Vietnam Two Vietnams North Vietnam Communist Leader Ho

Vietnam

Two Vietnams • North Vietnam = Communist • Leader: Ho Chi Minh • South Vietnam = Non-communist • Leader: Ngo Dinh Diem • Vietcong = Communist group within S. Vietnam

Aggression 1950 -1963: • N. Vietnamese + Vietcong tried to take over S. Vietnamese government 1963: • N. Vietnamese overthrow and execute President Diem • China & Russia help to invade S. Vietnam

US Involvement • US worried about spread of communism in Asia • N. Vietnamese battleships fired on USS Maddox in Tonkin Gulf • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – gave President Johnson authorization to use “conventional military force” • President did not need Congress to declare war to take action

Above: Pictures taken from the USS Maddox of N. Vietnamese battleships Right: A N. Vietnamese ship engaging the USS Maddox

“War” in Vietnam • Over 536, 000 US soldiers sent to S. Vietnam • 58, 220 US killed • 303, 600 wounded • WAR NEVER DECLARED BY CONGRESS! • Johnson and Nixon faced a great deal of opposition to the “war” in the US • Many Vietnamese citizens also opposed the war

New Weapons in Vietnam • Napalm—a jellied petroleum/gasoline that was used as an anti -personal weapon; often used in flame throwers • It would stick to human skin, and could seep into foxholes and trenches where enemy combatants were hiding • Agent Orange—herbicide that was sprayed to kill the plant life in North Vietnam and drive out the people/potential supporters of North Vietnam. • Highly toxic, killed some people immediately, many others from long term effects, and many children were born with birth defects. • Has since been proven toxic to the American Military personal who were using it.

Picture Analysis • In order to prepare for your journal entry, for each of the following pictures, record your thoughts, feelings, perspectives on what was happening and why it mattered. • Remember, your journal prompt is: • It is 1970 and you are a soldier that has been drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam. • In your journal entry, describe what you are seeing as you are fighting. Explain how you feel about the conflict.

US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam -

Passers-by stop to watch as flames envelope a young Buddhist monk, Saigon, October 5 th, 1963

Wet going - Marine Private First Class J. L. Collins keeps a battery pack dry as he wades through a muddy hole while on a search mission with "I" Company, 3 rd Battalion, 5 th Marine Regiment, 12 miles south-southwest of Da. Nang Vietnam

Soldiers of the U. S. First Air Cavalry Division point their weapons at villagers whom they flushed from the brush along the riverbank.

An ammunition dump struck by a shell explodes in front of U. S. Marines. This picture was on the cover of Newsweek on March 18, 1968.

Bombing of Viet Cong structures along a canal in South Vietnam. (1965)

My Lai Massacre: On March 16, 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11 th Brigade, entered the village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it, " said their superior officers. A short time later, the killing began.

My Lai Massacre Among the hundreds of unarmed civilians massacred by U. S. soldiers on March 16 th, 1968.

"Murder of a Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief. " - Vietnam, 1968.

American soldiers in Vietnam

Their stories… • They were there • Who they were