2. Escalation Of The Vietnam War Flashcards
What happened at the Gulf of Tonkin?
Members of the government wanted Johnson to send more troops into Vietnam as they believe the public would vote for a president that wanted to get involved with the war.
Johnson didn’t want to send any troops to Vietnam but he knew that the AVRN would fail and communism would take over Vietnam if the USA withdrew their support
Therefore he sent US destroyer ships into North Vietnamese waters in the Gulf of Tonkin
On 3rd August 1964, three torpedo boats that belongs to North Vietnam headed for the Maddox (one of the US naval ships) which fired its torpedoes back.
On 4th August there was another report the ships were going to be attacked again
There are suspicions that this was a false alarm but Johnson launched an attack on the North Vietnam anyway.
What effect did the Gulf of Tonkin have?
It led to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution being passed by the US government on the 7th of August 1964
This allowed Johnson and any US president the power to take any military measure he thought was necessary to defend freedom in south-east Asia
Who was Lyndon Baines Johnson?
He was Kennedys vice president, so when Kennedy was assassinated he was sworn in as president
He won his own election in 1963 and served as president until 1969.
What was operation rolling thunder?
US bases in the south were being attacked by the Vietcong who were still being supplied and supported by Ho Chi Minh
On February 13th 1965 the USA launched operation Rolling Thunder this was a campaign of continuous bombings in North Vietnam that destroyed important government buildings.
This was an attempt to reduce the morale of the North Vietnamese government as well as civilians.
How did operation Rolling Thunder mark a major escalation in the war?
Operation Rolling Thunder Mountain marked a major escalation in US involvement in Vietnam, it was meant to last eight weeks, but ultimately lasted three years.
In that time the US drops nearly 1,000,000 tons of bombs and up to 200,000 US combat troops were in Vietnam.
Vietcong tactics
What were guerrilla tactics ?
Did not wear uniform Has no base council headquarters Worked in small well-armed groups Retreated when the enemy attacked Raided enemy camps
Vietcong tactics
How did they use the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
A 15,000 km Trail supplied the Vietcong with equipment.
It ran from the north to the south directly through thick jungles so the US troops couldn’t find it.
It was impossible to destroy because as soon as one route was bombed the peasants would use a different route.
60 tonnes of equipment was supplied by the trail each day.
Vietcong tactics
What was Hanging onto the belts of the Americans?
The Vietcong set up temporary camps along the Ho Chi Minh Trail from which they launched surprise attacks on the Americans.
They had to stay close to the Americans and ambush them to avoid bombing attacks by the planes.
51% of US casualties were caused by Vietcong ambushes.
Vietcong tactics
How did they use tunnels?
The Vietcong knew that anything visible from the air was a target.
They build complex tunnel system is it stretched over 300km
They contain things like hospitals, stores for weapons, kitchens, meeting chambers and sleeping areas.
To stop the US troops from penetrating them too far they were booby-trapped
Vietcong tactics
What were Punji traps?
Traps were designed to inflict maximum injury to reduce morale of the US soldiers and the US public.
Punji traps were holes in the ground filled with spikes that the US soldiers would fall into they might contain animal faeces to cause infections.
They were not designed to kill but to occupy the other soldiers so they were out of action while trying to save the injured soldiers.
Vietcong tactics
What were bouncing betties?
There were bombs that were set off when a US soldiers stepped on the trigger.
The bomb would then fly into the air and explode at the soldiers waist height.
This would inflict maximum injury and reduce the morale of the other US soldiers
Vietcong tactics
How did the Vietcong use violence and propaganda?
They used terror tactics to force civilians into supporting them.
Also used posters to show the strength of the Vietcong against the US troops
US tactics
How were soldiers prepared?
At the beginning of the war the soldiers sent to Vietnam were experienced.
But as more were sent out the government got desperate and sent out inexperienced soldiers.
Soldiers were bribed by the government who sent out care packages containing things like alcohol, cigarettes, and letters from home.
US tactics
What were search and destroy missions or zippo raids?
The US would try to use their vastly superior technology and fire power to their advantage.
The idea was that the Americans would search villages for Vietcong soldiers and, if they found them, they would destroy the village.
As well as this, the US were carrying out bombing campaigns in North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
US tactics
What were bombings?
USA ordered B-52 bombers to bomb North Vietnamese cities, army bases and supply roads
As the war continued these bombings spread to the South, Laos and Cambodia.
New cluster or ‘pineapple’ bombs were developed, these affected large areas and aimed to harm, not kill so other soldiers would have to take the wounded off the battlefield reducing manpower.
US tactics
What was chemical warfare?
Although the bombings reduced the Vietcong’s efficiency they continued to launch attacks on the US troops.
So the USA started to use napalm and agent Orange
What was Napalm?
A mix of gelling agent and petrol that would burn through anything it landed on.
This destroyed jungle and harmed many civilians
What was Agent Orange
A highly toxic weed killer that destroyed jungle, tunnel entrances and bases from the air.
It also causes cancer
Why did the US tactics fail?
The US could not beat the Vietcong’s guerilla tactics
To the inexperienced US soldiers it was impossible to tell the difference between an enemy soldier and an innocent civilian.
This meant they killed anyone who looked suspicious.
As well as this they could not use their advanced bombing technology on the Vietcong as they were “hanging onto their belts“
When was the Tet offensive
30th of January 1968
What happened during the Tet Offensive?
During a temporary ceasefire in honour of Tet (a Vietnamese holiday celebrating the lunar New Year) around 84,000 Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops simultaneously attacked more than 100 towns, cities and US military bases.
There was also an attack on the US embassy building in Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam.
US troops were busy defending bases in small villages that the Vietcong had attacked beforehand.
It didn’t take long for US forces to regain control of all the towns, cities and bases.
In Saigon, Vietcong soldiers only managed to seize the building for six hours until the US paratroopers landed by helicopter on the buildings roof and fought, room by room, until the embassy was back under US control.
What was the aim of The Tet Offensive?
To inspire the Vietnamese to rise up against the government and Americans in their country.
As well as this, a large defeat was resulted in fewer Americans in the USA supporting the war.
How was Tet a turning point?
After Tet, the US public started to question whether their victory was close, like the government was telling them.
The public view to the Vietcong as peasants so was shocked when, despite all the money spent and lives lost, they were able to break into the US embassy.
President Johnson announced in 1968 that he would not stand for re-election.
An enormous amount of artillery and air power is used to re-gain control after the Tet Offensive.
A huge number of Vietnamese civilians were killed during the offensive and ancient cities were being destroyed.
The US public were questioning why they were involved in such a brutal war.
When was the My Lai Massacre massacre?
16th of March 1968
