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Vietnam  War
  • AS - I
  • H - 34
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Vietnam War
  • Even in the 1940s, President Truman provided economic and military aid to prevent the growth of Communist power in what was then French Indochina.
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Vietnam War
  • When France withdrew from the area in 1954, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into two segments at the 17th Parallel: North Vietnam, ruled by the Communist VietMinh; and South Vietnam, controlled by non-Communist allies of the French.
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Vietnam War
  • SEATO - Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
    • Formed to guarantee the security of the region
  • Members
    • U.S., England, France, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Pakistan and Thailand
  • Gave US international backing for action
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Vietnam War
  • Cold War warriors in the United States believed that Communist aggression posed a threat in Asia. They especially feared a Communist takeover of Vietnam. If Vietnam fell, they believed, Communism would engulf all of Southeast Asia.
  • Limited War    Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • Communists in Vietnam began their takeover by moving their forces and supplies into the South to aid an communist-led insurgency
  • US  began  involvement
    • providing  technical  and  administrative  aid
    • limited war for limited objectives
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Vietnam War
  • The United States supported non-Communist South Vietnam and in subsequent decades increased its commitment to the region. Under Eisenhower, from 1955 to 1961, America sent economic aid to South Vietnam.
  • Limited War    Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • A Vietnamese Buddhist monk burned himself to death in an act of protest against the Diem government in June 1963. Constituting a majority of the country’s population, Buddhists in Vietnam accused the Diem government of religious discrimination.
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Vietnam War
  • Kennedy continued Eisenhower's efforts in Vietnam by tripling American aid to South Vietnam and by expanding the number of military advisers from about 700 to more than 16,000. In 1963 the United States approved a coup led by South Vietnamese military officers to overthrow Diem, who was killed.
  • Limited War    Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • A few weeks later, Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson became president. Johnson inherited the problem of U.S. commitment to South Vietnam, where Communist insurgents were gaining strength
  • Limited War    Limited Objectives
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Vietnam  War
  • Vietnam  War  began  when  Ho Chi Minh  backed  by  the Soviet Union & Red  China  attempted  to  take  the  entire  country  of  Vietnam
  • Also supported by South Vietnam rebels - Vietcong
  • Limited War Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • Most important, Johnson did not want to be the first American president to lose a war. He enlarged the war in Vietnam.
  • After an allegedly unprovoked attack on U.S. warships in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam in August 1964, Johnson authorized limited bombing raids on North Vietnam.
  • Limited War     Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • At the administration’s request, Congress then offered an almost unanimous resolution, known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, that enabled the president to use military force in Vietnam.
  • In 1965, after a landslide victory in the 1964 election—when voters endorsed his platform of domestic reform and peace abroad—Johnson again escalated American involvement.
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Vietnam  War
  • President  Lyndon  Johnson ordered  deployment of Air  Force  units  to  Southeast  Asia
  • Objective  was  to  stop  the North from taking over the South
  • Limited War Limited Objectives
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Vietnam  War
  • First  commitment  of  combat troops - 1964
    • triggered  by  incident  in  Gulf  of  Tonkin
    • North  Vietnamese  patrol  boats  fired  on  US destroyer
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Vietnam War
  • Reconsidering his earlier policies, Johnson limited bombing in Southeast Asia and initiated peace talks with Hanoi and the NLF.
  • Johnson decided not to seek reelection and withdrew from the race. The president became a political casualty of the Vietnam War.
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Vietnam War
  • At home, the war generated intense debate. "Hawks" assailed the policy of limited war and favored an all-out effort to defeat Communism in Vietnam.
  • "Doves," in contrast, believed that the United States should never have become involved in Vietnam.
  • Limited War    Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • Vietnam remained a limited war, one in which the United States purposely refrained from employing all its military strength.
  • Some contended that politicians prevented the military from winning the war, or that military leaders had no strategy for victory.
  • Limited Objectives
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Vietnam War
  • By 1968 more than 500,000 troops were in Vietnam, and the United States had begun heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
  • The United States never declared war on North Vietnam or made a total commitment to winning the war.
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Vietnam  War
  • US involvement based on  4 points  of  strategy:
    • Improve  ground  operations
    • Conduct  a  campaign  against  North Vietnam
    • Calm  the  fear  of  the  people  &  restore  government control


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Vietnam  War
  • US involvement based on  4 points  of  strategy:
    • Begin  peace  discussions
  • All  strategies  were  open ended  and  had  no  way  of measuring  accomplishment
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Vietnam  War
  • “Vietnamization”  under  President  Nixon  provided  advice  and  material  support to  allow  the  Vietnamese  to  take  control  of  the  war
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Vietnam War
  • From 1965 until the end of 1972, American B-52s flew regular bombing raids over North Vietnam. The United States had begun bombing Laos as early as 1964, targeting areas used by North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front (NLF) fighters. B-52s were also used extensively from 1969 until 1973 to bomb Cambodia, in an attempt to destroy the headquarters of the North Vietnamese and the NLF.
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Vietnam  War
  • Linebacker I
    • B-52  bombing  of  North Vietnam
    • designed  to  cut  off  supply  lines  to  the  communist  forces  in  the  South
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Vietnam  War
  • Linebacker II
    • B-52  bombing  of  North Vietnam
    • hardest  hitting  campaign of the  war - virtually  damaged  or destroyed  all  military  facilities  in  Hanoi
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Vietnam  War
  • Bombing  brought  the  peace  talks  in  Paris  to  end  the  war
  • Vietnam  was  the  longest  war  in  US  history
    • combat  lasted  8  years
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Vietnam War
  • In 1973, as Nixon began a second term, the United States and North Vietnam signed a peace treaty in Paris, which provided for a cease-fire. The terms of the cease-fire included: American withdrawal of all remaining forces from Vietnam, Vietnamese return of American prisoners captured during war, and the end of all foreign military operations in Laos and Cambodia.
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Vietnam War
  • On January 27, 1973, a cease-fire agreement was signed by all the participants in the Vietnam War. United States president Richard Nixon announced the terms of the agreement in a televised address. Although the agreement provided for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam, it did not resolve the conflict. Fighting continued until South Vietnam surrendered in 1975.
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Vietnam War
  • The Vietnam War affected the United States in many ways. Most immediately, it spurred policy changes.
    • The United States ended the military draft and switched to an all-volunteer army.

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Vietnam War
  • Congress passed the War Powers Resolution over Nixon’s veto in November 1973.
    • The resolution limited the president’s ability to send troops into combat without congressional consent.
  • Its passage reflected legislators’ desire to restrain presidential power and to prevent U.S. involvement in a war like that in Vietnam.
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Vietnam  War
  • Results  of  the  war  included:
    • Ending  the  draft
    • Television   news  impact  on  public  opinion  over  the  war
    • War  Powers  Act  of  1973 - limited  Presidents  power  to wage  war with  out Congressional  approval
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Vietnam War
  • American troops left Vietnam, but the war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam continued. South Vietnam finally fell in April 1975, as North Vietnamese forces entered Saigon.
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Vietnam  War
  • Lessons  Learned:
    • US  cannot  win  a counterinsurgency  in  another  country;  only  the  government  and  people  of  that  country  can  do  so
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Vietnam  War
  • Lessons  Learned:
    • No  amount  of  force  can  win  a  war  against  people  and  gain their  loyalty  to  the  established  government
    • The  people  of  the  US underestimated  the  enemy’s  ability  to  wage  war
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Vietnam  War
  • Lessons  Learned:
    • Gradual  use  of  air  power  is ineffective
    • Congressional  and  popular  support  in  a  limited  war  is  important


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Vietnam  War
    • John  Levitow  was  the  youngest  airman  to  earn  the  Medal  of  Honor  in  Vietnam
    • General  “Chappie” James  was  the  first  black  four  star  general  in  the  Air  Force
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Vietnam War
  • More than 58,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam, and over 300,000 were wounded. Even after the war's end, Americans continued to debate its purpose and the meaning of its failure.
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"Total US Military Personnel in..."
  • Total US Military Personnel in Vietnam        Date  and   Total Personnel
    •  31 December 1960         31 December 1961   900                            3,200
    •  31 December 1962         31 December 1963          11,500      16,300
    • 31 December 1964          31 December 1965                                    23,300                         184,300
    •  31 December 1966         31 December 1967         425,300               485,600
    • 31 December 1968          31 December 1969          536,100     474,400
    •  31 December 1970           9 June 1971           335,800                       250,900
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Vietnam  War
    • First  war  to  hold  prisoners  of  war  for  long  periods  of  time  without  adherence  to  the  Geneva  Convention
    • held without  medical  attention
    • tortured  for  information
    • not  given  proper  food  to  eat
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Vietnam  War
    • Movie  Hanoi  Hilton  is  a  graphic  example  of  the  treatment  of  US  prisoners  or  war  in  North  Vietnam
    • Many  men  endured  years  of  solitary  confinement in  the  most  despicable  conditions