booby traps set by the guerrilla fighters posed constant hazards to the Americans. A soldier might step into a punji trap-a camouflaged pit filled with razor-sharp stakes that were sometimes poisoned. The pressure of a footstep cold set off a land mine-an explosive device planted in the ground.

• The war was also devastating for Vietnamese civilians. Because American soldiers were never sure who might be sympathetic to the Viet Cong, civilians suffered as much as soldiers.

The Air War

• In April 1966, the Americans introduced the huge B-52 bomber into the war to smash roads and heavy bridges in North Vietnam. During air raids, these planes could drop thousands of tons of explosives over large areas. This saturation bombing tore North Vietnam apart. These fragmentation bombs were not confined to the north alone. They were also used in the south, where they killed and maimed countless civilians.

The Use of Chemical Weapons

• United States forces also used chemical weapons against the Vietnamese. Pilots dropped an herbicide known as Agent Orange on dense jungle landscapes. By killing the leaves and thick undergrowth, the herbicide exposed Viet Cong hiding places. Agent Orange also killed crops. Later it was discovered that Agent Orange caused health problems in livestock and in humans, including Vietnamese civilians and American soldiers.

• Another destructive chemical used in Vietnam was called napalm. When dropped from airplanes, this jellylike substance splattered and burned uncontrollably. It also stuck to people’s bodies and seared off their flesh.

The Course of the War, 1965-1968

• After winning the election of 1964, President Johnson started a gradual military escalation, or expansion, of the war.

Intensifying the War• At the start of 1965, some 25,000 American soldiers were stationed

in Vietnam. By the end of the year, the number had risen to 184,000. Despite the large buildup of American troops, between 1965 and 1967 the war was at a stalemate. The American objective was not to conquer North Vietnam but rather to force the enemy to stop fighting. In 1965, President Johnson authorized Operation Rolling Thunder-the relentless bombing campaign that continued for almost three years. Although the bombing produced heavy damage, it failed to stop the Viet Cong. The enemy dug thousands of miles of tunnels through which troops and supplies moved south from North Vietnam.

• Nothing seemed to diminish the enemy’s willingness or ability to continue fighting. When the Viet Cong suffered heavy losses, North Vietnam sent new troops.

Hawks and Doves

• As the war unfolded, it came under increasing criticism at home from both hawks-those who supported the war-and doves-those who opposed the war.

The Tet Offensive: A Turning Point

• United States planes bombed North Vietnam, and the flow of American soldiers into the south increased. Their number climbed to 385,000 by the end of 1966; to 485,000 by the end of 1967; and to 536,000 by the end of 1968. Despite the large United States presence in South Vietnam, the Communist forces intensified their efforts. Those efforts reached a climax early in 1968, during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. On January 30, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched a major offensive. The Tet Offensive, shown on the map on on page 802, included surprise attacks on major cities and towns and American military bases throughout South Vietnam.

Massacre at My Lai• In response to word that My Lai was sheltering 250 members of the

Viet Cong, a United States infantry company moved in to clear out the village in March 1968. Rather than enemy soldiers, the company found women, children, and old men. Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr., was in charge. First he ordered, “Round everybody up.” Then he gave the command for the prisoners to be killed.

• Probably more than 400 Vietnamese died in the My Lai massacre. Even more would have perished without the heroic actions of a helicopter crew that stepped in to halt the slaughter. At great risk to himself and his crew, pilot Hugh Thompson landed the helicopter between the soldiers and the fleeing Vietnamese. He ordered his door gunner, 18 year-old Lawrence Colburn, to fire his machine gun at the American troops if they began shooting the villagers.

Massacre at My Lai cont.

• Pilot Thompson testified about Calley’s conduct at My Lai. Although at first his testimony was covered up, eventually, in 1971, Lieutenant Calley began serving a sentence of life in prison. Many Americans saw him as a scapegoat, however because many senior officers went unpunished. As a result, President Nixon reduced his sentence to 20 years. Calley was released on good behavior three years later.

• The Tet Offensive became a turning point in the war. Even though the Viet Cong were turned back with heavy losses, they had won a psychological victory.

Chapter 24Section 3: Political Divisions

The Free Speech Movement

• Student activism led to confrontation at the University of California at Berkeley in September 1964. Students became angry when the university administration refused to allow them to distribute civil rights leaflets outside the main gate of the campus.

• The students, who had fought for equal rights in the South, argued that their right to free speech was being challenged. The resisted the university’s effort to restrict their political activity. When police came to arrest one of their leaders, students surrounded the police car and prevented it from moving. The free speech movement was underway.

The Free Speech Movement cont.

• On December 2, 1964, thousands of irate students took over the university administration building. That night police moved in. They arrested more than 700 students. Other students, supported by some faculty members, went on strike. They stopped attending classes to show their support fro the free speech demonstrators.

The Teach-in Movement

• The first teach-in took place at the University of Michigan in March 1965 when a group of faculty members decided to make a public statement against the war. Some 50 or 60 professors taught a special night session n which issues concerning the war could be aired.

• To their surprise, several thousand people showed up and made the evening a monumental success. Soon other teach-ins followed at colleges around the country. Supporters as well as opponents of the war appeared at early teach-ins, but soon antiwar voices dominated the sessions.

Draft Resistance

• A Selective Service Act allowing the government to draft men between the ages of 18 and 26 had been in place since 1951.

• In July 1965, President Johnson doubled the number of men who could be drafted into the armed forces. By the end of the year he had doubled the number again. These actions led to the rise of a deferment, or official postponement of their call to serve. Usually this meant they would not have to go to war. Those who could not afford college did not have this avenue open to them. In 1966, the Selective Service System announced that college students who ranked low academically could be drafted.

Draft Resistance cont.

• In 1967, resistance to the military draft began to sweep the country. Many young men tried to avoid the draft by claiming that they had physical disabilities. Others applied for conscientious-objective statsu. Still others left the country. By the end of the war an estimated 100,000 draft resisters were believed to have gone to countries such as Canada.

Johnson Decides Not to Run

• By 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara had lost faith in the war effort. Privately, he urged the President to turn more of the fighting over to the South Vietnamese and to stop the bombing of North Vietnam. Johnson, fearful of risking defeat on the battlefield, ignored the proposal.

• As a result of the Tet Offensive, polls showed for the first time that a majority of Americans opposed the war.

• After the Tet Offensive, Johnson rarely left the White Hose for fear of being assaulted by angry crowds of protesters.

• On March 31, 1968, President Johnson declared dramatically in a nationally televised speech that he would not run for another term as President.

The Election of 1968

• Delegates to the Democratic convention met in Chicago that summer to nominate candidates for President and Vice President. By the time the Democrats convened, their party was in shreds. Robert Kennedy had been assassinated in June, and party regulars thought McCarthy was too far out of the mainstream. Instead they supported Vice President Hubert Humphrey, longtime advocate of social justice and civil rights.

The Election of 1968 cont.

• The climax came when the convention delegates voted down a peace resolution and seemed ready to nominate Humphrey for President. In the end, Humphrey was nominated, but the Democratic Party had been further torn apart.

The Election of 1968 cont.• The Republicans had already held their convention in early August.

They had chosen Richard M. Nixon, who had narrowly lost the presidential election of 1960 to John Kennedy. During his campaign, Nixon backed law and order and boasted of a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam.

• Adding to the Democrats’ problems was a third-party candidate for President. Alabama governor George C. Wallace, who had been a lifelong Democrat, had gained national fame for playing on racial tensions among southerners.

• The election, held on November 5, was close. Nixon won 43.4 percent of the popular vote-less than one percentage point more than Humphrey’s 42.7 percent.

• The War significantly influenced the election of 1968.

Chapter 24Section 4: The End of the War

Nixon’s Vietnam Policy

• The Paris peace talks began in May 1968, but failed to produce an agreement.

• In June 1969, President Nixon announced a new policy known as Vietnamization. This involved removing American forces and replacing them with South Vietnamese soldiers. By 1972, American troop strength dropped to 24,000. As much as Nixon wanted to defuse antiwar sentiment at home, he was determined not to lose the war.

The War Spreads to Cambodia

• In April 1970, Nixon publicly announced that United States and South Vietnamese ground forces were moving into neighboring Cambodia. Their goal was to clear out Communist camps there, from which the enemy was mounting attacks on South Vietnam.

Kent State and Jackson State• At Kent State University in Ohio, students reacted angrily to the

President’s actions. They broke windows in the business district downtown. They also burned the army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) building, which had become a hated symbol of the war. In response, the governor of Ohio ordered the National Guard to Kent State. When students threw rocks at them, the guardsmen loaded their guns and donned gas masks. They hurled tear gas at the students, ordering them to disperse. Then the guardsmen retreated to another position. At the top of a hill, they suddenly turned and began firing on students below. Seconds later, four students lay dead, with nine others wounded.

• Similar violence flared at Jackson State, a nearly all-black college in Mississippi. A confrontation between students and police left two students dead and eleven wounded.

American Withdrawl

• After Nixon’s reelection in November and another round of B-52 bombings of North Vietnam in December, peace finally arrived. In January 1973, the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong signed a formal agreement in Paris. Among the provisions in the agreement were these:

1. The United States would withdraw all its forces from South Vietnam within 60 days.

2. All prisoners of war would be released.3. All parties to the agreement would end military activities in

Laos and Cambodia. 4. The 17th parallel would continue to divide North and South

Vietnam until the country could be reunited.

Aftermath of the War in Asia• South Vietnam Falls—After the withdrawl of American forces, South

Vietnamese soldiers steadily lost ground to their North Vietnamese enemies. In the spring of 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a campaign of strikes against strategic cities throughout South Vietnam, the final objective being the seat of government in Saigon.

• On April 29, 1975, with Communist forces surrounding Saigon, the United States carried out a dramatic last-minute evacuation. American helicopters airlifted more than 1,000 Americans and nearly 6,000 Vietnamese from the city to aircraft carriers waiting offshore. On April 30, North Vietnam completed its conquest of South Vietnam, and the Saigon government officially surrendered. After decades of fighting, Vietnam was a single nation under a Communist government.

Southeast Asia After the War

• One reason for American involvement in Vietnam was the belief in the domino theory. As you recall, this was the assumption that the entire region would collapse if the Communists won in Vietnam. With the North Vietnamese victory, two additional dominoes did topple-Laos and Cambodia. The rest of the region, however, did not fall.

The Legacy of the War

• The Vietnam War resulted in more than 58,000 Americans dead and 300,000 wounded. In addition, more than 2,500 Americans were listed as POWs (prisoners of war) and MIAs (missing in action) at the end of the war. Many of them remain unaccounted for. After Vietnam, soldiers came home to a reception that was quite different than the ones their fathers and grandfathers had received following the World Wars. There were no welcoming ticker-tape parades. Many veterans complained that Americans did not appreciate the sacrifices they had made for their country.

Counting the Costs

• The Vietnam War was the longest and the least successful war in American history. The United States spent at least $150 billion on the war. This expense resulted in growing inflation and economic instability.

• The number of dead and wounded Vietnamese soldiers ran into the millions, with countless civilian casualties.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial• Aside from the Civil War, the Vietnam War divided the

nation more than any other conflict in American history. • In 1979, a group of veterans began making plans for a

Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A Vietnam veteran named Jan Scruggs started a fund for the memorial. Eventually, he won support from Congress to build a monument in Washington, D. C., near the Lincoln Memorial. Scruggs committee held a contest. The winner was 21 year-old college student, Maya Ying Lin. Her idea was to build a long wall of black granite, cut down into the ground. This wall would display the names of every American man and woman who died in the Vietnam War.