Effects of Vietnam

Question 1

How many died total from the war?

Answer 1

58,220

Question 2

How many were wounded from the war?

Answer 2

300,000

Question 3

Why were there so many wounded but not so many dead?

Answer 3

• NVA strategy was to wound, not to kill

- the treatments were improved in Field Hospitals

Question 4

Where is the Vietnam War Memorial?

Answer 4

Washington, DC

Question 5

How many POWs or MIAs were left in Vietnam?

Answer 5

2300

Question 6

What has been done to try to get the POWs back?

Answer 6

Many have flown planes back to try to find them

Question 7

What are some theories of what happened to the POWs?

Answer 7

• Some have killed themselves

- Some have been used by Vietnam to fight remainder of war

Question 8

What is the biggest political question for all future wars after Vietnam?

Answer 8

Is this another Vietnam?

Question 9

Why is examining each war so carefully important relating to Vietnam?

Answer 9

If we put American lives in harm’s way, do we go into a war with no plan, and do we risk losing again in a meaningless war with a tough exit as well?

Question 10

What were some of the debatable wars in that could be another Vietnam?

Answer 10

• Persian Gulf
• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• Bosnia
• Somalia
• Panama

Question 11

Why did we go into the Persian Gulf war?

Answer 11

Iraq attacked Kuwait for oil, we went in and drove Iraq out of Kuwait

Question 12

What was our conflict for the Persian Gulf War?

Answer 12

Whether to keep going to Baghdad and target Saddam Hussein or to stop and know we achieved our goal.

Question 13

Why did we go into Somalia?

Answer 13

There were war lords controlling supply of people of Somalia.

Question 14

What was our conflict in Somalia?

Answer 14

We went in, but were getting killed, should we pul out or not?

Question 15

Who was President during Somalia and what was his decision?

Answer 15

Clinton-he pulled us out because we should not fight and risk lives in a meaningless war there.

Question 16

How was our government perceived after Vietnam?

Answer 16

not trustworthy

Question 17

What were some other government scandals around Vietnam that caused some distrust?

Answer 17

• Pentagon Papers
• Watergate
• Future Presidential Scandals

Question 18

When was the War Powers Act passed?

Answer 18

1973

Question 19

What were the war powers circumstances before the War Powers Act?

Answer 19

Congress surrendered lots of power to President under Tonkin as President had all power

Question 20

What did the War Powers Act do?

Answer 20

The Congress can put limits on the President’s war powers

Question 21

What is the only circumstance the President can send forces somewhere without a Declaration of War?

Answer 21

If there is a major foreign policy crisis in the world that relates to us.

Question 22

What are the limits to immediate committal of forces by the President?

Answer 22

• can commit them for 60 days

- must tell Congress within 48 hours

Question 23

After the 60 days are up, what are the President’s options for the forces?

Answer 23

• withdraw
• get a Declaration of War from Congress
• acquire more military money with Congress approval

Question 24

How long would the President have to withdraw after the 60 days are up?

Answer 24

30 days

Question 25

Describe Communist Vietnam.

Answer 25

- based on Chinese Communism - totalitarian government - more private business ownership

Question 26

How many Vietnamese were killed after the fall of Saigon?

Answer 26

165,000

Question 27

What else happened to some other Vietnamese people after the fall of the south?

Answer 27

1 million people were sent to education programs to learn Communsim

Question 28

What happens to Saigon after its fall?

Answer 28

It is renamed Ho Chi Minh City

Question 29

Is Hanoi still the capital?

Answer 29

Yes

Question 30

What was the refugee crisis after the war?

Answer 30

The Boat People

Question 31

What happened with the Boat People?

Answer 31

About 2M Vietnamese want to get out and we could not take them with Operation Frequent Wind, they would go on anything that could float into the South China Sea and hope someone would take them and ask for political asylum.

Question 32

What happened to many of the Boat People?

Answer 32

Many were robbed by pirates and the pirates sunk them.

Question 33

Why were there many pirates sinking the refugees?

Answer 33

We left many armed ships there and they could have gone out to get them back into the Communist nation.

Question 34

What happened to Laos?

Answer 34

It fell to Communism with the Pathet Lao

Question 35

What happened to Cambodia?

Answer 35

It fell to Communism with the Khmer Rouge

Question 36

What do the Khmer Rouge do when they are in power?

Answer 36

A Genocide starts

Question 37

What is the Cambodian genocide called?

Answer 37

The Killing Fields

Question 38

Who did the Cambodian genocide target?

Answer 38

All intellectuals

Question 39

Why did the Khmer Rouge kill all intellectuals?

Answer 39

They were smart enough to protest and possibly stop the Communism.

Question 40

How many people were killed in the Killing Fields?

Answer 40

2 million

Question 41

Who led the Killing Fields?

Answer 41

Pol Pot

Question 42

What happened to the dead bodies from Cambodia?

Answer 42

- all skulls were kept - bones were in big piles - bullets in the back of the skulls' head

Question 43

After the fall of the South, what happened to US-Vietnam relations?

Answer 43

We cutoff all relations in 1975

Question 44

When did we reopen diplomatic relations with Vietnam? What do we do now with them?

Answer 44

1994-we trade with them, some Veterans have gone back

Question 45

What were the effects of Agent Orange?

Answer 45

- many soldiers have cancer and are in hospitals | - parts of landscape have not been fixed

Question 46

What is the mental traumatic stress disorder for Vietnam Veterans?

Answer 46

PTSD

Question 47

What does PTSD relate to?

Answer 47

Soldiers who saw killings in Vietnam and flashback to them in real life.

Question 48

Why did many Veterans have flashbacks from the war?

Answer 48

The mental drain was more intense because of how risky every step was because of all the mines and traps of guerrilla warfare.

Question 49

What happened to the draft dodgers who fled to Canada?

Answer 49

- In 1977, Jimmy Carter gave them amnesty to come back | - Less than half came back to America

Question 50

Why did Carter give pardon to the Canadian refugees?

Answer 50

He was a veteran and felt their anger

Question 51

What happened to Drug Culture after the war?

Answer 51

The openness of drug taking increased since before

Question 52

What was the economic recession we dealt with after the war?

Answer 52

An Inflationary Trend

Question 53

Describe why we had this post-war Inflationary Trend.

Answer 53

Our government is doing 2 big ticket items-Great Society spent billions as did the war, Vietnam adds $150B to our debt