Transcript The Vietnam War

The Vietnam Era:
War, Protest and the Fracturing of America
Vietnam War Facts
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The Vietnam War occurred in present-day Vietnam, Southeast
Asia.
It represented a successful attempt on the part of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnamese, DRV)
and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Viet
Cong) to unite and impose a communist system over the entire
nation.
Opposing the DRV was the Republic of Vietnam (South
Vietnamese, RVN), backed by the United States.
The war in Vietnam occurred during the Cold War, and is
generally viewed as an indirect conflict between the United States
and Soviet Union, with each nation and its allies supporting one
side.
Vietnam War Facts
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The United States’ involvement and
responsibility for this war passed from President
Kennedy to President Johnson to President
Nixon.
Vietnam War Facts
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The most commonly used dates for the conflict
are 1959-1975.
This period begins with North Vietnam's first
guerilla attacks against the South and ends with
the fall of Saigon.
American ground forces were directly involved
in the war between 1965 and 1973.
Vietnam War Facts
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The Vietnam War first began in 1959.
Vietnam had been split into two, with a communist government
in the north under Ho Chi Minh and a democratic government
in the south under Ngo Dinh Diem.
Ho Chi Minh launched a guerilla campaign in South Vietnam,
led by Viet Cong units, with the goal of uniting the country
under communist rule.
The United States under President Kennedy, seeking to stop the
spread of communism, trained the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam (ARVN) and provided military advisors to Diem to
help combat the guerillas.
“Let every nation know . . .that we shall pay any
price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support
any friend, oppose any foe in order to assure the
survival and success of liberty . . .”
(We will stop Communism at any cost.)
But….
John F. Kennedy assassinated November 22, 1963
Vietnam War Facts
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In August 1964, a US warship was attacked by North
Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Following this attack, Congress passed the Southeast Asia
Resolution which allowed President Lyndon Johnson to conduct
military operations in the region without a declaration of war.
On March 2, 1965, US aircraft began bombing targets in
Vietnam and the first troops arrived.
US troops won victories over Viet Cong and North Vietnamese
forces that summer.
Vietnam War Facts
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Following these defeats, the North Vietnamese avoided fighting
conventional battles and focused on engaging US troops in small
unit actions in the sweltering jungles of South Vietnam.
In January 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong
launched the massive Tet Offensive.
Tet shook the confidence of the American people and media
who had thought the war was going well.
Vietnam War Facts
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As a result of Tet, President Lyndon Johnson
opted not to run for reelection and was
succeeded by Richard Nixon.
Nixon's plan for ending US involvement was to
build up the South Vietnamese so that they
could fight the war themselves.
As this process of “Vietnamization” began, US
troops started to return home.
Vietnam War Facts
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On January 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed
in Paris ending the conflict.
By March of that year, American combat troops
had left the country.
After a brief period of peace, North Vietnam
recommenced hostilities in late 1974.
They captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, forcing
South Vietnam’s surrender and reuniting the
country.
Vietnam War Facts
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Casualties:
United States: 58,119 killed, 153,303 wounded,
1,948 missing in action
South Vietnam 230,000 killed and 1,169,763
wounded (estimated)
North Vietnam 1,100,000 killed in action
(estimated) and an unknown number of
wounded
The Vietnam War
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The Vietnam War is one of the most
problematic of all the wars in American history.
It was all of these things:
A morally ambiguous conflict (no real moral reason
for us to get involved.)
 A war against Communism (and Russia by proxy.)
 A war to suppress nationalist self-determination
(citizens rising up to control their own countries.)
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Worth it???????
The Vietnam War
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The war was full of paradoxes:
In the name of protecting democracy, the United
States propped up a dictatorial regime in South
Vietnam
The U.S. military was destroying villages in order to
“save” them from the Communists
Because U.S. objectives were often poorly defined
during the course of the war, U.S. policy often
meandered and made no sense
United States would “Americanize” the war only to
“Vietnamize” it five years later. (So we could walk
away.)
The Vietnam War
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Not surprisingly, a profound sense of confusion
pervaded the entire conflict: the American media
sometimes represented tactical victories as
terrible defeats, while the U.S. military kept
meticulous enemy body counts without any clear
method of distinguishing the bodies of the
hostile Viet Cong from those of the friendly
South Vietnamese.
The Television War
The T.V. War
Media Impact on Americans
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The Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on
American society and culture, in large part because it
was the first American war to be televised.
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The photographs, videos, and opinions of American
journalists, coupled with the simple fact that young
Americans were dying on foreign soil against an enemy
that did not threaten the United States directly, turned
much of the American public against the war.
The End
Pullout, 1975
American Pullout: 1975
The Human Cost
The Human Cost
War Protests
War Protests
The Movement
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By the time of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam
War, the antiwar movement in the United States
had been in full swing for quite some time.
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The 1960s in the United States were already a
quasi-revolutionary period: the civil rights
movement had flourished under Martin Luther
King Jr. and other black leaders,
The Movement
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The post–World War II “baby boom” had
produced an especially large youth generation,
who thanks to postwar prosperity were
attending college in large numbers.
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Not surprisingly, a large student protest
movement emerged as U.S. involvement in
Vietnam grew.
The Changing Role of Women Return to Domesticity???
Not in the Sixties!!
Opportunities
Women in politics
Title IX
Affirmative Action
Changes in Attitude
Peace!!!