Vietnam Unit 5 - The impact of conflict on civilians in Vietnam and attitudes in the USA Flashcards
1
Q
Civilian impact in North Vietnam
A
- Collectivization saw mixed success by reduced popularity
- Land reforms seen to go to far but helped poorer farmers and expansion of education program
- Upon independence in 1954 - NV one of the poorest in Asia - less than 6% in urban areas
- Communist government drove industrial expansion with foreign aid - grew 15% a year from 1959-1964 - US bombing destroyed factories
- 1961-1964 - NV drew 15-20% of its budget from foreign aid & increased once war broke out - much went to the state sector
- 1958 - only 5% of peasant households were in cooperatives - rose to 96% in 1970
- Late 1970s - most families enlarged their plots by 2-3x without consequence and private trading made 60-75% of farmer’s families income
- Government oppression against upper class and critics
- All able-bodied men conscripted into the army from 1963
2
Q
Civilian impact in South Vietnam
A
- Political opponents & communist operatives suppressed by Diem
- extortion & corruption through secret network Can Lao with secret members
- Corruption spread throughout local population
- Discrimination against buddhists due to Diem’s Catholic beliefs
- Diem’s offensive against communists in 1955 triggered violence & terrorism from Viet Cong in the South
- Peasants moved from their land to Strategic Hamlets
- Many peasants beaten or killed due to inability of US & SV being able to identify Viet Cong - e.g. zippo raids
- People had legal freedom & right to protest after fall of Diem & could be employed by US
- After conflict broke out with US & VC - bombings began mostly in the South
- 8 million tones of bombs dropped 1965-1973 & use of agent orange devastated landscapes
- 1972 - 800,000 orphans roaming streets of Saigon & other cities whilst there were 500,000 bar girls & prostitutes
3
Q
US - Hearts and minds strategy
A
- NV proved to be better at winning the support of SV people than SV government of US
- Term ‘hearts and minds’ first popularized by President Johnson in Jan. 1964
- Efforts to breaks links between VC & SV peasantry - mostly done through Strategic Hamlet Program to win support of people
- 1966 - internal army study by General Abrams concluded pacification should be priority of the US
- Forceful relocation had to be used to get peasants into the Hamlets - aided by US dropping herbicides on agricultural land so hunger would force peasants into the Hamlets
-Program saw destruction of 1/3 of cropland & more than half of the hamlets - created millions of refugees - Open violence in rural population had a negative affect
- Mid-1967 - 170/12500 hamlets were controlled by by Saigon government but 4000 by NV & rest were contested
- July 25th 1970 - manifesto from thousands of Women’s Movement for the Right to Life - highlighted scale of violence & outed killings and rapes done by US soldiers
4
Q
My Lai
A
- Late 1967 - seen as an area with lots of VC activity
- December 1967 - Charlie Company arrived and the next month tasked with destroying 48th battalion - highly effective VC unit
- CC suffered many casualties due to traps through Feb. & March and weren’t able to engage with the battalion
- Incorrect military intelligence suggested that VC unit were in My Lai and all non-sympathizers had left - led commander of CC Ernest Medina to believe anyone there was VC or a sympathizer
- March 16th 1968 - CC arrived at My Lai village
- 1st platoon encountered no resistance e but killed indiscriminately - women, children, elderly & committed rape
- 2nd platoon moved north 7 killed & 3rd platoon followed to destroy remaining buildings & survivors - 150 Vietnamese killed at 9:00am
- Army photographer Ron Haeberle documented events of the day and pictures put on Life magazine
- 11:00am - 500 civilians killed
- Late April 1968 - door gunner Ronald Ridenhour informally investigated message after hearing from CC troops he trained with - mailed findings to congress, pentagon & Washington - led to 14 officers charged
- Only Lieutenant Calley convicted of war crimes - given life sentence but only served 3 and a half years due to pardoning
5
Q
Phoenix Programme
A
- Started 1967 as ‘hearts and minds’ increased
- Looked to eliminate Southern infrastructure of VC through torture & terror
- Sponsored by CIA - 1967-1972 - paramilitary teams sought other uncover extent of VC political structure
- Members of program carried out torture & executions
- 81,740 suspected members of VC captured during program & 26,000 killed
- Torture methods - electric shock, rape, suspension & beating, starvation
- Program effective in destroying VC infrastructure in important areas - members of program targeted in 1970 by North
6
Q
US defoliation
A
- Operation Ranch Hand - US sprayed over 20 million gallons of herbicide over Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos 1961-1971
- Extended across more than 4.3 millionaires of Vietnam - destroyed forest & crops
- Agent Orange most commonly used - accounted for 2/3
- Dioxin found in Agent Orange - can cause liver damage, diabetes, nerve disorders & heart disease
- Number of aircrafts used increased form 3-12 in 1965
- Chemicals would sink into soils - destroyed local vegetation 7 weakened top soil
- Public opposition in the US grew with legality concerns of using herbicides
- Use of Agent Orange restricted to remote areas in 1969 - last flight took place in May 1970
- 1965-1971 - 10% of SV population sprayed with herbicides
7
Q
Napalm
A
- Jellied gas that would burn at 2000˚F
- Rubber within the mixture would make it burn for longer & stick to skin - melting flesh of victims
- When dropped - left area of more than 2.5km^2 engulfed in fire that couldn’t be quenched
- First used Feb. 27th 1962 by SV pilots
- 1963-1973 - 388,000 tons of napalm dropped on Vietnam
- 1965 - Dow Company stated producing napalm & anti-war protestors started to boycott it
- 1980 - UN convention on Certain Convention Weapons declared use of napalm against civilians as a war crime
- Civilians often caught by napalm in bombings
8
Q
University Protests
A
- Movements started in University of California in 1964 with Free Speech Movement & Students for a Democratic Society at University of Michigan
- First anti-war protest took place at Yale with 1000 students staging a march in New York
- 1965 - universities had teach-in’s - anti-war lectures & debates with 20000 participants in Berkeley
- Grew to sit-in’s as war continued with a three-day event in May 1966 at University of Chicago
- Before 1968 - many signed up for university to avoid the draft - Feb. - draft boards stopped exempting students - students started wearing braces or feigning mental instability to not be drafted
- Most known organization was SDS - operated under Post Huron Statement
- Organized a march in Washington - April 1965 - turned to militant methods with occupying buildings, draft-card burnings - had 30,000 members by 1967
- Some factions split away e.g. Weathermen / Weather Underground - used terrorist tactics e.g. tying up or gagging teachers & presented revolutionary speeches - 1970 - started to make & plant bombs
9
Q
Kent State Shooting
A
- Kent State University - Ohio - student roll of 20000 had been an active site for protest
- 1965-1975 - 10 organizations engaged in anti-war & civil rights activism
- Day after Nixon’s announcement of Cambodian offensive - two rallies held at the college campus
- First - crowd of 500 symbolically buried a copy of the US constitution to show how it was ‘murdered’ by Nixon - protestors began to break store windows & set fire to garbage cans - led to police intervention
- Even though situation ended by early hours of the next morning - Mayor Leroy Satrom heard rumors of further plans & declared civil emergency - led to dispatch of Ohio National Guard
- May 3rd - 1200 National Guardsmen occupied Kent State 0 students blocked traffic & grew hostile - National Guard dispersed the crowd using bayonets & teargas
- May 4th - students attended campus not knowing classes had been closed
- 500 students actively protested at noon while 1000 cheered - another 1500 took no part
- 12:24pm - 28 guardsmen turned on remaining students & opened fire with live ammo - 4 students killed - 2 weren’t part of the demonstration & 9 wounded
- Caused more college protests e.g. May 14th - Jackson State university - two African American students killed by officers
10
Q
Media coverage of Vietnam war in USA
A
- 600 accredited journalists in Vietnam in 1968
- Local SV people took supporting roles to improve stats e.g. MACV made military transportation available to news crews and appointed an information car
- MACV briefings held for news correspondents - known as ‘Five O’Clock Follies’
- Led Vietnam war to being ‘first television war’
- News used to be supportive of US before 1968 until Walter Cronkite spoke out and said the war was ‘mired in stalemate’ - reporting shifted since then and media, historians and public were divided
11
Q
Effects of the war on the US; draft card burning
A
- Draft card burning - began with 22 year old Eugene Keys who set fire to his card Christmas Day 1963
- President Johnson made it a federal crime in August 1965
- October 15th 1965 - demonstration led by student-run National Coordination Committee to End the War in Vietnam took place - 100,000 over 40 cities bounding their draft cards - one protestor arrested and imprisoned for three years
- Caused more protests in April 1967 with protests in New York & San Francisco with organized draft-card burning
12
Q
Effects of the war on the US; racial bias
A
- Draft favored white middle class men
- African Americans as 11% of population were 16.% of draftees & 23% of combat troops in Vietnam
- 1967 - 64% of all eligible African American were drafted in comparison to 31% of eligible white Americans
- Led to racial inequality being drawn into the Vietnam debate
- MLK publicly stood against the war and published an attack saying Black leaders couldn’t ignore issues of the wider world while focusing solely on domestic race matters
- Held a speech on 4th April 1967 on hypocrisy of his teachings not being applied to the Vietnam war
- Held a rally 11 days later with 125000 to protest against the war in New York
13
Q
Effects of the war on the US; avoiding the draft
A
- Groups e.g. Another Mother for Peace gave advice on how to avoid draft
- 30,000 left the US for countries like Mexico, Canada & Sweden
- People also attended college until 26 because people believed poorer younger Americans would be chosen
14
Q
Effects of the war on the US; music
A
- Became a powerful medium for anti-war messages
- Bob Dylan became a famous Anti-war figure
- John Lennon also became a famous anti-war musician - held numerous sit-ins & wrote the song ‘Give Peace a Chance’ - major anthem of anti-war movement in 1970s
15
Q
Effects of the war on the US; Muhammed Ali
A
- Had been drafted to Vietnam but refused to fight since his religion forbade him from serving
- Made him get stripped of his heavyweight title & suspended from boxing + $10000 fine and 5-year prison sentence
