VIETNAM AND AMERICAN SOCIETY FRANCE OWNED VIETNAM AS

VIETNAM AND AMERICAN SOCIETY

FRANCE OWNED VIETNAM AS A COLONIAL POWER 1800 s – France controlled French Indochina (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam)

HO CHI MINH 1945 – Ho Chi Minh wanted Vietnam to become independent. Ho Chi Minh was Communist.

1954 – Battle of Dien Bien Phu – French were defeated and pushed out of Vietnam At the Geneva Conference – Vietnam wa divided into two nations. Divided at the 17 th parallel North Vietnam – Communist – Ho Chi Minh South Vietnam – Republic (backed by the US Ngo Dinh Diem

US INVOLVEMENT 1955 -1975 – the US was involved to protect South Vietnam from Communism!

Eisenhower sent 675 U. S. Advisors to assist the South Vietnamese

Kennedy sent 16, 000 U. S. Advisors to assist the South Vietnamese

Ngo Dinh Diem The United States supported Diem. • He imprisoned people • He moved peasants to hamlets • He persecuted Buddhists Diem was Catholic The U. S. realized he wasn’t a great leader to support… In November, 1963, Diem was overthrown And assassinated. Click on the picture of Buddhist Thich Quang Duc burned to death in protest of Diem in Ju 1963

Robert Mc. Namara Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson Came up with “Flexible Response” idea to military Crises

JOHNSON’S WAR When JFK was assassinated, Lyndon B. Johnson became President. He “inherited” the Vietnam issue. Eventually, Johnson sends combat troops to Vietnam. Viet Cong – Communist Guerillas in South Vietnam Viet Cong posed a problem for South Korea.

Johnson and Mc. Namara

GULF OF TONKIN ATTACK August 1964 – North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U. S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin

Click on Johnson’s Photo for a short video About the Gulf of Tonkin

GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION August 7, 1964 Congress passed this to allow Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. ” It allowed Johnson to do what he wanted in Vietnam…. . It “covered everything”!

GRADUAL ESCALATION OF WAR IN VIETNAM Ho Chi Minh Trail – supply line for North Vietnam that ran through Laos and Cambodia February 1945 – U. S. began bombing North Vietnam

BUILD-UP OF TROOPS IN VIETNAM 1965 - 25, 000 – 184, 000 1966 – 385, 000 1967 – 485, 000 1968 – 536, 000

TET OFFENSIVE JANUARY 30, 1968 Vietnamese New Year North Vietnamese and Viet Cong take part in a major offensive in South Vietnam The U. S. Embassy was attacked in Saigon LBJ popularity plunged! Click on map for a Tet Offensive Water Cronkite Video

Eddie Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning photo taken on the streets of Saigon during the Tet Offensive sent shock waves through America

BRUTALITY OF WAR Guerilla warfare Swamps, jungles Men carried 60 pound packs through rice paddies, etc. Men had to deal with leeches, jungle rot (feet), fever Underground tunnels, land mines, grenades

EFFECTS ON CIVILIANS Saturation bombing – dropped 1000 s of tons of explosives… � Agent Orange – herbicide dropped on dense jungle landscapes � Killed leaves and undergrowth and exposed Viet Cong hiding places Killed crops, but caused severe health problems forthehumans livestock Click on aerial photoand for Agent Orange video �

NAPALM Jellylike substance dropped from planes as firebombs Stuck to bodies and seared off flesh

MY LAI MASSACRE � Click on picture below for video. Investigative reporting lead to the truth about this massacre. � � � � March 1968 Reports that My Lai village in South Vietnam was harboring 250 Viet Cong Instead, women, children, and old men US army under Lt. Calley “cleared out the village” 175 -400 dead Lt. Calley got life in prison with hard labor Nixon eventually reduced it to 20 years (only served 3)

STUDENT PROTEST Pentagon Papers – study of US involvement in Vietnam by New York Times (June 1971) Baby boomers graduating high school College enrolled had grown Generation gap from young to old New Left – wanted radical change

STUDENT PROTEST CONT… University of California Berkeley – most radical campus Teach In Movement – University of Michigan March 1965 Students protesting the war 50 -60 professors did small night sessions that focused on the issues of the Vietnam

STUDENT PROTEST CONTINUED… � 18 -26 yrs old – draft � 1965 – LBJ doubled the draft Deferment if in college 1966 – if grades dropped, could be drafted 1967 – resistance movement geared up 100, 000 men – crossed border to Canada � �

COUNTER CULTURE � � � Rejected most of the conventional social customs HIPPIES Rejection of traditional relationships Psychedelic drugs, marijuana Soldiers had access to drugs in Asian and brought them home Burned their draft cards! Click on picture to left for video

MUSICIANS OF THE 1960 S Folk and rock music Beatles, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Creedance Clearwater Revival A lot of music from the period became antiwar Click on the picture to the right for a song.

WOODSTOCK AUGUST, 1969 Three day peace and music festival in Bethel, New York Click below to see interview with Jimi. Click Jimi to hear his National Anthem

LBJ Division in the Democratic Party March 1968 – LBJ told America he would not run again for President. Click picture for his speech to the nation.

1968 ELECTION Democrats Robert F. Kennedy (assassinated) Eugene Mc. Carthy Hubert Humphrey * Click on RFK for video Republican Richard Nixon * winner

VIETNAMIZATION The idea of removing American forces and replacing with S. Vietnamese soldiers 1968 – 1972 – 536, 000 to 24, 000 troops However, Nixon resumed bombing raids April, 1970 – we secretly bombed Cambodia to clear out Communist hide-outs OUTRAGED AMERICANS!

KENT STATE (OHIO) 1970 Students reacted to the Cambodia bombing in protest They burned the ROTC building on campus The Ohio National Guard was called in The NG opened fire on students and killed 4.

CONTINUED BOMBING March 1972 – Bombing of Hanoi, North Vietnam

PEACE AGREEMENT IN PARIS 1973 1. withdraw troops in 60 days 2. all POWS to be released 3. End activities in Laos and Cambodia 4. divided at the 17 th parallel

APRIL 29, 1975 North attacked South Vietnam U. S. personnel were evacuated from Saigon Airlift evacuation at the US Embassy of 1, 000 Americans and 6, 000 S. Vietnamese Click picture to watch A quick video about The evacuation.

LONGEST AND LEAST SUCCESSFUL US WAR 58, 000 dead 300, 000 wounded $150 billion More bombs were used than in WW 2 Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam became Communist

LEGACY Cambodia Killed – Khmer Rouge 1. 5 million Cambodians Many fled to the US

LEGACY No welcome home for our soldiers Many Vietnam Veterans changed from their uniforms before getting off the plane. Many Vets had tomatoes thrown at them by protestors Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in 1982

We began trading with Vietnam in 1994 We restored diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1995.

NIXON LEGACY He focused on the “silent majority” majority of Americans (hard working people – nonhippies) Détente – easing of relations with the Communist nations of China and USSR.