Transcript The Vietnam War - Libertyville High School

The Vietnam War
Libertyville HS
Background
of the War
•
France est. empire in
“Indochina”:
Vietnam, Cambodia,
and Laos
Japan and WWII
•
France and WWII
•
–
FDR reluctant to help
Fr. hold onto empire
Truman and Vietnam
• France (1946-1954)
– DeGaulle convinced
Truman of necessity
(contain communism)
– US cost = >$110 million
per year
– Equal to 80% of war
– Opium connection
Ike and Vietnam
“Domino Theory”
• Ike believed that if
Vietnam fell to
communism, so too would
Cambodia, Laos,
Philllipines, Indonesia –
maybe even Australia and
New Zealand!
• Sent about 160 advisors
Dien Bein Phu (1954)
• French defeat by
communists
• North Vietnam
established
The Vietnamese Leadership
• Geneva Accords divided
country at 17th Parallel
• North Vietnam
Nguyen Diem
• South Vietnam
• Capital: Saigon
• Leader: Nguyen Diem
• Democratic
• Diem Catholic in Buddhist
Country (tension)
– Capital: Hanoi
– Leader: Ho Chi Minh
– Communist
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnam in 1954
Kennedy and Vietnam
• JFK sent a total of 16000
“military advisors”
• Diem’s regime was very
unpopular
– Repression of Buddhists
– Nepotism
• National Liberation Front,
or “Viet Cong” was
directed from North
• JFK was very concerned @
being sucked into combat
ops in Vietnam…
Buddhist monk immolating himself in protest in Saigon, 1963,
to protest torture of Buddhist monks and priests. According to
eyewitnesses, the monk never spoke, cried out, or moved while
he burned.
LBJ And Vietnam
• Johnson escalated the war
effort
• “I’m not going to be the
president who saw SE Asia go
the way China went”
• August 1964: engineered the
Gulf of Tonkin resolution
USS Maddox
– Fake (?) attack on US destroyer
off coast of N Vietnam
– Congress passed resolution
authorizing military to “take all
necessary measures … to
prevent further aggression”
LBJ Escalation
600,000
500,000
400,000
U.S. Troops
300,000
200,000
100,000
1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
• LBJ increased troop levels
from 16,000 to over ½
million by 1968
0
The Ground War
Average age of US Soldier in Vietnam = 19
The Ground War
The Air War
• Operation “Rolling
Thunder”
– March 1865 to 1968
– B-52s – 70k pounds of
conventional bombs
– Frag bombs
– Agent Orange
– Napalm
– Carpet Bombing
– “Puff the Magic Dragon”
• Close air support
• 3 miniguns w/ 6000 RPM
By tonnage, more bombs were dropped
on Vietnam than during the entirety
of World War II.
Who is the Enemy?
•
Vietcong:
–
–
–
Farmers by day; guerillas at night.
Patience with willingness to accept
many casualties.
Underestimated by the United States.
The guerilla wins if he does not lose, the
conventional army loses if it does not win.
-- Mao Zedong
Who were the Enemy?
Who were the Enemy?
Who were the Enemy?
Children flee after USAF mistakenly dropped bomb on village, 1972
My Lai Massacre
•
•
Mylai Massacre, 1968
200-500 unarmed villagers
•
Lt. William Calley,
Platoon Leader
Tet Offensive, 1968
Tet Offensive, 1968
Tet Offensive, 1968
South Vietnamese police chief executes suspected Viet Cong fighter
Tet Offensive, 1968
American Army Morale
 The poor and
minorities.
 Racial problems.
 Drug
problems.
 Extended combat
tours
Protesting Vietnam
Protesting Vietnam: “Hanoi Jane” Fonda
Fallout from the War
• Johnson made
announcement in
March 1968:
“…I shall not seek,
and I will not accept,
the nomination of
my party for another
term as your
President.”
Nixon and Vietnam
•
“Peace with
Honor”
•
“Silent Majority”
•
Vietnamization
–
Withdraw
American soldiers
and shift burden of
defense to S.
Vietnamese
Ceasefire, 1973
• “Peace is at hand”
Kissinger, 1972
• 1973: Ceasefire
signed between
U.S., South
Vietnam, & North
Vietnam
• “Peace with honor”
attained
The End
The End
America Abandons Its
Embassy, April 30,
1975
The End
Communism, Ascendant
Counting the Cost
1. 3,000,000 Vietnamese killed
2. 58,000 Americans killed; 300,000
wounded
3. 2.59 million mobilized
4. “The wring war in Asia destroyed the
right war at home.”- LBJ
5. $150,000,000,000 in U.S. spending
6. U.S. morale, self-confidence, trust of
government, decimated
Vietnam Today
2,583 American
POWs / MIAs today.
POWs: “The Hanoi Hilton”
Vietnam Memorial
A Hero
Harold Dale Meyerkord was born 9 October 1937 at
St. Louis, Mo. He graduated from Navy Officer Candidate
School at Newport, R.I. on 14 June 1960 and was assigned
to the heavy cruiser Los Angeles (CA-135), where he and my
Dad became close friends. He reported to the U.S. Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam 13 July
1964. He was Senior Naval Adviser to the South
Vietnamese 23d River Assault Group, responsible for
suppressing Vietcong terror in South Vietnam's "rice
bowl"; the group probed the Delta waterways, engaging
Vietcong guerrillas in operations in which Lieutenant
Meyerkord distinguished himself for coolness,
resourcefulness, and concern for his men.
While leading his assault group into Vietcong-held territory
16 March 1965, Lieutenant Meyerkord's patrol was ambushed.
Though wounded, he steadfastly returned the enemy's fire
until hit again, this time mortally. Lieutenant Meyerkord's
heroism was recognized by posthumous award of the Navy
Cross. He was also awarded the Air Medal for completing
20 low-level aerial reconnaissance missions under enemy fire.
MEYERKORD HAROLD DALE LT O3 N 19371009
19650316 ST LOUIS MO 01E 096