Vietnam Flashcards
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
1964
Gave President Johnson the authority to use military force in Vietnam without asking Congress for a declaration of war. Resolution was made because the destroyer USS Maddox was attacked by NV boats on Aug. 2 (later revealed that this was because the Maddox was eavesdropping on NV to help SV) and allegedly attacked again on Aug. 4 (the latter was proven to be false) Resolution resulted in the beginning of large-scale U.S. bombing of Vietnam in 1965.
Tet Offensive
1968
Most aggressive assault on South Vietnam by North Vietnam that attacked nearly 100 cities in South Vietnam.
North Vietnamese & South Communist rebel armies (Viet Cong) attacked US and South Vietnamese targets throughout Vietnam, with the focus being on the capital of Saigon.
Revealed that war was not near its end and made people question if Johnson was being honest about the war, saying that the war was going well when it was not.
My Lai
1968
One of the most notorious atrocities of the Vietnam War, occurred when soldiers were sent to destroy the village of My Lai as it was suspected to be harboring Viet Cong fighters. When they got there, they were commanded by Lieutenant Calley to shoot around 80 unarmed villagers despite them claiming innocence, and soldiers shot more villagers who attempted to flee. Around 347-504 villagers were killed, none of them noted to look like a Viet Cong fighter.
Vietnamization
1970
Nixon turned the responsibility of the war to South Vietnamese soldiers, by training them and providing weaponry as U.S. troops were withdrawn.
Kent State Shootings
1970
Although a planned demonstration had been called off, 1500-2000 Kent State University students still gathered for the demonstration and threw rocks at a security officer who asked them to leave. After most students were forced to retreat, National Guard troops began to depart, but then turned around (no one knows why) to fire at the students. 9 students wounded, 4 killed.
Pentagon Papers
1971
Revealed the true nature of the conflict in Vietnam. Revealed that the U.S. had planned to drive out the president of SV from the South Vietnamese government, that even though he said he had no intentions of doing so, Johnson wanted to expand the U.S.’s role in Vietnam by bombing NV, and that his administration tried to deliberately provoke North Vietnamese attacks in order to justify the U.S.’s involvement in the war.
Anti-War Movement
Many people began to protest the war in Vietnam, with primarily peace activists and students from college campuses expressing their detestation to the war through forms of protests, demonstrations, and protest songs.
The movement divided Americans because some resented the government for its actions and some thought opposing the government was unpatriotic.
Vietnam War Protest Outside the Pentagon
1967
Around 35,000 demonstrators protested, because they argued that civilians, not enemy combatants, were the primary victims of the war.
Anti-War Demonstration in Washington, DC
1969
Was the largest anti-war demonstration in American history, where over 250,000 Americans gathered peacefully and called for the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam
For the Vietnam War
Johnson believed that joining to help the South Vietnamese in the Vietnam war was a “promise they had to keep”, because South Vietnam was an independent nation getting attacked and their citizens were victim to North Vietnam troops. He said that if the U.S. did not help, the war would spread to other parts of Asia as well.
Against the Vietnam War
Stevenson says that the possible positive outcomes of the war do not outweigh all of the repercussions of the war, with the safety and security of the U.S. being at stake, the loss of life and property, and the disunity that the war has created.
