The Vietnam War

By: Dorothy Delerme

Background on the Vietnam War

1) Known as-Vietnam Conflict or the Second Indochina War.

2) Cold War military conflict.3) Location-Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia4) Duration-November 1, 1955 to April 30,

1975 when Saigon fell.

Belligerents

1) Communist-Viet Cong

1) North Vietnam- supported by communist allies

• Anti-Communist- North Vietnamese

1) South Vietnam- supported by the United States and other anti- communist nations.

The Viet Cong

1) Lightly armed communist controlled common front.

1) Fought guerilla war against anti-communist forces.

Viet Cong

North Vietnamese Army

1) Vietnam People's Army2) Engaged in conventional war3) U.S and South Vietnamese forces relied

on1) Air superiority• Overwhelming fire power to conduct search

and destroy operations

Vietnam People's Army

Vietnam After WWII• Vietnam-French colony

1.French grow rich2.People do not accept French rule

1) Ho Chi Minh- Communist leader1. declare independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam

3) WWII Allied Victors- 1. believed Vietnam belong to French 2. French try to regain control 3. Minh- look for peaceful solution

Ho Chi Minh

Us Involvement in the War

1) US enter war- 1960’s1) To prevent communist takeover of South

Vietnam-master plan of containment2) Increased involvement during- Tet Offensive3) US- forced to withdraw due to Vietnamization

French Departs

1) September 1950- US create Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG)– To screen French requests for aid, advise on

strategy– 1954 US supply- 300,000 small arms– Spent $1 billion US dollars – Shoulder 80% of war– US intelligence skeptical of French success

Operation Vulture

1) Proposed plan1) send 60 B-29’s from US bases in the region2) supported by as many as 150 fighters 3) launch from US Seventh Fleet carriers4) To bomb Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen

Giap's position

1) VP- Richard Nixon (hawk) on Vietnam 1) Suggest to put American boys in war 2) Pres. Eisenhower looked for Britain to support

idea3) London opposes

Viet Minh

1) Receive support from Soviet Union and PRC2) Border Campaign of 1950

1) Allow supplies to come from PRC into Vietnam

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

1) Mark end of French involvement in Indochina – May 7, 1954 French Union garrison surrendered

2) Geneva Conference1) French negotiate ceasefire agreement

Transition Period

1)Vietnam partition at 17th parallel 2)Minority Catholics- flee south

1) fear of persecution by communists3)US Propaganda

1) “The Virgin Mary headed south”4) Us funded $93 million relocation program

1) ferrying refugees with seventh fleet

Diem Era 1955-1963

1) Domino Theory-1) argue that if one country fell to communist

forces then all of the surrounding countries would follow

2) proposed as policy by Eisenhower

Ngo Dinh Diem

1) Devout Roman Catholic 2) Fervently anti-communist, nationalist, and

socially conservative 3) Represented narrow and extremist

nationalism united with autocracy and nepotism

Diem

1) 1955 launch “ Denounce the Communists” campaign

1) Communists and other anti-government elements were arrested, imprisoned, tortured or executed.

2) 12,000 suspected opponents of Diem killed3) 40,000 jailed

Insurgency in South- 1956•Sino-Soviet spilt- led to reduction of PRC

1) Truong Chinh- N.Vietnam's pro-PRC party first secretary- demoted

2) Hanoi- authorize communist to begin low level insurgency

3) Insurgency- response to Diem's Denunciation of Communists campaign

4) Hanoi- authorize creation of NLF (National Liberation Front) as common front controlled by communist in the south

During Kennedy Administration 1961-1963

1) John F. Kennedy- won 1960 US presidential election

2) Stressed long-range equality with Soviets3) Interested in using special forces for

counterinsurgency warfare in Third World countries threatened by communist

Kennedy's Struggle

1) Kennedy faces three-part failure crisis1) Bay of Pigs invasion 2) Construction of Berlin Wall3) negotiated settlement between pro-Western

gov. of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement

4) Kennedy believed another failure on US part to gain control and stop communist expansion would damage US credibility and ruin JFK reputation

Kennedy and Diem

1) Kennedy's policy rested on:1) Assumption that Diem and his forces defeat guerrillas2)Kennedy against deployment of US combat troops

Army of Republic of Vietnam

A: Played in emasculation of army• Poor• Bad leadership• Corruption• Political promotions

1) Kennedy advisers-1) Maxwell Tyler and Walt Rotsrow- ask Kennedy

to deploy troops as flood relief worker to Vietnam- Kennedy refuses

2) 1963 South Vietnam- 16,000 military personnel

Strategic Hamlet program

1) Plan by US and South Vietnam gov. to combat Communist insurgency by popular transfer

Coup and Assassinations

1) Battle of Ap Bac- small band of Viet Cong beat well equipped S. Vietnam army

2) US- conclude Diem incapable of beating communist and might make a deal with Minh

Hue Phat Dan Shootings1) Unarmed Buddhist shot a hands of

gov. forces of Diem

Coup and Assassination of Diem

1) CIA contact gen. to remove Diem2) Diem overthrown over and executed3) Kennedy- not approved of Diem's murder

After Deim's Murder

1)Vietnam- chaos ensue2)Hanoi- take advantage 3)South Vietnam-period of extreme political

instability 1)US military embedded at every level of

S.Vietnamese

• US Commander of US forces in S.Vietnam-Gen. Paul Harkins 1)Predict victory by Christmas 1963

1)CIA- less optimistic 2)CIA Special Activities Division-

1)Trained and led Hmoung tribesmen in Laos into Vietnam

– Conducted-action missions

Johnson's Administration 1963-1969

Lyndon Johnson Expands War

1)Took over after assassination of Kennedy2)Initially did not consider Vietnam as priority

1)More concerned with “Great Society”

1)Johnson reverse Kennedy disengagement policy in withdrawing 1,000 troops

2)Military revolutionary council-1)12 Countries2)Headed by- Gen. Duong Van Minh3)Regime overthrown in Jan.1964 by Gen. Nguyen Khanh

USS Maddox & USS Turner Joy

1)Aug.2 1964- fired upon and damage torpedo boats in Gulf of Tonklin

2)Second attack- USS Turner Joy and Maddox 1) murky attack

USS Maddox

USS Turner Joy

Gulf of Tonklin Resolution

1)Second attack led- to air strikes1)Prompt congress to approve Resolution2)Gave president power to conduct military

operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war3)Johnson pledged that he was not “... committing

American boys to fighting a war that I think ought to be fought by the boys of Asia to help protect their own land”

Armies Strength

1)Viet Cong-1) 1959- 5,000 2)1964- 10,000

2)People's Army-1)1961-1964 850,000 to nearly a million

3)US-1)1961- 2,0002)1964- 16,500

Bombing Campaign

1)National Security Council-recommend three stage escalation of the bombing of N.Vietnam

2)Operation Flaming Dart, Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Arc Light- commence

3)Lasted 3 years

Reason for bombing

1)Force N.Vietnam to cease support for NLF by threatening to destroy N.Vietnam's air defense and industrial infrastructure

Escalation and ground war

1)US Air Forces- need protection1)Mar.8.1965- 3,500 US Marines dispatched to

S.Vietnam2)Marked beg. Of US ground war

Marines in Vietnam

1)Defensive2)Deployment increase 3)US commanders unsuited to a defensive

mission

ARVN

1) Suffered heavy loses in- battle of Binh Gia1)Battle that both sides viewed as watershed 2)Communist forces utilized hit-and-run guerrilla

tactics3)Defeat AVRN with conventional warfare

1)Gen. William Westmoreland inform Admiral Grant Sharp that the situation was critical

2)Westmoreland- convinced US troops can take fight to NLF

3)Westmoreland- advocating aggressive departure from America's defensive posture

Westmoreland Three-Point Plan1)Phase1: commitment of US and other forces

necessary to halt losing trend by end of 19652)Phase2: US and allies mount major offensive actions

to seize the initiative to destroy guerrilla and organized enemy forces.

3)Phase3: If enemy persisted, a period of twelve to eighteen months following phase2 would be required for the final destruction of enemy forces remaining in remote base areas

1)Plan approved by Johnson2)Mark profound departure from previous

administration's insistence that the gov. of S.Vietnam responsible for defeating guerrillas

3)Westmoreland- predict victory end of 1967

Allies Help

1)Washington- encourage SEATO to contribute troops

2)NATO nations Canada and UK- refuse3)US and allies mounted complex operations

Tet Offensive1)Military campaign2)Purpose-to strike military & civilian command & control centers throughout S.Vietnam and spark general uprising among population that would topple the Saigon gov. thus ending the war in a single blow.3)Trumped Westmoreland predictions 4)Political victory and ended career of Johnson

Nixon Administration and Vietnamization1969-1972

Nixon Doctrine

1)Was to build up the AVRN so that they could take over defense of S.Vietnam

Vietnamization

1)Result of Tet offensive2)Purpose-expand, equip, and train S.Vietnam's

forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role,at the same time reducing the number of U.S. combat troops

Opposition to War1962-1975

1)Groups united who opposed to US anti-communism, imperialism and colonialism

2)Shooting of four anti-war protesters at Kent State University1)Riots broke out at 1968 Democratic National

Convention

Paris Peace Accord

1)Between N.Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Duc Tho and US Sec. Of State Henry Kissinger and S.Vietnamese Pres. Thieu

2)US military withdrew from S.Vietnam and prisoners exchanged

3)N.Vietnam allowed to continue to supply communist troops in South

Gerald Ford1974-1975

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

1)Called for capture of Saigon before May.12)Two bloody weeks of fighting3)April.21 garrison surrendered 4)Pres.Thieu resign same day

Fall of Saigon1)Pres. Ford gave a speech on April.23 declaring end

to war2)April.29.1975- evacuation of Saigon by helicopter of

last US diplomatic, military, and civilian personnel3)April.30 last of US Marines evacuate embassy4)VPA troops capture key buildings and installations5)11:30 am NLF flag raised

1)Pres. Duong Van Minh surrendered

Chemical Defoliation

1)Rainbow Herbicides1)Agent Pink 2)Agent Green3)Agent Purple4)Agent Blue5)Agent White 6)Agent Orange

Casualties

1) NLF- 1.1 million dead1)600,00

2)US-200,0003)South Vietnamese-250,0004)Civilians- two million