The Vietnam Wars
Mr. Daniel Lazar
Lecture Outline
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Imperial Roots
On the Back of a Tiger
The Arrogance of Power
Opposition
Peace with Honor
Legacies
The Mission to Uplift and Civilize
The Mission to Uplift and Civilize
Roots of the War: La Mission Civilisature in the Age of
Imperialism
(Late 1887 – 1954)
– A foot in the door for gains in the
future (The China Market)
– French influence in Indochina
(Nam, Laos & Cambodia)
• Reform: government, education,
land and economic
• No free speech
• No self-determination nor
nationalistic sentiments
– Smatters of rebellion: Phan Boi
Chou (1867-1940)
• Reformation Society (Duy Tân
Hội)
• In 1921, Phan Boi Chou studied
Socialism and the Soviet Union in
the hope of gaining assistance
from the Soviet Union or socialist
groups.
• In 1925, French agents seized
him in Shanghai. He was
convicted of treason and spent the
rest of his life under house arrest
in Hue.
Uncle Ho and the ICP
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From 1919-1923, while living in
France, Ho Chí Minh embraced
communism
Following World War I, under the
name of Nguyễn Ái Quốc (Nguyen
the Patriot), he petitioned for
recognition of the civil rights of the
Vietnamese people in French
Indochina to the Western powers
at the Versailles peace talks, but
was ignored.
Citing the language and the spirit
of the U.S. Declaration of
Independence, Ho petitioned
Woodrow Wilson for help to
remove the French from Vietnam
and replace it with a new,
nationalist government. His
request was ignored.
Uncle Ho and the ICP
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In 1930, he was operative in establishing the Indochinese Communist Party
(ICP).
In June 1931, he was arrested in Hong Kong and incarcerated by British
police until his release in 1933. He then made his way back to the Soviet
Union, where he spent several more years recovering from tuberculosis.
In 1938, he returned to China and served as an adviser with Chinese
Communist armed forces.
In 1941, Ho returned to Vietnam to lead the Viet Minh independence
movement. He oversaw many successful military actions against the Vichy
French and Japanese occupation of Vietnam during World War II,
He was also jailed in China for many months by Chiang Kai-shek's local
authorities. After his release in 1943, he again returned to Vietnam. He was
treated for malaria and dysentery by American OSS doctors.
Following WWII, Ho repeatedly petitioned American President Harry
Truman for support for Vietnamese independence, citing the Atlantic
Charter, but Truman never responded.
Bao Dai: The Christmas Tree Falls
• Ho was able to persuade Bảo
Đại to abdicate on 25 August
1945, handing power over to
the Việt Minh — an event
which greatly enhanced Hồ's
legitimacy in the eyes of the
Vietnamese people.
• Bảo Đại was appointed
"supreme advisor" to the new
government in Hanoi, which
asserted its independence on
2 September.
• He explained his abdication in
1945 saying "I would prefer to
be a citizen of an independent
country rather than Emperor of
an enslaved one."
Victory for Ho and the Vietminh
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WWII influenced desire for self-determination
French troops arrive in 1946 (French occupy
SVN/ Ho in NVN)
Ho + Vietminh = Communism + Nationalism
Won Battle of Dien Bien Phu (5/5/54): In a battle
of inspiration versus equipment, the French
surrender. Yet the international community learns
no lessons.
Ho declared an independent Vietnam on 9/2/46
The US Reaction
France is crippled from
WWII
SEATO (1954) justifies
US involvement
Truman, with NSC-68 &
SEATO support,
provides $20 million
IKE ups the ante to $2.6
billion
The Geneva Accords (1954)
• cessation of hostilities
• No foreign involvement in
internal Indochina affairs
• 17th Parallel
• NVN/Hanoi/Ho
• SVN/Saigon/Diem
• 1956 Elections…
The New Puppet
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No Buddhists
– Diệm also used slogans such as
"Christ has gone south" and "the Virgin
Mary had departed from the North",
alleging anti-Catholic persecution
under Ho Chi Minh.
– Over 60% of northern Catholics moved
to Diệm's South Vietnam, providing him
with a source of loyal support.
No 1956 Elections
– A referendum rigged by his brother Ngo
Dinh Nhu saw Diem gain 98% of the
vote, with 133% in Saigon.
– American advisors had suggested that
he win by a lesser margin since it was
felt that he would be able to win any
fair poll against Emperor Bao Dai.
– After pressure from within the country
and the US, Diệm agreed to hold
elections in August 1959 to form a
national legislature. Newspapers were
not allowed to publish names of
independent candidates or their
policies, and political meetings
exceeding five people were prohibited.
The New Puppet
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No Land Reform
Mass Corruption
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His most trusted official was his
brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, leader of the
primary pro-Diệm Can Lao political
party, who was an opium addict and
admirer of Adolf Hitler. He modeled the
Can Lao secret police's marching style
and torture styles on Nazi designs
He also used Army of the Republic of
Vietnam personnel to work on his
timber and construction projects.
During her brother-in-law's presidency
Madame Nhu pushed for the passing of
'morality laws'. These included such
things as outlawing abortion, adultery,
divorce, contraceptives, dance halls,
beauty pageants, boxing matches, and
animal fighting, and closed down the
brothels and opium dens.
Opposition to Diem
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People's Army of
Vietnam (PAVN)
National Liberation
Front (NLF) aka The
Vietcong (VC)
Led by Ho
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Kennedy Response
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Democrats accused of
being “soft” on
communism
JFK deploys “advisors”
and “flood crews”
The Strategic Hamlet
Program

Diem Coup (11/2/63)
likely by ARVN
soldiers
Kennedy assassinated
three weeks later
The Diem Coup
• The McNamara-Taylor Report (from Retrospect)
– There are serious political tensions in Saigon. . . .
Further repressive actions by Diem and Nhu could
change the present favorable military trends. . . . It is
not clear that pressures exerted by the U.S. will move
Diem and Nhu toward moderation. . . . The prospects
that a replacement regime would be an improvement
appear to be about 50-50.
• Time Magazine 6/30/75:
– The coup against Diem was planned with the
knowledge of Dean Rusk and Averell Harriman at the
State Department, Robert S. McNamara and Roswell
Gilpatric at the Defense Department and the late
Edward R. Murrow at the U.S. Information Agency.
The Johnson Administration:
The Tonkin Gulf “Incident”
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The US was carrying out a program of covert
naval commando attacks against North Vietnam
and had been engaged in this effort since its
approval by Johnson in January 1964.
There was, in fact, fighting during the day of 4
August. But the certainty of the "second attack"
would never be so clear as the first. The initial
battle took place in daylight.
On the night of August 4, both ships thought they
had come under attack again and sent messages
reporting enemy contacts, torpedoes in the water,
and so on, while directing a good deal of fire at the
supposed adversary. This was a supposed repeat
challenge to "innocent passage"
The Johnson Administration:
The Tonkin Gulf “Incident”
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But the certainty of the "second attack" would never be so clear as the first.
The initial battle took place in daylight.. However, there was no physical
evidence at all for the August 4 attack claims. The supposed surface action
took place at night and in poor weather. But there was no wreckage, nor
bodies of dead sailors. No photographs or other physical evidence existed.
Radar and sonar sightings provided an exceedingly confusing set of data at
best.
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In Washington, at 9:43 a.m. on August 4, Secretary McNamara had another
conversation with President Johnson. Their discussion reflects McNamara's
knowledge of the intercepts where he says, referring to the U.S. destroyer
"this ship is allegedly, uh, to be attacked tonight." .McNamara and the
president went on to discuss what retaliation they could carry out for the
attack (that had not happened), including bombing targets in North Vietnam
or undertaking more 34-A maritime assaults. An hour later, when
McNamara called in the first report that the alleged attack had begun, he
was already prepared with a list of options.
The Johnson Administration:
The Tonkin Gulf “Incident”
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As a result of McNamara’s testimony, on 7 August, Congress passed a joint resolution
(H.J. RES 1145), titled the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Johnson the
authority to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without the benefit of a
declaration of war. The Resolution gave President Johnson approval "to take all necessary
steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the
Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom."
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In 2005, it was revealed in an official NSA declassified report that the Maddox first fired
warning shots on the August 2 incident and that there may have been no North Vietnamese
boats at the August 4 incident. The report said:
– It is not simply that there is a different story as to what happened; it is that no attack
happened that night. In truth, Hanoi's navy was engaged in nothing that night.
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Squadron commander James Stockdale was one of the U.S. pilots flying overhead during
the second alleged attack. Stockdale wrote in his 1984 book Love and War:
– "[I] had the best seat in the house to watch that event, and our destroyers were just
shooting at phantom targets—there were no PT boats there… There was nothing there
but black water and American fire power." Stockdale said his superiors ordered him to
keep quiet about this.”
– "There was absolutely no gunfire except our own, no PT boat wakes, not a candle light
let alone a burning ship. None could have been there and not have been seen on such
a black night."
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The history of U.S. destroyers carried on the Navy's official website no longer contains any
reference to a naval engagement having occurred on August 4.
Johnson’s War
LBJ & Operation Rolling Thunder
Four Objectives:
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To bolster the sagging morale of the
Saigon regime in the Republic of Vietnam
To convince North Vietnam to cease its support
for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam
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To destroy North Vietnam's transportation
system, industrial base, and air defenses
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To interdict the flow of men and material into
South Vietnam.
Results:
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Between March 1965 and November 1968,
aircraft of the U.S. Air Force had flown 153,784
attack sorties against North Vietnam, while the
Navy and Marine Corps had added another
152,399.On 31 December 1967, the DOD
announced that 864,000 tons of American
bombs had been dropped on North Vietnam
during Rolling Thunder, compared with 653,000
tons dropped during the entire Korean Conflict
and 503,000 tons in the Pacific theater during
the Second World War.
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The CIA estimated on 1 January 1968 that
damage inflicted in the north totaled $370
million in physical destruction, including $164
million worth of damage to capital assets (such
as factories, bridges, and power plants). The
agency also estimated that approximately 1,000
casualties had been inflicted on the North
Vietnamese population per week, or
approximately 90,000 for the 44-month period,
72,000 of whom were civilians.
United We Stand…
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Hawks
Robert MacNamara—Secretary of
Defense
Dean Rusk—Secretary of State
William Westmoreland—
Commander of ARVN forces
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Doves
John McNaughton—Assistant
Secretary of Defense
George Ball—Undersec. of State
William Fulbright—Senator on
Foreign Relations Committee
LBJ between Rusk & Mac
The Arrogance of Power
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Bombing to the
Negotiating Table
The Body Count:
the US never lost a
battle
Search and
Destroy--“destroy
the city in order to
save it”
Battle of Hearts and Minds:
Two Sides. One War
Battle of Hearts and Minds:
Agent Orange
A People’s War
US Soldier Morale
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Drugs
Fragging
Deserting
Race Relations
UUUU: the unwilling, led
by the unqualified, doing
the unnecessary for the
ungrateful
• A civil war within a civil
war left the soldiers
mystified
Living Room War: The Media Turns
The War at Home
• Living Room War & The Credibility Gap
• Working Class War (85% from lower SES)
– MLK and the “Cruel Irony”
– African-Americans as 20% of combat deaths
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Civil Rights Movement
Women’s Rights Movement
Student Movement: Tune In, Turn on, Drop Out
The Great Society? Maybe Later.
– $6 billion domestic budget cut in 1967
– Inflation rate at 6% (3 times that of 1960)
The New Left
“Peace With Honor”
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Tet Offensive--three-phase military campaign conducted between 30
January and 23 September 1968, by the combined forces of the NLF and
the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Vietnam War.
LBJ steps down…Enter Nixon (1968) to “restore law and order” and
appease The Silent Majority
Vietnamization
– gradual withdrawal and shifting power
– bombing to the Negotiating Table (troops out planes in)
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Ma Lai Massacre--he mass murder of 347 to 504 unarmed citizens in South
Vietnam, almost entirely civilians and majority of them women and children,
conducted by U.S. Army forces on March 16, 1968
58,022 vs. 1,600,000 (plus 9,000,000 refugees, plus 5,500,000 maimed and
wounded)
12/17/72 = Christmas Bombings (11 days/100,000 bombs)
3/29/73 = last US troops go home
4/30/75 = NVN takes Saigon with little resistance
Honor? The Cambodian Genocide
Legacies