The Vietnam War:
War in Southeast Asia
Section 20.1
Today’s Agenda
• Presentations (up to day 13)
• 20.1 slide show
• Complete Crossword Puzzle (I’ll go
over it quickly tomorrow)
• Homework
• Test on Chapter 18 and 19 Wednesday
What words would you use to describe
America’s role in WWII?
What words describe the Vietnam
War? Watch the following video
clips and make a list of at least 10
words to describe it.
What words describe the Vietnam War?
At the end of this lesson, you should be
able to answer the following:
• Where is Vietnam?
• How did we get involved in the Vietnam
War in the first place?
• Why did we get involved?
• What was it like to be an American/North
Vietnamese soldier?
• What were the battle tactics?
Describe Vietnam after WWII.
• A French Colony
– Rich in natural resources
• War torn
– Japanese occupation ended
– Americans and Vietminh fought
together
• Led by Ho Chi Minh
– Used words of Declaration of
Independence to declare
Vietnamese independence
• War of Independence
– “If ever the tiger pauses the
elephant will impale him on his
mighty tusks. But the tiger will not
pause and the elephant will die of
exhaustion and loss of blood.”
Why did the US decide to support the
French in their war with Mihn?
• Cold War
– Containment
– Afraid of losing France
as ally
• Domino Theory
– China fell and like a
domino others would
become communist if
not contained
Why was Vietnam divided in 1954?
Dien Bien Phu (1954)
Why was Vietnam divided in 1954?
• French defeated at Dien Bien
Phu
• Geneva peace agreement
called for a temporary
division along 17th parallel
– Vietminh controlled North
– French in South
• Elections in 1956 to decide
who would lead reunified
country
• Eisenhower believed South
would vote communist
– Refused to sign agreement
Describe the rule of South Vietnam under
Ngo Dinh Diem.
• Wealthy landowners
controlled nation, poor
peasants lived in poverty
• Diem
– Anticommunist/Dictator
• Strongly supported by
US
– Gave him $1 billion in aid
(1954-61)
• Spent 80% on military,
little on helping poor
• Rigged votes to make US
think he was popular
What was the National Liberation Front?
• Coalition of Vietminh and other
anti Diem groups
• Better known as Vietcong
– Communists
• Promised peasants
economic reform,
reunification with N.
Vietnam
– Terrorist
• Assassinated 2 thousand
officials
• Gradually supported by Ho Chi
Minh, China, and Russia
Describe JFK’s Vietnam policy.
• Expanded Eisenhower’s
policy
• Sent South Vietnamese
military equipment and
advisers (16 thousand)
• Pressured Diem to make
political and economic
reforms
• Supported overthrow of
Diem after finding out about
his brutal repression of
Buddhist monks
– Monk set himself on fire in
protest
• Diem assassinated during
coup d’ etat
Click to see
Madam
Nhu’s
Response
Gulf of Tonkin Presentation
What is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
• Congressional act which
allowed LBJ to greatly
expand US involvement in
Vietnam
• Signed under pretext that N.
Vietnamese gunboats had
fired on US destroyer
unprovoked
• “take all necessary
measures to repel any armed
attack …”
• LBJ withheld evidence
– Ship not attacked
– Destroyers were sending
S. Vietnamese on
commando raids
Click to see McNamara's Response
USS Maddox
Gulf of Tonkin
What was operation Rolling Thunder?
What was operation Rolling Thunder and
why is it important?
• Massive US bombing
campaign against N. Vietnam
– Roads, bases, supply
lines hit
• Ho Chi Minh Trail targeted
– Supply line from N.
Vietnam, through Laos,
Cambodia
• Significance
• N. Vietnam suffered heavy
loses yet kept fighting
• LBJ decided to sent
hundreds of thousands of
troops
Why was the US optimistic about winning
the war?
• Much more powerful
military arsenal
– Air power
– Believed it could break
Vietcong’s will to fight
• Measured success by
body-counts, not territory
• “You can kill ten of my
men for every one I kill of
yours, but even at those
odds, you will lose…”
– Ho Chi Minh
Unconventional Warfare
How did the US fight the war?
• Air War
– Over 100 thousand raids in 1967
– B52
– Limited success
• Vietcong dug 30 thousand miles
of underground tunnels (supply
routes)
• Ground War
– “search and destroy” missions
– Jungle patrols
– Heat, mosquitoes, leeches, snakes
– Carried 50-70 lbs of equipment
• “Hearts and Minds”
– Provided medical care, farming
advice
– Development projects
“They were fighting for home.”
How did the VC respond?
• Vietcong
– Guerilla warfare
– Avoided open
battles
– Ambushes, hit and
run raids
– Booby traps
(Bouncing Betty)
• Advantages over US
– Knew the country
– Were Vietnamese
(nationalism)
“Can I survive?”
Describe the American soldier fighting
in Vietnam.
• Average Age
– Between 19-22 years old
– According to text
• Over 9 Million military personnel served on
active duty during the official Vietnam era from
August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975.
• 58,148 were killed in Vietnam
• Some uncertain of war’s purpose
• Terrified
– The average infantryman in Vietnam saw
about 240 days of combat in one year thanks
to the mobility of the helicopter.
• Some motivated to survive, not win
– Only in Vietnam for 1 year
• 3. 75,000 were severely disabled.
• Textbook says that soldiers were usually from
poor or middle class background,
– Disproportionately from minority groups
The Television War