The Vietnam War
22 Gia Long St., Saigon, 1975
Maps of French Indochina
Vietnam: Historical Background
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Vietnamese people: resisted Chinese control for a millennium,
French colonialism in the 19th and 20th century, and U.S.
power in the 20th century
French colonial policies violently uprooted Vietnamese society
Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969): “father of the Vietnamese
revolution,” helped found the French Communist Party,
worked for the Communist International in 1920s and 1930s,
organized the Vietminh (League for the Independence of
Vietnam) in World War II to resist Japanese and French
presence, proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in
1945 by quoting from the American Declaration of
Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of
Man [Source: Vietnamese Declaration of Independence]
During World War II the Vietminh worked with the Office of
Strategic Services to liberate Vietnam from the Japanese:
rescuing downed airmen and passing intelligence [Sources:
Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition, Summary and Chapter I and Advising the
Viet Minh]
The First Indochina War, 1946-1954
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1946: outbreak of French-Vietminh war after the French high
commissioner in Saigon declared the Republic of Cochinchina
a separate state, and after the breakdown of a negotiated
compromise agreement between the French and Ho Chi Minh
Eight-year guerilla war, including the 1947 French aerial
bombing with napalm (jellied gasoline mixture, incendiary
weapon), ended with decisive French defeat at Dienbienphu in
1954
Dienbienphu: General Vo Nguyen Giap defeated French
garrison with 15,000 soldiers (many elite paratroopers); major
military victory of a non-European colonial independence
movement against a modern Western occupier; Eisenhower
administration refused air strike to break the siege
By 1954 U.S. paid about three-quarters of the financial cost of
the French war against Ho Chi Minh; between 1950 and 1954
the U.S. gave $3 billion in aid to the French; U.S. sent 300
men as part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group
April 5, 1954: President Eisenhower coined “domino theory”
[Source: Domino Theory]
Eisenhower and Diem
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Military Intervention Debated: President Eisenhower vs. Sec. of State
John Foster Dulles and Vice President Richard Nixon
American Military Divided: Air Force Chief of Staff Nathan Twinning
(for atomic bomb) vs. Army Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgeway (air
power does not equal victory)
1954 Geneva Conference: temporary division of Vietnam at 17th
parallel; national elections in 1956 [Source: Geneva Conference]
After 1955: U.S. supported government of Ngo Dinh Diem even
though it had little support in South Vietnam; U.S. provided $300
million per year (mostly for South Vietnamese military) and up to
740 uniformed U.S. soldiers; Diem refused to hold elections
December 1960: National Liberation Front [NLF] (the Communist
Party’s vehicle for armed insurgency against Diem); Diem and
American officials called the NLF “Vietcong” although it was not
entirely communist. Was NLF part of civil war in South Vietnam?
[Source: NLF]
Did U.S. intervene in South Vietnam after 1954 because it had been
defeated politically at Dienbienphu?
Illusion of Nation Building: military security over economic and
political reform [Example: Lansdale Report , Lansdale to Diem,
Lansdale Bio]
Kennedy and Diem
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JFK increased U.S. support to South Vietnam: $41.1 million in
military aid in 1961; military advisors grew from 900 in 1961
to 16,700 in 1963
JFK’s Cold War Optimism: counter-insurgency [defense
against armed or unarmed rebellion] to save American troops
[Relevance: 2006 Counterinsurgency Field Manual, Crane, Counterinsurgency
Paradoxes]
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Strategic Hamlet Program (1961-64): South Vietnamese
peasants were uprooted and concentrated in fortified villages
to counter Vietcong political and military influence [Source:
Failure of Strategic Hamlet Program]
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1963 Buddhist Crisis: self-immolation of Buddhist monks to
protest Diem’s brother Ngo Dinh Nhu (head of the
government’s police and security forces)
1963 Military Coup against Diem and Nhu: South Vietnamese
killed both brothers; U.S. intelligence agents knew of plotting,
but did not warn Diem
If JFK had lived, would he have withdrawn? Not in light of his
1961 inaugural address to “bear any burden” in defense of
liberty [Sources: JFK Audio, JFK Speeches]
Malcolm W. Browne’s Photo:
Burning Buddhist Monk, Thich Quang Duc
Self-Immolation (June 11, 1963)
Malcolm W. Browne
Digital History Website
“Johnson’s War” ? A Closer Look at 1964
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LBJ as reluctant warrior: LBJ did not want war, but pledged to build
on Truman’s, Eisenhower’s, and Kennedy’s military containment
policies. LBJ in early 1964: “This country was built by pioneers with
an ax in one hand and a rifle in the other.” [Source: Gardner, 103]
LBJ as New Dealer, January1964: “I got a lotta problems. I’ve got a
brazen Communist attempt to conquer Asia on my hands. I’ve got
Negroes revolting in America … I got troubles in Central America
that the people don’t even know about. I gotta figure out how to pay
for these fucking wars and keep my commitment to feed, educate,
and care for the people of this country.” [Source: Gardner, 104]
In his mind, LBJ’s “unconditional war on poverty in America” hinged
on victory in Vietnam
Dec. 1963-July 1965: LBJ sought victory in South Vietnam and
expanded JFK’s limited commitment into an open-ended one
Aug. 1964: Gulf of Tonkin incident: LBJ argued that North
Vietnamese attacks on U.S. ships were unprovoked and widened the
war [Source: National Security Archive]
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed Congress 416-0 in House and 882 in Senate: gave LBJ a blank check for war; Democratic Senators
Wayne Morse of Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska dissented
[Sources: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Senate Debate, Norman
Solomon]
Senator J. William Fulbright, who had supported the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, later said: “I don’t normally assume a President lies to
you.”
Vietnam War Escalation, 1965-1968
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Operation Rolling Thunder: U.S. retaliatory air strikes against North
Vietnam after an NLF attack on American barracks in Pleiku (Feb. 6,
1965); between 1965-1967 U.S. dropped more tonnage of bombs
on Vietnam than the Allies dropped on Europe in World War II; only
Undersecretary of State George Ball opposed air war at the time
Land War: first two battalions of U.S. Marines deployed in March
1965; peak level in April 1969 with 543,400 soldiers in Vietnam
April 1966: for the first time, more Americans than South
Vietnamese were killed in action
Bombings probably killed a ratio of two civilians to one Vietminh;
search-and-destroy operations on the ground perhaps killed as
many as six civilians for each Vietminh
Attrition Strategy: developed by Gen. William Westmoreland, aimed
at destroying enemy forces faster than they could be replaced; Sec.
of Defense Robert McNamara’s emphasis on “body count” led to
inflated accounts and targeting of civilians [Tip: McNamara Symposium]
Casualties (1961-1973): 58,193 U.S. deaths; 635,357 South
Vietnamese (military and civilian deaths); 916,000 North Vietnamese
(military and civilian deaths)
Tet—The Turning Point 1968
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Tet: North Vietnamese surprise offensive in January 1968, hit
36 of 44 provincial cities and 100 villages, including the
American embassy in Saigon, Khe Sanh (U.S. Marine base
besieged), Ben Tre (a Pyrrhic victory—as one American officer
stated, ”it became necessary to destroy the town to save it”)
Tet: a tactical failure, yet a strategic success for Hanoi, given
its psychological impact on U.S. antiwar movement and media
Feb. 1, 1968: NBC news showed a film clip of Gen. Nguyen
Ngoc Loan, chief of South Vietnam’s national police, pointing
a gun at the head of a Vietcong lieutenant who had just
murdered a South Vietnamese colonel, his wife and their six
children; newsman John Chancellor called it “rough justice on
a Saigon street” as the general pulled the trigger; the U.S.
public was horrified
March 31, 1968: LBJ announced in a television address that
U.S. would halt the bombing, begin peace negotiations, and
that he withdrew himself as a candidate for reelection [Source:
Johnson Speeches]
Edward T. Adams’ Pulitzer Prize Photo
“Viet Cong Execution” (February 1, 1968)
Newseum
Atrocities
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Violence against civilians as intentional tactic of war
Vietcong utilized terrorism to solicit cooperation from the
Vietnamese; Vietcong guerrillas assassinated or kidnapped
thousands of local officials, priests, teachers, and other
“counterrevolutionaries”
U.S. policy of bombing with high explosives and napalm created
many civilian deaths—some accidental and some intentional
My Lai Massacre (March 16, 1968): largest single American atrocity;
U.S. Army infantry company killed 504 unresisting women, children,
and old men; officers in charge tried to cover up; only one officer,
Lieutenant William Calley, received judicial punishment [Tip: S. Hersh]
Hue Massacre (Tet Offensive, 1968): North Vietnamese Army and
Vietcong occupied Hue and executed those connected with
Americans; 2,810 bodies found in mass graves and 3,000 residents
missing
Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing
of Character (1994): “Healing from trauma depends upon
communalization of the trauma—being able to safely tell the story to
someone who is listening and who can be trusted to retell it
truthfully to others in the community.” [p. 4]
Nixon’s War, 1968-1974
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Nixon sought “peace with honor” by negotiating for peace while
escalating the war at the same time
Vietnamization: reduction of American troops in South Vietnam; by
1971 down to 139,000 (protests at home continued)
June 1971: Pentagon Papers leaked to press; secret 20-year
summary of war revealed superficiality and lack of candor in U.S.
Vietnam policy; strengthened case for ending the war
Secret Bombing of neutral Cambodia (1969-1973), naval blockade of
North Vietnam, and continued bombing of Vietnam (on average one
ton of bombs dropped each minute). Example: Linebacker II or
“Christmas Bombing” (Dec. 18-29, 1972) dropped 20,000 tons of
bombs on North Vietnam [Explore: Henry Kissinger—Hero or Villain?]
January1973: Paris Peace Accords, formal ending of American war in
Vietnam, but fighting in Vietnam continued; U.S. left CIA and military
advisers in Saigon, pulled last combat troops out of Vietnam in
March 1973, and continued bombing in Cambodia until August 1973
War Powers Act (Nov. 1973): Congress limited president’s war
powers, funded fighting only for 60 days in an undeclared war
February 1974: begin of North Vietnamese offensive against South
Vietnam
April 1975: Saigon came under North Vietnamese control and was
renamed Ho Chi Minh City—Vietnam reunified, war ended
Huynh Cong Ut’s Pulitzer Prize Photo
“Vietnam—Terror of War” (June 8, 1972)
Huynh Cong Ut
Why did the United States fail in
Vietnam?
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“Vietnam Syndrome:” American unwillingness to exercise its power
vs. military containment doctrine and domino theory
Lack of presidential support for military: General Westmoreland
criticized LBJ for moving too slowly and Nixon for conceding to 1973
ceasefire; 82% of Vietnam veterans believed they were not allowed to
win
“Limited War:” Lack of American public support for widening the war,
i.e. occupation of North Vietnam and ground war in Cambodia and
Laos
American underestimation of Vietnamese determination and
willingness to suffer casualties
U.S. put itself in a no-win situation; lack of a political base in South
Vietnam; GIs rarely spoke Vietnamese; in his 1999 memoir A Rumor
of War Philip Caputo characterized Vietnam as “a formless war
against a formless enemy”
Misuse of military power: Army War College instructor Col. Harry G.
Summers, Jr. told a Vietnamese colonel after the war, “You know, you
never defeated us on the battlefield,” to which the colonel replied,
“That may be so, but it is irrelevant.”
Recommended Readings
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David L. Anderson, ed., Facing MyLai: Moving Beyond the Massacre (1998)
David L. Anderson, The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (New York, 2002)
Dixee Bartholomew-Feis, The OSS and Ho Chi Minh: Unexpected Allies in the
War Against Japan (UP Kansas, 2006)
Fox Butterfield, “Getting it Wrong in a Photo” New York Times (April 23,
2000)
Denise Chong, The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph,
and the Vietnam War (New York, 2000)
Graham Greene, The Quiet American (1955)
Mason Drukman, Wayne Morse: A Political Biography (1997)
Lloyd Gardner, Pay Any Price: Lyndon Johnson and the Wars for Vietnam (Ivan
Dee, 1995)
George Herring, America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam,
1950-1975 , 3rd ed. (McGraw-Hill, 1996)
Seymour Hersh, My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and its Aftermath (1970)
Seymour Hersh, The Price of Power:Kissinger in the Nixon White House (1983)
Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001)
Robert D. Johnson, Ernest Gruening and the American Dissenting Tradition
(Harvard UP, 1998)
Walter LaFeber, America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-2006 (2008)
Robert McNamara, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (1997)
Jonathan Nashel, Edward Lansdale’s Cold War (University of Massachusetts
Press, 2005)
Cyma Rubin and Eric Newton, eds., The Pulitzer Prize Photographs (The
Freedom Forum Newseum, 2000)
Marilyn Young, Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 (1991)
Miller Center of Public Affairs - Vietnam War Bibliography