Vietnam: A History



My Notes

Vietnam War

Geography of Southeast Asia (SEA)

• 10 nations, population 325 million

• Diversity: culture, races, religions, languages

• 3,000 miles east to west; 2,000 miles north to south

• French Indochina: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos

Vietnamese Society

• People:

o 90% are Vietnamese

o 60 ethnic minorities

o Many “Overseas Chinese”

▪ Settled into large cities

▪ Business leaders

▪ 1978—fled government reforms

o Overpopulated

o Poor

• Religion

o Buddhism and Confucianism

o 3 million Catholics

• Economy

o Mainly agriculture: slash and burn, rice paddies

o Industry: very little, behind the times

o Desperate for foreign investment

History of Invasions

• 111 BC – 939 AD: Chinese

• 939 – 1800s: Series of Dynasties (Cambodians)

• 1858 – 1941: French

• 1941 – 1945: Japanese

• 1945 – 1954: French

Reason for French Colonization

• “Gold”—wealth from silk & spices

• “God”—spread Christianity (Catholicism)

• “Glory”—military, curiosity, fame, adventure

• “White Man’s Burden”

o belief that white nations have an obligation to civilize “backward” cultures

o Ethnocentrism—belief that one culture is superior to another

French Problems (1945 – 1954)

• Communism was taking hold in Vietnam

• Vietminh (Communists) would not fight big battles

o used guerilla warfare

o had excellent soldiers

• French over confident

• Losing public support in France

Dien Bien Phu (De-in Be-in Fu)

• French Plan:

o Draw out Vietminh

o Fight big battle at Dien Bien Phu

• Battle:

o Underestimate Vietminh strength

o Vietminh outnumbered French almost 4 to 1

o Vietminh—led by Ho Chi Minh

o French—resupplied by air

o Vietminh—resupplied by bikes

o March 13, 1954, battle begins

o French run out of supplies: no water, no medical—ask for U.S. assistance

o May 7, 1954, Vietminh defeat French

Geneva Accords (1954)

• Divided Vietnam at 17th Parallel

• Communist North—Ho Chi Minh

• Capitalist South—Ngo Dinh Diem (Nog Den De-im or Ze-im)

• Called for elections in 1956 to unify country

Early U.S. Involvement

• U.S. sent military advisors to aid South

• U.S. thought South wanted our support

• South did not—saw us as a replacement for French

• U.S. liked Diem at first

• South disliked him—bad policies; Catholic

• 1963: military coup; Diem assassinated

Reasons for U.S. Involvement

• Monetary investment—military aid to French—$2.5 billion

• Cold War/Red Scare

• 1949: China fell to Communism

• North Vietnamese Army was active in South—threatened to topple gov’t

• Domino Theory—Eisenhower

o if Vietnam falls; the rest of SEA will fall “like a row of dominoes”

• 1964: U.S.S. Maddox attacked in international waters in Gulf of Tonkin

o LBJ asked Congress for a resolution

o Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (House 416 – 0: Senate 88 – 2)

• Escalation: 1965—first U.S. combat troops arrived

Early War Operations

• 1965: Operation Flaming Dart 1 & II—Bombed North Vietnam Targets (2 days)

• 1965 – 1968: Operation Rolling Thunder—period of sustained bombing (44 months)

• 1965: Battle of Ia Drang River Valley (I-ah Drang)

o First major battle between U.S. and Viet Cong—3 day battle

o Day 1: U.S. soldiers were airdropped at Landing Zone X-ray (LZ X-ray)

▪ Attacked by Viet Cong—fierce fighting

o Day 2: Both sides are reinforced—fighting continues

o Day 3: More reinforcement; more fighting; evacuation

o North Vietnamese reported 554 killed; 669 wounded

▪ U.S. estimated 1,519 to 2,262 N.V. were killed

o U.S. reported 305 killed, 524 wounded

• By 1967: Stalemate

Selective Service

• Early Years:

o Mostly volunteers, morale was good

• 1966: 40,000 draftees per month—morale declined

• 1969: Lottery System—determined likelihood of being drafted

• By 1973: 1.8 million men drafted

• Deferments:

o Conscientious objectors—religious reasons

o Family, Health

o Education—enrolled in college—most common

▪ Many draftees were minorities who could not afford to go to college

▪ Affluent children stayed home

▪ Ended in 1971

• Children of politicians

o 234 Sons of Congressmen eligible for the draft

o 118 were deferred

o 28 sent to Vietnam

o Only 19 saw combat

Strategies

• United States and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

o Search and Destroy—war of attrition—kill as many enemy as possible

o Body Counts—US’s way of “keeping score;” regular part of evening news

o Saturation Bombing—dropping thousands of tons of bombs on a specific area

o Fragmentation Bombs—threw pieces of their casings in all directions

o Napalm—jellylike substance dropped from planes; it splattered and burned uncontrollably

o Agent Orange—defoliation of jungle

• Viet Cong (VC)—earlier called North Vietnamese Army (NVA)

o Guerilla Warfare—use local population as cover; booby traps, ambushes, assassinations

o Tunnel Systems—massive underground networks: sleeping areas, air raid shelters, hospitals, kitchens, etc.

o Ho Chi Minh Trail—troops & supplies smuggled into South through Laos and Cambodia

Tet Offensive

• Jan. 31, 1968: Tet—the Vietnamese New Year

• Viet Cong launched surprise attacks on major cities including Saigon and U.S. Embassy

• Results:

o Military Failure for Viet Cong—lost over 40,000 men

o Propaganda Victory for Viet Cong

▪ Cronkite turned against war

▪ Public support for war declined

o Johnson did not run for reelection

o Led to Paris Peace Talks

My Lai Massacre

• March 16, 1968

• My Lai village

• U.S. troops led by Lt. William Calley

• 300+ unarmed civilians killed

• Story leaked to U.S. Press in 1969

• Caused loss of U.S. Support

Election of 1968

• Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated while campaigning

• Riots at Democratic National Convention in Chicago

• Nixon defeats Humphrey

Peace Talks

• 1968: Nixon promised to achieve “peace with honor”

• 1969: Ho Chi Minh dies

• 1970: Henry Kissinger begins peace talks in Paris

Vietnamization (1969 – 70)

• Nixon’s plan to turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese

• U.S. forces begin to come home

• Troop levels fall from over 500,000 to 220,000

Cambodia (1970)

• March—U.S. started bombing Viet Cong supply route and sanctuaries in Cambodia

• April—U.S. sent troops into Cambodia

• Dec.—Congress prohibited using U.S. troops/advisors in Cambodia

Paris Peace Accords

• 1972: Kissinger announced “Peace is at hand”

• 1972: Nixon won reelection

• Jan 1973: U.S., South Vietnam, and North Vietnam signed a ceasefire agreement

• Mar 1973: Last U.S. ground troops left Vietnam

Fall of Saigon

• The fighting between North & South Vietnam continued after the U.S. left

• April 1975: Saigon fell to North Vietnamese

o U.S. helicopters evacuate nearly 6,000 refugees in last days of South Vietnamese independence

• July 1975: North Vietnam annexed South Vietnam

Home Front

• 1965: Anti-war protests began

• 1967: Muhammad Ali refused to serve in military on religious grounds

• 1967: 50,000 protesters marched on the Pentagon

o Opinion polls showed most Americans are against the war

o “Doves”—those who opposed the war

o “Hawks”—those who supported the war

• 1968

o Rev. Martin Luther King—called for total withdraw—a few days later is assassinated

o Riots at DNC

• 1969: Woodstock Festival in upstate New York

o Social and musical event

o Estimated 500,000 attend

• 1970: Anti-war rally at Kent State University, Ohio

o National Guardsmen killed 4 students

• 1971: New York Times publish top-secret Pentagon Papers

o Revealed decision making policy in Vietnam

• 1971: 26th Amendment—lowers voting age to age 18

Aftermath

• 58,000 American dead

• 2,500 POWs & MIAs (many still unaccounted for)

• Millions of Vietnamese military and civilians dead

• Returning soldiers were sometimes met with scorn

• Many had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

o Psychological condition caused by horrors of war

• Agent Orange Effects

o Veterans—increased rates of cancer; and nerve, digestive, skin and respiratory disorders

o Vietnamese—increased birth defects

• 1974: Cambodia falls to Communist Khmer Rouge

o Genocide—millions of Cambodians killed

• 1977: President Carter granted an unconditional

pardon to all draft dodgers

• 1982: Vietnam Memorial dedicated in Washington, DC

o Designed by Maya Lin—a Chinese American

• 1995: U.S. extends full diplomatic recognition to Vietnam

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“We can see victory at the end of the tunnel.”

French General serving in Vietnam, 1953

1974—President Ford offered amnesty in exchange for work to draft dodgers (6 to 24 months)

“take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.”

President Johnson

Rice Paddy: an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown

Vietminh—51,000

French—16,000

Made popular in movie:

We Were Soldiers Once… And Young

Lin was born in Athens, Ohio. Her parents immigrated to America in 1949.

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