| A | B |
|---|
| Origins of Vietnam War | French controlled Indo China from 1887; Japanese controlled 41'; back to French; Viets want country back |
| Ho Chi Minh leader of communist | Vietminh-goal to get rid of foreign rule;more nationalistic movement than communism |
| Domino Theory/Monolithic Communism | if South Vietnam falls to Communism, it could spread quickly to other areas of Asia/Monolithic Communism-Kennedy doesn't want to look weak to Russia |
| Geneva Accords | 17th parallel splits country temporary;Elections in 56’ to unite |
| Dien Bien Phu | 1954 French defeated & left Vietnam |
| Ngo Diem | South Viet leader |
| Elections 56' | Diem refused full country election; won S. Vietnam election |
| Vietcong | South Vietnamese who support Ho Chi Minh/North/Communism |
| Escalation under John F Kennedy | sent advisers to S. Vietnam; preparing to send troops;increased defense $ |
| Green Berets | trained to fight guerrilla warfare (used in jungles) |
| Monks Immolation | Buddhist monks set fire to selves in South b/c Diem out of touch, not Buddhist, wealthy; relocates peasants, persecutes Buddhist majority; lack of personal freedoms |
| Assassination of Diem | U.S. withdrew support for Diem who was killed after a coup d'etat |
| Gulf of Tonkin | N. Vietnamese see USS Maddox & fired upon once by N Vietnamese (later recanted) |
| Tonkin Gulf Resolution 1964 | escalated war;Congress gave President broad powers to wage war in Vietnam |
| Operation Rolling Thunder | sustained bombing of N Vietnam expecting North to surrender but don’t; U.S. keep bombing |
| Napalm | gasoline based-dropped by U.S. in Vietnam to burn away jungle and expose Viet Cong hideouts |
| General Westmoreland | U.S. commander in S.Vietnam continued request for troops;accused of deceiving Amer. public that we were winning |
| Ho Chi Minh Trail | network of paths used by N. Vietnam to transport supplies to S. Vietnam |
| War of attrition | military strategy to wear down the enemies and their supplies |
| body count | Westmoreland measured success by # of VC/Viet Minh dead bodies |
| living room war | Televised showing body bags of our soldiers and horrors against innocent children etc in Vietnam |
| Anti-War movement | effort to end U.S. involvement in Vietnam/peace |
| draft - Vietnam | U.S. males 18-25 yrs old selected by lottery; required to serve if called -deferments for college, medical, National Guardup; |
| teach ins | anti war lectures overnight on campuses |
| Doves | anti war;young, politically active; Hawks viewed them as unpatriotic |
| Hawks | support war- believed N. Viet aggression forced US into war |
| 1968 | MLK,Jr. & Bobby Kennedy assassinated |
| 1968 Election | After Tet Offensive, LBJ withdraws from race;Nixon Repub candidate;pledges to end war |
| Tet Offensive | lunar New Year -no fighting but VC and N. Viets launch surprise attack over 100 cities and towns |
| Vietnamization | U.S. plan to teach ARVN to defend South while U.S. withdraws |
| Nixon Doctrine | gradual take over of the South Vietnamese taking responsibility of fighting their own war by American-provided money, weapons, training, and advice |
| secret war/bombing campaign | Nixon bombs Cambodia & Laos to attack Ho Chi Minh Trail (tried to keep it secret)-Expansion of war though less troops |
| Pentagon Papers 71' | NY Times leaked-misled Congress & Amer. people - intention in Vietnam was more to avoid humiliating defeat rather than fighting to eliminate communism |
| Nixon - Peace with Honor | Plan for Vietnamization -U.S. would prepare S. Vietnamese troops to defend themselves then U.S. could leave with honor |
| Fall of Saigon | America abandons its embassy-North Vietnam soon takes over South |
| War Powers Act | Pres. must notify Congress w/in 48 hours of deploying military force without declaration of war |
| 18th Amendment | 18 year olds vote |
| Vietnam war veterans | cold treatment upon returning; 15% had PTSD; Vietnam War Memorial 1982 some comfort |
| view of Govt. | credibility gap - mistrust of govt. |
