Name: _______________________________ Per: ____
American Cultures 6.0, Mr. Gutsche
Chapter 29.1 Notes: Vietnam – America’s Longest War (1954-1975)
Divided Vietnam and the 1954 Geneva Accords
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Vietnam was divided at ______________________________
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________________________ became president of Communist North Vietnam
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________________________ became president of South Vietnam
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Geneva Accords called for election in 1956 to help _________________________ Vietnam
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Ho Chi Minh agreed but Ngo Dinh Diem refused to support elections, Vietnam remained divided
Early US Involvement
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_________________________ pledges to aid any nation threatened by communism
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Eisenhower sent ____________________________ to South Vietnam / 675 advisors by 1960
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By 1963, JFK sent 16,000 advisors and _________________________________
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Diem was very unpopular due to __________________________ and insistence that Buddhists follow
Catholic laws --- _____________________________by South Vietnamese military with U.S. backing
Election of 1964
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Vietnam War major focal point
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Lyndon Johnson (Democrat) called for restraint in U.S. involvement
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_____________________________________ (Republican) proposed the use of nuclear weapons
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Landslide victory for ___________________________________
LBJ and Escalation of US involvement
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__________________________________ was Secretary of Defense under both JFK and LBJ – urged US
action to prevent “loss of military, political, and commercial interests in Southeast Asia”
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North Vietnamese forces (_____________________) gain more territory and loyalty of South Vietnamese
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___________________________ – communist guerillas in the south
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__________________________________– political party members of Vietcong
LBJ decides to escalate the war (send American troops)
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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LBJ claims North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers in ________________________
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Details were very sketchy – later shown attack did not occur
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__________________________________ – Gave president authority to “take all necessary measures to
repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression”
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Gave LBJ complete control without ___________________________________________________
Battlefield Conditions
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Nearly ______________________________ Americans served in Vietnam
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Americans had superior weapons, supplies, and technology
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Many South Vietnamese seemed indifferent, many turned off by dishonest government
Although outnumbered – Vietcong had success using _____________________________
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Americans had trouble identifying ________________________
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Vietcong used ambushes, tunnels, booby traps, and mines
Air Warfare and Ground Tactics
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___________________________________- 1966 U.S. begins bombing North Vietnam with B-52 Planes
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________________________________ – herbicide used to expose Vietcong hiding places
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3 years of “continuous” bombing of North Vietnam
Later found to be very dangerous to humans
_________________________________ – jellylike substance which would burn human
Escalation by the Numbers
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After being elected in 1964 _______________________ decided to escalate war
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By the end of 1964, ___________________________ American troops were in Vietnam
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US troops in Vietnam led by General _____________________________________
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Despite escalation and bombing of ________________________ in Cambodia and Laos, war seemed to be
a stalemate
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Escalation: 385,000 troops by 1966; 485,000 troops by 1967; 536,000 troops by 1968
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War at home: ___________________(support the war) and ______________________(oppose the war)