Vietnam War
• During WWII, the Japanese controlled Vietnam. Before that, it had been the French, before that, the Chinese. The Vietnamese people had only ruled themselves for a couple of years during their entire existence. During WWII, a Vietnamese independence movement developed under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh.
• US feared the spread of communism in SE Asia (North Korea, China, etc.) After WWII, the French tried to regain control of Indochina (Vietnamese peninsula). Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh took over Northern Vietnam and fought back. We paid 80% of the French budget to help them control Vietnam. Why? The French treated the people harshly and with little respect.
• Ho Chi Minh, “If ever the tiger pauses, the elephant will impale him on his mighty tusks. But the tiger will not pause, and the elephant will die of exhaustion and loss of blood.”
• 1954, French defeated at Dien Bien Phu. 1954, Geneva Accords – meeting of major countries involved, agreement to split Vietnam at the 17th parallel and hold elections in 2 years. North Vietnam – Communist – Hanoi (capital)– Ho Chi Minh - industrial. South Vietnam – Democratic – Saigon (capital) – Diem - agricultural.
• Domino Theory – (Eisenhower) if one country falls to communism, those around it will fall.
• We used Special Forces to covertly help the South. (US Green Berets). They used guerrilla warfare and organized resistance behind enemy lines.
• Diem – devout Catholic persecuted Buddhists and his enemies. In 1956, there was no election, Diem would have probably lost. 1963, Buddhists revolted. Diem declared martial law. Buddhists knew they had to get the attention of the US , so they burned themselves in public. It worked. Nov. 1, 1963, Diem was assassinated, JFK a few days later.
• Vietcong – South Vietnamese who supported Ho Chi Minh using terrorist type attacks on people in the South. In other words, they lived among the South Vietnamese.
• Gen. Westmoreland was US commander in Vietnam.
• Aug. 1964 – Gulf of Tonkin - report that NV gunboat fired on US destroyer; the excuse LBJ wanted to go to war. He failed to tell Americans that we were in NV waters spying and that we had been actively helping the SV., nor did he say that the attacks had not been verified. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution = Congress gave Pres. broad powers to do whatever he thought was “necessary” for protecting the US. We escalated our advisors and trainers….
• 1965, “Operation Rolling Thunder” – bombing of North Vietnam. We bombed from 1965-68, losing lots of pilots… 1965 – US troops openly fight… Remember, we are only fighting a defensive war, not offensive.
The Armies: South Vietnamese Army is ARVN – used air raids and “search and destroy” missions; North Vietnamese is NVA – used mostly guerrilla tactics and terrorism, “hit and run”.
• Selective Service System – draft for 18 to 26 year old males. It was a lottery system. Ways to “dodge the draft” …college, national guard, medical reasons,… Lower class couldn’t dodge the draft, 80% of soldiers were from lower economic levels.
• We got lots of aid from our allies, esp. the Australians and the South Koreans.
• US Soldier – average age 19, typical tour of duty 12 months. Women did join, but couldn’t serve in combat. In the early stages of the war, Americans supported the soldiers…
• The Vietcong used elaborate tunnel systems to store food and ammunition as well as housing medical and combat facilities. The largest tunnel systems in South Vietnam (some under US bases) could be as vast as 200 kilometers (125 miles) long and were built to withstand bombings, explosions, poison gas etc. Many of the systems were built using forced labor from surrounding villages. Special US soldiers called tunnel rats would crawl through the systems to find the enemy. Textbook, p. 738
Cambodians never knew whose side they were on…
• Guerrilla warfare turned the war into a stalemate. Vietcong were especially a thorn in our sides. Soldiers became very angry and frustrated with the nature of the war…Didn’t know who was friend and who was enemy. Led to de-humanization of the enemy. Led to low morale, alcohol, drugs, etc became a problem. “Fragging” occurred – killing of officers by own men. (1971 – 333 cases)
• The war collided with the Civil Rights movement. Blacks had a more difficult time avoiding the draft. Blacks made up 13% of the US population, but 20% of the deaths. MLK attacked this and things improved…
• Desertion rate was high. (550,000)
• US measured success with the concept of “body count”, or the tracking of Vietcong killed in battle. He believed that the VC would quit as the number rose. This is called “war of attrition” – wear down the enemy.
• Sec. of State Dean Rusk and Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara (under LBJ) stressed escalation in Vietnam.
• We saw this as a military war, but the Vietnamese saw it as a battle for their very existence.
• We tried to win the “hearts and minds” of the SV people, but we destroyed their homes, etc.
• As the US body count rose, Westmoreland continued to say we were winning, but public support began to decline.
• “Living Room War”- television brought the war to the public. (repeated images of body bags told a different story…) Credibility gap – gov’t reports didn’t match what the people were seeing.
Role of the CIA: In the 1960’s, the duty of the CIA was to destroy the VC infrastructure. One infamous euphemism for the CIA was “terminate with extreme prejudice”. CIA illegally backed a war in neutral Laos. Pilots were sent on missions over Laos and Cambodia.
Prisoners of War: Many pilots became POW’s. Infamous prisons called “Hanoi Hilton”, “The Zoo”, “Camp Hope”, “Alcatraz”, …. Hanoi Hilton – most well known prison. Torture was common. (beatings, shacklings, psychological torture, no food, no baths, brainwashing,no communication, etc.) Jeremiah Denton – Alabama POW
Protest Movement: Hawks – people who supported winning the war. Doves – people who wanted to withdraw from the war. (youth led) Growing youth movement of the 1960’s became known as the New Left. It did not preach socialism, but demanded sweeping changes. JFK had said, “The torch has been passed to a new generation…”, his death cast a shadow on the hope of the youth. They QUESTIONED EVERYTHING, DEMANDED CHANGE, AND RESORTED TO VIOLENCE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – Tom Hayden and Al Haber founded; called for more participatory democracy and greater individual freedoms.
• Free Speech Movement, University of Calif. at Berkeley, started over free speech on campus.
– Focused on the Government Machine and the nation’s faceless and powerful businesses and institutions.
– Questioned the Establishment, its values, traditions and views. (Anti-establishment)
College students addressed curfews, dress codes, dormitory restrictions, etc. and mandatory ROTC (Reserved Officer Training Corps) programs.
• The Vietnam War was the unifying issue across college campuses. “Teach-ins” set up to protest the war. 1965, SDS organized huge protest march on Washington, DC. 1966, LBJ changed college deferments to require students to be in “good academic standing” to keep their deferments. SDS called for “civil disobedience” at draft centers, counseled students to flee the country…. Rallies, sit-ins, marches, music, etc. – were forms of protest. Music is that unifying factor that brought people together for the cause (from all over the world). Music developed a “social conscience”. They believed music could change the world. Bob Dylan - Peter, Paul, and Mary - John Prine - Country Joe McDonald - Joan Baez. Why students opposed the war: it was a Civil War, SV gov’t was not good, we were draining men away from more imp. places, we were draining $ away from the poor, sick, etc., it was morally unjust! Some Vietnam Veterans protest the war. The movement moved from peaceful protests to active resistance. Students burned draft cards, burned ROTC buildings, dodged the draft, went to jail to keep from going to war, marched on the Pentagon, staged sit-ins. Abbie Hoffman (Berkeley) -most well known activist in the anti-war movement. He helped form the Yippie Movement – Youth International Party, it combined the hippie movement with the anti-war movement. He held a nude-in in Chicago, nominated a pig for Pres.,etc. The Berrigan brothers Daniel and Philip were Catholic priests who opposed the war in very radical ways. Most churches kept quiet about the war.
Supporters of the war: Page 746 – Read the quote at the bottom of the page. Many people believed that war protesters were disloyal to their country, feelings were extremely bitter toward those who protested, while our soldiers were coming home in body bags. Support for the war remained high in the South. Country music remained loyal to the cause (“The Ballad of the Green Berets”) PAGE 746
• Draft resistance was ended in the early 1970’s when Nixon ended the draft. LBJ continued his policy of slow escalation, even though hawks demanded increasing power to end the war. However, by 1967, Defense Sec. McNamara resigned, body count rose, etc.
1968 – The Crucial Year (and the end of the war) 1968 was a tumultuous year in US history. -2 assassinations -a chaotic political convention - a major enemy offensive - protest at the Olympics
The Tet Offensive: The Tet (Jan. 30) is the Vietnamese New Year. On that day, the North Vietnamese staged a surprise series of simultaneous attacks across the South. (map. 749) The holiday was proclaimed a truce, celebrations were held, funerals, etc. The VC hid weapons in the coffins and hid in the celebrations. That night they launched a series of attacks all across the country. The offensive lasted about a month before the US/SV retook control of cities taken by the North. By military standards, this was an amazing defeat for the North. By political standards, it was a disaster. The Tet Offensive turned Americans against the war.
The Media - The media had generally supported the war, now they openly questioned it. Walter Cronkite said that it seemed “more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”
• Sec. of State Clark Clifford concluded that the war was “unwinnable”. Pres. Johnson’s popularity plummeted. He decided not to run for re-election.
• In this same year (April, 1968), MLK is assassinated.
• Then, Robert Kennedy, presidential candidate, is assassinated in a hotel in Calif. in June, 1968. (assassin was Sirhan Sirhan)
• Student demonstrations grew; there was much civil unrest.
• Chicago Democratic Convention, 1968 – With Johnson and Kennedy out of the picture, Hubert Humphrey ran against Eugene McCarthy. Nearly 10,000 protestors descended on Chicago hoping to push the Dem. into an anti-war platform; Yippies came hoping to provoke violence to discredit the Dem. Party. Mayor Daley called in 1000’s of officers and National Guard - riots resulted. Inside the Convention halls, there was fighting over the anti-war platform. The youth and police clashed, whole city was in chaos and all on national television. Humphrey won the Dem. nomination, but this pretty much insured a Rep. victory. Richard Nixon, the Rep. candidate, promised to restore “law and order”, and vaguely promised to end the war.
• Former Al. gov. George Wallace ran as a 3rd party candidate; carried 5 southern states and some support from northerners tired of the mess and took votes away from the Dem.
• (map p. 753)
Nixon: Pres. Nixon in 1969 announced the beginning of troop withdrawals. However, he continued the war.
• Henry Kissinger (advisor) and Nixon planned a policy of “Vietnamization” – gradual withdrawal of troops while teaching the SV to take over the fight. This would be a “peace with honor”.
• Secretly, Nixon ordered massive bombings of NV and in Laos and Cambodia. Nixon hoped to gain the support of the “silent majority” (people who quietly supported the war).
• My Lai Massacre turned even more people against the war.
• Apr. 1970, Nixon announced an invasion of Cambodia. Students were furious – first general youth strike in US history – over 1.5 million students closed down 1200 universities.
• Kent State Riot - Kent State University (Ohio) – students burned the ROTC building. Nat’l Guard called in. At a peaceful protest, guards responded to rock throwing by firing live ammunition into the crowd. (12 wounded, 4 died)
• Pentagon Papers – leaked by Daniel Ellsberg. Papers showed the actual involvement of the US gov’t even before we were supposed to be. It also pretty much showed the war was a “president’s war”.
Peace Talks: 1969-1973 – Henry Kissinger was talking secretly with the NV, while official talks were going on in Paris. Progress didn’t come until 1972. He exploited the rivalry between Russia and China. He pursued “détente” with Russia and paved way for opening of relations with China. Peace agreement signed Jan. 27, 1973. Sept. 1973, Kissinger became Sec. of State. Mar. 1973 last combat troops came home, but not all advisors, etc. The war raged on….. Mar. 1975, NV launched major invasion of the South. SV asked for help, US refused to send more troops. Apr. 30, 1975, Saigon fell to the NV, and as the rest of the Am. escaped.
• Legacy of the war: 58,000 died, SV fell to communism, mistreatment of Vietnamese-Am, PTSD of veterans, distrust of the gov’t, division of the country, civil war in Cambodia (Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge killed over 1 million people), abolition of the draft, 1973, War Powers Act, limited pres. ability to wage war. Pres. must inform Congress within 48 hrs. of sending troops somewhere, and may only keep them there 90 days without approval of Congress.
Vietnam Memorial - Maya Lin, architect