Museum Entrance
Curator
Welcome to the Cold War Museum
Now entering Years 19651977 Hall of The Cold War
Museum
Room 3
Museum
Entrance
Artifact 1: Six Day War
•
Egyptian President, Gamel Abdel Nassar, was still
angry about Egyptian defeat in the Suez-Sinai
War in 1956. His feelings caused him to gather
his allies and plan an invasion on Israel. He
ordered the removal of all United Nations troops
from areas surrounding Israel, the Sinai Peninsula,
the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and West Bank,
and replaced them with Palestinian troops. On
June 5, 1967, before Nassar had a chance to
command his troops to attack, Israel attacked
Egypt. Israel had foreseen an attack and wanted
the war on Arab soil, instead of their own. On the
first day of war, over 90% of Egyptian aircraft
were destroyed and Egyptian units in the Gaza
Strip and Sinai Peninsula were defeated.
Image acquired at:
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr. 2014.
Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 2: Space Race
USSR continued its lead in space exploration
with the first person in space, cosmonaut Yuri
Gagarin who orbited earth in Vostok 1, April 12,
1961. Less than a month later Allan Shepard
became the first American in space. That same
month, President Kennedy created the Apollo
program designed to land a person on the moon
“before the decade is out.
Image acquired at:
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr. 2014.
Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 3: Lyndon B. Johnson
Johnson’s foreign policy, of course, remains best
known for his handling of the Vietnam War.
Throughout his presidency, he remained faithful
to one basic goal: doing the minimum possible
to ensure that South Vietnam did not become a
Communist state. Unfortunately for the
President, the “minimum possible” grew to
dangerous extremes-U.S. troop totals, around
16,000 when Johnson entered the White House,
peaked at 532,000 in early 1968. Johnson’s
policies brought the United States no closer to
victory in Vietnam, but badly divided the liberal
movement at home, paving the way for his
decision not to run for reelection in 1968
Image acquired at:
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr. 2014.
Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 4: Bombing of USS
Liberty
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•
On the fourth day of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War,
the intelligence ship USS Liberty was steaming
slowly in international waters, 14 miles off the
Sinai Peninsula. Israeli armored forces were
racing deep into the Sinai in hot pursuit of the
retreating Egyptian Army
At 0800 hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon
flights flew over Liberty, which was flying a large
American flag. At 1400, waves of Israeli Mystere
and Mirage-III fighter-bombers attacked with
rockets, napalm, and cannon, concentrating on the
ship’s antennae and electronic dishes. Liberty was
left afire, listing. Eight of her crew lay dead, 100
wounded, including Commander William
McGonagle.
Image acquired at:
The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 5: Attack on South
Vietnam
On January 21, 1968, the North Vietnamese coordinated
with the Viet Cong to plan a surprise attack on the South
Vietnamese and the U.S. troops. This was the first of two
major surprise attacks. On January 21, the North
Vietnamese and the Viet Cong bombed a few important
American bases in South Vietnam. This was a total shock
to America and was a major blow to its confidence. The
North Vietnamese destroyed much of the American
artillery and supplies. However, this attack was actually a
decoy in order to distract the South for an upcoming
attack which would be much more destructive
Image acquired at:
"Vietnamese Family Tries to Escape Fighting, 1968."
Most Read. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 6: Czechoslovakia
Uprising
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•
Image acquired at:
"Alexander Dubcek." Alexander Dubcek. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
The communist party, in addition to being burdened with a
failing economy, was being toward apart by a conflict
revolving around the extent to which the liberalization should
be applied and an effort within the Slovak community for
greater autonomy.
In 1968, with their political, economic and social problems
reaching critical mass, the communist party of
Czechoslovakia replaced Novotny as Party Leader with
Alexander Dubcek. Dubcek pushed practical reforms across
the board, not only for Czechoslovakia but for the Warsaw
Pact (the Soviet answer to NATO) as well. Dubcek’s reforms
would, as he put it, put “a human face” on socialism
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Artifact 7: Siege of Khe Sahn
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After seventy-seven days under full-scale siege at
Khe Sanh, the frantically distraught American
Forces were finally able to retake a strategically
essential transportation path known as Route 9 to
end the battle. Due to this newly safe passage,
transportable American units were able to swarm
the base by June 1968 and relieve the anxious
soldiers from their defense station. After an
apprehensive battle of attrition and sacrifice of
life and nerves, United States General
Westmoreland ordered the hard fought for base of
Khe Sanh to not only be deserted but also
destroyed. This was the longest single battle
of the Vietnam war.
Image acquired at:
POLAPA STUDIOS." POLAPA STUDIOS. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 Apr. 2014
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Artifact 8: The Fall of Saigon
•
•
Neither North nor South Vietnam was to be stopped
by the words on the peace treaty, both determined
to fight to the death on the battlefield. The end came
two years later with the fall of Saigon.
The peace accords in 1973 called a ceasefire and
put in place provisions for the protection of the
freedom of South Vietnam. Additionally it provided
that if the North violated any of these agreements,
U.S. troops would return to the aid of the South
Vietnamese. Being well aware of the domestic
problems following the Watergate Scandal and
Nixon’s resignation, the North Vietnamese highly
doubted the U.S.’s final promise and drafted a two
year plan for the conquering of the South and
reuniting the country under communist control. This
assumption was confirmed when the United States
Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act in
December of 1974
Image acquired at:
"Fall of Saigon." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19
Apr. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 9: Operation Babylift
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The horrific war left terns of thousands of
children orphaned and homeless. In the final days
of the war both Catholic and Buddhist Sisters
could be seen running with armfuls of abandoned
children to boats fleeing the country.
Humanitarian groups in Vietnam urged the
American government to take action, the most
influential being Cherie Clark, the Friends of
Children of Viet Nam (FCVN) representative in
Vietnam. On April 3 President Gerald Ford
announced in a mission deemed Operation
Babylift, the U.S. military would fly 70,000
orphans out of Vietnam.
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Image acquired at:
"Operation Babylift. Mass Evacuation of Orphans from
South Vietnam. 1975. - War Photos, Famous History
Photos, World War Images, History Images." War
Photos, Famous History Photos, World War Images,
History Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Artifact 10:The Khmer Rouge
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In the 1960’s and 1970’s Cambodia was being pulled
in many different directions. They were in the middle
of a civil war and, at the same time were being drawn
into the conflict in Vietnam. Cambodia is a small
country, made up of mostly Buddhists. Prince
Sihanouk was in the middle of a military coup, and
was being overthrown by General Lon Nol, the
president of the Khmer Republic. Prince Sihanouk
eventually joined forces with a communist
organization called the Khmer Rouge. Civil war
began wreaking havoc across the country. While this
civil war was going on, the Vietnam War was
happening right next door. Americans killed over
750,000 Cambodians in the effort to destroy the
North Vietnamese. It is estimated that over 150,000
Cambodians died in the civil war, most of them
civilians.
Image acquired at:
Penh, Kevin Doyle/Phnom. "Putting the Khmer Rouge
on Trial." Time. Time Inc., 26 July 2007. Web. 22
Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 11: Jimmy Carter
•
•
He was elected President on November 2,
1976.
Jimmy Carter served as President from
January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981.
Noteworthy foreign policy accomplishments
of his administration, including the Panama
Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the
treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the
SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and
the establishment of U.S. diplomatic
relations with the People’s Republic of
China. He championed human rights
throughout the world.
Image acquired at:
"Jimmy Carter." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr.
2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Artifact 12: The Ogaden War
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In a blink of an eye, everything can change.
It happened when Mengistu Haile Mariam
was appointed to chairman of the military
and head of state of Ethiopia on February
11, 1977. Throughout the rest of Mariam’s
first year of reign, Ethiopia tried to suppress
its opponents and enemies. Maxamed Siyaad
Barre, president of Somalia, realized that
Ethiopia was having major opposition
against its own military and government,
causing a lot of confusion and warfare.
Image acquired at:
War Between Somalia and Ethiopia." War Between
Somalia and Ethiopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Hailey Nussbaum
Hailey is currently enrolled at Clear springs
high school, and is involved in the Student
United Way program. She enjoys helping
people learn from her mistakes and
teaching people new things.
Contact: Hailey Nusssbaum
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