• Late 1800’s – WWII
–
Japan controlled
Vietnam
•
After WWII: France
• Ho Chi Minh
–
Leader of the
Indochinese
Communist Party
–
Confessed Marxist

• French condemned
Uncle Ho to death in ’30
– Ho Orchestrated ind. movement from Russia and China = Communist
States
• ’41 – Ho/ Vietminh fought against the
Japanese
•
Allied Victory in WWII
= Japanese out, French back in

•
Tiger vs. Elephant
• 1950 = U.S. enters the struggle
•
Truman = $15 million in aid to help France
•
Cold War in full swing
– Stop the spread of
Communism

• Ike committed to stop the spread of
Communism
– Domino Theory: one nation falls to
Communism, nearly all nations will do the same.

• W/U.S. $, French could not take back
‘Nam
• May ’54, Battle of
Dien Bien Phu.
– Gen. Nguyen Giap lead the Vietminh
– Two month siege of the French outpost

•
May – July ’54 France,
U.S., G.B., S.U., China,
Laos, Cambodia decided on a peace agreement
•
Geneva Accords: temp. divided ‘Nam at the 17 th parallel
• Ho Chi Minh,
Communists in the
North
•
Anti-Communists in the
South

• Ngo Dinh Diem –
South Vietnam’s
President
• U.S. cancelled elections outlined in the Geneva Accords
– Knew Communists would win
• U.S. $ to Diem

•
Ike gave Diem $ and training in exchange for a stable gov in the south
– Diem failed – corrupt gov and no land to peasants
• Diem was a devout
Catholic – restricted
Buddhist practices
• Madam Nhu: “Bonz
BBQ”

• Communist opposition group = Vietcong
(Charlie)
– Assassinated Diem’s gov. officials
– Later called the National
Liberation Front (NLF)
•
Ho Chi Minh Trail
– Network of paths that started in Hanoi that went into the south
– Supplied the V.C. with supplies

• Increased $ to Diem
– Upheld “Sink or Swim.”
• Diem = Strategic Hamlet
Program
– Moving all villagers to protected areas
•
Diem = increased oppression of Buddhists
• JFK was failing like Ike
• Nov., ’63, U.S. supported coup took out the Diem regime
–
Diem executed (against
JFK’s wishes)

• JFK wanted out of
Vietnam – LBJ escalated the effort
• Did not want to be “soft” on Communism
• The South was completely unstable
• When LBJ assumed the presidency, 16,000 U.S. troops, when he left, more than 500,000

•
USS Maddox and
Turner Joy “attacked” by a Vietnamese gunboat on Aug. 2, 1964
– Unclear on whether the attack was provoked
– Gunboat sank
•
Second attack
(supposedly)

• Draft #’s are “hot” for one year
• College deferrment: 3.0 gpa
• Over 33,000 young men went to Canada
•
Drafted: 2 year obligation
•
Enlisted: 4 year obligation
– Choice of branch of defense
• Flunking Physicals
– Wear women’s underwear
–
Eat sugar cubes / salt
– Drugs
– Cut off trigger finger
– Flatten your feet

LBJ bombed the north
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Gave LBJ “all necessary measures” to repel attacks against U.S. forces in
Vietnam
Power to wage war w/o Congressional declaration

• Feb, ’65 Continual bombing of North
Vietnam
• Bombing was “cheaper and less costly in lives than ground fighting.”
•
U.S. dropped more bombs in Vietnam than in both theatres of
WWII combined
• By June, ’65 – 50,000
U.S. troops in country

Mai Lai Massacre: March 16,
1968
•
Lt. William Calley
•
200 civilians murdered
•
Creates animosity towards U.S. troops in and out of Vietnam

Nixon, 1969
•
Vietnamization:
– Process of increasing funding and training to the S.Vietnamese army in order to make them capable of fighting the NVA /
Charlie
•
Operation Menu
– Bombing of
Vietnamese and VC bases in Cambodia

August 9, 1974
•
Nixon resigns as a result of the mounting evidence that he was fully aware of the planned break-in at the Watergate
Hotel

April 29, 30 1975
•
Massive airlift of
S. Vietnamese and
American civilians out of Saigon
–
1000 Americans /
7,000 South
Vietnamese
•
Apr. 30: NVA take
Saigon ending the
15 year conflict .