The Vietnam War: When Americans Joined

1. The Vietnam War:When Americans Joined Rachael Quesenberry Mod 4

2. “Operation Sunrise” • In March 1962, South Vietnam (non-communists) and the US got together to get rid of the Vietminh guerillas hiding out in regions north of Saigon. • One of the most communist-infiltrated regions of South Vietnam, they were forced to move villagers from their homes to root out the insurgents, going so far as to burn down houses in some instances.1 2

3. Overthrow & Assassination of Diem, 1963 • Due to the fact that his ancestors had become Catholicized, his previously Buddhist relatives despised Diem. • During a crisis in which several Buddhist monks proceeded to burn themselves to death, Diem showed poor judgment by allowing government officials to open fire on them. • The United States hesitated in supporting Diem for this action and on December 1st, he was forced to hide out from death threats and, although he’d already negotiated his and his brother’s resignations, they were killed sometime after midnight that night. 5 4

4. Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1964 • On August 2nd & 4th, Vietnam torpedoes supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin Bay. • Sonar men fired rapidly in the direction where they had “heard” something, but nobody is entirely sure of whether it happened or not. • Nevertheless, the House of Representatives & the Senate both allowed, almost unanimously, the rush of major American forces into Vietnam.6

5. “Operation Rolling Thunder” 1964 • In an effort to both discourage the North Vietnamese in continuing their efforts to conquer South Vietnam and boost morale amongst the South Vietnamese, American troops dropped bombs on Northern Vietnamese troops, mostly on reinforcements and those carrying supplies to wounded or starving North Vietnam troops. • Between 1964-1969, 500,000 troops were deployed to aid Operation Thunder and fight the Vietnamese.9, 10 10

6. March 8th, 1965 • The first U.S. combat forces (3,500 Marines) arrive in China Beach, Vietnam, near the base at Da Nang, joining 23,000 American advisors already stationed. • This marks the beginning of the Vietnam War, as far as American troops & interferences were concerned.11 12

7. “Free-fire Zones” 8 • Probably one of the most ineffective methods of preventing the increase of free-fire zones in the American war on the Vietnamese, was the attempt to give war-thirsty GIs wallet-sized cards indicating that you should “use your firepower with care and discrimination, particularly in populated areas.” • Throughout the entire Vietnam war, it was difficult for American soldiers to distinguish the difference between Vietnamese peasants who were on their side and those who were purposefully or forced to harbor Viet Cong. • Instead of giving towns proper warning (in pamphlets that they actually understood; although in some cases, American forces warned town), Americans declared towns and regions as “free-fire zones,” not adhering to the law that prohibited open fire on civilians.7

8. Hoa Lo Prison • One of the worst prisons where North Vietnamese troops kept American POWs, the Hoa Lo Prison was centered in Hanoi, (North) Vietnam. • Rumors from Vietnamese prisoners say that if an American POW refused to answer any or all questions in an interrogation, they were beat. Most of the time, regardless of the interrogations, they were beat and left malnourished. • Every other prison was nothing compared to Hoa Lo: POWs were lead from other prisons to Hoa Lo if they refused to answer any interrogations. • Hoa Lo was also where the Vietnamese were held during their war against the French, ironically enough.13

9. Tet Offensive • http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1862.html

10. My Lai Accident • On March 16th, 1968, Charlie's Company, a.k.a. American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade arrived in the My Lai hamlet of Southern Vietnam. They were there to find the 48th VietCong Battalion that had supposedly hid out within the region. • 700 peaceful inhabitants were what they found, none of fighting age and most were women, children and elders. • Out of those 700, 504 were brutally killed. 50 were age 3 or younger; 69 were between 4-7 years old; 27 were in their late 70s and 80s, of those that were known. • Women were raped, sodomized, beaten and/or clubbed to death along with the children. • One soldier, Robert Maples, refused to fire his gun at people hiding in a ditch, even when his commanding officer held him at gunpoint. • Hugh Thompson was brave enough to fire at American soldiers to protect the women and children they were harming. When a group surrounded a Vietnamese family, he landed his helicopter, called in gunships to protect them and threatened to shot any American soldier who infered.14

11. Phoenix Program • www.serendipity.li/cia/operation_phoenix.htm

12. Public (American) Opinion of the War • Support for the Vietnam War was varied throughout all of America. • On a whole, younger people wanted the war to continue during the beginning and near the end of it. • Although most of the people attending the peace rallies were young, when polls were taken to see who was for or against the war, it was the middle-aged and older who truly opposed it the most.15 Vietnam War Support (by age)

13. Antiwar Movement • Never as organized as other movements of the 60s had been, the antiwar movement was supported all over America by citizens in: middle-class suburbs, college campuses, labor unions and government unions. • Although many who participated in rallies were against the Vietnam War, they agreed to disagree on its specifics and actions that should take their course to help the conflict. This issue kept them from truly organizing and coming together in successful rebellion. • However, on April 17, 1965, between 15,000 and 25,000 people gathered in Washington during a march to the capital to end the war, supporting the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) in their antiwar movement.15

14. Bibliography • Osborne, Milton E. Strategic Hamlets in South Viet-Nam; a Survey and Comparison,. Ithaca, N.Y.: Southeast Asia Program, Dept. of Asian Studies, Cornell University, 1965. Print. • Heavens, Good. "November 2006 Archives." Moonbattery. Web. 06 May 2010. <http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2006/11/>. • "President Eisenhower Greets Diem." The George Washington University. Web. 06 May 2010. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/photo2.htm>. • "Ngo Dinh Diem Biography | Encyclopedia of World Biography Biography." BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ngo-dinh-diem/>. • "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident." 9-11 Review. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://911review.com/precedent/century/tonkin.html>. • "Crimes Of War Project The Book." Crimes of War Project. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/free-fire-zones.html>. • Pandora's Books: Specialists in Genre Fiction and Collectible Paperbacks since 1973. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.pandora.ca/catalog.php?cat_parent=0&cat_id=50&page=2>. • "Operation Rolling Thunder." Blog. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/rolling_thunder.htm>. • "BBC - GCSE Bitesize - The War in Vietnam." BBC - Homepage. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/vietnam/thewarinvietnamrev_print.shtml>. • "1st U.S. Combat Forces Arrive in Vietnam (3,500 Marines) March 8 in History." Today in History - BrainyHistory. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1965/march_8_1965_129569.html>. • "The Vientam War." 25th Infantry Division Homepage. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.25idl.army.mil/ArmyMuseumDerussy/my%20webs/museum/images/vietnam_war.htm>. • Hendon, Bill, and Elizabeth A. Stewart. An Enormous Crime: the Definitive Account of American POWs Abandoned in Southeast Asia. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2007. Print. • Mintz, S. "Explorations: The Vietnam War as History." Digital History. 2007. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_mylai.cfm>. • Mintz, S. "Explorations: The Vietnam War as History." Digital History. 2007. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_mylai.cfm>. • Fsm, The. "The Anti-War Movement in the United States." Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://www.english.illinois.edu/ maps/Vietnam/antiwar.html>.get Sound Region. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://www.seanet.com/~jimxc/Politics/Mistakes/Vietnam_support.html>.