early history of vietnam...helicopters played a vital role in america's air mobility strategy...

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Early History of Vietnam

Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese for over a thousand years

France conquered the nation by 1893 along with Laos and Cambodia. and began exploiting the economic wealth of the region

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia became known as French Indochina

Then WWII happened………USA supported Ho Chi Minh to fight Japan

French Indochina consisted of Laos,

Cambodia and Vietnam.

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After WWII…. Cold War, Domino theory, Communism ….. French wanted to reclaim Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh- leader of the Communist Vietnamese

FRENCH Indo China War- a bitter nine year war began that ended in a French defeat that divided Vietnam into two halves. One, the north, became communist, while the south was under U.S. influence.

Who did US support now? Why?

Vietminh- Name of the League for the Independence of Vietnam, a communist movement from 1941-1954 (beat the French)

FRENCH INDOCHINA

HO CHI MINH

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Is Truman Involved? How

1954-What did Eisenhower do?

President Kennedy increased military advisors and formed the Green Berets special forces.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (from left) greet south

Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington national airport, 05/08/1957

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President Ho Chi Minh,

Democratic Republic of Viet Nam

President Ngo Dinh

Diem,Republic of Viet Nam

Vietcong: A communist led army and guerilla force in SOUTH Vietnam that fought its government and was supported by North Vietnam

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President Kennedy was assassinated and LBJ takes over…….. November 22,1963.

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USS Maddox

Target of a fictional North

Vietnamese naval attack

Tonkin Gulf Resolution, August 1964Resolution passed by Congress in response to perceived aggression by North

Vietnamese against the U.S. Navy. Gave Pres. Johnson approval to escalate the use of military force in Vietnam without declaring war

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“Most of the non-Communist nations of Asia cannot, by themselves and alone, resist the growing might and the grasping ambition of

Asian communism.Our power, therefore, is a very vital shield. If we are driven from

the field in Viet-Nam, then no nation can ever again have the same confidence in American promise, or in American protection.

In each land the forces of independence would be considerably weakened, and an Asia so threatened by Communist domination would certainly imperil the security of the United States itself.

We did not choose to be the guardians at the gate, but there is no one else. Nor would surrender in Viet-Nam bring peace, because we learned from Hitler at Munich that success only feeds the appetite

of aggression. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another country, bringing with it perhaps even larger and crueler

conflict, as we have learned from the lessons of history.Moreover, we are in Viet-Nam to fulfill one of the most solemn pledges of the American Nation. Three Presidents -- President

Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President -- over 11 years have committed themselves and have promised to help

defend this small and valiant nation.”

LBJ explained “why we are fighting in Vietnam” (follow along as read aloud- answer in your own words

why US is fighting in Vietnam)

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Agent orange

an herbicide used by the U.S. military to destroy forests and cropsgoal -to clear vegetation along highways in order to make it

more difficult for the VC to conceal themselves for ambushes.

Napalm- a mixture of chemicals used by the U.S. military in flamethrowers and fireboms

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In 1965, OPERATION "Rolling Thunder" a series of bombing attacks by U.S. In N. Vietnam in an attempt to cut supply lines to the VietCong in

South Vietnam

the first sustained American assault on North Vietnamese territory and

thus represented a major expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam

War

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Helicopters played a vital role in America's air mobility strategy

during the Vietnam War

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Helicopters

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1965 U.S. troops engage in combat.

end of 1965, 180,000 U.S.

troops in Vietnam.

By 1968 over 500,000

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100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

60-

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64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

U.S. troop strength in Vietnam: 1960-1972

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The geography of Vietnam made it a difficult battleground for U.S.

soldiers.

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Ho Chi Minh trail: the route used by N. Vietnamese to conduct raids in

S. Vietnam and to deliver supplies to the VietCong

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Ho Chi Minh trail

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Vietnamese Communist (VC) tactics

Guerrilla Warfare

describes war where the fighters use the surrounding areas and geography of the

land-mainly in mountains, jungles, swamps and cities-to hide in, to set traps in and to fight in without using heavy weapons like

tanks, planes, warships, etc.

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Examples of traps

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Vietcong traps used to wound or kill American and South Vietnamese

soldiers

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The VC used underground tunnel

complexes to hide from U.S. firepower.

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Used by N. Vietnamese Army

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Troop strength in Vietnam by year

Year USA SVN Aust. Korea

New

Zealand Philippines Thailand

1959 760 243000 -- -- -- -- --

1960 900 243000 -- -- -- -- --

1961 3205 243000 -- -- -- -- --

1962 11300 243000 -- -- -- -- --

1963 16300 243000 -- -- -- -- --

1964 23300 514000 198 200 30 20 --

1965 184300 642500 1560 20620 120 70 20

1966 385300 735900 4530 25570 160 2060 240

1967 485600 798700 6820 47830 530 2020 2200

1968 536100 820000 7660 50000 520 1580 6000

1969 475200 897000 7670 48870 550 190 11570

1970 334600 6800 48450 440 70 11570

1971 156800 2000 45700 100 50 6000

1972 24200 130 36790 50 50 40

1973 50 -- -- --

1,000,000

1,000,000

1,000,000

1,000,000

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The Tet Offensive: Turning point in the war in South Vietnam

A major Communist attack against the South Vietnamese and U.S. positions in January 1968 during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year

This event is widely viewed as a turning point in the war because Americans questioned how a “defeated” army could launch such a

large-scale and effective attack.

up until that point Americans were told that the communists were losing the war.

evident that this war could only be won through a greater commitment of men and resources,

additional 200,000 troops was refused by a presidential commission headed by the new United States secretary of defense

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My Lai Massacre March 16, 1968

My Lai was in an area of South Vietnam that was entrenched with communists. On March 16, 1968, Charlie

Company, 11th Brigade, under the command of Lieutenant William Calley, entered the

Vietnamese village of My Lai. Numerous members of Charlie Company were maimed or killed in the area during the preceding weeks.The company engaged in a search and destroy

mission, and over 300 apparently unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly were massacred. Lieutenant Calleyordered his men to enter the village firing,

though there had been no report of opposing fire. According to eyewitness reports offered

after the event, several old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were

shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped and then killed. For his part, Calleywas said to have rounded up a group of the

villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire.

When news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the U.S. political

establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided American public.

Army First Lieutenant William Calley, Jr

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My Lai was used by the anti-war movement

The anti-war movement attempted to use this event to prove that the U.S. had no right to be involved in the

Vietnam conflict. However, they were applying an unfortunate double standard.

North Vietnamese atrocities, such as the slaughter of South Vietnamese civilians in Cai Be and Dak Son in 1967

and the massive live burial of innocents in Hue in 1968 were virtually ignored in the United States. After the Tet Offensive the NVA and VC murdered as many as 5,000 South Vietnamese civilians including doctors, teachers, lawyers, businessmen. The most widespread atrocities

happened in the city of Hue. There alone the Communists killed over 3,000 South Vietnamese.

This was not widely reported by the press, and routinely either ignored by the anti-war movement.

The United States Army punished its soldiers for wartime atrocities. The North Vietnamese gave medals to those

who buried thousands alive at Hue.

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My Lai Today: monument to the Massacre

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The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), was a radical student activist movement in

the U.S.

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Richard M. Nixon became the 37th President of the United States

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January 1969President Richard M. Nixon, promised to

achieve "Peace With Honor."

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1969 saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. This led to massive anti-war

demonstrations and the announcement of a new policy.

Nixon visited Vietnam, 1969

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Vietnamization

Nixon launched “Vietnamization” of the war.

fighting to be done by South Vietnamese (ARVN) with

the U.S. providing support.

also involved the improvement and

modernization of the South Vietnamese armed forces,

and training them

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Examples of Vietnamization

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President Nixon, as part of Vietnamization, began withdrawing U.S.

troops from Vietnam

050000

100000150000200000250000300000350000400000450000500000

1969 1970 1971

troops

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In May of 1970, a Kent State University anti-war (Cambodian invasion) protest turned deadly. National guardsmen opened fire

on protesting students killing four and wounding eight.

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Kent State photo that shocked the nation

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Vietnamization did not yield victories

In February 8, 1971, three South Vietnamese divisions drove into Laos to attack two major enemy bases. Unknowingly, they walked

into a North Vietnamese trap. Over the next month, more than 9,000 South Vietnamese troops were killed or wounded. More than two thirds of the South Vietnamese Army's armored vehicles were

destroyed, along with hundreds of U.S. helicopters and planes.

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January 1, 1972

Two-thirds of America's troops were removed in only two years. The ground war was then almost exclusively the

responsibility of South Vietnam, which had over 1,000,000 men enlisted in its armed forces.

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60-

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64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Year

Number of

troops

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*

VIETNAM PEACE ACCORD The peace agreement signed in Paris by representatives from the United States, North

Vietnam, and South Vietnam on January 27, 1973.

Signing the documents,

1973

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64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

The human cost of the Vietnam war. U.S. Battle deaths 1960-1972

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47359

10797

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20000

30000

40000

50000

Deaths

combat deaths

non combatdeaths

US deaths in Vietnam

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In 1975, South Vietnam,

Cambodia and Laos became communist

states.