Vietnam review from book

The Vietnam War Creating America Chapter 30 Ho Chi Minh In 1930, a revolutionary leader named Ho Chi Minh (hoh chee mihn) united three Communist groups to form the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) and took control of South Vietnam Domino Theory • U.S Presidents used the domino theory to explain the need to support anti-Communists in Vietnam • According to this theory, if a country fell to communism, nearby countries would also topple, like a row of dominoes standing on end Ngo Dinh Diem • In spite of U.S aid, Diem did not establish a democratic government in South Vietnam Instead, his government was corrupt • In the countryside, for example, he let landlords take back land given to peasants In addition, he jailed, tortured, and killed opponents Viet Cong • Diem’s opponents included South Vietnamese Communists In 1960, they joined with other dissatisfied South Vietnamese to form the Viet Cong Ho Chi Minh Trail • The Viet Cong fought to overthrow the Diem government and reunite the country under Communist rule • North Vietnam supported the Viet Cong, sending soldiers and supplies along a network of paths called the Ho Chi Minh Trail • This supply line wove through the jungles and mountains of neighboring Laos and Cambodia Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • The U.S destroyer Maddox had been patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin when North Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on it • Congress passes the Gulf ofTonkin Resolution • This gave the president the power to use military force in Vietnam “Containment” of Communism • Three events led President Kennedy to step up efforts to stop the spread of communism • The failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba • The Soviets erecting the Berlin Wall • The Cuban Missile Crisis • Such chemicals helped destroy the hideouts and food supplies of the Viet Cong But in the process, they also harmed innocent Vietnamese villagers This undermined the villagers’ support for the United States • Later, people learned that Agent Orange harmed U.S soldiers as well Veterans exposed to it have suffered from skin diseases and cancers Search and Destroy Missions • Search-and-destroy missions were another American war tactic that terrorized Vietnamese villagers In such missions, soldiers hunted Viet Cong and burned or bombed villages thought to be sheltering them Quote • “Their homes had been wrecked, their chickens killed, their rice confiscated [taken away]—and if they weren’t pro-Vietcong before we got there, they sure were by the time we left.” William Ehrhart, quoted in Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow Tet Offensive • This was a surprise attack on U.S military bases and more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam It came during Tet, the Vietnamese celebration of the lunar New Year • In preparation for the Tet offensive, the Viet Cong hid weapons in vegetable trucks, food trucks, peddlers’ carts, and even coffins They smuggled these weapons into South Vietnamese cities • Soldiers dressed in civilian clothes entered the cities on buses, on motorcycles, and on foot No one could tell them apart from the war refugees who streamed into the cities from the countryside or from visitors coming for the holiday • The Viet Cong fought to take over the cities during the offensive They killed not only enemy soldiers but also government officials, schoolteachers, doctors, and priests • The Tet offensive was a military defeat for the Communists They gained no cities and lost 45,000 soldiers, while the South Vietnamese lost 2,300 soldiers and the United States 1,100 The Turning Point • The Tet offensive also made many Americans ask whether the U.S mission in Vietnam was wise To retake some cities, troops had to almost level them with bombing and shelling Vietnamization • In July 1969, Nixon announced his strategy of Vietnamization It called for gradually withdrawing U.S forces and turning the ground fighting over to the South Vietnamese • However, Nixon had secretly ordered bombing in Cambodia to stop troop and supply movement on the Ho Chi Minh trail • The public was angered by this expansion of the war Withdrawal • In 1973, the United States and South Vietnam signed a peace agreement with North Vietnam and the Viet Cong • North Vietnam agreed not to invade South Vietnam • In 1975, North Vietnam launched a massive invasion of South Vietnam, captured the capital of Saigon, renamed it Ho Chi Minh City and united the country under Communism Effects of the Vietnam War • The Vietnam War took a heavy toll on American soldiers About 58,000 died, and more than 300,000 were wounded Many suffered permanent, disabling injuries Returning soldiers often had recurring nightmares and other stress-related problems To make things worse, they came home to a public that treated them coldly