A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam
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Transcript of A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam
A Bloody Stalemate Emerges in Vietnam• By the end of 1965
180,000+ U.S. troops were fighting in Vietnam
• This doubles by 1966
• America went in overzealously & were frustrated with the different styles of fighting
Frustrating Warfare…Why?VIETNAMESE
- Ambushes- Booby traps- Guerrilla tactics- Blended with general
city population- Knowledge of the
land, valleys, mountains, etc…
AMERICANS- Used to trench-style
combat- Reliance on firepower- Strategy: battalions,
shifts & constant communication with other flanks
Our New Tactic:
• “Search & destroy” missions: find enemy troop, bomb their position, destroy supply lines & force them into the open for combat
• Napalm: jellied gasoline that explodes on contact to destroy jungles (guerrilla)
• Agent Orange: a chemical that strips leaves/foliage – leaving farmlands/forests wasteland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx1f9hebiGg
What it really looks like…
How did the Vietcong send supplies to fight into S. Vietnam without getting ambushed?
• Ho Chi Minh Trail: network of jungle paths winding through Cambodia & Laos, bypassing the border b/w North & South Vietnam
• Why wouldn’t we just attack that trail?“No! This trail passes through countries full of innocent people NOT involved in this war” - LBJ
Then why wouldn’t LBJ just attack N. Vietnam?
Fear that China would join the war (remember
the Korean war?)The Soviet Union & China supplied N.
Vietnamese troops with weapons & supplies
U.S.’ Tactical Flaw
• U.S. troops were ordered to fight a war of attrition: a strategy of defeating enemy sources by slowly wearing them down
• Grisly body counts daily after battles to determine how many enemies had died
• Time in Vietnam much longer as a result
Let me tell you about the stresses of a Vietnam soldier
How Close is the End?
• The war has been going on for approx. 10 yrs• U.S. troops join in 1965• Between 1965-1967: 220,000 Vietnamese killed via U.S. air-
bombing– Still showed NO signs of weakening/backing down
• By 1966: 6,700 U.S. troops dead• Suddenly U.S. soldiers begin to question how soon/if we
will winPeople back home are now questioning America’s involvement
in the war
- Vietminh defeat French @ Dien Bien Phu- Geneva Accords
1954: 1965:
U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam
1975:
Vietnam Divides Our Nation
• Back in the states, Americans began to widely resist our involvement in Vietnam
• WHY?!?!• At first, people were in support of going over• BUT the war dragged on & U.S. men were dying by the
thousands with little/no progress• Speculation began to grow – people wanted to know what
troops were still doing over there
The First “Television War”
• Will Westmoreland [U.S. commander in S. Vietnam] continually reported the enemy was weakening
• BUT footage ran nightly on the news of what was going on• Families saw troops suffering/dying• This soon developed a credibility gap: it was hard to
believe what LBJ was saying about the war