Vietnam: America’s Longest War

Chapter 29, pages 881-883

America’s Longest War• The Cold War, containment, the Truman Doctrine, and the

Domino Theory• French are defeated in 1954 by Ho Chi Minh and his

Vietminh forces.• 58,000 Americans killed & +300,000 wounded• $150 billion• North & South Vietnamese dead = +2 million

Diem Cancels the ElectionsDiem Cancels the Elections• Ho Chi Minh was popular in the North by

redistributing land to peasants• South Vietnam’s anti-communist and Catholic

President Ngo Dinh Diem refused to take part in the Geneva Accord elections of 1956, supported by the US

• In 1957 the Vietcong or Communist Guerillas began attacks in the South by assassinating members of Diem’s government

• In 1959 the Ho Chi Minh Trail or supply line to communists in the South was opened

http://www.ndollar.addr.com/Other%20Events/Clipart/Vietcong%20Captives.jpg

JFK and Vietnam• Like IKE, JFK chose to “sink or swim” with Diem in Vietnam• Calls it the “cornerstone of the Free World in SE Asia, the

finger in the dike” to stop the spread of communism.• By the end of 1963 more $ and 16,000 US military advisors

were in South Vietnam• Diem popularity was plummeting, his Hamlet Program was

unsuccessful• His attacks on Buddhism and the protest of Buddhist monks

was increasing• On Nov. 1st 1963 a US supported South Vietnam military

coup was carried out and Diem was assassinated

Johnson’s War• Conditions in South continue to deteriorate • LBJ felt US credibility is at stake and he does not

want to give in to communist aggression• Plans to bomb the North• Gulf of Tonkin Incident– August 1964

USS Maddox• In August 1964, a North Vietnamese gun boat

fired a torpedo at The USS Maddox• Two days later the Maddox and another

destroyer opened fire on the North• LBJ launches limited bombing attacks

• The public did not know the US was conducting secret raids against the North

• The USS Maddox was launching raids into the North to collect intelligence

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gives the President the authority “to take all necessary steps” to defend US forces and to protect SE Asia “against subversion and aggression.”

• LBJ had prepared the resolution 6 weeks before hand

• Almost unanimous support of Congress = declaration of war

1964 Election

• Johnson calls for restraint

• Goldwater proposes deployment of nuclear weapons

• Landslide for LBJ

Deeper into the Quagmire• Operation Rolling Thunder intensified bombing of

North• June of 1965, 50,000 US troops in Vietnam• Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara and Sec. of State

Dean Rusk advised LBJ to deploy troops• LBJ went back on his 1964 campaign promise, but

he looked to be containing communism• In 1965, 61% supported US policy

US Troop Buildup Accelerates• Nov. 1965, 165,000 US troops were sent to Vietnam• General William Westmoreland continued to

request more US troops• not impressed with the Army of the Republic of

Vietnam (ARVN) (South Vietnam)• By 1967 there were 500,000 US troops in Vietnam

• War of Attrition– Massive bombing N.

Vietnam• 3million tons of bombs

(3xs WWII)

– Search & Destroy missions• “Hearts and Minds”

– Ecological devastation• 4 million refugees or ¼ of

S. Vietnam’s population• Operation Ranch Hand

sprays 18 million gallons of Agent Orange over approx 4 million acres of S. Vietnam

War of Attrition• Despite high causalities the VC would not surrender• The North was receiving supplies from China and the USSR• The US used Napalm to set fire to the jungle

An Elusive Enemy• The Vietcong used hit-and-run and ambush tactics• The Vietcong was part of the civilian population, US

troops could not tell friend from foe• The Vietcong had a network of tunnels to launch

attacks and disappear quickly• The jungle was laced with booby traps and land

mines• US troops dealt with jungle terrain, rice paddies,

heat, leeches, and Mekong Rot

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/720577.stm

Tunnel Rats

AK-47

M16

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-weapons/mines06.htm

S-75 launchers

• United States Air Force Captain Wilmer N. Grubb is given first aid while being guarded by his captors in North Vietnam. 01/1966

“Home is where you dig”

The nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise

“Hearts and minds…”

Sinking Morale• Guerrilla warfare, brutal jungle, and failure to make

headway, and mounting causalities frustrated US troops

• Many soldiers turned to alcohol, marijuana and other drugs to escape the war

• South Vietnamese civil war within the civil war made the war tough to manage

• Many US troops fought bravely and POW fought just to stay alive, even facing torture and the infamous Hanoi Hilton

The Credibility Gap• LBJ’s Great Society Programs suffered due to lack of

funding, $6 billion was cut from the programs (Taxes went up 10% as well to curb inflation and pay for the war)

• The war cost $21 billion every year• Americans saw the horrific images on TV• Over 16,000 American troops were killed between 1961

and 1967• Many charged that a “creditability gap” between what the

LBJ reported and what was actually occurring (Fulbright Hearings)