vietnam

• The USA set up more aircraft bases in Vietnam to conduct Rolling Thunder
• General Westmorland asked for ground troops to protect these bases
• 3,500 marines landed at Danang


  Between 8 and 10 March 1965
• As Rolling Thunder, more and more ground forces were sent into South Vietnam
• Johnson used the draft to get the greater number of troops needed
• US troop numbers in Vietnam

  • 1964: 23,300 (Green Berets)
  • 1965: 184,300
  • 1966: 385,300
  • 1967: 485,600
  • 1968: 536,100
• Small units of US soldiers

  1. Searched the jungle for VC camps and supplies

  2. Helicopters would bomb or spray chemicals on them
• Fighting occurred but mainly hit and run' attacks by the VC, not full-scale battles
• The US killed about 1,100 VC; fewer than 100 US troops were killed. US troops found weapons and other supplies, and destroyed VC tunnels. They saw the missions as a victory
• However at the end of the missions the VC then moved back in
• US bombing and chemical spraying harmed ordinary villagers and their homes. This did not help the US win support from the villagers. The missions created about 4 million South Vietnamese refugees
• Operation Cedar Falls, 1967


  1. 30,000 US and ARVN troops took part, 'Iron Triangle', where the VC were strongest

  2. Helicopters transported troops to the village of Ben Suc

  3. Villagers were flown to refugee camps and the village was burned
• At the end of the operation there were 750 VC dead, and 450 US and ARVN dead
• There were 3,500 refugees from the Ben Sue area alone
• After US troops had cleared an area it became a 'free-fire zone' that could be bombed without warning at any time
• Villagers failed to understand this and returned to their homes in the free-fire zones
• Villagers were given warnings of bombings, but the warnings were leaflets in English
• This would make VC bases easier to find and to deliberately kill crops in the sprayed areas, so that the villagers could not feed the VC. This defoliation programme was called Operation Ranch Hand
• 1964-1970: over 24% of South Vietnam was sprayed with some kind of herbicide
• One plane could spray 300 acres in just four minutes
• The herbicides were made up to 50% stronger than those used in the USA
• Agent Blue


  A fast acting herbicide, was used to kill crops
• Agent Orange


  A stronger herbicide, was used on the jungle forests
• Over 3,000 villages were sprayed, in many cases without getting the villagers out first
• By 1970, proof that the herbicides produced a poison. It did not dissolve in water, so rain carried it into streams and rivers and affected the people who drank the water
• The poison stayed in the soil, too, and affected crops for decades after replanting
• There was public outrage in the USA when the media made it clear that the chemicals the US was spraying were not only killing crops (so causing food shortages and starvation) but also causing many health problems, birth defects and deaths
• North Vietnamese and Vietcong, planned the Tet Offensive very carefully
• There was usually a ceasefire during Tet, so many ARVN were off duty for the holiday
• The North Vietnamese and VC did a number of things to try to catch the US and ARVN off guard

  1. Late 1967, the N. Vietnamese and VC attacked areas in South Vietnam just south of the DMZ to lure US and ARVN troops away from cities and military bases

  2. The North Vietnamese suggested it might be willing to negotiate for peace

  3. 20 January: N. Vietnamese troops surrounded and attacked the US base at Khe Sanh near the DMZ
• Tet Offensive

  • Saigon, North Vietnamese troops and VC got into the US embassy, the Presidential Palace, ARVN headquarters, the radio station and the airport
  • The sight of VC in the US embassy was a huge shock for the American public
  • It was a humiliation for the US government, even though the VC were soon captured
  • The old city of Hue was captured - it took US three weeks of fighting in the streets to win it back
  • South Vietnam's cities were regarded as the safe but now they seemed vulnerable
  • 84,000 communist troops took part. This was a big change after years of 'hit and run' attacks
  • US and ARVN troops managed to recapture most cities and bases quickly. Hue and Khe Sanh were t exceptions, but they were eventually recaptured
  • The North Vietnamese and VC suffered very heavy losses - the VC were almost wiped out
  • The communists had hoped it would lead to a revolution against the government but never happ Could be argued that the communists had failed, but they had gained a huge propaganda victory
  • Despite the eventual US victory on the ground, the American public saw Tet as a humiliating def
• US involvement in 1968

  • Spending $26,266 million
  • Dead 16,899
  • Troops 536,100
• Significance of the Tet Offensive for the various groups involved
• US politicians

  Growing anti-war feeling; Congress less willing to fund the war; Main reason for Johnson not president in 1968
• US Public


  Feel cheated by US government saying war could end soon; Shocked by images of VC in US compound; Huge rise in opposition to the war
• North Vietnam

  Heavy losses; VC allies almost wiped out; Can rebuild forces; Can use Tet in their propagar
• South Vietnam Government

  Worried the US might leave too soon; Had some support from South Vietnamese people (no