Part two - Escalation of conflict in Vietnam

• what is the domino theory

  the domino theory sums up the US fears about communism + the threat it posed on Indochina - it was coined by president Eisenhower in 1954
• what is the red scare

  widespread paranoia about the communist threat in America
• what was the mcCarren act

  stated that all communist organisations were to be registered and reduced job opportunities for communists
• Dwight D eisenhower 1890-1969

  became general in WWII

  • became president in 1953
  • ended fighting in korea
• John F Kennedy 1917 - 63

  • fought in US navy in WWII
  • USA youngest president - first catholic leader
  • strong anticommunist
  • assasinated in 63
• Eisenhowers involvement 


  • invited SV to join SEATO to work w other counties to stop the spread of communism
  • sent CIA agents o Saigon to gather information for the US govt
  • used propaganda to gain more support for diem - turn people against ho chi mihn
  • gave supplies. money + military equipment to south Vietnam
  • sent military advisors to train the ARVN
• Kennedy's involvement


  • did on tell the US press act US involvement - worried apt public opinion.
  • increased money given to the ARVN - 150,000 to 170,000 by 1961
  • increased military support
  • 300 helicopter pilots sent to SV to transport ARVN pilots
  • did not stop coup against diem
  • supported the strategic hamlet programme
• strategic hamlet programme


  introduced by diem in 1962 - supported by kennedy
• strategic hamlet programme


  introduced by diem in 1962 - supported by kennedy

  • was to help SV peasants defend themselves against vietcong - it was however a way of cutting off the support the peasants has been giving the veitcong.
  • peasants were moves from the villages to "strategic hamlets" - surrounded by barbed wire + ditches.
  • by 1963 2/3 of the population had been moved - turned to the Vietcong
• Lyon Baines Johnson 1908-73


  • was kennedys vice president - became president when he was assinated.
  • won in 1964 served till 69
  • wanted to create a great society - fair to everyone
• 3 august 1964


  • 3 north Vietnamese torpedo boats head towards Maddox. Maddox fires at the boats and they fire three missiles back
  • US jets sink one of the boats and damage the other two
• 4th august 1964


  • report comes in from Maddox - NV is going to attack again
  • US captain says he isn't sure
  • Johnson launches attack anyways
• 7th august 1964

  • US govt approves of the gulf of Tonkin resolution - gives Johnson the power to take any military measure necessary to defend south vietnam + stop the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia
• mass bombing campaigns

  • in feb 1965 vietcong attacked camp Holloway - US helicopter base
  • ten helicopters destroyed, killing 8 servicemen, and 100 wounded
  • USA responded w OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER.
  • continuous bombing in NV targeting important govt buildings
  • lasted 3 years
  • dropped 1 mill tonnes of bombs
• guerilla tactics

  • retreat when enemy attacks
  • attacks when enemy retreats
  • raid camps whenever possible
  • don't wear uniform
  • work in small groups
• using the ho chi mihn trail

  1. supply route running through laos and Cambodia from NV
  2. ran through thick jungle
  3. porters carried supplies of bicycles or ponies
  4. imposible to completely destroy
• hanging on the belts

  • Vietcong travelled light - dressed like ordinary ppl - who also gave them food.
  • carried AK_47 rifles
  • stayed close to Americans + ambushed them, disappearing into the jungles after.
• creating a tunnel system

  • Vietcong moved underground - harder for US soldiers to find them.
  • stitched for 300 km under the jungle
  • had hospitals workshops bedrooms + kitchens
• setting booby traps


  Punji traps - sharpened bamboo stakes hidden in shallow pits + covered in leaves.

  • spikes would sometimes be covered w human or animal excrement - cause infection
  • bouncing Betty mines exploded one metre from the ground targeting stomach and groin area.
• violence and propaganda

  Vietcong attacked govt + public workers in south Vietnam (between 1966 - 71 Vietcong killed 27,000 civilians)

  • propagand posters were ditributed - showed Vietcong overpowering the enemy or women + children supporting the veitcong
• search and destroy


  • US searched villages in South Vietnam
  • burnt and destroyed whole villages if anyones was suspected being vietcong
  • 'zippo' raids
  • removes and vietcong bases discovered
• bombing

  • operation rolling thunder - contimous bombing
  • 1 mill tonnes of bombs dropped
  • cluster bombs - designed to explode and release 600 smaller bombs
• chemical warfare

  • USA used chemical weapons - agent orange and napalm
  • agent orange was a toxic chemical causing cancer and deformities in unborn children
  • napalm tuned through jungle and forest but also skin and bones
• conscripting troops

  • US troops were called GI's
  • conscripted for one year 'tour of duty' - refusal to join ended in prison sentence
  • M-16 rifles jammed easily
  • many US troops mistakenly killed Vietnamese civilillians because they were unable to tell them apart from the Vietcong
• impact of US tactics

  • supply routes along the ho chi mihn were disrupted but US never got upper hand
  • few Vietcong were captured - most of tunnels stayed intact
  • USA became very unpopular w Vietnamese peasants
  • support for the Vietcong increased
• tet offensive

  30th January 1968 was a temporary ceasefire in order of TET.

  • veitcong broke the ceasefire
• tet offensive - how?

  • veitcong had been launching small attacks away from major cities - make sure the was fewer US troops in saigon
  • for months the veitcong had been piling up weapons in homes around Saigon.
• how did the US react to Tet offensive

  • regained control of towns and cities quickly
  • advanced tech and training to defeat vietcong
  • US response weakened veitcong - killed 10,000 fighters and 50,000 veitnamese
• my lai massacre

  16th march - US troops landed + started firing at ppl in fields + buildings they thought might contain fighters

  • no vietcong were found by the Charlie company - no armed retaliation
  • when US troops came back - mixed reports were given
  • Charlie company was praised for its actions
• impact of my lai

  • US citizens were shocked - confused ant aims of the war
  • began to mistrust the ppl running the army
  • anti war movements began- 500,000 protested in Washington 1969
  • the investigations exposed low morale of the US troops in Vietnam.