Kennedy and Vietnam, 1961-63

Question 1

What year did Kennedy become president?

Answer 1

1961

Question 2

What did Kennedy want to avoid in Vietnam?

Answer 2

Direct military action

Question 3

What did Kennedy authorise the use of?

Answer 3

Chemical sprays such as agent orange, to kill crops and jungle areas that the VC were hiding in from 1961

Question 4

How did Kennedy change tactics?

Answer 4

He changed tactics to searching for VC fighters, not just drawing them into battle

Question 5

What was the result of the Battle of Ap Bac?

Answer 5

The ARVN lost, despite having US air support and five times as many soldiers as the VC

Question 6

What did Diems troops do that contributed to his unpopularity among Vietnamese people?

Answer 6

They fired on a Buddhist procession, killing nine

Question 7

What did a Buddhist monk do that generated worldwide publicity?

Answer 7

Burnt himself to death in protest to Diems government

Question 8

What did Kennedy put pressure on Diems government to do?

Answer 8

Make leave with the Buddhists- but Diem continued to persecute them

Question 9

When was Diem assassinated?

Answer 9

November 1963- the USA did not intervene to prevent this

Question 10

What was the Strategic Hamlet Program?

Answer 10

Where Diem and the USA built new villages to house locals away from the Vietcong, so the VC could not recruit them to fight

Question 11

What was the aim of the Strategic Hamlet Program?

Answer 11

To provide security for the villagers and create support for the government

Question 12

What were issues with the Strategic Hamlet Program?

Answer 12

• When the ARVN tried to remove relocated villagers, the villagers didn’t want to leave their ancestral homes
• There was not enough food or basic provisions in the new villages, and many villagers starved to death
• The program made Diem and the USA more unpopular in South Vietnam