Brief overview of the Vietnam War

1. Vietnam
Rolling Thunder to the Fall of
Saigon

2. Rolling Thunder
• McGeorge Bundy – best way
to prove USA would defend
south was to bomb the north
• March 1965 – started, targeted
bridges, highways, railroads,
airfields, factories, power
plants, and fuel depots
• Johnson halted the bombings
many times, hoped
Communists would ask for
peace but they wouldn’t
• Dropped more than 643,000
tons avoided major population
areas

3. Ho Chi Minh Trail
• Network of trails that supplied
the Communist troops
• Started in Hanoi and went
through Cambodia and Laos
and then to the South
• Jungles covered the trail from
Allied bombing attacks
• Large network of underground
tunnels including barracks and
hospitals
• All supplies were moved by
foot, bicycle and elephant
• Grew to 12,500 miles

6. Napalm and Agent Orange
• Government was determined to
eliminate VC support in the
countryside
• Began to destroy the jungle and
croplands using chemicals
• Exposed tree-covered guerrilla
bases and supply routes
• Agent Orange: sprayed over large
areas, 72 million litres of
herbicides were sprayed, 60%
Agent Orange
– MAJOR long term effects to
vegetation, wildlife and human
beings
• Napalm: incendiary that burned all
it touched, cleared areas of land
and burned for many hours
afterwards

8. Central Highlands Struggle
• Area between Cambodia and
the sea was fought over during
the entire war
• US tried to prevent the
Communists from reaching the
sea and dividing the land
• US Special Forces trained the
Montagnards to fight for them
• NVA troops were stealthy,
chose areas to fight
• Americans won most major
engagements
• Green Berets fought using
guerrilla warfare tactics
• Air Cav as well

9. Fighting
• Hand to hand fighting
determined the war
• Communists had
weapons from Soviets
and Chinese (AK47)
• Also had more primitive
weapons
– Booby traps
– Re-used cartridges for
explosive mines
– Bouncing Betties
• Americans had more
advanced weapons (M16,
M60)

10. Patrol
• Walked in platoon or
company sizes (20-100
men)
• Go into areas known for
Communist activity
• Patrolled villages that
needed protection
• VC/NVA hid well, waited
to strike
• Purpose was for Recon
or “search and destroy”

11. “Television War”
• First war to be brought
into the American homes
• At first they supported the
war, then military tricked
the people into thinking it
was going well
• Many influential
journalists, like Walter
Cronkite, turned against
the war
• Atrocities made it home
and heavily influenced
public opinion

12. The Mekong Delta
• Waterlogged area, “rice
bowl”
• Guerrilla stronghold
throughout the war
• Despite heavy fighting,
VC held the Mekong for a
majority of the war
• Navy patrolled the areas
heavily
• VC had a network of
underground living
quarters on the islands

14. Villages
• VC depended heavily on the
villagers and threatened those
who did not co-operate
• US told the villagers not to aid
them as well
• Soldiers from both sides punished
them for helping the opposition
• Massacre at My Lai turned many
Americans against the war
– Herded more than 300 supposed
VC supporters (men, woman and
children) and shot them down
– Many were saved when a US
helicopter threatened to shoot the
men
– Military tried to cover it up but it
didn’t work

15. Khe Sanh and Tet
• January 21, 1968, communists
surprised the US Marine base
camp of Khe Sanh with a
storm of artillery fire
• January 30th, assaults began
all over Southern Vietnam on
the Vietnamese New Year,
known as Tet
• Attacked more than 100 cities
and towns, even the middle of
Saigon
• Fighting lasted 4 weeks
causing more casualties to the
Communists

16. Prisoners of War (POW’s)
• 660 US servicemen were taken as
POWs
• Some held for 9 years, others
escaped
• Many were abused, others
tortured
• All POWs were released but some
2,400 men still remain
unaccounted for (MIA)
• Thousands of Communists
captured and sent to camps
• Interrogated, usually with force,
and organized
• Many were killed by ARVN troops
rather than taken prisoner
• Exchanged at the end of the war

17. Antiwar Movement
• By 1965 many Americans
opposed the war
• 20,000 marched on
Washington
• Started peacefully but
demonstrations grew in size
and anger
• Famous figures who protested:
MLK Jr., Joan Baez, Bob
Dylan, Jane Fonda
• Universities: Berkley, Kent
State (4 dead), Jackson State
(2 dead)
• Many Vietnam veterans also
protested the war

18. U.S. Begins to Withdrawal
• By 1969 543,000 American
troops were in Vietnam
• Nixon called for
“Vietnamization” of the war
– Train Southern Vietnamese
troops to fight
– Good fighters, poor
commanders
• Still difficult to withdrawal
troops, bloody battles
continued
• U.S. soldiers mad at Nixon for
sending them to fight near the
end of the war
• Hamburger Hill: Hill 937, lasted
10 days, 446 casualties, last
major battle

19. Last Days of the War
• 1970: mostly bombing
campaigns
• Started to bomb and
attack Cambodia and
Laos but were easily
repelled
• 1972: only 70,000 troops
remained
• “Spring Offensive” by NV
was easily repelled by the
ARVN

20. Christmas Bombing
• Peace talks started but
the North refused to
acknowledge a split
Vietnam
• Nixon decided to bomb
the North from Dec 18-
30, called “Linebacker”
• It ruined industrial
capacity and
transportation
• Communists accepted a
cease-fire

21. Paris Peace Accords
• January 27, 1973 an
agreement was
signed to end the war
• All groups involved
signed
• US withdrew from
Vietnam
• Kissinger and Duc
Tho were given Nobel
Peace Prizes

22. Fall of Saigon
• Congress cut funding for
the war and the North
advanced on the South
• By March 1975 the troops
were surrounding Saigon
• President Ford was
helpless, Saigon captured
by April
• Ended 30 continuous
years of fighting

23. Aftermath
• 58,000 American dead
and 153,000 wounded
• 1 mil Vietnamese soldiers
and 4 mil civilians died
• Socialist Republic of
Vietnam formed
• Land destroyed
• Recovered well today, 84
million people, fastest
growing economy in Asia