Vietnam War Study Materials
With Visuals
Set 2 of 2
Americanization of the War
Americans, p. 736-737; Alive! p.666
In August 1964, a US
was attacked by North Vietnamese
torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following this attack, Congress
passed the Southeast Asia Resolution which allowed President Lyndon
Johnson to conduct military operations in the region
a
declaration of war. On March 2, 1965, US aircraft began bombing
targets in Vietnam and the first troops arrived. Commanded by
General
, US troops won victories over Viet
Cong and North Vietnamese forces around Chu Lai and in the Ia Drang
Valley that summer.
U.S. soldiers spent much of their time on
patrol, seeking to engage the enemy.
They trudged through dense vegetation,
swamps, and other difficult terrain,
carrying rifles, ammunition, and packs
weighing 90 pounds or more.
The North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
supported the Viet Cong in South Vietnam
with troops and materiel. They also
supplied military training to the largely
peasant army of insurgents.
The Viet Cong
built underground
tunnels to hide
from U.S. troops
and to serve as
base camps for
their forces.
These tunnel
networks were
sometimes quite
extensive, with
many rooms and
passageways in all
directions.
The number of U.S. military
advisers in Vietnam
continued to grow in the
mid-1960s. By 1964, there
were more than twice as
many advisers in the
country as there were two
years before. The figure was
more than 30 times the
number in 1959.
Even before the United States
introduced combat troops to
Vietnam in 1965, some U.S.
soldiers were dying in the conflict.
This photograph shows war dead
returning home in 1962. As the
number of troops increased and
the death count rose, more
Americans turned against the war.
Some critics of the Vietnam
War believed that the
conflict could not be
managed successfully. This
cartoon shows President
Johnson clinging desperately
to the tail of a tiger,
representing Vietnam, as it
whips him through space.
The cartoonist is implying
that Vietnam could not be
controlled.
U.S. troop levels in
Vietnam rose rapidly after
the first soldiers arrived in
1965. Four months later,
the number of young men
drafted into the armed
forces doubled, to 35,000
a month, to meet the
demand for new soldiers.
4. Operation Rolling Thunder
Americans, p. 775; Alive! p. 664
In early 1965, the
staged an attack against a Marine
barracks that killed eight and injured over a hundred. This was called
the Pleiku Raid. President Johnson, using the
Resolution
as his authority, ordered the air force and navy forward in Operation
Rolling Thunder to
. His hope was that the Viet Cong would
realize America's resolve to win and stop it in its tracks. However, it
seemed to have the
effect. This quickly led to further
escalation as Johnson ordered more troops into the country. By 1968,
there were more than
troops committed to fighting in
Vietnam.
5. Tet Offensive
Americans, p.748, 749 ; Alive! p.677
On January 31,
, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched a
major attack on the South during Tet, or the Vietnamese
.
This was called the Tet Offensive. American forces were able to repel
and seriously injure the attackers. However, the effect of the Tet
Offensive was severe at
. Critics of the war increased and
against the war began to occur across the country.
In 1968, during the Tet holiday, Viet Cong
and NVA soldiers launched a major
offensive across South Vietnam. Key
battles took place in and around Hue and
Saigon. Viet Cong guerrillas did most of
the fighting and suffered most of the
casualties. Some were also captured. In
fact, after Tet, the NVA had to handle most
of the combat in the war.
The Tet Offensive
Americans, p. 748-749; Alive! p. 677-678
Following these defeats, the North Vietnamese
fighting
conventional battles and focused on engaging US troops in small unit
actions in the sweltering jungles of South Vietnam. In January 1968,
the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched the massive Tet
Offensive. Beginning with an assault on US Marines at
, the
offensive included attacks by the Viet Cong on cities throughout South
Vietnam. Though the North Vietnamese were beaten back with heavy
, Tet shook the confidence of the
people and
media who had thought the war was going well.
The Tet Offensive had a major impact on
American views of the Johnson
presidency and the Vietnam War. Public
opinion polls taken after Tet showed that
many Americans had lost faith in the
president and his handling of the war.
6. Opposition at Home
Americans, p.742-744; Alive! p.684-685
The Vietnam War caused a great
among the American
population. Further, as news of the
became widespread,
opposition to the war greatly increased. Many college students fought
against the war through campus demonstrations. The most tragic of
these demonstrations occurred on May 4, 1970 at
University in Ohio. Four students staging a protest demonstration
were killed by national guardsmen. Antiwar sentiment also arose in
the
which further fed the demonstrations and protests. Many
of the popular
of the time were written in protest to the war
such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and "Blowing in the
Wind."
Violence erupted at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in
Chicago. The police attacked antiwar protesters, and the
protesters fought back. During a violent clash on August 28,
some 100 demonstrators were injured while 175 were arrested.
Ch. 52 - Facing Frustration in Vietnam
•
The United States decided to wage a limited war in Vietnam, with limited troop strength.
Fighting an elusive enemy on unfamiliar terrain frustrated U.S. soldiers. The South Vietnamese
people themselves were unsure whom to support: the Saigon government or the communistbacked Viet Cong. As the war dragged on, American antiwar protests grew. Opposition to the
war greatly affected the 1968 elections.
•
War of attrition The U.S. military waged a war of attrition, hoping to wear down the enemy by
inflicting heavy losses. Increasing the enemy body count became a key military goal.
Opposing Vietnamese armies Regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) joined forces
with Viet Cong insurgents. The United States trained the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)
to defend South Vietnam.
New weapons of war The United States sprayed the herbicide Agent Orange to clear forest
vegetation and expose the enemy. It dropped napalm firebombs that burned forests and
buildings and caused widespread destruction. Both weapons had devastating effects on the
Vietnamese population.
Credibility gap The Johnson administration’s optimistic public assessments of the war did not
match reality. This created a credibility gap, and many Americans lost faith in the president.
Protest movement Antiwar protesters on college campuses and elsewhere held demonstrations
and carried out acts of civil disobedience. The protesters called for peace negotiations and an
end to the war.
Tet Offensive Some 45,000 Viet Cong and NVA soldiers died after launching a major offensive in
1968. But the Tet Offensive also boosted U.S. opposition to the war and undermined the Johnson
presidency, helping to pave the way for Richard Nixon’s election in 1968.
•
•
•
•
•
Vietnamization
Americans, p. 755; Alive! p. 682
As a result of Tet, President Lyndon Johnson opted not to run for
and was succeeded by Richard Nixon. Nixon's plan for
ending US involvement was to build up the
so that they could
fight the war themselves. As this process of “Vietnamization” began,
US troops started to return home. The
of the government
that had begun after Tet worsened with the release of news about US
soldiers massacring civilians at
(1969), the invasion of
(1970), and the leaking of the
(1971).
In March 1969, he had
secretly ordered B-52s to
begin bombing Cambodia, a
neutral nation on Vietnam’s
In the My Lai massacre, U.S. troops
slaughtered hundreds of Vietnamese civilians. western border. For the next
four years, U.S. bombers
Twenty or so officers were later charged with
crimes, but only the unit leader, Lieutenant would strike communist base
William Calley, was found guilty. He received a camps and supply lines in
life sentence but won parole after serving
Cambodia.
three and a half years.
With Vietnamization, U.S.
ground forces began focusing
more on intercepting
supplies from the north and
less on fighting guerrillas in
the south. Nixon also decided
to give those ground forces
another mission. In April
1970, he ordered U.S. troops
to invade Cambodia.
Escalation of the Vietnam War prompted renewed protests across
the nation. These protesters in Des Moines, Iowa, are calling for
U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. Their posters also indicate a link
between antiwar protests and the civil rights movement.
In May 1970, construction workers staged various pro-war
rallies in New York City. On May 20, more than 100,000 workers
marched through the streets. They carried American flags and
voiced their support for President Nixon and the Vietnam War.
U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fell
dramatically under President
Nixon. In place of U.S. soldiers,
ARVN forces took up the battle
against the insurgents. Better
training programs and equipment
helped, but low morale and poor
leadership continued to hinder the
South Vietnamese military.
Airpower played a huge role in the
Vietnam War. By the war’s end, the
United States had dropped nearly 8
million tons of bombs. This was
more than three times the tonnage
it had dropped in World War II.
Partly as a result of this massive
bombing, more than 2 million
Vietnamese died in the war.
7. Pentagon Papers
Americans, p. 757; Alive! p. 685
In June 1971, the New York Times published leaked
Defense
Department documents known as the Pentagon Papers. These
documents showed that the government had
in public statements
about how the military involvement and progress of the war in
Vietnam. This confirmed the worst fears of the anti-war movement. It
also increased the amount of public outcry against the war. By 1971,
over 2/3 of the American population wanted President
to order troop withdrawals from Vietnam.
8. Paris Peace Accords
Americans, p. 752-759; Alive! p.682
During most of 1972, President Richard Nixon sent Henry
to
negotiate a ceasefire with the North Vietnamese. A temporary
ceasefire was completed in October 1972 which helped secure Nixon's
reelection as president. By January 27, 1973, America and North
Vietnam signed the
Accords which ended the war. This
included the immediate release of American prisoners and the
withdrawal of troops from Vietnam within 60 days. The Accords were
to include the end of hostilities in Vietnam. However, soon after
America left the country, fighting broke out again eventually resulting
in victory for the
Vietnamese in 1975. There were over ,000
American deaths in Vietnam and more than 150,000
.
End of the War and the Fall of Saigon
Americans, p. 754; Alive! p. 688
The withdrawal of US troops continued and more responsibility was
passed to the ARVN, which continued to prove
in combat,
often relying on American support to stave off defeat. On January 27,
1973, a
accord was signed in Paris ending the conflict. By March
of that year, American combat troops had left the country. After a
brief period of peace, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities in late
1974. Pushing through ARVN forces with ease, they captured the
on April 30, 1975, forcing South Vietnam’s surrender and
reuniting the country.
Many South Vietnamese tried to flee Saigon
during the evacuation of April 29, 1975.
Here, evacuees board a helicopter perched
on a Saigon rooftop. Many others were
unable to escape. Several hundred people
were left at the U.S. embassy, for example,
waiting for helicopters that never arrived.
As South Vietnam fell to the communists
in 1975, the United States tried to
evacuate South Vietnamese who had
worked for the U.S. government. Here,
personnel on a U.S. aircraft carrier push
a helicopter overboard to make room
for more evacuation flights.
After the communist victory in Vietnam, many South
Vietnamese sought to escape communism by fleeing the
country. Half a million left in boats. More than 50,000 boat
people died at sea. The rest found refuge in other countries
or returned to Vietnam.
Casualties
Americans, p. 759
; Alive! p. 689
United States:
killed,
wounded, 1,948
Vietnam 230,000 killed and 1,169,763 wounded (estimated)
North Vietnam
killed in action (estimated) and an unknown
number of wounded
The Vietnam Veterans
Memorial attracts more
than 4 million visitors a
year. Jan Scruggs, a
veteran who worked hard
to get the memorial built,
said he hoped it would
remind visitors that the
cost of war “has to be paid
in human lives.”
Ch. 53 - Getting Out of Vietnam
In 1969, President Nixon began withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam, but the war continued
throughout his time in office. He carried on peace talks with the North Vietnamese but also
ordered massive bombing of North Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. He faced ongoing protests
from the antiwar movement and criticism from Congress. In 1973, the last U.S. combat forces
came home. North Vietnam swept to victory over the South in 1975.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vietnamization Nixon’s Vietnamization of the war allowed for the withdrawal of U.S. troops
and prepared South Vietnam to take over responsibility for the war.
My Lai massacre In 1968, U.S. soldiers slaughtered hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in the
village of My Lai. Reports of the massacre shocked Americans and increased antiwar protests.
Kent State shootings The invasion of Cambodia in April 1970 sparked an increase in antiwar
protests. The most violent one occurred the following month at Kent State University in Ohio,
where National Guard troops fired into an angry crowd, killing four students.
War Powers Resolution Congress reacted to Nixon’s activities in Cambodia by passing the
War Powers Resolution. This resolution limits a president’s ability to send armed forces into
combat.
Pentagon Papers In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg leaked to the press a top-secret study of the U.S.
role in Indochina. This study, the Pentagon Papers, revealed secrecy and deceit on the part of
U.S. presidents.
Boat people The North Vietnamese defeated South Vietnam and took control in 1975. This
prompted an exodus of refugees from Indochina, many of whom fled by boat.