KT5 - The Vietnam War

Question 1

Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point?

Answer 1

• Viet Vong was severely weakened because it had lost10,000 men
• Raised questions in the U.S.
  → There were 500,000 troops in Vietnam and the US was spending $20,000,000,000 (billion) a year - So then why had communists been able to surprise the US so much?
  → US regained control but at the cost of civilian lives and the destruction of the ancient city of Hue - was this right?

Question 2

How many students were involved in the anti-war protests?

Answer 2

40,000

Question 3

When were the anti-war protests?

Answer 3

1968→1970

Question 4

How much money did the USA give Diems’ regime in the 1950’s?

Answer 4

around $1,600,000,000 (1.6 billion)

Question 5

When, who and what did the Americans help?

Answer 5

In 1955, the US helped Ngo Dinh Diem in setting up the Republic of South Vietnam

Question 6

What was the abbreviation for the South Vietnamese army?

Answer 6

ARVN

Question 7

How did the USA respond to China supporting Ho in 1949?

Answer 7

• USA helped those opposed to communism
• Poured $500,000,000 (million) a year into the French War Effort
• However, the French had to pull out of Vietnam in 1954

Question 8

When was Lt. Calley sentenced, what to and when did he get out?

Answer 8

• Sentenced in August 1971
• Sentenced to 24 years of hard labour
• He was released in November 1974
• He only served 3 years and 2 months

Question 9

When was the My Lai Massacre?

Answer 9

16th March 1968

Question 10

How many demonstrations, in terms of anti-war protests, were there in the first half of 1968?

Answer 10

100

Question 11

What were the 3 reasons for the peace movement in the USA, following the Tet Offensive?

Answer 11

• Cost → US Citizens felt that the money spent on the Vietnam war could be better used
• Inequality → Drafting exposed racial inequality in America
• Purpose → An increasing number of Americans felt uncomfortable with what was going on in Vietnam

Question 12

What did the Tet Offensive cause in the USA?

Answer 12

A peace movement

Question 13

What was the Tet Offensive?

Answer 13

• Viet Cong fighters attacked over 100 cities and other military targets in Vietnam
• 1 Viett Vong Commando Unit tried to capture the US Embassy in Saigon so the US had to fight hard to regain control, room-by-room

Question 14

What was the USA’s main tactic?

Answer 14

Bombing

Question 15

What was ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’?

Answer 15

A bombing campaign against North Vietnamese Cities, Factories, Army Bases and the Ho Chi Minh trail that lasted 3 years

Question 16

When did ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ begin?

Answer 16

February 1965

Question 17

Why did the USA stop the elections in 1954 from taking place?

Answer 17

• The USA knew that the Vietnamese people would vote for communism
• Eisenhower’s domino theory states that if one country fell to communism, then other surrounding countries would too (Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma and India)

Question 18

Why did the ‘Strategic Hamlets Programme’ fail?

Answer 18

• Peasants resented it
  → They were displaced from their homes
  → Corrupt officials pocketed money meant for the schools, housing etc…

Question 19

What was the ‘Strategic Hamlets Programme’?

Answer 19

A programme moving peasant villages from Viet Cong controlled areas to areas controlled by the South Vietnamese Government

Question 20

What was President Kennedy sending by 1962 to help the South Vietnamese Army fight the Viet Cong?

Answer 20

Military personnel labelled as ‘Advisors’

Question 21

What was ‘The Tonkin Gulf Resolution’?

Answer 21

North Vietnamese patrol boats supposedly opened fire on US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin which allowed the USA to intervene militarily

Question 22

When was ‘The Gulf of Tonkin Incident’?

Answer 22

August 1964

Question 23

What marked the official US involvement in the Vietnam War?

Answer 23

On the 8th of March 1965, 3500 US Marines (named combat troops rather than ‘Advisors’) arrived at Na Dang

Question 24

What was the method the USA used to combat the guerrilla warfare tactics?

Answer 24

Search and destroy missions

Question 25

What were search and destroy missions?

Answer 25

Helicopters full of troops would descend on a village to search for and destroy any Viet Cong forces they found

Question 26

What were the problems with the search and destroy missions?

Answer 26

• Raids were often based on inadequate information
• Inexperienced US troops often walked into traps
• Innocent villages were sometimes mistaken for Viet Cong strongholds and innocent civilians were killed
• It made the US and South Vietnamese unpopular with the peasents

Question 27

What chemical weapons were used by the US?

Answer 27

• Agent Orange
  → Highly toxic ‘weed killer’ prayed from planes to destroy the jungle where the Viett Cong hid
• Napalm
  → Destroyed jungle as well butt burned people to the bone

Question 28

What effect did conscription have?

Answer 28

• Many soldiers were young men who had never been in the army before. The average age was 19
• Conscripts knew little about Vietnam. They just wanted to gett home alive so had little motivation to fight.
• Morale amongst US conscripts was low so 1 year term of service was introduced but backfired because just as soldiers gained experience and expertise - they were sent home

Question 29

What was the My Lai Massacre?

Answer 29

• Charlie Company of the US Army attacked the town of My Lai on a search and destroy mission
• In 4 hours they killed 300-400 civilians of whom were mostly women and children

Question 30

Who was made to be the scapegoat for the My Lai Massacre?

Answer 30

Lt. Calley