Vietnam Unit 3 - Confrontation in the Vietnam War, escalation 1964-1968 Flashcards
1
Q
Role of Johnson in the Vietnam War
A
- Had been Kennedy’s vice and became president after the assassination
- Mainly focused domestically and tried to solve welfare
- Public strategy goal shown in and April 1965 speech was to a defensive strategy of containment to prevent North Vietnam from overwhelming the South - eventually became aggressive and escalated the war
- Continued Kennedy’s policy of using military advisers but deployed U.S. ground troops and Gulf of Tonkin enabled him to order bombing of North Vietnam in 1965 and use soldiers to try to defeat Viet Cong
- Johnson wanted speed and precision when approaching foreign intervention - shown in Dominican Republic spring of 1965 where 25,000 US troops prevented communist elements from coming to power
2
Q
Role of McNamara in the Vietnam War
A
- Secretary of defense for Kennedy & Johnson - managed US military affairs and his military authority was second to the president only
- Strategy was influenced on belief that U.S. military & technology was overwhelming compared to Viet Cong
- April 1964 - senator called Vietnam war ‘McNamara’s war’
- July 1965 - famous memo to the President where he gave Johnson the option to withdraw American troops, continue the military policy or ‘expand promptly and substantially the U.S. pressure’ which he pushed for
- Driven change in policy from Eisenhower to focus on ‘flexible response’ - saw increase in counterinsurgency tactics, brought military advisers from 900-16000 and encouraged Johnson to deploy US troops and bomb
- 1967 - open to launching peace negotiations & 1995 expressed guilt for Vietnam in his memoirs
3
Q
Role of Westmoreland in Vietnam War
A
- Decorated WW2 and Korean War Veteran
- Appointed General in charge of U.S. forces in Vietnam in June 1964
- Immediately pushed for an increase in troops when arriving to Vietnam, grew from 16,000 to 500,000 from 1964-1968
- Wanted to employ superior firepower to force Viet Cong to surrender - ‘War of Attrition’ - sent out for troops instead of land - became ‘Search and Destroy’ operations to kill Viet Cong
- Underestimated N.V. guerrilla tactics& their commitment
- 1967 - saw concerns of his previous strategy and came up with a new strategy of showing the North through tactical operations that they couldn’t win
4
Q
Viet Cong sympathy
A
- Significant support in the North & South & had familiarity of local environment
- Dressed similarly to Vietnamese & many rural communities maintained a wall of silence when US tried to track down Viet Cong
- Communists offered land & better treatment - won over local population in the South
5
Q
Viet Cong tactics in the jungle
A
- Avoided large-scale battles had good relations with southerners
- Comfortable and experienced in the jungle
- Developed system of tunnels over 200 miles that linked to hospitals, armories & underground sleeping quarters
- Punji sticks - sharpened bamboo stakes smeared in urine & feces to impale & infect which were jammed in camouflaged pits
- Grenade-traps, snake pits, pressure-release traps
6
Q
US response to Viet Cong tactics
A
- Soldiers had superior weaponry & tried to have relationships with southerners
- Found the jungle difficult and hard to navigate
- Special units of ‘Tunnel Rats’ to search the tunnels
- Soldiers had special training to respond to traps & tunnel rats had training with snake pits
7
Q
Outcome of opposing tactics in the jungle
A
- Failure to bring Viet Cong to battle annoyed US troops and troubles with identifying guerrilla fighters
- US progress slowed due to dense jungles & Viet Cong would wait and hide and have small groups attacks the enemy by surprise and then hide
- Routes in tunnels often booby-trapped and US soldiers could only have limited ammunition
- Viet Cong traps slowed US units - would wound soldiers or killed - negative morale for US soldiers
8
Q
Search and Destroy
A
- Aim was to search out the enemy and then destroy them
- Buildings would be burned & destroyed to prevent sheltering for Viet Cong - known as ‘Zippo’ missions de to the name for the lighter
- Success of the missions was measured with body count
- First mission was Operation Masher in Bin Dinh province between January - March 1966 where 2,000 enemy soldiers were killed - later US hearing showed six civilians were killed for every one Viet Cong
9
Q
Bombing campaign - Operation Rolling Thunder
A
- US started in 1962 by spraying herbicides like Agent Orange to destroy jungle cover
- 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin gave power for air strikes
- Johnson & Nixon increased bombing campaigns during the war with selective bombing beginning in 1965and developed into widespread saturation bombing
- Operation Rolling Thunder was the code name for the escalated US bombing which started after Viet Cong attack on Pleiku
- Ran from March 1965 - October 1968 to put pressure on communist leaders
- Mid-1966 - US aircrafts were attacking military & Industrial targets throughout North Vietnam e.g. bridges, railway lines, weapon depots & power plants
- Exceptions were Hanoi, Haiphong & 10-mile buffer zone with China
- Aims were to Destroy N.V. industry, transport and air defenses, halt communist forces and resources coming into S.V., boost morale, force N.V. to stop supporting southern communists & reduce US troops casualties
- North Vietnam developed effective air defenses with help from China & USSR e.g. surface-to-air missiles & radar-controlled anti-aircraft artillery and network of bombproof tunnels & shelters with crews at night rebuilding destruction
10
Q
Successes of Operation Rolling Thunder
A
- Caused $300-500 million in damage
- Destroyed most of north Vietnam’s oil storage facilities
- March 1965 - April 1967 - 85% of North’s petroleum storage destroyed, 70% of ammunition storage resources & 25% of barracks facilities
11
Q
Failures of Operation Rolling Thunder
A
- Cost US over $900 million
- Over 1 million people from the North worked to undo damage of the bombs
- N.V shifted oil to underground tanks
- 900 aircrafts lost to anti-aircraft defenses
- Did not break will of N.V. forces
- Unpopular with US public
12
Q
A Televised War
A
- Television usage in US grew from 9% in 1950 to 93% in 1966 - increased public interest
- Journalists in Vietnam increased from 24 before 1965 to over 600 by 1968 - many recorded footage from the battlefield - led to 200 reporters being killed
- Camera crews would stay in non-combat areas to record upbeat stories to boost morale
- Censorship laced in 1960s and combat zones would be presented - divided people at home
- Correspondent for CBS - Morley Safer - followed US troops in 1965 and documented a soldier using his Zippo to light fire to a hut while villagers cried and pleaded for the marines to stop in Cam Ne - camera caught 150 houses being burned and reports of 3 women killed & 1 baby killed and four prisoners with 1 marine wounded
- Active News reported Walter Cronkite reacted in February 1968 against the Vietnam War - President Johnson commented that losing him meant he lost Middle America
13
Q
Siege of Khe Sanh
A
- Old French outpost seized by US troops in 1967
- January 21st 1968 - firefight began between US marines & a N.V. unit entrenched in the hills to the north
- Next day N.V. soldiers overran the village of Khe Sanh and began an artillery bombardment of the US base
- Flights that could assist 5,500 US marines limited due to weather in monsoon season - had to face 20,000 N.V. troops
- 77 days of conflict - N.V. used artillery, mortars & rockets to attack US positions & defenses
- US planes dropped 5000 bombs daily - support mission of Operation Pegasus began in early April when American 1st Cavalry Division and S.V. battalion approached the base and were able to push back N.V. after meeting on April 6th
- US evacuated Khe Sanh on June 19th as part of Operation Charlie - completed mid July
- N.V. claimed Khe Sanh but both nations claimed victory due to kill count for US being 1-3,500 troops in comparison to 5,500 N.V. being lost
14
Q
Background of Tet offensive
A
- December 1967 - indications that Viet Cong were preparing a major military offensive detected on broadcasts of a secret ‘Liberation Radio’ for the South to rebel
- 21st January 1968 - attack on Khe Sanh commenced - Johnsons & Westmoreland focused on defending Khe Sanh whereas Giap had 70-85,000 N.V. troops waiting on a full scale attack on the South
- Tet offensive was a series of simultaneous attacks on five major South Vietnamese cities alongside towns, villages & military institutions
15
Q
Tet offensive
A
- January 30th 1968 - N.V. commenced attack on 13 locations in S.V.
- General Davidson - Chief of the military assistance Command informed Westmoreland he expected attacks across the country
- 24 hours later - N.V. expanded to a larger scale than anticipated & mistakenly Westmoreland thought it was a diversion for Khe Sanh
- Most defense was S.V. forces which was effective - communist attackers driven out in 2-3 days
- Assault on US embassy which was quickly resized by the US 6 hours later
- No widespread uprising of Southern people to help the North
- 75000 homes destroyed or damages & 670,000 made refugees reduced Northern support
- Estimate of 50,000 N.V. deaths and 24,000 weapons captured by enemies with only 13,000 casualties and 2,600 deaths for S.V. & USA
