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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Vietnam before US involvement |
- French colony - Nationalist movement led by Ho Chi Minh, became communist and formed Viet Minh - French are driven out after WWII - Japan controls, but no-one recognizes - Minh declares Vietnam independent, US supports him |
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Warning about Vietnam by Office of Strategic Services |
Don't get involved in SE Asia!!!!!!
- There will be civil war - Language/culture barrier - Corruption on all sides - We don't blend in |
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US Involvement Post-WWII (before war) |
- Give Vietnam back to France - Bc: containment, domino theory, truman doctrine, nsc-68 - Now, Minh is communist aggressor |
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Domino Theory |
If Vietnam falls to communism, the rest of SE Asia will, and then all of Asia!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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America helps French (Eisenhower) |
- We give French money, but no troops (Eisenhower) - Dien Bien Phu - French capital overrun |
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Dien Bien Phu |
- End of French in Vietnam - Geneva accords - country is divided into S. & N. Vietnam (repeat of Korea) - 17th parallel - Free elections throughout country - S. doesn't take part in it (the people are mostly communist) - S. joins SEATO (Asian version of NATO)
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Leader of South Vietnam |
Ngo Dinh Diem (corrupt and unpopular)
- Ended elections, was Catholic while most were Buddhist, cracked down on dissent, rigged elections |
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Leader of North Vietnam |
Ho Chi Minh |
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Kennedy in Vietnam |
- Helps Diem to maintain S. independence - Send people to Vietnam as advisors (no ground troops yet!) - CIA stages coup against Diem bc he is corrupt |
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Strategic Hamlet Program |
- By Diem - take peasants out of countryside so they can't be attacked by Viet Cong
- Backfires, they view it as gov taking their possessions |
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LBJ in Vietnam |
- Increase president's power for the war - Said he wouldn't expand the war, but he did |
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution |
- USS Maddox attacked by N. Viet - Congress gives president blank check to use further force in Vietnam
- but is this too much power? isnt goldwater supposed to be the war guy? hello?! |
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Operation Rolling Thunder |
- Air raids on N. Vietnam - First combat troops arrive in 1965 - US overwhelmingly supported deployment at this time |
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William C. Westmoreland |
- Responsible for running Vietnam war for America - Strategy not successful - tried to convince Viet Cong that Nixon was crazy and would nuke them if they didn't sign peace - Tried to convince S. Vietnam their life would be awful under Viet Cong - propaganda against |
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Napalm |
destroy the jungles bc the enemy is hiding in the jungle, but high chance of civilians being attacked |
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Agent Orange |
Leaf-killing chemical to destroy jungles
But it was cancerous & soldiers/civilians got sick
- Style of fighting war not aligned to how we wanted to win the war (Hearts and Minds Campaign) |
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Search and Destroy |
Went village by village searching for enemy, destroyed villages infested with enemy, huge refugee problem |
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Viet Cong under the Jungle |
Hid explosives in the jungle - land mines everywhere
They knew the land (We didn't) |
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Mines |
Tiger traps
any pressure put on, you'd fall right in |
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Johnson Draft |
You could get out if your religion was against it or if you were still in college
But minorities and blue-collars weren't affected by this and had to serve |
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Criticism of the War |
- Anti-war songs - No clear goals - Credibility gap - MLK: "Great Society died in Vietnam" - Protecting a corrupt side - Inflation & taxes increased - High casualties - Media coverage turned people against the war |
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Media in the War |
- Night by night coverage - Growth of credibility gap and negativity
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My Lai Massacre |
Search & kill mission - orders to kill everyone in a village they thought was Viet Cong
Mutilated ppl instead of killing them - media coverage
General Gwin photographed murdering a Viet Cong soldier |
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Hawks vs. Doves |
Hawks - containment
Doves - SDS, Free Speech, Weathermen, war is immoral |
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Tet Offensive |
- Week long truce - Viet Cong surprise attacked the south - MAJOR ATTACK - Tactical victory but moral defeat - "The war is unwinnable" - Turning Point |
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Why Viet Cong was so powerful |
- When someone died they had an unlimited supply of people to replace them with
- Sec of Defense McNamara said we should negotiate peace bc we can't win |
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Nixon in Vietnam |
Nixon Doctrine, Vietnamization |
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Vietnamization |
- Universal conscription in S. Vietnam - Phoenix Program - CIA trained S. to infiltrate villages and kill Viet Cong supporters
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Paris Peace Talks |
- Madman Strategy - Country split but elections (which won't happen) |
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Protests of War |
- DC - 250,000 - At college campuses - Violence - Jackson State - blacks - Kent State - threw rocks, then tear gas |
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Cambodia |
- Ho Chi Minh Trail of supplies in Cambodia - Cam asks US for assistance - US tries but Viet Cong blends in w/ locals - Not successful - Seen as escalation of war |
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Laos |
USSR sent weapons to Vietnam through Laos, so US bombed Laos
The public and congress didn't know |
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Pentagon Papers |
Released by Ellsberg
Exposed deception by JFK & LBJ |
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War Powers Act |
- Limits presidential power - Time limit, must tell congress |
