Vietnam War /American War (1965-1973)Jason, Michael, Jessica S, and

Nicole

Introduction Around 1950’s, the United States began to

send troops to Vietnam. Around 1955 – 1960, North Vietnamese tried

to take over the government of Southern Vietnam, with the support of southern communist.

November, 1963 – President Diem was overthrown and executed.

Jason 9B

What was it? North Vietnamese tried to conquer the whole country with the

help of China and Russia. United States was scared that a communist government would

take over an entire region, therefore they helped South Vietnamese – to try and help democratic ideas.

United States was also afraid that if they attack, it would cause problems between China and Russia and lead to bigger problems.

Jason 9B

Bombing of North Vietnam In 1972, there was only about 6,000 U.S combat troops in

South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese leader decided to destroy the ARVN,

on March 30 – more than 30,000 North Vietnamese troops, and 150,000 PRG fighters crossed the DMZ.

The attack was known as “Easter Offensive”. The United States then decided to bomb North Vietnam, between April and October 1972 – the U.S conducted 41,000 platoons over North Vietnam, targeting Quang Tri.

Jason 9B

Why the war started? The Vietnam War started because 2 different political

ideologies. North Vietnam was communist and South Vietnam was

democratic. North Vietnam is trying to get South Vietnam to become

communists.

Michael 9A

Support America then supported South Vietnam and the idea of

human rights. North Vietnam wanted to end the support America is

giving South Vietnam. They also wanted to rule their own country by kicking all colonial military out.

Even after North Vietnam tried kicking all the colonial military out, they didn’t succeed. Some French were still in Vietnam, which supported South Vietnam in the war against North Vietnam.

Michael 9A

Domino Theory 1945- North and South both separated found by the

Vietnminh and Ho Chi Minh. America was scared of the Domino Theory which that if

Vietnam is communist, then the South Asia could all be communist.

Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most

profound influences. – President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Jessica 9A

End of the War (1973-1975)

Jessica 9A

-1972 Working For Peace-On January 27,1973 there was the Paris Peace Accord. The accord ends direct military involvement from the U.S and temporarily end the fight between North and South.-American Prisoners of Wars then were released.-Then, there were the Christmas bombs. (1972)-On 1975, it is the reunification of Vietnam.

U.S Withdrawal

South Vietnamese were left standing alone because the U.S ended war.

Saigon was captured by North Vietnam. (North break the Accord) Americas desperate attempt In battling a phantom

opponent failed miserably. US was suffered a humiliating defeat.

They were fought at a hallucinations triggered by fear and cold war tensions. Vietnam was merely a country seeking Independence trough communism.

Even Americans began to disagree with the war, and they lost support from their own citizens.

America fought a nonexistent battle. And they lost The Vietnamese were driven by the undying desire for

freedom. And they battled In their own land. The US loss was due to they guerilla warfare the

Vietnamese troops adopted.

Vietnamization or Anti-War Movement Vietnamization is a term by Robert K.

Brigham for implying that only Americans had been dying to that date.

People realized that they wasted money,energy and lives for nothing.

National Students when on strike 450 colleges were closed because of this. 80% of colleges receive strikes from

students.

Casualties Of the 2.7 million Americans that served in

the Vietnam war… 300,000 were wounded in action 75,000 were disabled 58,129 were killed On the Vietnamese side it is

estimated… 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong

(Southern resistance soldiers) were killed Over 2 million North and South Vietnamese

citizens were killed

Jessica 9A

For Vietnam (Southeast Asia): - Devastation Economically- Political Destabilization

For U.S: - Psychological and Physical healing for veterans

that are post-traumatic.- “Vietnam Syndrome”

Legacies of the War

How?  America was provoked by the fear of

communist spread in Southeast Asia.

At the beginning the US were only helping the French gain back power of Vietnam.

But as France began1 to crumble, the US got Involved and started a war.

Interview with Mrs.Ong

Before I moved to Vietnam in 2000, I wondered what the Vietnamese people would think of me as an American and about America itself as a country.  The Vietnamese called the war “The American War”.  And to the Vietnamese, “The American War” was just one war in the series of many in the history of Vietnam.  While living in Vietnam, I never once had anyone treat me badly or say mean things because I was an American.  Most everyone I met was happy that I was living in Vietnam and wanted to practice their English with me.  Riding down the streets of Hanoi, it was not uncommon to see the Vietnamese wearing denim jackets with American flags embroidered on them or bandanas with the American flag design covering their noses and mouths protecting them from breathing in the dust.  Most Vietnamese would love to go to America if they had the chance!  They love to listen to the American music and movies.-Mrs.Ong

 

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I had an uncle 14 years older than me who fought in the Vietnam war as a young 19-year-old boy.  He testified that he and his buddies treated the Vietnamese women and children living in the villages very disrespectfully.  Apparently, that behavior was rampant among the US soldiers.  He regretted his actions tremendously later in life.

Did the Vietnam war effect you in any way? (like your feelings towards war or maybe America)

 Living in post war Vietnam, were there any noticeable impacts from the war? (lasting impacts in Vietnam) 

There are still land mines that have yet to explode that were used in the Vietnam war.  Nowadays, there have been cases where children have been playing in the countryside and have accidentally stepped on a mine that has blown off their legs or arms.

There was also a chemical used by the US military, called Agent Orange, that they sprayed by plane on the plants in the jungle to make it easier to find the Northern Vietnamese army who were hiding.  It killed the plants, but it also penetrated into the ground. 

Jason’s Wikiwork http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?re

fid=761552642 The website has more information about the Vietnam War,

such as the timelines, background, strategies, and more… It also talks about the Bombing of North Vietnam.

It also shows how North Vietnam was communists, and they tried take over South Vietnam. Whereas South Vietnam was democratic, and had help from the United States.

Michael’s Wikiwork http://www.vietnampix.com/

Wikiwork is about the war.- From how the war start until how it ends. I

find this website interesting because it is really informative and complete. You can find lots of information from it.

Nicole’s Wikiwork http://www.sparknotes.com/history/

american/vietnamwar/ The Website I found is really good and reliable. The website

explores all parts of the Vietnam War, and its all very summarized and easy to understand. It’s really categorized so it is easy to focus on one topic of the war. The website even has links to further studies, a quiz and essay questions. But what stands out the most about the website is that it offers an analysis and facts. It allows the reader to distinguish facts and opinions. And the website is pretty popular and its from ‘barnes and nobles’ so I assume its reliable and legit.

Jessica’s Wikiwork

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/ http://www.vietnamwar.net/- The first website is a TV Series’ website. The website and TV Series is about

the tough times during the Vietnam War. They talked about the casualties, the stuff that happened during that time of year, acronyms and lots more. Personally, I think the acronyms are really interesting. This site has lots of interesting stuff from video clips of the TV Series, maps, time line and lots more.

The second website is just a research website. It has everything about Vietnam War. You can find about anything that is related to the studies of Vietnam War in this website.

Other Facts about War The war is a televised war.

Longest War in U.S History (1965-1973) $150 billions spent for this war. 6.2 million tons of bombs were dropped by the U.S (which is

3x WWII) Most of the troops fighting were 19, when it was an average

of 25 in WWII.

Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Accords http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/vietnamwar/a/VietnamEnd.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/ http://www.vietnamwar.net/ http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?

refid=761552642