Vietnam War
Unit 10
10.1 Learning Targets
• I can trace the history of the US involvement in the war
• Identify the terms & people relevant to the Vietnam War
• Differentiate between the First and Second Vietnam wars
• I can geographically locate and identify the countries of
South Asia
I. The United States Focuses on
Vietnam
• Early American Involvement
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Vietnam occupied by French by 1893, by Japan during WWII
French Indochina: Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos
US helped Vietnam drive out Japanese
Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence
1946 China falls to communism
• Vietminh Drive out the French
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US fears communism – domino theory
Offers to send $ and war materials (Truman)
Vietnam gets help from USSR & China
Eisenhower- continues to help (80% of cost)
Vietnam War
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Guerrilla warfare
Dien Bien Phu
Geneva Accords- 17th parallel, 1956 elections
Ho Chi Minh- communist control the North
Ngo Dinh Diem- pro Western governments in South
1965 Election
10.2 Learning Targets
• I can trace the history of the US involvement in the war
• I can explain the unique problems that US soldiers faced in
fighting the war
• I can explain the unique aspects of the war itself
• I can identify the objectives of the United States and the
objectives of the North Vietnamese
II. Going to War in Vietnam
• Weak S. Vietnam Govt. deepens American involvement
• Johnson & Vietnam
• Could not afford another “China”
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Operation Rolling Thunder
• A Bloody Stalemate Emerges
• By 1965 – 180,000 U.S. Troops (Double by 1966)
• Vietcong willing to accept huge losses (220,000 – 6,700)
• U.S. could not use its full strength
10.3 Learning Targets
• I can explain the unique aspects of the war itself
• I can identify reasons for the United States withdrawal from
Vietnam
• I can explain the legacy of the Vietnam War on the United
States
III. Vietnam Divides the Nation
• A Growing Credibility Gap
• An Antiwar Movement Emerges
• 1968: The Pivotal Year :
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ73p75oJek&safety_mode=t
rue&persist_safety_mode=1
IV. The War Winds Down
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Nixon Moves to end the war - Vietnamization
Turmoil At Home – My Lai, Kent State
US Pulls out of Vietnam – April 30, 1975 South Vietnam Falls
Legacy of Vietnam - $170 Billion, 58,000 Americans Dead,
300,000 injured, PTSD, Distrust, War Powers Act