Section 2

Johnson Sends Combat Troops

        -New SV gov’t set up after Diem was overthrown

                -Just as corrupt

        -Johnson was president (JFK dead)

                -Did NOT want communist victory

                        -Wanted to increase presence in Vietnam

                                -Wanted backing of Congress

-Aug. 1964àJohnson says US ships attacked twice in the Gulf of Tonkin

-Asked Congress to authorize use of force to prevent it from happening again

        -Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

                -LBJ basically had a blank check

                -Ships were actually in NV waters and were spying

        -General William Westmoreland, commander of US forces

                        -By the end of 1965à40K had been drafted

        -LBJ built up forcesàEscalation

                -LBJ reinstated the draft

                        -More than 2,600,000 served in Vietnam war

                                -Had average age of about 19-20

A Frustrating War

        -LBJ thought air power would make for easy victory

                -Operation Rolling Thunder (1965)

                        -Wanted to stop NV from helping Vietcong

                                -Destroy Ho Chi Minh Trail      

                        -Thought air war would defeat NV in a few weeks

                                -Did notàmore bombings

        -NV and Vietcong used guerrilla warfare

                -Booby traps, shoot and run tactics

        -Land/climate was badàhot, rainy, swampy

Stripping the Jungle

        -VC used jungle cover

                -Napalmàjellied gasoline

                -Agent Orangeàlike Roundup

                        -Dangerous to handle

Search and Destroy Missions

        -Soldiers hunted down VC, burning villages thought to be sheltering them

                -Turned Vietnamese against US

                -“Scorched earth” policy

The Surprise Tet Offensive

        -Tet = Vietnamese New Year

-Traditionally, both sides would stop fighting

        -NV snuck up on SV and Americans (70,000 troops)

-100 cities, 12 military bases all attacked at once

-Hid supplies

-Killed not just US troops but US supporters

        -NV thought the offensive would be the end of waràwrong

                -45,000 communist soldiers killed; 3,400 SV/US killed

                        -NV still fought despite losses

        -Lots of people turned against the war after this

                -NV was NEVER going to give upàlet’s wind things down

        -Westmoreland asked for 206,000 troops

US Morale Sinks

        -Many lost faith US could win the war

        -Mai Lai massacre (1968)

                -US troops rounded up up to 700 Vietnamese

                        -Old men, kids, women

                        -Shot them

                                -Some US troops tried to save Vietnamese

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