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The Vietnam War
Libertyville HS
Background of the War
• France est. empire in “Indochina”: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
• Japan and WWII
• France and WWII– FDR reluctant to
help Fr. hold onto empire
Truman and Vietnam
• France (1946-1954)– DeGaulle convinced
Truman of necessity (contain communism)
– US cost = >$110 million per year
– Equal to 80% of war
– Opium connection
Ike and Vietnam“Domino Theory”
• Ike believed that if Vietnam fell to communism, so too would Cambodia, Laos, Philllipines, Indonesia – maybe even Australia and New Zealand!
• Sent about 160 advisors
Dien Bein Phu (1954)
• French defeat by communists
• North Vietnam established
The Vietnamese Leadership• Geneva Accords divided
country at 17th Parallel• North Vietnam– Capital: Hanoi– Leader: Ho Chi Minh– Communist
Ho Chi Minh
Nguyen Diem
• South Vietnam• Capital: Saigon• Leader: Nguyen Diem• Democratic• Diem Catholic in Buddhist
Country (tension)
Vietnam in 1954
Kennedy and Vietnam
• JFK sent a total of 16000 “military advisors”
• Diem’s regime was very unpopular– Repression of Buddhists– Nepotism
• National Liberation Front, or “Viet Cong” was directed from North
• JFK was very concerned @ being sucked into combat ops in Vietnam…
Buddhist monk immolating himself in protest in Saigon, 1963, to protest torture of Buddhist monks and priests. According toeyewitnesses, the monk never spoke, cried out, or moved whilehe burned.
LBJ And Vietnam• Johnson escalated the war
effort• “I’m not going to be the
president who saw SE Asia go the way China went”
• August 1964: engineered the Gulf of Tonkin resolution– Fake (?) attack on US destroyer
off coast of N Vietnam– Congress passed resolution
authorizing military to “take all necessary measures … to prevent further aggression”
USS Maddox
LBJ Escalation
• LBJ increased troop levels from 16,000 to over ½ million by 1968
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
U.S. Troops
The Ground War
Average age of US Soldier in Vietnam = 19
The Ground War
The Air War• Operation “Rolling
Thunder”– March 1865 to 1968– B-52s – 70k pounds of
conventional bombs– Frag bombs– Agent Orange– Napalm– Carpet Bombing– “Puff the Magic Dragon”
• Close air support• 3 miniguns w/ 6000 RPM
By tonnage, more bombs were droppedon Vietnam than during the entiretyof World War II.
Who is the Enemy?
• Vietcong:– Farmers by day; guerillas at night.– Patience with willingness to
accept many casualties.– Underestimated by the United
States.
The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the conventional army loses if it does not win. -- Mao Zedong
Who were the Enemy?
Who were the Enemy?
Who were the Enemy?
Children flee after USAF mistakenly dropped bomb on village, 1972
My Lai Massacre• Mylai Massacre, 1968• 200-500 unarmed villagers
• Lt. William Calley,Platoon Leader
Tet Offensive, 1968
Tet Offensive, 1968
Tet Offensive, 1968
South Vietnamese police chief executes suspected Viet Cong fighter
Tet Offensive, 1968
American Army Morale
z The poor and minorities.
z Racial problems.z Drug
problems.z Extended
combat tours
Protesting Vietnam
Protesting Vietnam: “Hanoi Jane” Fonda
Fallout from the War
• Johnson made announcement in March 1968:
“…I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
Nixon and Vietnam
• “Peace with Honor”
• “Silent Majority”
• Vietnamization– Withdraw
American soldiers and shift burden of defense to S. Vietnamese
Ceasefire, 1973
• “Peace is at hand” Kissinger, 1972
• 1973: Ceasefire signed between U.S., South Vietnam, & North Vietnam
• “Peace with honor”attained
The End
The End
America Abandons Its Embassy, April
30, 1975
The End
Communism, Ascendant
Counting the Cost
1. 3,000,000 Vietnamese killed2. 58,000 Americans killed; 300,000
wounded3. 2.59 million mobilized4. “The wring war in Asia destroyed
the right war at home.”- LBJ5. $150,000,000,000 in U.S. spending6. U.S. morale, self-confidence, trust
of government, decimated
Vietnam Today
2,583 American POWs / MIAs today.
POWs: “The Hanoi Hilton”
Vietnam Memorial
A Hero
MEYERKORD HAROLD DALE LT O3 N 19371009 19650316 ST LOUIS MO 01E 096
Harold Dale Meyerkord was born 9 October 1937 atSt. Louis, Mo. He graduated from Navy Officer Candidate School at Newport, R.I. on 14 June 1960 and was assigned to the heavy cruiser Los Angeles (CA-135), where he and myDad became close friends. He reported to the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam 13 July 1964. He was Senior Naval Adviser to the South Vietnamese 23d River Assault Group, responsible for suppressing Vietcong terror in South Vietnam's "rice bowl"; the group probed the Delta waterways, engaging Vietcong guerrillas in operations in which Lieutenant Meyerkord distinguished himself for coolness, resourcefulness, and concern for his men.
While leading his assault group into Vietcong-held territory 16 March 1965, Lieutenant Meyerkord's patrol was ambushed. Though wounded, he steadfastly returned the enemy's fire until hit again, this time mortally. Lieutenant Meyerkord's heroism was recognized by posthumous award of the Navy Cross. He was also awarded the Air Medal for completing20 low-level aerial reconnaissance missions under enemy fire.