Response to US Involvement in Vietnam:

1. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • At the start, the public response to the Vietnam War: • Support for containment in 1965: • 66% in favor • 24% opposed • American forces in Vietnam faced many challenges: • Vietcong knew the local geography. • Nearly impossible to tell the difference between a Vietcong fighter and a civilian • Enormous casualties inflicted upon the Communist forces did not lead to victory. • With the aid of the Soviet Union and China, North Vietnam sent a steady stream of supplies and soldiers to the South. • U.S. air strikes and the pacification program turned many peasants into Vietcong fighters.

2. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Major change in public opinion came with the Tet Offensive. • Tet Offensive – Campaign of surprise attacks on South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies, by the Vietcong (North Vietnamese). • Deaths due to attacks: i. Vietcong - 32,000 ii. US - 3,000 • Victory? For who? How? • Americans realize war is a unwinnable

3. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Public opinion became divided between that of the “Hawks” and the “Doves” • Hawks – Individuals who believed that the United States should continue & increase force in Vietnam. • Doves – Individuals who opposed war & wanted troops to withdraw from Vietnam.

4. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Public Opinion on the War: • Before Tet Offensive • 28% Doves • 56% Hawks • After Tet Offensive • 40% Doves • 40% Hawks

5. Ho Chi Min Trail • The N. Vietnamese’s series of jungle supply paths • Passed through the countries of Laos and Cambodia • Because Laos and Cambodia weren’t involved in the war, LBJ refused the order to bomb the trail

6. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: • Public Opinion also affected by the draft: • Draft: Process by which a person is selected for service in the military. • 25 percent were excused for health reasons; 30 percent received deferments, or postponements of service. • College students were deferred, so men from higher-income families were less likely to serve. • A high percentage of combat soldiers were African Americans. • A draft lottery began in 1969; the draft ended in 1973. • 3 percent of eligible men escaped the draft by either refusing to register or by leaving the United States.

7. Response to US Involvement in Vietnam: Reasons Hawks Supported the War: The US was supremely confident it would be an “easy” war and a majority of the US public supported the wartoo • Domino Theory-the idea that if one country falls to communism, the surrounding countries will too. • Stop communism • Gulf of Tonkin Incident Reasons Doves Opposed the War: • Argued that Vietnam was not crucial to American national security • Argued that the United States was fighting against the wishes of a majority of Vietnamese • Argued that it was unfair for African Americans to fight for democracy in a foreign land when discrimination continued at home (Ex. Civil rights activists) • My Lai Massacre US Soldiers killed 347 to 504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam