The Vietnam War
Learning Targets
• Explain how the U.S. got involved in the
Vietnam War.
• Compare and contrast the U.S. and
NVA/Vietcong strategies.
• Predict the effectiveness of each plan.
A Soldier’s Experience
A Soldier’s
Experience
Defoliation-agent-spraying.jpg.url
1954: Geneva Accords--1954
 Vietnam divided when French left
 North Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh & communist
 South Vietnam - Ngo Dinh Diem & anti-
communist
Ho Chi Minh
Divided at 17th parallel
Ngo Dinh Diem
Growing Problems
1. Diem’s leadership
 Refused election
 Persecuted Buddhists
 Overthrown and followed by unstable gov’ts
Growing Problems
2. Growth of the Vietcong (VC)
 communist guerillas in S.Vietnam
 strategic hamlet plan (move villagers) failed
•80% of countryside supported
Vietcong
Whiteboard Moment!
• If you lived in South Vietnam, would you
have joined the Vietcong? Why or why
not?
U.S. Aids South
 Eisenhower sent aid b/c of domino theory
 1961: JFK follows with “military advisors”
By 1963, 16,000
American troops are
training in South
Vietnam
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
 August 2, 1964:
U.S. destroyer
Maddox “attacked”
in Gulf of Tonkin
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
 Congress gave Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) war
powers
Senate Vote: 88 to 2
“to take all necessary
steps, including the use
of armed force…”
Whiteboard Moment
• In your opinion, should the U.S. have
involved themselves in the conflict?
Explain.
NVA/Viet Cong Tactics
• Guerilla warfare (booby traps, tunnel
system)
• Ho Chi Minh Trail (transport supplies)
American Escalation
 General William Westmoreland, U.S. Commander
 1968: 538, 000 U.S. troops
Operation Rolling Thunder
 Bombing raids of North Vietnam and Ho Chi
Minh Trail
643,000 tons of bombs
5 times Hiroshima
3 years
Air Force Chief of Staff
Lemey about bombing
them “back to the stone
Age.”
Ground War
 Search and Destroy Missions: seek VC and
destroyed villages
 Jungle warfare, so defoliants used (Agent
Orange/Napalm)
Whiteboard Time !!
• Describe the U.S. fighting tactics in one
word. Defend your choice.
Khe Sanh
• Wanted info on Ho Chi Minh Trail
• 40,000 NVA vs. 5,600 U.S. for over 2 mths.
• U.S. win,
shows NVA
resolve
Tet Offensive
 Massive attack by North on Vietnamese New Year
 Military victory for South/U.S.
 Morale victory for North
100 towns and cities
Attacked; 12 air bases
attacked
42,000Vietcong casualties
Final Reflection
• Read “Vietnam War.”
• Using information from your reading and
notes, write as much as you can
remember abut the Vietnam War.
• DO NOT look at your notes or the
reading.