General William Westmoreland:
Losses during Tet Offensive:
- US, Korea, Australia, and South Viet Nam were the allies
- North Vietnam and Viet Cong were nonallies
- Still very scary to the US that they were able to regroup and attack major cities
- There was an increasing sense among people that the government was misleading the American people about the war without a clear beginning or end
- When General Westmoreland called for still more troops to be sent to Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, more and more people started protesting
- The support of the government and war effort suffered even more when the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers
- It was a top-secret historical study about the war, that showed how the government was misleading the US public in all stages of the war
Operation Rolling Thunder:
- was the code name for the non stop bombing raids in North Vietnam conducted by the US armed forces
- Its purpose was to destroy the will of the North to fight to destroy industrial bases and air defenses and to stop the flow of men and supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail
- Was not successful in destroying the will of the North
Anti-War:
- Why were so many people against the war?
- Tet offensive
- Pentagon papers
- injuring/killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre)
- Supporting a bad government in South
- The power of the press
My Lai Massacre March 1968:
- US soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese citizens
- The dead civilians included 50 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?
- Went to Canada or Sweden
- Went to college(student deferment)
- Got married
- Medically unfit for service
- Joined the National Guard or Peace Corps
- Claimed to be homosexual
- Being rich
Peace????
- 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 didn't live up to its 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 republic of Vietnam
- Saigon was re-named Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the former president of North Vietnam
- Vietnam is still communist
Vietnam Deaths:
- US: 58,202
- ARVN: 223,748
- NVA/VC: 1,100,000
Wars Powers Act 1973:
- Limits the power of the Presidents of the US to wage war without the approval of the congress
- It requires the president to consult with Congress prior to the start of any hospitalizes as well as regularly until US armed forces are no longer engaged in hospitalities
- President must remove US armed forces from hospitalizes if congress has not declared war or passed a resolution authorizing the use of force within 60 days
Vietnam remembered:
- Vets were not treated well upon their return to the US
- The Vietnam Veteran Memorial (the wall) was built as a remembrance to those who died in the Vietnam war.
Napalm/agent orange:
- was dropped by American planes
- when its drop and hits the ground turns into a fire and starts burning
- didn't always work the best
- would accidentally kill Americans sometimes
- intended to burn and kill the enemies
Viet Cong:
- guerrilla fighting force
- would hide in tunnels under the ground
- known as tunnel rats
- Would usually swim under water to get to their tunnels
Korea war:
- On June 25, 1950 the Korean war began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's army poured across the 38th parallel
- This is the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic people's republic of Korea to the north and the pro western republic of Korea to the south
- As far as American officials were concerned it was a war against the forces of international communism itself
- After some early back and forth across the 38th parallel the fighting stalled and casualties mounted with nothing to show for them
- Lasted from 1950-1953. 5 million people died.
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