Vietnam War “The Televised War”

1. Vietnam War“The Televised War” 1964(?)-1973 (1975)

2. Causes • French • Korean War • Domino Effect • Dien Bien Phu • U.S. involvement • Nationalist movement • Anti-Diems

3. Spark • Gulf of Tonkin (1964) • Tonkin Gulf Resolution (Aug. 7)

4. Strategy • Americans • Bombing, Bombing, Bombing • Win over the people (“hearts and minds”) • Work with ARVN • Search and Destroy • Attrition (body count) • Stay Alive

5. North Vietnam • Guerilla/Jungle Warfare • Ambush • Booby traps • Use villagers • USSR and China support • Get American people to protest

6. Important/Turning Point Battles • Dien Bien Phu (1954) – French defeat • Operation Starlite (1965) – 1st major battle • Ia Drang Valley (1965) • Khe Sanh (1968) – 77 day siege

7. Battles • TET Offensive (1968) – *Turning point* • 37,000 NVA dead (2500 Americans) • Nearly entire battle seen on TV • American morale plunges (LBJ’s approval drops 25% almost overnight) • My Lai (1968) – over 300 civilians massacred • Eastertide Offensive (1972) – NVA attempt to take over South Vietnam • Fall of Saigon (1975)

8. Heroes and Goats • Americans • Lyndon Johnson • Robert McNamara • Dean Rusk • William Westmoreland • William Calley • Richard Nixon • Henry Kissinger

9. Communists • Ho Chi Minh • VietCong (VC, Charlie) • Le Duc Tho

10. Cost (Lives) • Americans • Combat Deaths = 47,378 • Non-hostile deaths in-country = 10,824 • Total = 58,202 (some disagreement on non-hostile deaths) • Wounded = 304,704 • MIA = 2,338 • CIA = 766 (Hanoi Hilton) – 114 died • Casualties by Year

11. American Allies • ARVN = 223,748 deaths/1,169,763 wounded (low estimate) • South Korea = 4,407 deaths/17,060 wounded • Australia = 469 deaths/2,940 wounded • Thailand = 351 deaths/1,358 wounded • New Zealand = 55 deaths/212 wounded

12. NVA/VC • 1,100,000 dead • 600,000 wounded • 26,000 CIA • Low estimates - Accuracy difficult

13. Costs (Money) • $111,000,000,000 • (nearly $500 billion current) • By 1968 the war cost $66 million per day • 8 million tons of bombs dropped (4x more than WWII) • USSR and China = $3 billion in aid

14. Treaty • No Treaty • Cease Fire Jan. 27, 1973 • US Troops home March 29, 1973 • Provide ARVN with replacement weapons • All prisoners released (Lt. Everett Alvarez) • NVA remained in South Vietnam • Cease Fire collapsed • 1975 Saigon falls

15. And we would all go down togetherWe said we'd all go down togetherYes we would all go down togetherRemember Charlie,rememberBakerThey left their childhood on every acreAnd who was wrong? And who was right?It didn't matter in the thick of the fightWe held the day in the palm of our handThey ruled the night, and the nightSeemed to last as long as six weeks......On Parris IslandWe held the coastline, they held the highlandsAnd they were sharp, as sharp as knivesThey heard the hum of our motorsThey counted the rotorsAnd waited for us to arriveChorus Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel We met as soul mates on Parris IslandWe left as inmates from an asylumAnd we were sharp, as sharp as knivesAnd we were so gung ho to lay down our livesWe came in spastic like tameless horsesWe left in plastic as numbered corpsesAnd we learned fast to travel lightOur arms were heavy but our bellies were tightWe had no home front, we had no soft soapThey sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob HopeWe dug in deep and shot on sightAnd prayed to Jesus Christ with all our mightWe had no cameras to shoot the landscapeWe passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapesAnd it was dark, so dark at nightAnd we held on to each otherLike brother to brotherWe promised our mothers we'd write

16. Non-Treaty/Long Term Results • United Vietnam (communist) • Communism into Cambodia (Khmer Rouge – Killing Fields – Pol Pot) • Boat People • Treatment of Vietnam Vets • PTSD

17. Results, cont. • Draft abolished • War Powers Act (troops no more than 90 days without war declaration) • Vietnam Syndrome • American cynicism (about war and government)