The Vietnam War

1964-1973
*During the 1
st
half of the 20
th
century Vietnam is part of what is called
French Indochina.
*During WW II Japan occupies Vietnam.
*Following Japans defeat, the French
attempt to return to Vietnam.
In 1954 the French are defeated
at Dien Bien Phu and pushed out of
Vietnam - US involvement begins.
* 1954- Vietnam divided at the 17
th
Parallel.
Ho Chi Minh Nationalist /Communist
leader of North Vietnam
You will kill ten of our men and we will kill
one of yours and in the end it will be you
who tire of it.


North Vietnamese Army
NVA
Viet Cong
National Liberation Front
VC
Charlie
Gooks
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ngo Dinh Diem- American supported
President of South Vietnam.
ARVN
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
American Military advisors train ARVN soldiers.
Buddhist protest against Diem Saigon, 1963
Coup detat
Lyndon Baines Johnson
1963-1969
The Domino Theory
August 1964- The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
President Johnson receives congressional approval
to fight an undeclared war in Vietnam.
Operation Rolling Thunder
!1965- 1968 American bombing
program over North Vietnam.
A Grunt
The average
age
of an
infantry
soldier was
19.
The first
US
ground
troops
enter
Vietnam
March
1965.
General William Westmoreland- Commander
of US troops in Vietnam
Escalation 1965 -1968
KIAS- Killed in Action
Search
and Destroy
GUERRILLA WARFARE
PUNJI PITS
TUNNEL RAT
Napalm
Agent Orange
Landing Zone or LZ
South Vietnamese Pacification Program
Suspected VC controlled villages are emptied and destroyed.
Peasants are transferred to refugee camps. In order to save
the village,we had to destroy it.
BODY COUNTS
The American
public was
reassured by
the military
that US forces
were winning
in Vietnam
by producing
daily
Vietnam became known as the TV War
due to the intense media coverage
on the nightly news.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
To supply the
Vietcong,
the North
Vietnamese
Army used the
The trail started in
North Vietnam and
passed through both
Laos and Cambodia.

Hawks and Doves
DRAFT CARD BURNING
Lyndon Johnsons
Great Society
Hey, Hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?
In January 1968, The Tet Offensive
is launched.
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops attack virtually
every large city in South Vietnam.
Dead VC inside US Embassy in Saigon
turning point of war as US public opinion
changes against US involvement in
Vietnam.
Although the Tet Offensive was a military
defeat for North Vietnam with 50, 000
soldiers killed, it became the
The Credibility Gap
The average American begins to distrust
the government.
In March of 1968,
LBJ shocks the
country
when he announces
he will not run again
for re-election.
April 4, 1968 M. L.K. Assassinated
Robert F. Kennedy enters race
for the Presidency.
Following LBJs decision not to run,
June 6, 1968 Robert Kennedy Assassinated.
Sirhan B. Sirhan
1968 Democratic National Convention
Riots break out in Chicago
YIPPIES- Youth International Party
RICHARD NIXON wins the 1968
presidential election and promises

Peace
With
Honor.
Vietnamization
Peace with Honor- Ending the Vietnam War
without a loss of American prestige.
Vietnamization- Ending Americas military
presence in Vietnam, but continuing to support
South Vietnam with money and weapons.
The Silent Majority- Nixon claimed
to have the support of most moderate
law-abiding US citizens he called the Silent
Majority.
1969- Nixon begins to secretly bomb Cambodia.
The Mylai Massacre
Lt. William Calley
April 30, 1970- Nixon announces
US troops are being sent into Cambodia.
May 4, 1970
At Kent State in Ohio violence breaks out on
National Guard troops open fire on
students protesting the expansion of
the war into Cambodia.
Four are killed and nine wounded at the
Kent State Massacre.
As the war drags on the numbers of
Prisoners of War and
Missing in Action increases.
Eventually, even some
veterans of the war come
to believe it was wrong.
Hanoi Jane
Anti-war protester, Jane Fonda in North Vietnam.
John Kerry and Jane Fonda at anti-war rally 1970
Controversy
about service
in Vietnam
even plagued
President
George
W.
Bush.
Many
people
claimed
he was
given
preferential
treatment to
join the
Texas
Air
National
Guard.
1973 The Last US Troops Leave Vietnam
1972- The Paris Peace Talks result
in an agreement to remove all American
troops from Vietnam.
One of the American POWs released
in 1973.
1975 South Vietnam Falls
1975 Saigon falls
The evacuation of the US Embassy
NVA troops enter US Embassy compound
BOAT PEOPLE
Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians
become refugees and flee to the US.
1982
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Dedicated
Washington DC
The Wall
The names
of
fifty-eight
thousand
American
soldiers who
died in
Vietnam
are inscribed
on it.