My Lai Massacre March 1968
• US soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese civilians
• The dead civilians included fifty age 3 or younger, 69 between 4 and 7, and 27 in their 70s or 80s
• Women were raped and bodies mutilated
How did people get out of serving?
1. Went to Canada or Sweden
2. Went to college(student deferment)
3. Got married
4. Medically unfit for service
5. Joined the National Guard or Peace Corps
6. Claimed to be homosexual
7. Being rich
De-Escalation and “Peace w/ Honor”
Nixon and Vietnam
• Nixon called for the “vietnamization” of the war
• “Peace with Honor”
• Gradually pull US troops out and train the ARVN to take our place fighting the North.
• Expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia leading to college protest (Kent St.)
The End
• On January 15, 1973, President Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• The Paris Peace Accords were later signed on January 27 1973 which officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam conflict
1. Fighting stopped
2. US would pull out of Vietnam
3. North and South Vietnam would recognize each other’s independence
• The peace agreement did not last
• In March, 1975, the North invaded the South
• The south was not strong enough and fell quickly
• Saigon, the South’s capital fell on April 30, 1975
• US did not live up to it’s promise to come to their aid if the North attacked
• North Vietnam united both North and South Vietnam on July 2, 1976 to form the Socialist National
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