Geneva Conference
Set up to unify the country by July, 1956 Such elections were never held because neither side wanted to lose Split into North and South
US being involved
Money and supplies to France Military advisers Sent special forces (Green Berets) for commando-style operations Sent combat troops for defensive purposes to protect South Vietnman Sent combat troops for offensive troops More troops
US and South Vietnam vs. North Vietnam/Vietcong
Golf of Tonkin Several US ships were supposedly attacked by the North Vietnamese torpedos in the Gulf of Tonkin. We don't know if this really happened or if Johnson made this happened to make the US support going to war.
Tet Offensive Lunar new year festival which is the most important holiday in South Vietnam Although we crushed the enemy military, the surprising huge offensive attack from an enemy that was supposedly almost defeated convinced many Americans that victory was impossible North Vietnam launched a huge offensive This set off the war
Pentagon papers New York Times published these Papers that showed that the government was lying to us about how the war was going
Why was it hard? It was hard to define the enemey We were never given power to invade North Vietnman We bombed them but we couldn't invade
Un-popular Tet offensive Pentagon Papers Injuring/killing innocent people Supporting a bad government in the South The power of the press
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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