vietnam war Flashcards
containment
opposing communism to keep it from spreading
guerrilla warfare
using sabotage, hit and run, and ambushes to fight
domino theory
fear that if south vietnam became communists, the rest of southern asia would too
conscientious objector
one who beliefs prevent one from fighting in a war
hawk
one who supports a war
deferment
a postponement of military duty
dove
one who does not support the war
draft
the system for selecting men for military service
body count
number of casualties in a firefight. often to determine operation’s sucess
Charlie
the vietcong; an elusive enemy for us
cherry
us infantryman newly arrived, newby
claymore
us antipersonnel mine which throws off a fan shaped spray of fragments during its explosion; used for defense
clicks
the measure in kilometers for marches when companies went into the bush; for every 1000 meters, us units marched 1 click
five o’clock follies
nickname for regular afternoon press debriefing for us journalists in saigon
grunt
us infanryman in vietnam, comparable to GI in WWII
average grunt was white, from small rural USA, 21-22, volunteers
Napalm
jellied petroleum substance used in flame throwers and bombs that sticks to surfaces, including human flesh,used in carpet bombing
Operation rolling thunder
president Lyndon b Johnson’s campaign of bombing north Vietnamese continuously for three years
elephant
US Lost the war, slow
tiger
North Vietnam won the war, hit and run
big Green bird
chopper
pentagon papers
the secret and classified us government version of the war, illegally given to the media in 1971
June 13, 1971, daniel ellsberg leaked info, first installment in NY times, Americans not aware of wars true nature-drug trafficking, political assassinations, indiscriminate bombings
Said the real reason for pouring troops into Vietnam was to “avoid a humiliating defeat”
How was the Vietnam war different from other wars?
WWI and II were fought with strategies, Vietnam was fought in a jungle with guerrilla warfare. Soldiers in Vietnam also only served for 1 year as opposed to others where they served full time
After the My Lai Massacre, _, was court marshaled and sentenced to life imprisonment
Lieutenant William calley jr.
Diem
President of south Vietnam, was overthrown because he didn’t improve the conditions of peasants, and repressed the buddhists, was assassinated
Henry Kissinger
Us negotiators at the Paris peace talks, he declared peace is at hand in 1972
Kent state protests
May 4, 1970, 4 killed by national guard, 11 wounded, confusion with rubber bullets
Bob Dylan
created protest music
Ho Chi Minh
Leader of North Vietnam
Tet
Vietnamese new year
Vietnamization
Us would pull out and leave the military fighting to the south Vietnamese
My Lai
1968, Massacre led by calley, innocent people killed, pinkville, becomes central core of protest,
France
Controlled indo china and tried to keep vietnam from being independent z
Cambodia
Secret war, Nixon sent troops there without congressional approval, they were attacked because of the Ho Chi Minh trail
Saigon
Fall of Saigon April 30th 1975, America abandons it embassy, north Vietnam invades, Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh city, united Vietnam
Agent orange
Chemical defoliant, also cancer agent
Tonkin gulf
Incident, 1964, us ships were “attacked” unprovoked, congress gave LBJ a blank check to take care of it, this started our involvement in the war
Ho Chi Minh trail
North Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia - South Vietnam this is how the communist got supplies
Tet offensive
January 1968, us thought war would stop for holiday but Vietnamese attacked, media said it was us loss, distrust in LBJ after this
How was the war in Vietnam war fought?
Guerrilla warfare
JFK
Sent advisors to Vietnam to check everything out
LBJ
The Vietnam War escalated during is presidency, he got the blank check, and sent ground forces,
Nixon
Abolished draft, ran for prez and won 1968 election, growing up was a poor Quaker from a lemon farm in CA, Ava debater and lawyer, part of HAUC in second red scare, started in politics in 1946,
During his presidency first man on moon, removed troops from Vietnam, visited China before it was recognized, limited anti ballistic missiles, toured Middle East, us postal service, WATERGATE,
Pol pot
Leader of Cambodia
General Westmoreland
Late 1967 said there is a light at the end of the tunnel, must have been a long tunnel because War didn’t end for like 10 years, in charge of the ground troops
John McCain
One of the first released from pow camp Hanoi Hilton, later became senator in Arizona
Vietcong
Secret weapon of the north, southern communists, looked like regular people during the day and at night would kill you
POW camp
Hanoi Hilton
1968 Election big issues
Vietnam
Law and order
1968 election democrats
Robert Kennedy on track until killed
Eugene McCarthy
Hubert Humphrey
Protest at the convention in 68’
1968 election republicans
Richard Nixon winner
Nelson Rockefeller
Spiro Agnew
Ronald Reagan
1968 election American independent party
George Wallace opposed integration, and coddled criminals, wanted to win Vietnam
End of the war treaty
Paris peace accords
Last troops
Last troops were pulled out in 1975
Outcome
Us backed out, fall of Saigon, communists invaded and united Vietnam,
