VIETNAM

• A. Location - 1000 mi. long directly south of China
  • 1. Mountains
  • 2. Coastal plains - densely populated
• B. Population Centers
  • 1. Red River Delta - Hanoi (19 million - total)
  • 2. Mekong Delta - Saigon (16 million - total)
  • 3. Village ruled rather than national government - 80% peasants
• C. Weather
  • a. monsoon rains (May-October)
  • b. heat - tropical
• D. Occupations
  • 1. Ag. - main crop - rice
  • 2. Fishing and local shipping
• E. Religions
  • 1. Buddhist - predominant (Indian) [ 65% of S. Vietnam]
  • 2. Catholic - minority located mostly in the South (French) [ 10% of S. Vietnam]
  • 3. Confucius influence in the north (Chinese)
    • a. Ruler class should be intellectual
    • b. Last choice = military class

• A. 1st encounter with the Chinese - 300 B.C.
• B. Northern half of Vietnam today dominated by China from 111 B.C. to 939
  • 1. Exploited - minerals, ivory, pearls
  • 2. Taxed and slave labor
  • 3. Chinese language and teachings of Confucius and Buddhism
  • 4. Vietnam - (southern Viets - Viets were from China)
  • 5. Chinese government - Mandarins
• C. Southern parts maintained their own independence and fought constantly to free the rest of their country
  • 1. This created two distinct groups
  • 2. 939 - Viets gained independence
  • 3. They then began to take over the southern half of Vietnam driving their victims into:
    • a. Laos Indian culture was strong in these areas
    • b. Cambodia
  • 4. Two groups eventually mixed (1700) to become Vietnam as we know it
    • a. Indochina (Indian and Chinese)
    • b. Capital - Hanoi
    • c. Rice Bowl - Saigon
  • What influence do you think Chinese influence had?
• D. Vietnam developed a long history of struggle against foreign invaders more powerful than they were
  • 1. Strong national consciousness
  • 2. Long experience in the value of guerilla warfare - war of attrition - wear the enemy down
  • 3. Strong dislike for China

• A. Motives for French colonization - 1600+
  • 1. Expansion of Catholicism led to missions to convert them
  • 2. Industrial Revolution - competition for natural resources and markets
  • 3. Naval Bases - geography
• B. Indochina annex completed by the French in 1880s
• C. French rule - compare to earlier Chinese rule and to 13 colonies
  • 1. Government - French rule - National rather than village oriented
    • a. Puppet Viet emperors - Catholic control
    • b. assistance of Vietnamese only at the low levels - low paying jobs
    • c. participation in government by Viets controlled and limited
  • 2. Economics
    • a. State monopolies - type of taxation
      • 1. alcohol Viets could not afford 1 & 2
      • 2. salt
      • 3. opium - profits high for French
    • b. Plantation System and Mines - French owned with some Viet collaborators
      • 1. exports of rice - 3rd largest in the world - profits to French
      • 2. also exported large amounts of rubber
      • 3. taxes on the people increased
      • 4. workers could be fined or jailed if they left their jobs
    • c. Social - divide and conquer
      • 1. Educational opportunities declined - offended Buddhist/Confucius stress on scholar
      • 2. Catholic religion introduced - society was intentionally fragmented
      • 3. Education and advancement in society available only through Catholic Church
      • 4. Many were sent to France to be educated
      • 5. clothing, food
      • 6. language
      • 7. Result - small fragment of the population imitated the French and were loyal
      • 8. They inherited the government when the French left
    • d. Protest movements were repressed by force - guerilla war
      • 1. Prison
      • 2. Exile - often to France where they could be watched
      • 3. Perfected guerilla/jungle warfare against modern French armies
      • 4. Later used it against the US
• D. 1st French Indochina War (1946-1954)
  • 1. 1925 - Revolutionary League of the Youth of Vietnam - Communist formed by Ho Chi Minh
    • a. Born 1890 - key question - was he primarily nationalist or communist?
    • b. Exiled to France he learned communism in Paris
    • c. He was a founding member of the French Communist Party
    • d. Stressed nationalism over communism and sought unity
  • 2. 1930s - Communists exiles received education and training from USSR in Moscow and from China
  • 3. 1940 - France captured by Nazis and Japan invaded Indochina
    • a. This allowed Ho Chi Minh to return to Vietnam
  • 4. 5/41 - Viet Minh created to gain independence from the French and the Japanese that took them over
    • a. united communists and non-communists led by Ho Chi Minh
    • b. worked with the US against the Japanese during WWII
      • 1. supplied information
      • 2. helped downed US pilots to escape the Japanese
      • 3. US aid helped to strength a small well-organized guerilla force.
  • 5. 9/45 - Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent after Japan defeated
    • a. Ho Chi Minh quoted from US Declaration of Independence - Why?
    • b. Ho Chi Minh asked for US aid to maintain independence
      • 1. National self-determination - US allies
      • 2. Containment Policy - are the Vietnamese communists?
    • c. The French and Vietnamese negotiated for more than a year without getting any closer
    • Would non-violence have worked? i.e. - Gandhi
  • 6. 1st Indochina War - 12/46 - the French had returned and the war for independence from the French continued
    • a. The US disapproved the French return - Why?
    • b. Ho Chi Minh retreated into the countryside and avoided major engagements preferring to wear the French down while building support among the people and fighting a guerilla war
    • c. *The US took a neutral stand at 1st trying to encourage the French to make concessions
    • d. Bao Dai was put back on the throne as a puppet in 6/48 - no popular appeal
    • e. Ho Chi Minh received little/no aid from the communist countries
    • f. Secretary of State - Dean Acheson - found confirmation of communist takeover when China and the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh in 1/50
  • Key Assumption made throughout Vietnam was that all communist nations take their orders
  • from Moscow. We continued to act based on this assumption even after we knew it was not true
  • h. *2/50 - Truman - recognized Bao Dai
  • i. *6/50 - made the decision to extend military aid to the French when formally requested to do so by France - $10 million in the 1st month
  • significance - beginning of US involvement
  • Who made the key commitment to Vietnam?

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  EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION

  (1952-1960)

• A. Truman and Eisenhower chose France
  • 1. US paid 78% of French war expenses (New Look) beginning in 1950
• B. Dien Bien Phu - 1953 - May 1954
  • 1. French attempted to draw the enemy out into the open set up a fortress here
  • 2. Vo Nguyen Giap (Vo Win Zhahp) and the Viet Minh surrounded the French no escape
  • 3. When things got bad the French asked us to use the bomb or US troops against Ho Chi Minh
    • a. Easiest way to shift the blame was to give Congress and NATO options
    • b. *Congress (including LBJ) said no - military reminded them of Korea
    • c. Similarities to Korea
      • 1. geography
      • 2. location
      • 3. significance
      • 4. Giap forced the French to surrender - 5/54 - Significance - ended French rule in Indochina
• C. Geneva Agreements - 7/54
  • 1. Agreements (not signed by US or S. Vietnam)
    • a. Indochina split into 3 parts
      • 1. Laos promised neutrality in
      • 2. Cambodia the cold war
      • 3. Vietnam
    • b. Vietnam split into 2 parts at the 17th parallel - Significance - split leads to conflict
      • 1. N. Vietnam - communist - capital Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh
      • 2. S. Vietnam - French anti-communist - Saigon - Bao Dai
    • c. 1956 election to be held to determine which government would rule
    • d. No foreign arms or troops could be introduced into Vietnam
• D. *US Decided to build a non-communist alternative south of the 17th parallel - Rollback?
  • 1. Domino Theory - Vietnam was the first step in taking over India, Japan, and Australia
  • 2. Eisenhower chose to support Ngo Dinh Diem (No Din Zee-em)
  • 3. 9/54 - created SEATO and used it to justify intervention in Vietnam - we were invited
  • 4. By 1/55 the US was committed to Vietnam - Significance of committing to aid Diem
  • 5. 1955-1960 - The US gave $500 million/yr. in aid paying to run the entire government
    • a. US aid was mostly military - 200,000 trained and equipped by the US - 2/55
    • b. We had about 700 soldiers there to provide training
• E. Diem lacked popular support
  • 1. We ignored needed social reform trying to force Diem to do it himself
  • 2. Became fully independent of France, but dependent on the US
    • a. Diem rejected plans for all-Vietnam elections
      • Honest elections were impossible in the north
      • actually in any free elections Ho would have won
      • 10/55 - Diem organized an election in the South
        • a. Diem - President
        • b. Bao Dai - elective Monarch
        • c. Diem received 605,000 of 405,000 registered voters
        • d. Got 98.2% of the vote nationwide
  • 3. Diem was Catholic in a Buddhist country
    • a. Supporters were carpetbaggers from the north
      • 1. 900,000 Catholic refugees escaping communism by coming south
    • b. Showed prejudice towards non-Catholics (Buddhists were persecuted)
    • c. We wanted a better alternative, but could not find one
  • 4. Established a harsh and authoritarian rule
    • a. Ignored Confucius values based on ethics
    • b. Indiscriminant executions of suspected Viet Minh helped create even more enemies
    • c. By 1957 - 90% of Viet Minh were eliminated
      • 1. Diem's negative policies made them easy to replace
      • 2. It was impossible to tell the enemy from a friend
  • 5. Military coup attempted to overthrow Diem in 1960 failed
• G. Rise of the National Liberation Front
  • 1. 1957-1960 - Viet Minh began to organize a resistance to Diem
    • a. they recruited 8,000+ in the south and sent them north to be trained in guerilla tactics
  • 2. In Dec. 1960 they announced the creation of the NLF to overthrow Diem
    • a. Their military arm (the Vietcong) had grown to 30,000
    • b. They had control of 80% of the countryside and had 300,000 supporters
  • 3. North Vietnam began to infiltrate men and supplies into the south down the Ho Chi Minh Trail
  • 4. We accused the north of invading the south
• H. Cause of Defeat attributed to Ike and others
  • 1. US pride - competition with the communists
  • 2. Did not see it as a civil war - saw it as good vs. evil
  • 3. South Vietnam clearly resisted our style of government yet we continued
  • 4. Fear of losing face - superpower should be able to change the world to our liking

(1961-1963)

• 1. 1961 - Pathet Lao (pro-communist rebels) overthrew US backed government
• 2. US considered military action - rejected (250,000 men + atomic weapons - needed to win)
• 3. JFK attempted to obtain the neutrality of Laos (Dulles would never have approved)
• 4. Failed - North Vietnamese, China, USSR, and US agreed to neutrality then violated it constantly
• 5. Neutrality was desired by N.V. in order to have unrestricted use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
• 6. We saw N.Vietnam as the key enemy - tool of USSR
  • a. JFK approved guerilla support, secret bombings, and invasion of Laos as possible ways to stop infiltration
  • b. Also approved similar activity in North Vietnam
• 7. Vietcong were the tool of North Vietnam

• 1. Two main problems
  • a. Military unable to stop communism
  • b. Diem politically unpopular - no democratic support
• 2. Flexible Response - JFK sends advisors to Vietnam to recommend a course of action
  • a. Bay of Pigs made JFK desire a test case to prove our strength - put too much stress on
  • b. War can't be won unless the Vietnamese people support it
  • c. Key to Debate - Military vs. Economic and Social solution to the problem
  • d. General Maxwell Taylor and Robert McNamara sent on a series of trips (1961-1963) to Vietnam
  • e. Taylor- McNamara report recommended the use of US combat troops
  • f. ARVN not capable of doing the job alone
    • 1. lacked a cause and was very corrupt
    • 2. trained to repel an allout invasion like in Korea
    • 3. unprepared to fight rural guerilla war
  • g. "The major part of the US military task can be completed by the end of 1965"
  • h. Walt Rostow - Presidential advisor agreed with report
  • i. McGeorge Bundy - NSC advisor - had recommended bombing NV and covert activities there
  • j. John Kenneth Galbraith and Averell Harriman supported a military withdrawal and an economic solution
  • k. Basic Assumption - communist victory would encourage further adventures similar to Cuba
• 3. *April 1961 - 1st of 16,000 Green Beret advisors was sent to Vietnam - violated Geneva Agreements
  • a. Gradually drawn into combat - Significance opens US to combat
    • 1. They went into action with ARVN troops
    • 2. They piloted armed helicopters to support ARVN actions
    • 3. They led covert actions into Laos and North Vietnam
  • b. McNamara increased stress on US superiority in technology resisted to some degree at first
    • 1. Helicopters - used in smaller numbers than recommended it became the key weapon against the VC
    • 2. Defoliants - slowed by JFK when the US was accused of chemical warfare by the communists
    • 3. Computers were used to predict enemy actions
    • 4. people sniffers - detected human urine to soil and air samples
    • 5. portable radar units and night glasses to find the enemy at night
    • 6. Bombing of North Vietnam - debate was split on the issue - JFK postponed decision
    • 7. US recommended too many large-scale operations including air attacks
• 4. *Dec. 1961 - Strategic Hamlet Program - Hearts and Minds Program started
  • a. Nhu announced that the program would be implemented nationwide - blow to Buddhism
  • b. we had only wanted to do it in areas where we had control established
  • c. US gave 376 million in non-military economic aid (61-63) much of it spent here
  • d. Fortified villages surrounded by barbed-wire and guard towers to keep the VC out
  • e. Forced 65% of the villagers to move into hamlets by burning their homes so they could not return - ignored ancestor worship, apathy of peasants, freedom
  • f. US advice had suggested starting with areas already under control and gradually spreading
  • g. Did slow the VC temporarily - VC then adjusted - underground tunnel systems
  • h. Significance - most damaging blow to public opinion
•  
• 5. Search and Destroy Missions began in 1962 to go with Hamlet Program
  • a. General Paul Harkins suggested that we wipe out the VC
  • b. ARVN reports from this program exaggerated success - the US military did not question results
  • c. govt. forces moved into villages and executed suspected VC
  • d. VC would reoccupy village at night
  • e. helped to recruit for the VC by killing innocents
  • f. US began to call ARVN missions - Search and Avoid
  • g. More ARVN deserted than died - 80% ineffective
  • h. 61-62 - casualties - US - 65 / ARVN - 8,400 / VC - 33,000
• 6. Opposition to the war began to form - civil rights movement created the climate for protest
  • a. June 1962 - SDS - Students for a Democratic Society) formed - Port Huron Statement
    • 1. Students created this organization which stressed 3 key issues
      • a. racism
      • b. poverty
      • c. Cold War
      • d. eventually led anti-war protest movement
    • 2. Michigan - 59 delegates from 10 campuses
    • 3. leftist ideas; no single spokesman - Tom Hayden and the New Left was one of the founders
      • a. American society and institutions had failed the people
      • b. Fault of "establishment" or "owner elite" - capitalists, imperialists, government leaders, educational officials.
      • c. sought "basic social change" - revolution to overthrow establishment and institute undefined system of "participatory democracy"
      • d. sought confrontations with university officials and police to arouse public opinion against establishment and radicalize the students.
      • e. Encouraged sit-ins in school buildings, disruption of selected classes and mass demonstrations.
      • f. grew to 400 college/university branches; estimated 35,000 members
      • g. was not focused on the Vietnam War at this time
  • b. The press began serious reporting in 1960
  • c. By 1962 began to question the accuracy of ARVN reports
  • d. They began to focus on US participation and direction instead of support and training
  • e. This made us look imperialist as if we were in control - we were not yet
• 7. 1/2/63 - Battle of Ap Bac - shows ARVN weaknesses - VC growing again
  • a. lack of aggressiveness
  • b. hesitancy in taking casualties
  • c. lack of leadership
  • d. non-existent chain of command
  • e. US had failed to train a guerilla army to fight a guerilla war
  • f. US called it a victory - it clearly was not
  • g. JFK - they must win or lose it themselves
• 8. 5/63 - Buddha's birthday - Hue - Buddhist riots in protest of Nhu clampdown on their religion
  • a. Eventually 7 Buddhists burned themselves to death in protest (non-communists)
  • b. They used US press to sway public opinion (self-immolation)
  • c. Pressure to force Diem to compromise ignored
  • d. Nhu destroys ARVN image by arresting 1400 Buddhists and making it look like ARVN did it
  • e. JFK horrified - felt that Nhu had to go - Diem refused
  • f. Hot debate developed over whether or not to replace Diem
    • 1. New US ambassador to Vietnam - Henry Cabot Lodge favored Diems removal - 8/63
    • 2. Diem considered asking US to leave or quit interfering in his handling of domestic affairs
  • g. DeGualle suggested that the US get out of Vietnam
• 9. 11/1/63 Diem and his brothers were assassinated by ARVN leaders
  • a. Rusk/Lodge/CIA informed the generals that we would not stop a coup attempt - 8/63
  • b. CIA actually gave advise as it occurred
  • c. Plausible denial - made JFK approval vague
  • d. We had not wanted Diem killed
  • e. Significance - it created a power vacuum which made US involvement almost certain
  • f. US became responsible for the chaos afterward which led to an increased commitment of US troops
• 10. Nov. 1963 - Honolulu Conference
  • a. McNamara, Rusk, Lodge, JFK
  • b. Conflicting view of Vietnam created confusion and frustration
    • 1. JFK felt that it was impossible to make wise decisions due to conflict
    • 2. Advisers came up with a consensus report in Nov. 1963 recommending the use of US troops
  • c. JFK suggested that we should get out - but feared a repeat of the fall of China which killed Truman's reelection chances in the 1952 election
  • d. We began troops withdrawals that had been scheduled earlier
  • e. JFK also approved activities included in the 1963 report - which led to escalation
• 11. 11/22/63 JFK assassinated
  • a. LBJ inherited JFK plans and vows to continue his policies
  • b. Opinion split on what JFK would have done many say that he would have withdrawn after the 1964 election
• 12. 1963 casualties - US - 114 / ARVN - 5,700 / VC - 21,000
• 13. JFK made two critical mistakes which led to defeat
  • a. Poor strategy
    • 1. multiple options - military could not decide how to win - disagreed on what to do
    • 2. no long range strategy
    • 3. Who was the main enemy - the VC or North Vietnam?
    • 4. VC
      • a. counter-insurgency - helicopter
      • b. regular army required - civil war - led to Strategic Hamlet
    • 5. North Vietnam
      • a. no front line to stop the influx of supplies
      • b. neutralization to stop supplies in Laos failed - tied our hands - couldn't invade
      • c. fought a constantly resupplied war in South Vietnam
      • d. bombing
  • b. Underestimated the enemy
    • 1. North Vietnam more determined that we thought
      • a. Twice the death rate of Japan in WWII
      • b. Death rate = USSR in WWII % of the population
      • c. France warned us - we thought that we were better than them - superpower
      • d. In similar actions elsewhere the communists had given up - Greece and Turkey

(1963 - 1968)

• 1. Promised to continue his programs (15,914 US troops in Vietnam - 1/64)
• 2. Election of 1964
  • a. Barry Goldwater promised to win the war - hawk
  • b. LBJ couldn't afford to appear too weak yet wanted image as peace candidate - dove
    • 1. continued to see the war as a part of the struggle against the Soviets
    • 2. Promised not to be "the President who saw Southeast Asia go the way that China went."
    • 3. Promised the American public to defend Vietnam from communism - we had commitments
      • a. promise to Diem - 1954
      • b. SEATO - 1954
    • 4. Promised not to send American boys to defend American interests in Vietnam
    • 5. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution guaranteed his victory in the election
• 3. JFK-LBJ inherited JFK advisors who remain split
  • a. most suggested US military action - stuck by 1963 report
  • b. McNamara and CIA suggest covert action
  • c. minority pointed out that earlier decisions were based on faulty info received from ARVN
  • d. Most agreed that US objectives were unclear and needed to be clarified - US wasting money
  • e. Basic Assumption - communist victory would weaken our Allies faith in our commitments
• 4. LBJ approved covert operations against North Vietnam - 1964
  • a. Limited number of American troops and military advisors in South Vietnam maintained not reduced
  • b. McGeorge Bundy - National Security Advisor to JFK had wanted to make NV bleed
  • c. JFK had approved the development of covert operations to do just that
  • d. American naval units patrolled international waters of Gulf of Tonkin to aid these actions.
  • e. US began a gradual buildup
  • f. US deaths begin to mount - 140 since beginning of 1961
• 5. General Maxwell Taylor - ambassador 1964 observed:
  • a. After Diem, no Saigon regime survived without American support.
  • b. 6 coups in 1 yr. created chaos in South Vietnam leadership
  • c. America was involved in every coup looking for a good leader that we could trust
  • d. Generals who replaced Diem were trained by French and US
  • e. No concept of what their own people wanted
  • f. 1963-1966 - impossible to tell who actually ran the country
  • g. Could the US win war without Vietnamese support? How?
• 6. NLF took advantage of the chaos to gain control of most of South Vietnam
  • a. organized guerilla units and village militia
  • b. noncombatants also provided aid
    • 1. military info
    • 2. food, medical services
    • 3. homemade weapons and recruits
  • c. By early 1965 NLF had uncontested control of the Mekong River Delta
    • 1. cut off rice supplies
    • 2. US had to give rice as non-military economic aid - $175 million/yr.
    • 3. aid they would not have needed if we had not been there
    • 4. Non-military aid 64-65 - $375 million

• 1. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution written in mid-1964 and saved until a crisis occurred
• 2. 12 mi. limit (international) vs. the 3 mi. limit (US)
• 3. Aug. 2, 1964 - Maddox attacked by 3 NV PT boats while simulating attacks on NV - no damage
• 4. Aug. 4, 1964 - North Vietnamese PT boats reportedly attacked American destroyers ( Maddox and C, Turner Joy) in Gulf of Tonkin
  • a. President Johnson ordered air strikes against North Vietnamese naval bases, oil and supplies
  • b. Not even sure that the incident occurred
  • c. Does that really make a difference?
• 5. 8/7/64 - Congress passed Tonkin Gulf Resolution - unanimously in House / 88-2 Senate
  • a. gave President broad war-making powers to protect U.S. troops - blank check
  • b. Significance - LBJ given unlimited power without a declaration of war - Constitutional?
  • c. William Fulbright :"LBJ sold it to prevent widening the war"
  • d. 17 million people would not take on the US - Could he have gotten a declaration of war
  • e. Presidential credibility at stake - mislead Congress and the American people
    • 1. failed to let the people know he was committed in Vietnam
    • 2. secrecy and deceit to cover his lack of self-confidence and the fear of domestic opposition
  • f. Failure to obtain a declaration of war considered a cause of defeat
    • 1. failed to unite the people
    • 2. did not share the responsibility with Congress - Presidency vs. Congress
    • 3. declaration of war does not require massive use of force
    • 4. Army was caught in the middle - 1/2 way war was impossible to win
    • 5. If Congress had voted against - support for US troops in Vietnam would have ended
    • 6. War Powers Act may fix, but it has not been used
      • a. Congo, Iran, Central America
• 6. 10/16/64 - China explodes 1st nuclear device - makes communism in SE Asia seem more dangerous
• 7. 11/3/64 - LBJ - wins election 61% of vote - larger than Reagan vs. Mondale
• 8. VC were everywhere
  • a. 1000 VC ambush ARVN on outskirts of Saigon - 1964
  • b. 12/24/64 - VC bomb hotel filled with US in Saigon
  • c. June 20, 1964 - William Westmoreland replaced General Harkins as US commander in Vietnam
  • d. VC - 170,000 - end of 1964 US draft - 5,000/month begins
  • e. 1964 casualties - US - 195 / ARVN - 7,500 / VC - 17,500

• 1. 12/7/64 - LBJ announces US plans for Vietnam
  • a. Phase I - US troops increased to 23,000 by end of the year
    • 1. increased covert actions
    • 2. bombing of Laos
    • 3. recon of NV - threatened bombings if they did not back down
• 2. Pleiku - 2/7/65 VC attacked US base killing 8 - Bundy was there and reported to LBJ
  • a. Led to US commitment of Marines to protect bases
  • b. US prestige was committed - no turning back
  • c. world image was at stake
    • 1. stand by our commitments
    • 2. poor decision-making - hopeless situation
  • d. Public opinion poll
    • 1. 70% support LBJ
    • 2. 80% believe withdrawal would give Asia to the communists and supported sending troops
• 3. Phase II - Operation Rolling Thunder (1966-1968)
  • a. program of measured and limited air action against NV - LBJ's main goal was to force North Vietnam to negotiate
    • 1. some expected N.V. surrender / others warned of WWII studies that this would make things worse
      • a. world opinion would be against us
      • b. NV would fight harder
      • c. Would make it more difficult to get out if hopeless
    • 2. they went underground and sacrificed - getting tougher instead
    • 3. supplied by Soviets - they were Nationalists
  • b. gradually increasing bombing attacks on NV
    • 1. scope
    • 2. intensity
    • 3. B-52 raids from Guam began
    • 4. ignored Red River dams and major cities - don't make world opinion worse
    • 5. Announced 2/13 - 1st attacks - 3/2 - 1st use of Napalm and cluster bombs (personal)
    • 6. Seen as an alternative to sending American boys to fight in Vietnam
    • 7. Gallup Poll - 67% approve of US air strikes - Letters to White House 14 to 1 against - anti-war protest
    • 8. US attempted to blunt foreign criticism
      • a. Four SEATO members (Australia - 6500, New Zealand - 400, Philippines - 2100, and Thailand - 2500) augmented South Vietnamese and American forces.
      • b. South Korea sent 57,150
    • 9. Results
      • a. by 1967 tonnage of bombs dropped on North Vietnam exceeded amount dropped on all of our enemies combined during WWII
      • b. American pilots avoided the horrors of war unless they were shot down
      • c. infiltration into the South from the North sped up to avoid bombings
      • d. by 1967 only 55,000 regular NV troops in the South the main enemy was still the NLF
      • e. US ended up bombing both North and South Vietnam
      • f. NV had 200,000 new draft age people every draft age people every year
      • g. public support (revenge for bombings) more than offset losses - became experts at rebuilding
      • h. public outcry worldwide and at home
      • i. US bombing and defoliation did more damage to South than to the north
      • j. Press, economy, production, art, literature - everything supported the war in NV
      • k. No free press, no open debate
• 4. 3/8/65 - 1st US Marines went ashore at Danang in direct combat role - 3,500 / Total - 24,000
  • a. Goal - protect air bases from VC attacks
  • b. US troops ordered not to fire unless fired upon
  • c. US casualties will convince the military that US politicians don't know what they are doing
  • d. US now seen as invaders
• 5. 6/26/65 - 1st Marines committed to combat - met VC tactics designed by Giap
  • a. US began meat grinder approach of attrition - war measured by kill ratio
  • b. VC and North Vietnamese chose time and place of battles
    • 1. harass and entrap US troops in a situation where the VC had an advantage
    • 2. population was silent - would not betray VC - fear or hatred of US/VC
  • c. NLF - hard to distinguish as enemies and were familiar with territory.
  • d. mines and traps
    • 1. electronic mines - late in war
    • 2. bouncing betties - jumped 2 feet in air then exploded - most feared
    • 3. wired grenades - most favorite
    • 4. deadfall, Malaysian whip, crossbow - ineffective harassment
    • 5. bear trap, nail or bullet in foot - wound you and send you home
    • 6. suitcases, C rations, pens, watches, lighters
    • 7. women and babies with explosives attached
    • 8. helicopter traps - explosives set in clearings and set off electronically when copters land
  • e. US military resorted to new tactics:
    • 1. "free fire zones" - areas in which anything that moved was assumed to be an enemy and attacked.
    • 2. By 1966 these areas were enlarged to several sq. mi.
      • a. saturation bombing by B-52s
      • b. artillery shelling
      • c. made it uninhabitable by anyone
      • d. destroyed the land creating large numbers of refugee camps
    • 3. "search and destroy" missions - frequently responded to a single sniper attack from a village by destroying the entire village and relocating surviving population.
    • 4. These tactics helped the VC recruit more followers than they lost to us
    • 5. TV image of cruelty created at home
  • f. Every Vietnamese became a potential enemy to American soldiers.
    • 1. soldiers referred to Vietnam as Indian Country
    • 2. the "only good gook is a dead gook."
    • 3. 430,000 civilians killed in SV during the war
• 6. 7/12/65 - communist nations increased aid to Hanoi and VC.
  • a. USSR provided additional military equipment - 70% (oil, anti-aircraft)
  • b. Peking assigned service troops to maintain transportation in the north - 30% (rice, small arms)
  • c. Communists commit to total war - victory south, survival north.
  • d. US attempts to negotiate - offer Mekong River Control Project (like TVA) to VC in negotiations
  • e. Too late
    • 1. timing bad - misunderstandings resulted
    • 2. NV set conditions (based on French experience they expected US to give in)
    • 3. They knew we would reject
• 7. 7/27/65 - US commits 100,000 troops to Vietnam - we are in to stay - by the end of 1965 - 184,000
  • a. LBJ never gave what his military asked for
  • b. Each failure led to a request for more aid
  • c. 1965 casualties - US - 1,728 / ARVN - 11,000 / VC - 35,500
  • d. US started hiding war costs in the budget in 1965
  • e. Increased draft call - 35,000/month by the end of 1965
• 8. Problems with the troops sent by the draft:
  • a. Draftees only there for a year - survival was the key
  • b. not safe anywhere - terrorists in cities, etc.
  • c. Not sent as units - loneliness
  • d. Hostile environment - people that you went there to help might kill you
  • e. Average age - 19
  • f. Liberated territory returned quickly to the VC - frustration
  • g. Walk for months and see nothing - routine
  • h. Exemptions made the war a poor mans war
  • i. College, Marriage, Certain types of middle class jobs - (teaching) go you exempted

• 1. U.S. felt best government to work with was coup that put Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky in power (June, 1965)
• 2. U.S. continued to support their government when there were attempts to overthrow.
• 3. They became more like the puppet governments of the French
• 4. 1966 elections - only lip service to democracy - surprisingly close - peace candidate - 2nd
•  

• 1. 2/66 Ky - Prime Minister - felt that it was the duty of the US to rescue SV
  • a. promised land reform - govt. owned 1 million acres
  • b. refugee assistance
• 2. US decided economic aid and government stability were the key
  • a. Massive economic aid was pumped in after 1965 - $7 billion
  • b. 4/66 - LBJ offered $1 billion economic aid package to SE Asia if North Vietnamese would participate in unconditional negotiations - rejected
    • 1. 10/66 - US offered to withdraw 6 months after NV - rejected
    • 2. US alternated bombing and negotiations and distributed aid anyway
  • c. South Vietnamese who distributed it were corrupt - much went to the black market
  • d. much went to rebuild what we destroyed in search and destroy missions and bombing
  • e. refugee camps for homeless
• 3. 6/66 - 1st air raid in the Hanoi-Haiphong area (not in the city itself) - inflamed world opinion
  • a. attempted to avoid neutral shipping (Br. and USSR) actually his Soviet ships
  • b. followed by bombing of the DMZ
• 4. By the end of 1966 - 400,000 US troops
  • 1966 casualties - US - 6,053 / ARVN - 9,500 / VC - 55,000
• 5. First nine months of 1967 - toxic crop defoliants (Agent Orange) sprayed on 965,006 acres of land.
• 6. 4/67 - B-52 raids begin from Thailand
• 7. 5/67 - Free fire zone created in the DMZ
• 8 Nov. 1967 bombs to within 5 mi. of Hanoi
• 9. By 1967 - US had 500,000 troops in Vietnam
  • a. 1/2 of air force was there
    • 1. 1.2 million tons of bombs dropped
    • 2. 200.000 enemy dead / 20,000 dead
    • 3. 400,000 bombing raids - sorties
  • b. 30% of navy was there - 3 carriers in South China Sea for air strikes
  • c. cost $2 billion / month
• 10. 1967 - "Phoenix Program" - Pacification"
  • a. Purpose - program to eliminate NLF leadership through assassination.
  • b. Isolate enemy from population.
• 11. 1967 Casualties - US - 9,394 / ARVN - 23,085 / VC - 75,156

• 1. SDS - 1964 - increased to 20,000+
  • a. during 1960s battled with some success for university changes
    • 1. abolish ROTC
    • 2. end university research for the military
    • 3. give students greater voice in university affairs
  • b. opponents to war joined with advocates of equal rights for minorities and women,
  • environmental activists, and supporters of new life-styles
  • c. called New Left - loosely organized; agreed only on demand for immediate withdrawal of forces
  • d. May 1964 - 200 draft age Americans join a committee in protest of the war in Vietnam
• 2. Free Speech Movement - U.C. Berkeley - 9/64
  • a. occupied admin building
  • b. 2 months of turmoil (speeches by famous people like - Dr. Benjamin Spock - baby doctor)
  • c. campus overreacted - police suppression helped the movement grow
  • d. Wright Mills - Berkeley - termed free speech movement and New Left?
• 3. 1965 - SNCC kicked whites out
  • a. they turned to the war as the main issue
  • b. Stokeley Carmichael also led blacks in protest - don't fight the white man's war
• 4. Don't trust anyone over 30
• 5. 3/65 - 1st teach-in protesting US troops in Vietnam - University of Michigan
  • Profs ran ads against the war - gave grades away to keep students in school
• 6. April 1965 - SDS protests in Washington D.C.
  • a. Joan Baez (her husband went to prison rather than take a deferment) and Judy Collins
  • b. 30,000 attend (deferment and black discrimination were key issues)
• 7. 1965 two US students die in protest - self-immolation - image of crazies
  • So did an 82 yr. old woman
• 8. 1965 - 380 draft evaders prosecuted - mainly white middle class - draft card burning begins
• 9. 10/65 nationwide protests sponsored by the National Coordinating Committee to end the War
• in Vietnam - Harvard - Boston protest drew only 100 people - raised money for the VC
• 10. Became difficult to maintain Great Society and war at the same time
  • a. 1/67 - LBJ raised taxes by 6% to pay for war
• 11. War protests mainly confined to colleges
  • a. original: white, middle-class, college students
  • b. later joined by representative cross section of American people
  • c. MLK spoke out against the war
    • 1. war took money from domestic programs
    • 2. disproportional number of troops sent to Vietnam were Blacks
• 12. 1965 - 60% of people favored involvement in Vietnam
• 13. Tactics
  • a. Civil disobedience
    • 1. publicly burned draft cards
    • 2. refused to report when drafted
  • b. 1965 - 380 draft evaders prosecuted mainly white
  • c. estimated over 100,000 fled US others chose civilian alternative service or prison
  • d. FBI,CIA, local police, and US army infiltrated protest groups, tapped phones,
  • photographs, created secret files on members.
• 14. War protest 1966 - 1967
  • a. SDS - 1966 - 151 campuses - 40,000+
    • 1. College campus protest reached Capital Hill by 2/66 as Senate hearings begin
    • 2. Congressmen split into Doves and Hawks
    • 3. Presidential advisors began to express doubts
    • 4. Housewives and middle-class professionals began to attend anti-war rallies
  • b. NY City protest - 4/67 - 100,000
  • c. massive march on the Pentagon - Oct. 1967
    • 1. 50,000 march on Pentagon led by pacifist - John Dellinger - Quaker
    • 2. He had been to Hanoi (traitor) bombs were landing on civilians, churches, schools and hospitals
    • "Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?"
    • ditto - Jane Fonda
    • 3. Westmoreland points out that attention had not been given to civilians by the press in previous wars
    • 4. 600+ arrested
  • d. Dow Chemical is picketed - made Napalm
  • e. adults began joining the protest movement
  • f. still told war is winnable
  • g. Administration officials who questioned strategy were fired
    • 1. Robert McNamara - faith in our technological advantage had been a key in the beginning
    • 2. Late 1967 McNamara replaced by Hawk - Clark Clifford - Secretary of Defense
  • h. William Fulbright - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
    • 1. former supporter of the war turned dove
      • a. poisoning domestic life
      • b. taking money from the needy
    • 2. published The Arrogance of Power - 1966
  • i. Draft card burning and flag burning - opponents portrayed as traitors
  • j. North Vietnam considered the anti-war movement the key to their victory - they were confident
  • k. Jerry Rubin - called for bringing an end to the war by having war in the streets of America
  • l. Gallup Poll 7/67
    • 1. 52 % disapprove handling of the war
    • 2. 41 % think it was a mistake to get involved
    • 3. 25% think we should us nuclear weapons
  • m. 4/67 - 100,000 protest the war in New York and San Francisco
    • 1. Haight-Ashbury - flower children - drugs

• 1. U.S. increased forced in South Vietnam pass the 500,000 mark
• 2. LBJ was favored for Democratic nomination by 63% over RFK
• 3. Khe-Sahn - 1-20-68 - 77 day siege our Dien Bien Phu
• 4. 1/31/68 - Tet Offensive - Confucian - lunar new year - cease-fire
  • a. 80,000 guerillas attacked 100+ cities, 34 provincial centers, 64 district towns
  • b. US troops were fighting for control of the cities
  • c. Hue captured by VC and freed after one month - "We had to destroy the city to save it."
  • d. shock of US embassy being captured - held only for a few hours
  • e. American civilians and military came under NLF/VC attacks.
  • f. TV showed it all - created a credibility gap
    • 1. no censorship for the 1st time
    • 2. Execution of VC suspect by Saigon police chief
    • 3. we had been told that there was light at the end of the tunnel
    • 4. if this was so how could Tet occur
    • 5. Walter Cronkite and Eric Severeid openly questioned the war - TV
    • 6. Dean Rusk - Sec. of State - "WWII would not have been supported"
    • 7. US Journalist are considered a cause of defeat
      • a. ignored victories and periods of calm as boring
      • b. press was also ignorant of culture and army
      • c. Vietnam today credits the US press with their victory
      • d. military had never told the press the whole story before why expect them to now?
      • e. is communist rule today (which the press said would be ok)
      • better than what we offered? Clearly not
      • g. Tet actually the largest US military victory of the war
        • 1. Lasted till April
        • 2. 3,895 US killed - 5,000 allies
        • 3. 14,300 civilians
        • 4. 58,000 NV and VC
        • 5. After Tet most of the fighting had to be done by North Vietnam
        • 6. Today most of South Vietnam is run by northerners not VC because we killed most of them
        • 7. Westmoreland - Tet was the turning pt. - could have been victory instead defeat
        • 8. War protest went crazy
• 5. Johnson vowed not to be "the first American president to lose a war."
• US kept talking about hope - created a credibility gap
•  
• 6. The bulk of the fighting until mid 68-69 involved 240,000 NLF vs.
• 525.000 American soldiers and 685,000 ARVN
•  
• 7. 1968 - General William Westmoreland called for 206,000 more troops.
•  
• 8. Johnson urged by advisors to deny Westmoreland's request.
  • a. Clark Clifford - Secretary of Defense - Hawk - investigated
    • 1. US had no plans for ending the war
    • 2. Suggested the only course was to get out of the war
  • b. 3/31/68 - Johnson called for halt to bombing of North V.
  • c. said he would devote the remainder of his term to seeking peace rather than reelection.
  • d. Significance - ends escalation - 3 yrs. of war have failed - Vietnamese people failed to report troop movements necessary for Tet - they are against us
  • e. 2000 attempts to start negotiations with the North all failed
  • f. 4/68 - North Vietnam offers to begin negotiations - these talks in Paris also stall - table debate
  • g. 10/68 - LBJ halts the bombing of North Vietnam
• 9. By the end of 1968 the US army began to fall apart
  • a. morale declined rapidly while desertions increased
  • b. drug use became common
  • c. fragging of officers and racial tensions increased
• 10. 3/68 - My Lai Massacre
  • a. Artillery and helicopter fire hit the village 1st
  • b. Grudge attack after our men had died in ambush and traps
  • c. Lt. William Calley had expected to find VC not villagers
  • d. killed 200 - 504 men, women and children
  • e. 3 or 4 were VC
  • f. US suffered one casualty who wounded himself
• 11. War Protest - 1968
  • a. Catonsville 9 - May 1968
    • 1. nine nuns and priests, and Catholic lay people
    • 2. poured blood over draft records in Catonsville, MD.
    • 3. Believed the war was illegal, immoral, and criminal
    • 4. therefore their actions were justified.
  • b. LBJ felt that these encouraged NV to continue fighting

• 1. 1/68 - Eugene McCarthy liberal (D) Minnesota - announced for Presidency as an anti-war candidate
  • a. College students flocked to his support
  • b. 1968 SDS - 1000 campuses - 100,000+
  • c. "clean for Gene" - haircuts - their support helped him to challenge LBJ early
  • d. 3/68 RFK convinced to enter as an anti-war candidate also - better chance of winning
• 2. 3/31/68 - Johnson said he would devote the remainder of his term to seeking peace rather than reelection.
  • a. HHH immediately declared his candidacy - pro-war
  • b. some people appalled by lack of respect to the government - backlash of the right
• 3. RFK was winning until assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in California
  • a. George McGovern joined the race at the last minute to replace RFK
  • b. HHH won when the rules gave him the nomination - anti-war supporters were outraged
  • c. 8/68 - violence at Demo National Convention - Police Riots
    • 1. Anti-war protest groups called for 1/2 million only 5000 showed up to protest
    • 2. Mayor Daley called 26,000 police and national guard
    • 3. We shall overcome / Chicago 7 protested outside the convention
    • 4. Felt they were the real heroes - they were labeled communists
    • 5. David Dellinger - Abbie Hoffman (Youth International Party)
    • 6. Police attacked the protesters 3-4 to 1 beat and gassed them
    • 7. Even beat campaign workers not involved in the protest - shown on national TV
    • 8. Democratic Party image damaged
    • 9. contributed negatively to HHH bid for office
• 4. Republican Convention in Miami -calm
  • a.. Nixon was nominated over
    • 1. Nelson Rockefeller
    • 2. Ronald Reagan
  • b. Chose Spiro Agnew for VP
• 5. Nixon had an early led
• 6. HHH closed on Nixon by announcing his opposition to continued bombing
• 7. George Wallace - American Party - Segregation Forever
  • a. VP - Curtis LeMay (General) - Nuke 'em back to the stone age
  • b. got 10 million votes and 46 electoral votes
• 8. Nixon won by the smallest margin since 1916
  • a. Backlash of the Right
  • b. non-black, non-poor, non-young, pro-war
  • c. Nixon forced to look at growing strength of protesters in formulating his policy on Vietnam

NIXON ADMINISTRATION

• 1. Peace with Honor
  • a. problem how to get out without appearing to lose
  • b. basic assumption - appearance of communist victory would hurt US prestige
• 2. Three-part plan to end the war
  • a. Renewed bombing
  • b. Hard-line negotiations
  • c. gradual withdrawal of US troops
• 3. Draft reform - 1969
  • a. draft deferments reduced and eliminated
  • b. protests increased as middle class and upper class join in opposition to the war
  • c. desertions in the army increased
  • d. lottery system used for 19 yr. olds
  • e. 20-27 drafted as soon as their deferments were up - no extensions
  • f. Drug use increased to flunk physicals
• 4. Nixon appealed to the Silent Majority
• 5. Law and Order - VP - Agnew
  • a. Attacked anti-war protesters at home
  • b. Troop withdrawals took the wind out of the war protest movement
• 6. Nixon established better relations with China and USSR - all communists are not the same

• 1. Secretary of Defense - Melvin Laird - 4 yrs.
• 2. Purpose - gradual transfer of combat operations in Vietnam entirely to ARVN
• 3. meant to fulfill campaign pledge of peace with honor
• 4. Thieu could be successful if done right
• 5. South Vietnamese mobilization - draft - 1/2 of fighting age population
  • a. greater combat role led to greater casualties
  • b. more ARVN deserted than were killed
  • c. 80% ineffective
• 6. 6/69 1st withdrawal of US troops 25,000 - peak US troops levels of 543,000 fell to 334,600
  • a. Despite decrease in troop strength and lower morale, US military activity expanded
    • 1. US troops began voting on whether or not to follow orders
    • 2. Newly discovered tunnel systems were usually ignored as too dangerous
    • 3. Fragging began in 1970s
    • 4. 50% using drugs / 10% Heroin / Opium also used
  • b. Put pressure on NV to negotiate
  • c. most US troops taken out of combat areas
• 7. Most successful program - increased bombings to give this new policy a chance to work
• 8. George McGovern was critical - wanted them all home within one year
  • a. Cost of transportation - $144,519,621
  • b. Thieu-Ky - not a democracy anyway - morally wrong to support them - they can't survive

• 1. The US would honor its treaty commitments, including military and economic aid
• 2. Any Asian nation threatened by internal subversion or non-nuclear aggression expected to provide armed forces for its own defense

• 1. Henry Kissinger - US / Le Duc Tho - Hanoi
• 2. US concession - North could stay in South / North had insisted on getting rid of Thieu
• 3. Kissinger (reasonable - opposed bombings) good guy - Nixon (unleashed bombers - crazy)
• bad guy strategy - lets make a deal now
• 4. Psychological effects of bombing
• 5. 9/69 - Ho Chi Minh dies

• 1. 1969 - 33,960 draft evaders prosecuted middle-class
• 2. 11/69 - Washington D.C. protest - largest ever - 250,000
• 3. 100,000s protest war across the US - 10/69

• 1. Lt. Calley was charged with killing innocent civilians and ordering others to do the same
• 2. Lt. Steven Brooks died in combat later before My Lai uncovered
• 3. 28 officers participated in the coverup only 6 were tried
• 4. Ron Ridenhour reported that he had heard of the massacre - 3/69
• 5. 11/69 - Calley tried
• 6. Lt. William Calley convicted - 3/71
• 7. sentenced to life - public outcry convinced Nixon to reduce the sentence to 20 yrs.
• 8. Calley served 3 yrs. house arrest
• 9. American public was shocked - Americans play by the rules?
• 10. Lesson - give young boys a chance to grow up before you send them to war

• 1 Total aid from USSR and China reaches $4 billion
• 2 Supplies threatened Vietnamization
• 3. Had not wanted to do earlier because Cambodia would protest - neutral
• 4. US - secret bombings then join the invasion - 20 mi. over border - 2 months
• 5. disappointing - only supplies found - only slowed down the VC
• 6. widened war to included all of Indochina

• 1. Protests broke out on college campuses across the nation in protest of the invasion of Cambodia
•  
• 2. Kent State - 5/70 - protest over Cambodia, ROTC, and military research on campus
• a. Friday 5/1 - 1400 at night street protest in Kent broke all store windows downtown
• $50,000 damage - 7 police injured - 14 arrested
• b. Rumors said that the Weathermen were on campus
• 1. SDS early 1970s - split into 3 factions all favoring
• revolution but differing as to tactics and leadership
• 2. Weathermen - most extreme faction'; advocated armed struggle,
• endorsed terrorism, conducted classes in sabotage and prepared homemade bombs.
• c. governor sent in the national guard - they were harassed by protesters
• d. They had just come from another strike and were exhausted - just kids themselves
• e. 5/2 - Students fire-bombed the ROTC building on campus
• 1. 800 burn American flag
• 2. curfew declared
• f. In violence that night several Guardsmen were injured by
• rocks as they broke up another street protest
• g. 5/3 peaceful march attacked by tear-gas resulted in rock throwing
• g. Monday 5/4 - National guard opened fire on the students after tear gas and rock throwing began
• 1. 26 men fired 59 shots after being cornered - why?
• 2. 4 killed
• 3. 11 wounded
• 4. most were innocent bystanders on their way to class
• h. National guard tried and acquitted
• 1. Ohio paid $675,000 to families
• 2. National Guard apologized
•  
• 3. Jackson State - black school in Miss.
• a. two died from police fire during protest of bombing in Cambodia
• b. 12 wounded
• c. one week after Kent State
•  
• 4. Protests broke out closing almost 500 campuses across the nation
• 5. increasing animosity between anti-war and pro-war groups.
•  
• 6. Government attempted to stop opposition
• a. Nixon called the protesters bums
• b. Public Opinion polls showed that most Americans blamed the students not the national guard
• c. Construction worker (100,000) pro-war march attacked anti-war protesters
• d. Honor America Day - Washington DC
• 1. Billy Graham and Bob Hope spoke in favor of Nixon's policies
• 2. 250,000
• 7. Withdrew from Cambodia
•  

• 1. troop strength diminished to 156,800 at the end of 1971

• 1. Feb. 71 - a branch of the Bank of America was burned down in Cal.
  • a. The justification for this act was that the bank represented the capitalist system
  • that perpetuated the war in Vietnam
  • b. that the destruction of the bank building was little in comparison to the massive
  • destruction of lives in Vietnam.
• 2. strength of anti-war protest demonstrated by protest within armed forces
  • a. deserters - 50,000 to 100,000 - various ethnic groups and classes
  • b. Vietnam Veterans Against the War - march on Washington (April 1971)
  • threw combat medals at Capitol building.
• 3. May 71 - Washington DC protests
  • a. over 25,000 demonstrators attempted to paralyze city
  • b. through peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience.
  • c. They sat down in the streets, blocked entranceways to buildings etc.
  • d. Over 10,000 were arrested.
  • e. Years later courts ruled arrests illegal and ordered Washington to pay
  • compensation to those arrested.
• 4. 1971 - over 60% opposed war

• 47 volumes
• 1. Daniel Ellsberg - State Dept. Official - hawk turned dove
•  
• 2. " US devouring it's young " - tried and acquitted
•  
• 3. Defense Department study critical of the war
  • a. War from WWII to 1960s - anti-communism crusade misplaced
  • b. LBJ planned escalation for a full year before he announced it - during this time he denied it
  • c. Intelligence reports that bombing would fail before it started
• 4. Protest increased
• 5. Nixon don't let public change view - legally elected to make decisions - he was responsible
• 6. Role of the Press - credibility gap anti-war sentiment

• 1. Shape of the table controversy typical of early negotiations under LBJ
• 2. Secrecy had avoided many of these problems - they will surface again

• 1. B-52 bombing escalation in response to NV invasion of SV - invasion turned back
• 2. bombing closer to Hanoi - around the clock
  • a. anti-aircraft fire
  • b. Soviet anti-aircraft missiles deadly
  • c. also bombed Chinese border and near Soviet ships cutting off supplies
• 3. US mined Haiphong Harbor to stop supplies from arriving from USSR
• 4. civilian casualties increased
• 5. world opinion outraged - Nixon ignores
• 6. Significance - pressure before election to end war
• 7. 8/72 - last US combat troops depart
• 8. Oct. - NV gives in - Thieu stays - terms honorable
• 9. Nov. - Nixon wins landslide
• 10. SV rejects - Thieu not a puppet

• 1. Hanoi stalls
• 2. 11 days - 1st time bombed central Hanoi
• 5. cease-fire 1/27/73
• US draft ended

• 1. Provisions
  • a. Cease-fire from all sides - reunification only through peaceful means
  • b. Thieu stays in power
  • c. All armies retained control of the areas they held at the time of the cease-fire
  • d. VC and North Vietnamese not forced to withdraw
  • e. US to withdraw and dismantle its bases
  • f. US POWs to be returned - 3/73 along with remain US troops
    • 1. Hanoi Hilton - Heartbreak Hotel - prisoners were considered criminals
    • 2. Isolation and solitary confinement - Alcatraz - 50 inch wide cells - no windows - leg irons
    • 3. Rats as big as cats
    • 4. Two meals/day - typical
      • a. chicken head in grease or hoof of cow with carrots
      • b. whole blackbird
      • c. soup - leaves in warm water
      • d. bread with weevils
      • e. eat or die - caused vomiting and other illnesses
    • 5. communication with other prisoners was prohibited - code used
    • 6. brainwashing and interrogations
      • a. interrogations - 10 hrs./day 6 days/week 6 weeks
      • b. prisoners woken up at 2 a.m.- resistance low
      • c. propaganda films - code to show that they were lies
      • d. punished if not cooperative
    • 7. Torture
      • a. rooms designed to absorb screams
      • b. rope torture - elbows tied behind the back till they touched
        • 1. run through loop in ceiling and then lifted off the floor
        • 2. tied to ankles and drawn till feet touched elbows - left for hours
        • 3. rope run over shoulder - pulled tight till head touched toes
        • 4. tied forearms in front with knees in between pressed on chest - hard to breathe
      • c. hell cuff - put around wrist or ankle and tightened till it reached the bone
        • 1. hand turned purple and swollen
      • d. fan belt - rubber whip cut from an auto tire - flayed skin off of back and buttocks
    • 8. Treatment improved after 1969
  • g. US MIAs to receive fullest accounting possible
  • h. All foreign troops to withdraw from Laos and Cambodia - no cease-fire there
  • i. US would not send more troops or supplies to South Vietnam
• 2. war breaks out again as the US withdrew - violations of the agreement by both sides
• 3. Significance - ends direct US involvement in Vietnam

• 1. Nixon promised retaliation if SV attacked - Watergate took away his support
• 2. 7/73 - Congress voted to cut aid and bombings
• 3. US did give $7 billion in aid between 1973 and 1975 compared to $1.5 billion from China and USSR
• 4. Provisions
  • a. If the President commits American troops to combat abroad
  • he must present his reasons to Congress within 48 hrs.
  • b. If the President expects to keep American troops in combat abroad for more than 90 days
  • he must secure Congressional approval
  • c. If he fails to receive approval he must end the action
  • d. Congress can order the withdrawal of US forces from abroad before 90 days
  • by adopting a concurrent resolution not subject to Presidential veto
  • e. Nixon condemned the resolution
  • 1. clearly unconstitutional
  • 2. undermines this nation's ability to act decisively during a crisis
• 4. Nixon resigns - 8/74 - aid cut - bombing continues - diminished
• 5. 1/75 - North Vietnam invades South Vietnam - significance - US unwilling to try and rescue
• South Vietnam
• 6. Fall of Saigon - 4/75
  • a. US evacuated - Ford announces that the war is over
  • b. ARVN fired on US helicopters as they escaped
  • c. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia fell to communism

• 1. Public Opinion - John Wayne Syndrome
  • a. After war poll
    • 1. 71 - glad to go
    • 2. 74 - enjoyed
    • 3. 66 - willing to go again
    • 4. 82 - blamed politicians for not letting them win
  • b. The more we stressed the importance of Vietnam the more important it became
    • 1. importance was not intrinsic
    • 2. symbolic only - test case
    • 3. basic assumptions were not questioned until it was too late
    • 4. our biggest commitment came at a time when the Cold War was ending
    • 5. All four Presidents let domestic politics control their actions
      • a. Specter of a repeat of the fall of China
      • b. McCarthyism
    • 6. Each president did only what he thought was minimally necessary to prevent communist victory while he was in office
      • a. None wanted full scale war with the risk of China or the Soviets becoming involved
      • b. Korea remained on everyone's mind with its political backlash at home
    • 7. We overestimated our power if we thought that halfway measures could win in Vietnam
      • a. Racist view of Asians
      • b. American superiority to everyone else
      • c. Overoptimistic reporting to justify decisions
        • 1. terminology gave the whole thing a game-like quality
        • 2. all of the major decision-makers went unpunished and un-noticed
    • 8. Ignored Vietminh/Vietcong commitment to independence which was ingrained in their history
      • a. China
      • b. French
      • c. Ho - "You will kill 10 of ours and we will kill one of yours and still we will win."
      • d. At the beginning of the war we had few experts on SE Asia due to McCarthyism
        • 1. Might have avoided Strategic Hamlet Program
•  
• 2. Destruction of Indochina
  • a. by 1969, US had dropped 1,388,000 tons of bombs on South Vietnam
  • b. had used 1.374 million tons of ground ammo
  • c. US used 500 times the quantity of ammunition used by NLF
  • d. US bombs dropped on both N and S Vietnam equaled 4.5 million tons or 500 pounds
  • of explosives for every Vietnamese man, woman, and child.
  • e. Land still pockmarked by craters
  • f. Factories destroyed left Vietnam poor and hard to rebuild
  • g. Land still poisoned by defoliants
•  
• 3. War continues in Indochina today - people exhausted
  • a. Cambodia (Kampuchia) - Khymer Rouge - Hitler like death camps - run by the communists for years
  • b. USS Mayaguez incident - 1975 - Ford
  • c. Laos - Pathet Lao - harsh re-education camps
  • d. South Vietnam
    • 1. US - no official relations with Vietnam today
    • 2. 300,000+ in labor camps and re-education camps
    • 3. China attacked Vietnam in 1979 at its borders in an attempt to takeover SE Asia itself
    • 4. Vietnam has repelled them - convincing them that the cost would be too high
    • 5. 180,000 killed / 1/2 million wounded
  • e. North Vietnam + VC
    • 1. 900,000 killed
    • 2. millions wounded
• 4. Refugees - escaping war
  • 1. over 1 million
  • 2. UN camps still exist today
  • 3. We continue to accept only a fraction of those trying to escape communism in SE Asia
• 5. Costs to the US for 11 yrs.
  • a. $140 billion - 2nd most costly
  • b. 303,600 wounded
  • c. 57,661 dead - 4th deadliest
  • d. Agent Orange - cancer claims continue
  • e. Psychological damage severe
  • f. Deficit increased from $63 billion to $420 billion as LBJ tried to avoid tax increases
  • which would have destroyed his War on Poverty
  • g. 850,000 vets unemployed - 10 years after end of the war
  • h. Disillusionment of youth - drug problem worsened
• 6. Thailand bordered by communist countries
  • a. Forced withdrawal of US presence - our bases were closed
  • b. They did not wish to be attacked by anti-US forces
• 7. US foreign policy decided in terms of Vietnam
  • a. Angola - 1975 - Ford denied used of covert aid against communist takeover there
  • b. El Salvador
  • c. Nicaragua
    • 1. You must have the support of the people in order to win a guerilla war
  • d. Isolation or John Wayne Syndrome
    • 1. Only 39% favor use of US troops in the event of war in Europe
• 8. 1/77 - Carter pardons war draft evaders
• 9. 11/82 - Vietnam memorial - Washington DC
• 10. Westmoreland recommendations
  • a. Bipartisan support for foreign policy - we should not have been in so unimportant an area
  • b. We should have withdrawn when it became clear that South Vietnam could not rule - 1963
  • c. When wars are fought - let the military run them not politicians and the press
  • d. The war was not meant to be won - this is a mistake
  • e. Create a fair system of drafting - not just the poor
  • f. He still believes that the war was run by Moscow

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