VIETNAM
Vietnam
• The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam
from 1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the
National Liberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United
States forces and the South Vietnamese army.
• The Vietnam War was the longest military conflict in U.S.
history.
• The hostilities in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia claimed the
lives of more than 58,000 Americans. Another 304,000 were
wounded.
• Approximately 3 to 4 million Vietnamese on both sides were
killed, in addition to another 1.5 to 2 million Laos and
Cambodians who were drawn into the war.
Vietnam
•
From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence
from France during the First Indochina War.
•
At the end of this war, at the International Conf. in Geneva, the country
was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam.(17 th parallel)
•
North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had
opposed France and who aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule.
Leader was Ho Chi Minh
•
The South was controlled by Vietnamese who had collaborated with the
French. Leader was Ngo Dinh Diem
•
A communist uprising broke out in 1957, which was supported by Soviet
Union and China
•
The USA supported the south and sent military aid and advisors as early
as 1960. The US sent troops in 1965 to prevent the South Vietnamese
government from collapsing.
•
However, this initiative failed.
•
In 1975, it came under communist rule.
•
In 1976, the country officially became the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam.
Vietnam
• On December 20, 1960, the northern Communist Party formed
the National Liberation Front (NLF), with the ultimate goal
of reunifying the country. In response, U.S. President John
F. Kennedy began supplying military equipment and advisors
in 1960.
• Matters escalated when North Vietnam launched an attack
against the U.S.S. Maddox, one of two American ships on
call in the Gulf of Tonkin, on August 2, 1964.
• It was reported that there was another attack on the Maddox
and the USS Turner Joy on August 4th.
• Pres. Johnson ordered a retaliatory attack on August 5th.
(Taken from the Maddox on Aug. 2)
Tonkin Resolution
• In response, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, which allowed Johnson to send as much military
force as necessary without a formal declaration of war.
• Despite hopes for a limited, "controlled" war, the conflict
would drag itself out for another decade.
• New information came out that there was no actual attack on
Aug. 4th, however it was used to escalate the fighting into a
long and costly war.
• Despite superior U.S. firepower and technology, the North
Vietnamese forces were successful in fighting a protracted,
guerilla-style conflict.
Operation Rolling Thunder
• Operation Rolling Thunder was the name given to the
military’s unceasing bombing of North Vietnam,
which started in 1965 and ended in 1968.
• The campaign was only to last eight weeks.
• It was primarily a campaign to show America’s
supremacy in the air.
• It was also done to demoralize and undermine the
North Vietnamese government. However, this attempt
failed.
Tet Offensive
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•
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The Tet Offensive was a series of planned, surprise attacks by the
Vietcong and NVA on many cities and towns in South Vietnam. It was
considered the turning point of the war.
It started on the first day of the Lunar New Year (Tet),January 31,
1968, which was an important holiday for Vietnam.
A number of targets were high profile, such as the presidential
palace, airport, ARVN headquarters and the US embassy.
It took time for the ARVN and US forces to recoup and took about a
week to get back all the territory. It took one month to take back
the city of Hue, which was devastated.
Although the ARVN and US forces took back all of the territory, it
was considered a huge blow to the US. It was a political and
psychological victory for the NVA and contradicted the claim of the
US that the war was coming to an end.
• This was the first
helicopter war.
• Troops could be rapidly
moved to anywhere in the
country, ensuring that the
amount of combat seen by
soldiers during a year’s
tour was far higher than
during World War II.
• This is a picture of US
Army helicopters pouring
machine gun fire into the
tree line during an attack
on a Viet Cong camp near
the Cambodian border.
Cambodian Incursion
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Prince Norodom Sihanouk wanted to
keep the war out of his country.
He allowed the North Vietnamese to
use a port for Russian supplies
and the borders to wage attacks
against the US and SVA in the
south and return to base their
camps.
These attacks were committed
without repercussions. It was
frowned upon to cross
international borders to wage war,
which was why the US could not
retaliate.
In 1969, Nixon looked past
international policy and ordered
an invasion into Cambodia to take
out the NLF.
Although it interrupted operations
for awhile, it had no long term
benefits.
The Draft
• The Selective Service was signed into effect in 1940 to supplement the
armed forces numbers.
• Between 1948 and 1973, it was used during times of peace and conflict.
• Men had to register with their draft board. During the Vietnam War,
birthdays were picked and assigned numbers from one to 366, which
determined when those people were called for duty.
• In 1973, the draft ended and the US military turned to an all volunteer
military
The Draft
• Deferments: Those that went to college and
graduate school were exempt from the draft.
• This caused a definite dichotomy between those who
could afford college and avoid being drafted with
those who could not afford college and were
drafted as soon as they graduated high school and
turned 18.
• In 1968, the war was seeing the most casualties.
Because of this, the government needed more men
and discontinued deferments for those going to
graduate school.
Vietnam Troop Levels
Source: Congressional Quarterlies
1960
900
1961
3,200
1962
11,300
1963
16,300
1964
23,300
1965
184,300
1966
385,300
1967
485,600
1968
536,100
1969
475,200
1970
334,600
1971
156,800
1972
24,200
By 1972, an estimated 70,000 draft
evaders
and deserters were living in Canada
Jan 1
Jan 2
Jan 3
Jan 4
Jan 5
Jan 6
Jan 7
Jan 8
Jan 9
Jan 10
Jan 11
Jan 12
Jan 13
Jan 14
305
159
251
215
101
224
306
199
194
325
329
221
318
238
Sample draft
picks
Feb 1 86
Feb 2 144
Feb 3 297
Feb 4 210
Feb 5 214
Feb 6 347
Feb 7 91
Feb 8 181
Feb 9 338
Feb 10 216
Feb 11 150
Feb 12 68
Feb 13 152
Feb 14 4
Mar 1
Mar 2
Mar 3
Mar 4
Mar 5
Mar 6
Mar 7
Mar 8
Mar 9
Mar 10
Mar 11
Mar 12
Mar 13
Mar 14
108
29
267
275
293
139
122
213
317
323
136
300
259
354
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As American service members fought in Vietnam, a different kind of
war was taking place for American citizens back home.
•
The struggle was between the American people and their opposition to
the fighting in Vietnam and the American presidents (beginning with
J.F.K.) determination to stop the spread of communism.
Incidents, such as the police riot in Chicago during the 1968
Democratic National Convention, became more common, and even became
tragic with the shootings of Kent State University student
protestors in 1970.
•
Anti war demonstrations
• Massive demonstrations are held throughout the US against the war.
• Many burned their draft cards or left
the US and went to Canada.
»
»
Protestors in Central Park, NY, burn 200 draft cards.
Propaganda
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Leaflets were dropped from US aircraft into the Vietnamese countryside to try and persuade local
villagers to support the war against the VC and NVA.
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The NVA also used propaganda to try and hurt the morale of
the US troops
Hanoi Hilton or Hao Lo Prison
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A total of 771 Americans were captured and interned during the Vietnam War.
Of those, 113 died in captivity and 658, or 85 percent, were returned to US
authorities.
472 were tortured and imprisoned in North Vietnam, some longer than eight
years, 263 in the South Vietnam jungle POW camps for as long as nine years,
31 in Laos, 31 in Cambodia and 5 in China (two of whom were held for over
19 years under sub-human conditions).
The NV pretended to the world that the prisoners were receiving decent
treatment and released film footage and pictures as propaganda for the
western world.
POWs
•
In 1967, the propaganda war continued as USAF Lt. Col. James Hughes was
paraded through Hanoi visibly injured the day after his capture. Such
scenes backfired, resulting in international revulsion at the prisoners'
mistreatment.
•
American POWs in the Vietnam War endured the longest captivity of any group
of US wartime prisoners. One of them was Navy Lt. Paul Galanti, shown here
in an East German propaganda film, sitting under a sign that reads "Clean.
Neat."
In this picture by Huynh Thanh My, a Viet Cong suspect, undergoes
interrogation by South Vietnamese soldiers in the Mekong Delta. The enemy
was not the traditional soldier. The Viet Cong and their sympathizers were
fanatical , and included any age or gender. They wore the same clothes and
were difficult to impossible to distinguish from supporters. Many soldiers
were killed by
booby traps that
were all over South
Vietnam.
My Lai Massacre
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This became one of the most infamous incidents of the war.
On March 16,1968, three platoons from Charlie Company were dropped
by helicopter in the area of My Lai village. They were told that
there was NLF activity in the area and were on a search and
destroy mission.
Soldiers from 1 Platoon went through the village and began
shooting at the villagers who were children, women and elderly.
Although there is no accurate number, it is reported that there
were 300-500 villagers killed out of 700 people.
It became public knowledge on November, 1969 when a soldier
admitted on tv that he killed a number of people there.
Even though there were several soldiers that were charged, only
Lt. William Calley was convicted to life imprisonment.
He stated that he was following orders and was told that everyone
there was either VC or VC sympathizers/helpers.
Ho Chi Minh Trail
• The Ho Chi Minh Trail was not just one trail but a series of
trails. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North
Vietnamese as a route for its troops to get into the South.
They also used the trail as a supply route – for weapons,
food and equipment. In total it was about 1,000 kilometers
in length.
• It ran along the Laos/Cambodia and Vietnam borders and was
dominated by jungles.
• Due to the intense jungle cover, it was difficult to find
the enemy. The US used defoliants, like Agent Orange, to
try and destroy as much jungle as possible. However, it was
too huge a task.
• These defoliants were said to have caused cancer in many of
those soldiers and civilians that were exposed to it.
End of the war
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President Nixon made the decision to begin withdrawing
troops in the hopes that the South Vietnamese would be
able to take control of the fighting.
He began to withdraw troops starting in June, 1969. He
thought he could pull out the troops and provide aid to
the SVA to resist the NV.
By 1975, the last of the troops were withdrawn.
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was far enough
south that it did not see much military action.
Two days prior to the fall, 8,000 people were evacuated
from the US embassy by helicopters. It was a difficult
maneuver due to the landscape, however the airport was
not an option due to the proximity of the NVA.
On April 30,1975 soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army entered Saigon, in the
south of Vietnam, capturing the presidential palace and assuming control of the
country. The last remaining American military scrambled to safety from their
embassy roof. They renamed it Ho Chi Minh City and united the country under
communist rule.
Many of those who worked closely with the US feared for their lives, but many
more flooded the streets to see the tanks take up their positions.
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The Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers was a secret study ordered by
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. This 7.000
page document contained all the decision making
policies, memorandums, etc. that pertained to the
Vietnam War, dating back to Pres. Eisenhower.
It was leaked to the NY Times by Daniel Ellsberg,
who was once an aide in the White House.
It detailed many lies and deceptions by the
government regarding the war, including the Gulf
of Tonkin incident. It fueled growing opposition
to the war.
Because of the leak, Nixon went to court to stop
the paper from publishing it. The Supreme Court
ruled against the government stating it was
against the First Amendment.
Nixon ordered that Ellsberg’s reputation be
smeared. His aides broke into Ellsberg’s
psychiatrist’s office for material to make him
look bad. This lead to the Watergate incident
and the eventual resignation of Nixon.
Images
• The Vietnam War was the first war that
was brought into the living rooms of the
American public by the news media. Due
to the graphic pictures the television crews
sent back and the sensationalism of the
reporting, the public was negatively
influenced to oppose the war. Some of the
images and footage were staged for more
dramatic stories.
• In 1973 photographer Chick Harrity
snapped one of the Vietnam War's most
memorable images. It showed a baby girl,
named Tran Thie Het Nhanny, lying in a
cardboard box next to her brother, who
begged on the streets of Saigon. (She now
lives in Canada)
Perhaps the most recognized picture from the war is
this by Eddie Adams. It shows the South
Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing
a Viet Cong officer with a single shot to the head.
Photographs do not tell the whole truth, however.
The prisoner had just killed at least eight people,
which is what led Gen Loan to carry out the
execution.
The image was to change the public perception of
the war and haunted Gen Loan until his death.
From a journalist’s perspective, especially a photo-journalist, the war in Vietnam
was unique. With virtually unrestricted access to the battle fields many
photographers came to depict war in a way never seen before or since.
Despite the technology, this was a guerrilla war with much of the fighting at close
quarters, allowing intense moments to be recorded on film.
This meant risk;
over 135
photographers
from all sides
are recorded as
dead or missing.
Here AP
photographer
Huynh Thanh My
covers a
Vietnamese
battalion pinned
down in a
Mekong Delta
rice paddy,
about a month
before he was
killed in combat
on October 10,
1965.
Chris Noel. Truly an amazing young lady.
Christmas Noel (her real name) was a model,
actress and later a radio announcer for Armed
Forces Radio ("Good Morning Vietnam").
Because of her sexy voice and looks she became an
instant hit with the troops. She spent four years in
Vietnam visiting bases and hospitals. Her helicopter
was shot down twice and the Viet Cong had a
bounty on her head.
This photo was taken in 1967 as she was visiting
wounded troops at the 82nd Evacuation Hospital in
Qui Nhon. She is literally wearing one of the first
miniskirts ever in Vietnam.
Prior to going to Vietnam she was cast in several
movies including one with Elvis Presley.
Unfortunately, because of her association with the
troop visits in Vietnam some of the movie studios
blacklisted her due to the growing antiwar feeling in
the United States. After she returned from Vietnam
she had great difficulty getting work.
Because of some of the ugly things she witnessed
on her visits to combat areas she suffered from
delayed stress syndrome. Many Viet vets consider
her a combat veteran.
Terms
• ARVN- Army of the Republic of Vietnam/The South Vietnamese Army
• Viet Cong- Vietnamese rebel forces sponsored by the North Vietnamese
Army/NVA and the South Vietnamese Liberation Army
• Charlie- another name for the Viet cong
• Cu Chi Tunnels - The Cu Chi tunnel complex was an underground Viet Cong
fortress that at its peak covered 250 kilometers from the Cambodian
border to the outskirts of Saigon. Dug by hand, the tunnels connected VC
controlled areas and contained weapon stores, first aid centers, bomb
shelters, kitchens and sleeping quarters.
• Tunnel Rats -Name given to the volunteer soldiers who explored the Viet
Cong / NVA underground tunnel and bunker complexes. Tunnel rats were
typically small in stature and were often only armed with a pistol and a
flashlight.
• Ho Chi Minh- leader of the North Vietnamese Army
• Grunt- name for a soldier
Vietnam poetry
VIETNAM THESIS
Some of us were warriors
and some of us were cowards.
Some of us fought for glory
and others for survival.
Some of us knew the reasons;
but most of us knew better.
Some of us were there by choice;
but most of us by decree.
The seasoned ones had known why,
but the young ones never would.
After a while we all knew it really didn’t matter.
All of us became kindred;
a handful far less than that.
And the ones who had it worst
was every last one of us!
Although every one of us
was always too scared to know.
Too
and
Too
too
Too
and
many feel guilt and shame,
too few pride and honor.
many fought too bravely;
few had the sense to run.
few made it home alive,
too many never did.
For
and
Yet
Our
But
the
duty was our thesis
patriotism our code.
all of us knew the price
service was called to pay.
no one knew the reqards
home front waited to serve.
They declared it on the news
and at every stateside port:
We were killers and butchers
and not the sons of freedom.
So we were greeted with scorn
and showered with apathy.
Yet despite the passing years
and the revisions of time,
We all had two enemies
and they came f rom either side.
Although the one should have known
which side all of us were on.
Patrick P. Stafford
War of Vietnam
One day a man was sent to a place called Vietnam
Had gotten the call from uncle Sam
He told his wife and kids don't worry I'll be back
stuffed all his clothes in an old torn sack
As he boarded the plane to go to war
he had no Idea what in the hell he was fighting for
as he got to his platoon #113
Dense jungle was all that he had seen
And to that young boy war was just a game
But after the first year, he could hardly remember his name
After seven years of fighting
He'd seen all his buddies die
He just sat down in the Jungle
and began to cry
They walked day and night, wherever they could roam
Then one day they got the call, that they were going home
He told them he'd been in Vietnam, they asked what for
Nobody cared that he had been at war
As he got older, looked at his past and sighed
At the age of eighty that once young man died
Eight years of fighting was all the he could bare
And when he returned home, realized his own country didn't care
Jay Nemeth
Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.c.
• 58,209 names honoring the U.S. servicemen and women who
died, are POWs or are missing in the Vietnam War
•
Names with a diamond are confirmed dead, and a name with a cross indicates the
person is either missing in action (MIA) or was a prisoner of war (POW) and not
accounted for to date.
• He was born in Minnesota in 1946. His father was on the
library board of his town and his mother was an elementary
school teacher, which he said influenced his love of reading and
writing. He wrote his first story at the age of 10.
• He went to college, majored in political science and graduated
in 1968. While he was in college, he turned against the war
and participated in some minor anti-war protests. Two weeks
after graduation, he received his draft notice.
• He had intended to go to graduate school, but went to Vietnam
instead. He felt it was his patriotic duty, even though he hated
the war. He served a 13 month duty, during which he earned a
Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge.
• After the service, he went to graduate school, worked as a
journalist at the Washington Post and wrote about his
experiences in Vietnam.
Make love not war
Hanoi Jane aka Jane Fonda
with the Viet Cong
Naplam