05/04/09

Eman Haj

American Role in Vietnam War

1. Indochina - The three states of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia formerly associated with
France, first within its empire and later within the French Union. The term Indochina refers
to the intermingling of Indian and Chinese influences in the culture of the region.
2. Ho Chi Minh - Founder of the Indochina Communist Party (1930) and its successor, the
Viet-Minh (1941), and president from 1945 to 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
(North Vietnam). As the leader of the Vietnamese nationalist movement for nearly three
decades, Ho was one of the prime movers of the post-World War II anticolonial movement
in Asia and one of the most influential communist leaders of the 20th century.
3. Geneva Conference - A conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities
and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam. It produced a set of treaties known as
the Geneva Accords, signed on behalf of France by Pierre Mendès-France and of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam by Pham Van Dong.
4. Ngo Diem - Vietnamese political leader who served as president, with dictatorial powers,
of South Vietnam from 1955 until his assassination.
5. Viet Cong - The guerrilla force that, with the support of the North Vietnamese Army,
fought against South Vietnam (late 1950s–1975) and the United States (early 1960s–1973).
The name is said to have first been used by South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem to
belittle the rebels.
6. JFK - 35th president of the United States (1961–63), who faced a number of foreign
crises.Kennedy’s commitment to combat the spread of communism led him to escalate
American involvement in the conflict in Vietnam, where he sent not just supplies and
financial assistance, as President Eisenhower had, but 15,000 military advisers as well.
7. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- that the Congress approves and supports the determination
of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any
armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
8. South Vietnam- refers to an internationally recognized state which governed Vietnam
south of the 17th parallel until 1975. Its capital was Saigon and its origin can be traced to
the French colony of Cochinchina, which consisted of the southern third of Vietnam.
9. North Vietnam- also called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Was a communist state
that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976
10. Tet Offensive- was a series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong (rebel forces sponsored by
North Vietnam) and North Vietnamese forces, on scores of cities, towns, and hamlets
throughout South Vietnam. It was considered to be a turning point in the Vietnam War
11. Richard Nixon- vice president under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States;
resigned after the Watergate scandal in 1974.
12. Vietnamization- during the Vietnam War, the U.S. program of turning over to the South
Vietnamese government responsibility for waging the conflict, in order to implement
withdrawal of U.S. military personnel.