The Vietnam War

Question 1

Ngo Dinh Diem

Answer 1

• bitterly anti-Communist
• hated by the people
• corrupt regime

Question 2

How much did the US give to Diem?

Answer 2

$1.6 billion

Question 3

When was Diem overthrown?

Answer 3

November 1963, by his army leaders

Question 4

Why did US involvement increase?

Answer 4

• elections were going to be held
• the US we’re worried that the communists would win
• they thought the USSR was planning on spreading Communism throughout the whole of SE Asia

Question 5

Why did the Viet Cong emerge?

Answer 5

The actions of the anti-Communist government increased support among the peasants for the communist National front (e.g. The Vietcong)

Question 6

Who was included in the Vietcong?

Answer 6

• south Vietnamese opponents of the government

- lots of Communist North Vietnamese taking orders from Ho Chi Minh

Question 7

What did the Viet Cong target?

Answer 7

Government officials and buildings

By 1962 the countryside was unsafe for government troops and the Vietcong had started attacking military bases

Question 8

What was the major turning point for the US involvement?

Answer 8

The assassination of Kennedy, in 1963

Johnson was more prepared to go to war

Question 9

When was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 9

August 1964

Question 10

What happened at the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 10

• N Vietnamese patrol boats opened fire on US ships

- in a furious reaction, the US passed the TONKIN GULF RESOLUTION

Question 11

What did he Tonkin Gulf Resolution state?

Answer 11

It gave Jonson the power to ‘take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security’

Question 12

What was Operation Rolling Thunder?

Answer 12

A gigantic bombing campaign

February 1965

Question 13

What did Operation Rolling Thunder target?

Answer 13

N Vietnamese cities
Factories
Army bases
The Ho Chi Minh trail

Question 14

When did the US marines come ashore at Da Nang

Answer 14

8th March 1965

Question 15

Vietnamese army tactics

Answer 15

• guerilla warfare
• worked in small groups with limited weaponry
• ambushed, set booby traps
• hand-to-hand fighting

Question 16

How many US casualties were caused by boobytraps?

Answer 16

11%

Question 17

What percentage of US troops died from hand-to-hand combat?

Answer 17

51%

Question 18

Vietcong and civilians

Answer 18

• kept the civilian population on their side

- ruthless when necessary

Question 19

US tactics

Answer 19

• bombing
• Agent orange and napalm
• search and destroy

Question 20

What was the problem with search and destroy?

Answer 20

• often based on poor intelligence
• many US soldiers were killed in traps
• innocent villagers were punished

Question 21

The US troops

Answer 21

• at the start, most of the men were professionals
• as the war went on, conscription increased
• the men who went to Vietnam were poorly trained with little motivation

Question 22

When was the Tet Offensive?

Answer 22

Early in 1968

Question 23

What happened at the Tet Offensive?

Answer 23

• 100 cities/towns in were attacked by the Viet Cong

- the US embassy in Saigon was temporarily taken by the Viet Cong

Question 24

What was the outcome for the Viet Cong?

Answer 24

10000 fighters lost so badly weakened

Question 25

What questions did the Tet Offensive raise for the US?

Answer 25

- 500,909 US/SV troops - $20 billion annually on the war - why was the North not defeated?

Question 26

Media about the Tet Offensive

Answer 26

- most of the media was positive until the Tet Offensive - the media began to reflect the view that Vietnam was increasingly not worth the trouble - no censorship of US television- people were horrified by the images of the war

Question 27

Peace movement in the US

Answer 27

- public opinion turned against the war - war draining money - victory was not closer - racial inequality of USA exposed (30% of African Americans drafted to only 19% whites, 22% of black soldier casualties despite being only 11% of the force)

Question 28

Anti-war protests

Answer 28

100 protests involving 40,000 students in 1968-70 | November 1969, 700,000 anti-war protestors demonstrated in Washington

Question 29

When was the Mai Lai massacre?

Answer 29

March 1968

Question 30

What happened at the Mai Lai massacre?

Answer 30

- 16th March, 300-400 civilians killed, mostly women, children and the elderly - no VC found, only 3 weapons - report said it was a mistake

Question 31

What happened to the commanding officer at Mai Lai

Answer 31

- September 1969 - he was charged with murder of 109 people - 10 other members of company also charged - August 1971, sentenced to 20 years hard labour - released in 1974

Question 32

Ending the war in Vietnam

Answer 32

- reduced bombing campaign against the North - LBJ didn't seek reelection as president - promised to end involvement in Vietnam - wanted it to not seem like a defeat

Question 33

How was the US made to not seem weak?

Answer 33

- increased bombing campaigns were used | - the US/SV troops invaded Cambodia, to the outrage of the world

Question 34

After the war

Answer 34

- after 2 years, SV fell to the Communists | - the Communists finally won in Vietnam

Question 35

How did the Vietnam war affect Containment?

Answer 35

- now in tatters - it had failed militarily and strategically - sped up the Domino effect - propaganda disaster