Vietnam Slides Flashcards
Vietnam is America’s _____ war.
Only war US ever ____
Vietnam is America’s longest war (1940s-1975)
Only war US ever lost
Presidents during Vietnam Truman
5 (FIVE!)
- Truman
- Eisenhower
- JFK
- Johnson
- Nixon
______ Americans serve, and _______ American troops die.
The war cost the US ____.
2.5 million Americans serve; 58,000 die
Cost $120 billion
________ Vietnamese civilians & soldiers die
(___% of Viet pop)
3.5 - 4 million civilians & soldiers died
10% of Viet pop
Public aversion to American military interventions
Reluctance to deploy ground troops due to the negative experiences of Vietnam.
“Vietnam Syndrome”
“Vietnam is still with us. It has created doubts about American judgment, American credibility, about American power—not only at home, but throughout the world.”
Kissinger
Vietnamese Imperialism over the years
Chinese, French, Japanese, French, America
One example of Vietnamese Resistance in the past
Trung sisters (unsuccessful) 4 AD.
China ruled for 1600 years.
Truman Doctrine
Support French w/ 2.6 B in aid. (80% of the war cost)
Vietnamese defeat the French
Dien Bien Phu 1954
Split VN at 17th parallel
what else?
Geneva Accords
also called for reunification through elections within two (2) years.
North VN
Ho Chi Minh Viet Minh & Viet Cong (SVN communists)
South VN
Ngo Dinh Diem & ARVN (Army of Republic of Vietnam)
basis for intervention & cited by every President during the war
Domino Theory
Eisenhower (1953-1961) supports Diem BUT
(why is Diem no good)
he’s a catholic in a Buddhist country
Johnson’s War
yur
What does kennedy (1961-1963) do
increases “advisors” (despite violating Geneva Accords)
tacitly backs coup of Diem
In 1961 JFK increases “_____” from _____ to _____
DESPITE…
“advisors” to from 1000 to 16000
despite violating Geneva Accords!!!!!
In 1963 JFK tacitly backs this.
Why?
What happens as a result?
JFK tacitly backs coup of Diem (he’s blatantly corrupt)
Nguyen Khanh becomes new leader in SVN
Johnson (1963-1968) inherits & _______ (escalates or de-escalates) war because he’s afraid of losing re-election
Johnson escalatesthe war
because he’s afraid of *losing re-election**
1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Covert sea missions in Gulf of Tonkin to prepare for attack on North VN; Vietnamese attack us
Resolution gives Pres. right to “take all necessary measures” to defend any nation in Southeast Asia threatened by communist aggression →gave Johnson power to send troops without a declaration of war
US. General in charge of Vietnam
what did he do that was controversial?
Westmoreland
secret bombings
1965 Operation Rolling Thunder
by Johnson to carpet bomb North Vietnam
First American troops arrive in _______: ______ by end of 1965
____ more by 1966
by end of 1967
Danang
200k
200k more
500k troops in Vietnam
Guerilla Warfare consisted of
hit & run attacks; no front lines. “Not our father war”
“cling to the enemy’s belt”: close combat so that air & artillery strikes risk own troops
They use tunnels, land mines, booby traps
American weapons used in Vietnam
Agent Orange & Napalm
Vietnam is called a “War of _____ “
“War of Attrition”
(body count)/crossover point
search & destroy missions:
“we must destroy it in order to save it”
__% of people killed in US bombings were civilians
inspired the saying
80$
“hearts & minds?”
Vietnamese Strengths
Determination, long history of resisting outside influence, Willingness to make huge sacrifices, goal is to exhaust the enemy
“You can kill 10 of my men for every 1 of yours and we will still win.”
complex of paths/trails from NVN to SVN via Cambodia & Laos
how the North supplied the South
Ho Chi Minh Trail
American Public Support
Anti-War Demonstrations
1965 start;
1st major protest in DC (500k)
Sit ins/teach ins
Colleges where students were killed
Kent State (Ohio) & Jackson State (Miss)
Students killed by Nat’l Guard & police
Anti war arguments
Purpose?Why are we there?another country’s civil war
of Vietnamese civilians dying per month
130,000 Vietnamese civilians dying per month
_____ men avoided the draft
500k
Black American Leaders
MLK
Mohamed Ali
(“No VC ever called me n-word”)
American leader most trusted.
Cronkite (more trusted than God): “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.”
1968
Tet Offensive, cuts in domestic budget, johnson wont. re run, my lai massacre
Tet Offensive (Jan → March)
(Jan → March) 1968
Truce for Vietnamese new year, VC launches surprise attack on 100 cities, including US Embassy in Saigon
Who won the Tet Offensive
What happened after?
Military defeat for VC
2k US deaths; 50k VC
It turned the public against the war, cut domestic budget like Johnsons “Great Society” (medicare) and increased taxes
Johnson now wont run for re-election
My Lai Massacre
350-500 women/kids/elderly
Morale plummets; US looks like bully; “hearts and minds?”
Government credibility plummets
Who calls My Lai “no big deal” ?
what happens to them?
Lt. Calley
Went from life in prison to 3 yrs parole by Nixon
“Vietnamization” of war
transfer responsibility of war to SVN, start peace talks with NVN
During “Vietnamization”
Nixon reduces troops from ____ to_____
Reduce troops from
280k (1970) to 140k (1971)
Secret bombings of _____ by _____
Drops more bombs here than all of ___
Bombing spread to _____ in 1970
1969 Nixon secretly bombs neutral Cambodia
Drop more bombs on Cambodia than we did in WW2
Laos
Peace Talks 1973
cease-fire & US troops leave Saigon
stop bombing Laos & Cambodia
both sides violate; US provides money $ but no troops
Evacuation (1975)
SVN leader Thieu resigns & flees to Taiwan → London
US evacuates
On April 30 SVN surrenders
