DAYS OPATHUNDE 10.000
A HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM
WAR
1
-
1955
All
1962
OCTOBER JULY 20
M
IIt was
war
the
days, rhc
thousand
thai lasted ten
I
t.
Hen Bien
stirring
chronicle,
of riots.
Pulitzer
ieneva
ends; into
that inspired scores of songs.
Die war that sparked dozens this
7
Phu ends
war
ii
in
\Y
French defeat
(
Diem
bnference
Vietnam
26
FEBRUARY
elected president
of South Vietnam, and
split
officially
North and South
proclaims
I
Command, Vietnam (MACV),
it
Republic of Vietnam
Vietnam
And
6
Military Assistance
created
Prize-
•aafeM
•vmning journalist Philip Caputo writes about our country's most controversial
war—the rom
1
the
Vietnam War tirst
— for young readers.
stirrings oi unrest in
under French colonial
rule,
to
JUNE
Vietnam
e
American
and
appointed prime minister of Vietnam
gins
intervention, to the battle
let
Hamburger
at
18
Ngo Dinh Diem
rence
Offensive, to the
Hill,
the
to
fall
of
gon, U).(XX) Day> of Thunder explores the
war
changed the
that
Americans and
that
li\
es of a generation of
still
reverberates with
us today.
Included within 10,000 Day* of Thunder are anecdotes from soldiers
well as profiles
many
ot
and
civilians, as
and accounts of the actions
historical luminaries,
and Vietnamese, involved
1969
1970
both American the Vietnam
in
War, such as Richard M. Nixon, General William (
Westmoreland,
Ho
Chi Minh, Joe
.allowav Dr. Martin Luther King Johnson, and General Vo
B.
C
C
apUtO also explores the
in
battlefield,
the
Lyndon
Nguyen
Giap.
Communism women played on
rise of
Vietnam, the roles that
the
jr.,
antiwar
movement
home, (he participation of Vietnamese lagers
m
b\ stunning
and
hundcr
If
rnam War
II
F.
is
MAY
Kennedy ls.lssin.ltcd
4 .ut
I
her
Li
NOVEMBER
ted
1
Richard Nixon elected
highlighted
photographs and key campaign
battlefield
Robert
President
10-JUNE
7
3
Nixon
MAY
announces
4
Operation
Vietnamization
Kent State
Apache Snow
program
incident
vil-
the war, as well as the tar-reaching
Bputo's dynamic narrath e
5
at
impact of the war's aftermath c
NOVEMBER JUNE
MAY
11-20
Battle of
SEPTEMBER 2, 1969 Ho Chi Minh dies
Hamburger Hi
NOVEMBER Son Tay
20-21
raid
\i
President
maps, making 10,000 DtyS
consummate book on
the
tor kids
IOCS
J
\
'***
#
wms
t
m!
'A
1964
1963
AUGUST
NOVEMBER
AUGUST
2
Ngo Dinh Diem
First
MARCH
7
2
Congress passes
Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf incident
assassinated
1966
1965
First
2
AUGUST
mission in
Rolling
Thunder
Operation launched
Resolution
1967
AUGUST
18-24
17
Operation
Battle of
Starlight
Long Tan
NOVEMBER Ia
JANUARY
8-26
Operation
Cedar
Falls
14-
Drang
battle
1982
1975
1973
1972
1971
JANUARY
1993
8
North Vietnam
MARCH
30-JUNE
Easter Offensive,
FEBRUARY 8-MARCH Operation
24
Lam Son
7
r
JUNE New York
Times
publishes the
"Pentagon Papers"
breaks Paris »
DECEMBER
nth Vietnam
Linebacker
MAY 10-OCTOBER Operation Linebacker
I
23
JANUARY
18-29
f
Operation
Vietnamese invasion of S
S 13
North
II
Paris
1\
Peace
accords signed
MARCH
29
NOVEMBER
13
NOVEMBER
1
Peace Accords
Dedication of the
Vietnam Women's
and invades
Vietnam Veterans
Memorial
South Vietnam
Memoria
dedicated
APRIL 30
U.S. troops
North Vietnam
withdraw from
conquers South
Vietnam, marking
Vietnam.
the end of U.S.
Vietnam War
involvement
ends
Soston Public LibraryBoston, MA 02116
i
\
/r
DAYS 0F*TH UNDER 10.000
A HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM
WAR
A
•
m
CAPUTO
.
t ^iMT & A '
Byron
Preiss Visual Publications, Inc.,
Rook
ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS -l *
New
York
London Toronto Sydney
--«.* -
tor
.-
Young Re
Simon
imprint of
>N.
58,209
the
'
I
S.
servicemen and
Ihildren's Publishing Division
1
Air Force Archives:
AP/Wide World
Americas
mn.- of the
their lives in
Vietnam
PHOTO CREDITS:
id<
Schuster
-women who gave
New York 10020
52,
62
(left),
107
p.
Photos: pp.
7, 9,
1
1,
34, 37, 39, 42, 44, 46, 47,
63, 68, 69, 71, 73, 79, 81, 89, 91, 93, 97, 98, 100,
101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 110, 111, 112,113, 115, 116,
All other materials copyright E 2005 by Byron Preiss Visual
© Bettmann/CORBIS: pp. 13, 17, 43, 53, 57, 65, 83, © Hulton-Deutsch/CORBIS: PP 12 and 15
Publications, Inc.
John
Text copyright
2005 by Philip Caputo
(
and 119
and 85
.
Kennedy
F.
and 23
Library: pp. 22
Library of Congress: pp. 48, 78
A
Front jacket prime caption:
on
combined U.S. and South Vietnamese
Cong guerrillas
against Viet
Modern
in 1962.
page photo caption: U.S. soldier protects South Vietnamese
Title'
villagers during
mission to round up suspected Viet Cong.
.1
Lyndon Baines Johnson
or in
pan
in
any form.
"Die text of this hook
National Archives: PP
vet in
is
C
ioudy. tit
America
.
16, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36,
40, 41, 45, 49, 51, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 (right), 64, 67, 72, 75, 90..
94, 95,
Southeast Asia:
p.
114
Naval
Institute Archives: pp. 54
Nixon
Presidential Materials Staff, National Archives: pp. 79, 96,
and 109
Edition
Philip Caputo: p. 10
William Robert Hodder:
1098
65 43 21
7
Library of
bngress
*.
(
ataloging-in-Publication Data
uto, Philip. lays ot 1st
thunder
:
.1
history of the
Vietnam War/ Philip
ed.
cm.
;
I
1.
.
Vietnamese Vietnam*
literature
I
C
8
(ISBN-13: 978-0-689-86231-1)
lonflict, nflict,
1961
1961
L'75— Juvenile 1975
Title.
168
literature.
— United States
luvenile
and 108
National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in
Manufactured in the United States First
whole
and 99
Military Records, National Archives: p. 18
76, 77, 80, 82, 86,
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in
Library: pp. 29, 70, 87,
p.
88
and 117
TABLE OT CONTENTS Introduction
6
Communism
iz
Origins of the Vietnam War, Part One:
French Colonialism in Vietnam
18
Origins of the Vietnam War, Part Two:
The Dividing
Agent Orange
of
Vietnam
Origins of the Vietnam War, Part Three:
The Reasons Viet
The
for
American Intervention
Cong
22 Z4
Advisors'
War/MAAG
The Tet Offensive Politics of
The Modern
74
War
78
Hue and My
8Z
Lai
"We Gotta Get Outta This Place"— Music of the Vietnam War
84
The Antiwar Movement
86
The
88
Draft
Prisoners of
War
90
Hamburger
Hill
92
Z8
30
Operation Starlite Cavalry:
70
Siege of
Z6
The Tonkin Gulf Incidents
Khe Sanh
The
The zi
68
Journalists'
Atrocities:
Map
War
The
zo
of Vietnam
66
The Airmobile War
The
Secret War: Laos and
Cambodia
96
3Z
Vietnamization
The
la
Map
of la Drang Campaign, October 1965
Drang Campaign
34
America's Allies in Vietnam
The Ho Chi Minh
Trail
and the
36
DMZ
Thunder Bombing Campaign
The
Rolling
The
Iron Triangle
The
Riverine
3$
40 4Z
War
The Unconventional War: Green
38
44 Berets, Force
The Company Commanders' War
48
Generals of the War: Giap and Westmoreland
5-2
Yankee Station
$4
War
The Corpsmen's War
60 6z
The Tunnel War
64
Nurses'
of U.S. Military Regions of South
The
Easter Offensive
ioz
Vietnam
103
104
The Linebacker Operations
106
The
108
Paris
Peace Talks
The "Pentagon The
Fall of
Papers" and Watergate
110
uz
Saigon
(MIA)
114
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The Wall
116
Vietnam After the War
lis
Glossary
izo
Bibliography
122
$6
War
The
Map
Missing in Action
46
Villagers'
Lam Son
Recon,
SEALs, and Air Commandos
The
Operation
98
Vietnam War Index
Web
Sites
IZ4 12$-
INTRODUCTION he
tions
the only war
or as
c
and
history
lost.
combat troops
ing the Viet
American
directly
engaged
in fight-
North Vietnamese Army,
\>ng and the
making
the
war
twice
long
as
War
the
as
of
easier
men were
I
duration o\ the war as they had been in World
World War
one year (except
is
War
tor
Cong ambushers would hide nearby the mine by remote, when the patrol
marines
who
served for thirteen
jungle.
My platoon (a platoon men) was
a unit consisting of about thirty to forty just
such an ambush one day in 1965. In
my men
seconds, nine of
I
hut served fixed tours of duty of
II
of their favorite tactics was to set an
was a lieutenant in Vietnam.
caught in
not "in for the
11
like
arrived, shoot a brief burst of automatic rifle fire at the
on troops than
previous conflicts had been for their fathers and
au<\
One
same time, and then vanish into the
some ways, the war was
grandfathers. U.S. fighting
ghosts.
appearing and disappearing
night,
and detonate
Independence (1775-1783). In
at
then the Viet
-Idiers served in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975,
S
mostly
land-mine warfare. They were active
in
ambush by placing an electronically controlled mine or booby trap on a trail used by American patrols,
the South Vietnamese
advisors to
.1-
ambushes and
and the most
longest
in
America ever
Whether
;
was the
Ii
of bushcraft and hit-and-run tactics, skilled in staging
has three dubious distinc-
ar
unpopular war
L-
Anm
W
ietnam
\
them
gravely,
were wounded,
of
five
and we never saw the enemy, never
had a chance
to shoot back.
I
served in Vietnam
months). Sophisticated medical techniques and hel-
with two different marine infantry battalions in
icopter evacuations from
1965 and 1966.
reduced
a soldier's
the battlefield greatly
chances of dying from his wounds.
months
kept casualties down.
from 175 to 90
they got into trouble, soldiers
could count on devastating barrages to help
them
air strikes
get out of
war was
In other ways, the
and
artillery
much more
difficult.
Although there were many instances of conventionalsix le
the war was mostly an
fighting,
tional,
enemy
much
conflict
guerilla in
than
While certain others,
enemy [he called,
fought against an elusive
thick jungles, where
farther
there
a
tew
areas of
let
it
yards
Cong,
were not
as
North Vietnamese
as
combat.
My
men
during that period, and today
War
Vietnam
To make
matters even more difficult, the Viet
from
civilians.
A
fighter as not.
the
well as in front of you.
Communist
guerillas
were
It
was often impossible
soldier to tell
who was
he was shot
—and then
The to fight
at
the
Vietnam
is
for
Cong
an American
it
would be too
made
for
wasn't until
late.
tough conditions
a tropical country consisting of
nigged, mountainous jungle; vast marshes;
Anm
paddies that turn into swamps during the
but they were masters
in
be a guerilla
enemy and who
climate and terrain in.
as likely to
well-armed or well-trained as their allies,
—
rice-paddy farmer plowing his field
any direction.
lines;
on
seldom wore uniforms. They were indistinguishable
m
than
Wall"
I
Washington, D.C.
behind a water buffalo was
safer
friends carved
— Memorial "the
difficult to see
were no established front .is
in
was
Vietnam were
could be behind you \
unconven-
wounded in its first four company was whittled down
can find the names of 16 of my close the
it.
of those battalions suffered well
over four hundred dead and
America's overwhelming superiority in firepower also If
One
Opposite: U.S. Marines
wade ashore
at
and
rice
monsoon
Da Nang, South Vietnam, on March
18, 1965.
—
—
.
During
when
rains
the
other
nearly every day for six months.
fall
months
six
— the
season
dry
iperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit are
The extreme the enemy. in
our
one patrol when
recall
1
company were taken
stroke and heat exhaustion.
was an astounding
One
1
dozen marines
out of action due to heat-
The temperature
twentieth century
— World
Wars
Vietnam
ot boys.
Men
ot a
it
who
aren't
even old enough to
or to vote. (In the 1960s, the voting age,
As
eighteen, was twenty-one.)
legally drink
which
now
is
a result thousands of
marred by their experiences,
many
for
is
and therefore
a civil war,
was
it
was a military contest. As you
it
For the
years.
will read in
and the
first
back two
half of the nineteenth cen-
last
half of the twentieth,
it
was a colony
French Empire. The Vietnamese overthrew the
in the
French in 1954
bloody conflict, and were
after a long,
looking forward to becoming a united, independent
when
nation
the politics of the Cold
and foreign powers,
including
War
intervened
United
the
States,
divided the country into North and South Vietnam. In the eyes of the
North Vietnamese and the Viet
their battle against the
Americans was
a con-
were given once they
from outside influences. For that reason they had the
easier by the reception they In contrast to the
ceremonial welcomes that
active or tacit support of the civilian population
them but enough
make
greeted veterans ot previous wars, soldiers returning from
all
Vietnam were
the United States to prevail in the war.
treated with indifference, contempt,
sometimes outright
hostility.
fighting
men
their leaders.
war
activists
because .is
,i
my
tor the
When threw
i
the fact
moral and military
was
home on
a bagful
leave,
blamed
failures of
some
of food scraps in
my
anti-
face
"high and tight" military haircut marked
soldier.
'his ,\,w th.it
of
army
in
Vietnam was,
me why
the United States lost the
Americans have
a
hard time accepting
the most powerful nation on Earth, with
to
for the
United
mitment
States, but
for the
it
nation.
an
It
all-out
The American not another
was a limited war war of
total
-
com-
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.
Their leaders knew that
if
they could hang
enough, the United States would eventually is
on long
tire
what happened. There
is
of the
an old
saying in military circles stating that the guerilla fighter doesn't
have to win to win; he wins by not
losing.
General Vo Nguyen Giap, the North Vietnamese Opposite: U.S. Marine helicopters drop troops into a suspected Viet
i
—not
very difficult for
in effect, fighting
army but almost an entire
struggle. In fact that
People often ask war. T.
I
and
Americans had become
disillusioned with the war that they often
tlu-
me
a
tinuation of the struggle for unity and independence
came home.
'
much
as
Recovering from those hidden wounds wasn't made
am
s.
my
best explained by the nature
resistance against foreign conquerors going
Cong,
life.
defeat
in
the following pages, Vietnam had a history of armed
Vietnam veterans were emotionally and psychologically
was
It
tury
are better able to
and some questionable, but
of the war.
man was
—an army
valid
mind America's
thousand
cope with the m re^es and horrors of combat than teenagers
some
given,
and the
II,
I,
was only nineteen
more mature age
sol-
major wars of
Korean War -the average age of the fighting twenty-six. In
composed mostly of peasants. Many reasons have been
political as
made Vietnam tough on U.S.
other thing
mighty economy and large military resources, could
not prevail against a small, mainly agricultural nation
that day
degrees!
7
1
a
than
casualties
their youth. In the three previous
diers
the
more
heal could inflict
common.
its
Cong
area.
with several other American warriors
In 1990, along
turned novelists and poets,
by the Da
Union.
A
Nang chapter of the Vietnamese Writers poet named Ngan Vinh gave a brief speech
and then read one of
He was
Forest."
Vietnamese cular build
his works, "After the
nine inches
at five feet
Army, and
Brigade,
!u
I
author in Vietnam.
the
mud
1966.
defense minister and overall
commander
Communist forces, gave me an insight egy when met him in Hanoi in 1990.
into this stratI'd
I
tall), I
I.S.
sic
that
I
and stood only
could think
Nine times out
"Yes, they did,"
make any In
of
five feet three inches
only a few instances
Vietnam
forces actually lost a battle in
sense.
mentioned
and aging Giap (he was, by then, in
to the diminutive his late seventies
in chief of the
of ten, they'd
he replied, "but
when
in the clas-
in the
end
it
didn't
of the
trail
other words, the United States had
won
the
The war began battalion landed
rotated
for at
home on
me on March
the port city
July
12,
8,
ot
1965,
in
when my
Da Nang.
1966, but that
the war ended tor me, because wars have
on and on
meal.
was called "Infantry
have few
He it
asked
which
a
is
not
I
was
rain spilling into
in the
had written
in
Monsoon," and
it
I
in the rain.
coincidence to Vinh after the
me
to read the
I
I
poem, but
in
recited at his request.
We
drink together.
got to
that
Da we
was close enough.
with vodka and said we had to
glasses
We
other, that
a
and mine
Though we determined
had never fought each two
didn't
the same valley southwest of
in early 1966.
filled
I
remember more than
talking and discovered that his battalion
had operated
man
this
with me, nor could
lines,
of the
—astonished me because they were
tossed our glasses back,
Vinh embraced me and
battles but lost the war.
—the weight
and images of a poem
mentioned
I
Vinh
difference."
wounded the monsoon of
carrying a
was about carrying wounded comrades
Nang
won.
It
North Vietnamese
of the
mixed with
his shoulders, blood
the
in the First
The words and imagery
on
at
men
forty-two
to safety after a battle in
so like the words Above
with a lean, mus-
tall,
a platoon
poem was about
his
a
for
Vinh had been
commanding
40th
Battalion,
in the
tall
and a shock of thick, black hair graying
leader like me,
1967.
Rain
man,
striking-looking
a
temples. During the war,
comrade
was invited to a dinner
I
said,
"You and me,
and that night, June
are brothers in arms,"
was when the Vietnam
War ended
for
and then Philip,
we
21, 1990,
me.
when
way of going
your mind and your soul long after you've
Utt the battlefield. Opposite: After receiving sniper
io
fire,
U.S. Marines set
fire to
the village of
Cam
Ne.
COMMUNISM QUICK FACTS • Oim
if
the in
»ni<
rh.it
Marx intended
the
industrialized is
Russia
larger) agricultural
.1
backward
ilitkalh,
iii-m.
nations.
it
in
the
nai nation that
--till
ced practice
system not seen in Westeern
.1
£L
a
to unite workers of
Europe since die Middle Ages. Marx never
• The
The leading, and most powerful, democratic nation was the United States. The most powerful Communist nation was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly called the USSR, the Soviet Union, or Russia, after the largest
nation within the Soviet Union.
Democracy, created by the Greeks around 500
ment composed of
B.C.,
a system of govern-
is
individuals elected to office by the voting population.
Union was composed of the
Soviet
-stoma.
Latvia,
it
defeated.
philosophy would take hold.
countries Armenia. Azerbaijan, Belorussia, I
and the
they would he in conflict, both militarily and diplomatically, until one side was
imagined that Russia would be the place his political
They were democracy and Communism, inevitable that extreme nature of their differences made
twentieth century.
in the
ommunism
(
it
opposing political philosophies dominated international relations
wo
Kazakhstan,
Georgia,
Moldavia,
Lithuania,
Kirghizia, a,
Russia a.
Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, an
These elected tors,
officials (in
members of Congress, and the president and
and government
policy.
opportunity to choose,
Uzbekistan.
the United States these include governors, sena-
Communism
Regular elections are held so that the people have an if
new people to lead and govern them. 1848, when the educator turned philosoCommunism, and his disciple, Friedrich
they so desire,
was created in
pher Karl Marx, the father of Engels, published
vice president) create laws
The Communist Manifesto, a forty-page pamphlet that was
on the European workMarx and Engels called on the
a scathing response to the social injustices inflicted
ing class by industrialists. In the Manifesto,
working
class to revolt against their oppressors.
Later
in
1867,
in
his
book Das
Marx expanded on book became the bible
Kapital,
Communist theme in detail, and this Communist leaders around the world. Marx's injustices
poor.
the for
goal was to end the social
and inequities he saw existing between the very rich and the very
Once
the
Communists had
seized control of the
government, they
would transform their nation into a worker's paradise, in which the rich would have their wealth confiscated and redistributed to the working property
class;
private
would be abolished; everyone would receive "cradle-to-grave"
healthcare and social services; and colonialism would end. Also,
Communists
promised that no one would ever be without a job. Communists claimed that
one hundred percent employment was possible under their
rule because the gov-
ernment, not private individuals, controlled the economy. \K,»r: LeOO
bt Milter)
Ir, >isk\. .i-
..ml
Naval
during the earb yean r.
Hi
iponaibt for .1
<
rt
Even though many
lYnple's (.'ommiss.ir \fl.,ir- in
"I the
the
USSR
or
more hours
industrial workers
a day, six to
throughout the world labored twelve
seven days a week for low pay,
Communism was
republic "as
adng and training the
\rnn.
Opposite: Karl Marx, the founder of
Communism.
12 M"
man
1}>
*
I
*
slow to establish
QUICK FACTS •
>.
it
k ogthc
u> eliminate
in
.mJ the country Stalin
•
--ins
be feared
though be had expelled [rotsky
iren
boa
man
hunt him down. Trotsky was
l>.ul
killed
Ramon Mercader
Jaime
del
Rio
Hernandez, was quickly captured. During
Hernandez
his confession)
piotel
|
mountaineer's
raincoat, took -.
such
a
in
it
mv
said, "I
took the
out of
ice
ax]
fist,
and, closing
my my
save [Trotsky] a tremendous blow
1
on the head.
.
.
wa\ that
•In 1^4^
1
.
The man screamed
Though Communist
will
never forget.
leaders of the
.
.
conspiracy
."
American Com-
overthrow the government.
to
this dav,
formed
lived in poverty all of his adult
seeing one
working hours and higher pay standards.
as shorter
parties
in a variety of countries,
life,
Communist takeover
some of the reforms that
died at age sixty-four in 1883 without
of any nation.
Marx's most successful follower was a Russian, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov,
who hegan promoting Because of
this,
death, forcing
split
revolution of Russia in 1893.
aliens seeking entry visas or
s tau-s are routinelv asked during the interpr
Are you or have you ever
memher of the Communist Party?" and "Do vou advocate the overthrow of the been
a
government.'"
A
yet answer could be
used as grounds tor refusal of a visa or nat uraliration.
him
the Russian government's secret police marked
him
into exile
Lenin. In 1903, at a
schism
Communist
for a
London conference of
for
name to the alias, Russian Communist exiles, a
and into changing
his
the group into two parts: Bolshevik (Russian for "majority")
and Menshevik (Russian the
for "minority").
Lenin emerged
Bolshevik Party, and Julius Martov was
made
as the leader of
the leader of the
Mensheviks. After several years of revolutionary activities in Russia, on
Octoher
1917 the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Leon Trotsky, seized
25,
legislative
power and
installed
Communist government. Lenin then
a
United States citizenship into the United
view
who had
Marx,
in
munist Part\ were convicted on charges of
To
bmmunists wanted, such
Mexico Chy on August 21, 1940. His issin,
reason for this was that governments in most of
the industrialized nations were already instituting C
was the
One
itself.
began to ruthlessly establish control over the country. rivals,
such as the Mensheviks and anyone
government, imprisoned or
Communist Communist
International activities
killed.
who
He
held power in the previous
Thousands of people
(Comintern)
was
ordered political
1919 the
died. In
organized
to
coordinate
throughout the world in order to overthrow capitalist
governments. In that year, a
many
Communist
party was formed in the United States,
which
perceived as a threat to democracy. This formation sparked the
first
anti-Communist reaction within the country, forcing the Communist Party to
go underground. In December 1922 the
Lenin died about a year
later,
on January
USSR
21, 1924,
was
officially
formed.
and a power
struggle
between the top Communist leaders began. Joseph Stalin eventually emerged victorious, and Leon Trotsky was forced into exile. Stalin acted swiftly to concentrate
Under
all
his rule
power under him, and within
Communism
and tyrannical than
it
in the Soviet
became
a dictator.
Union became even more
brutal
had ever been. The most famous examples of his tyranny
Opposite: Trotsky enlisted males
Red Army. Here
i-f
a few years
a
—
—
both young and old into the ranks of the group of boys has lined up to await inspection by Trotsky.
*-^ *
uB
'i.
I
series ol purges in the 1930s, in
were the of
the top and senior officers in the
bmmunist
(
army and many
parries in the western
all
rival political leaders.
democracies were never able to control
government. Only a Communist revolution in the early 1930s in China,
am
Mao Tse-tung,
by
led
which Stalin had executed almost
Jie-shi,
gained any headway, ultimately seizing control in 1949.
The States,
weak Nationalist government headed by Jiang
against the
between the Communist Soviet Union and the United
hostility
Great Britain, France, and other democracies was
order to battle a greater, mutual Italy,
and Japan during World
enemy
War
set aside in
1941 in
—the Axis nations of Nazi Germany,
II.
In 1945, following the defeat of the
Axis, the old suspicions resurfaced.
World War
II
had devastated the Soviet Union. Nazi Germany had invaded
the country, killing tens of millions of people destroying countless cities and industries.
and
fearful of the
—
civilians
and
soldiers
—and
Anxious to prevent another such war
atomic bomb, which at that time only the United States
possessed, Stalin installed friendly
Communist governments
in Eastern Europe,
creating a "buffer zone" between Western Europe and the Soviet Union. Stalin's actions alarmed the western nations.
atomic bomb, doing so might lish
it
did not
want
start a third
to use
it
to stop
(NATO),
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
snipped a Soviet-sponsored
949 the
USSR
it
Communist attempt its first
the Soviet
aggression because
a military alliance of
Union formed
War
It
also
to seize control of Greece. In
atomic bomb. Together with
gave aid to Communist North Korea
democratic South Korea in the Korean
NATO,
had the
to protect against Soviet attack.
successfully exploded
Communist China,
Communist
States
world war. In 1949 the United States helped estab-
Western European nations designed
1
Even though the United
when
it
attacked
(1950-1953). In response to
a military alliance
with the Communist
Warsaw Treaty Organization. Although both the United States and the Soviet Union had nuclear capabilities, this threat did not lead either of them to peacefully settle their differences. Instead it caused them to fight on non-nuclear battlefields in regional conflicts, a series of struggles that came to be called the Cold War. The Korean War was one such conflict. The largest of them was to become Eastern European nations in 1955 called the
Afcotw s
i
I'.iul's c I
bun
U.ir
1>
Men
during the bombing of
the Vietnam War.
II.
Opposite: Important political events and parades in the Soviet held in
lo
Moscow's Red Square. Here,
a
crowd
listens to
Union were always Leon Trotsky give a speech.
'
i
ftttftu
.
u<;
*
•
*
.
}
•
.,
...
WAR
ORIGINS OT THE VIETNAM FAKT ONE: FRENCH COLONIALISM
^A W
QUICK FACTS •
unese for
!
is
hundred
the aliases to avoid
and
governments
who
troops
hated
« hat he r epr e sented.
aye
-e\ent\-nine,
of
Vietnam
see
1969,
2,
North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam.
• "Viet Minh"
Nam Doc
"Viet tor
shortened version of
B
Lip Dong Minh" (League
Independence of Vietnam). Origi-
the
nalK
i-
Communist
patriots.
began converting to
It
an all-Communist organization after 1951.
• Doling
Minh
the 1954 Viet
French outpost
siege of the
Dien Bien Phu, U.S.
at
president Dwighl Eisenhower and his top advisors serioushj considered sending troops
and using
nuclear
tactical
bombs
March
«-»4
•
uu
**•
!•
MOi
United States ended on
the
U.S. troops were withdrawn. However, America's
last
involvement in Vietnam began
much earlier, when
colonial rulers in 1950 and did not entirely
government surrendered story of the
to the
end
it first
sent aid to the French
until the
South Vietnamese
North Vietnamese Army on April
Vietnam War
is
become modern Vietnam's foremost
also the story of the
patriot,
Ho Chi
30, 1975.
man who would
Minh. Ho's
first
attempt
to secure Vietnam's in Paris
War
during the drafting of the Treaty of Versailles, which would end World
Ho
I.
independence from France occurred in 1919, when he was
fearlessly,
and
in vain, petitioned the victorious Allies to agree to
an end to French colonialism in Southeast Asia. During
embraced the
political
philosophy called
this
Communism, which
time,
Ho
called for the
end
to all colonialism.
At the beginning
of
World War
II,
in
1940-1942, the Japanese
Army
invaded and conquered the lightly defended Indochina peninsula of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam,
Ho
invasion,
Cambodia, Myanmar, and Malay Peninsula. Shortly
and
his
Communist
followers returned to
guerilla operations to fight the Japanese.
They
Vietnam
created the Viet
after the
to organize
Minh, a nation-
alist
organization
w im
rra^i"'
who
composed of Communist and non-Communist Vietnamese
actively
worked
for
independence. Believing the Allied forces of
America and England fighting the Japanese
in
Indochina would help them
O »C 0ft
EMBU
-
»
r
SSStaU
wa
m
sum ttiTm
«"»..
*
at
uniiom
*s»ic*
»» nssn us>
mm
i
v
mm*
m
a
<**•
ms>
ataei
no* avsmiu
a.c.
ssc to lasses roc
» now un m
>vnannv7
t
1
omuc s>aoi
•>:.:* nr»n MX*- sMti
r *o mmimrt
gaj
when
29, 1973,
patriots
•O
combat
to help
Minh.
the French against the Viet
UMN
for the
first
non-Communist and
included both
it
The war
is
on March 8-9, 1965,
when, under the orders of President Johnson, the
troops landed in South Vietnam.
it
at
before
years
-i\
date for the Vietnam War,
official start
generally considered to have begun
V
The
• Ho Chi Minh did not live to united. He died on September the
WT^^m
no
is
most
tecond
imprisonmenti and assassination
capture, by
tor
Nguyen Ai Quoc (Nguyen
.1-
He ueed
> .
Hi-
aliases.
w
,;i.i-
I*.»triv»i
tlu-
famous aha-
the most
Thanh, who used more than
Lit
.
"He Who
hile there
VIETNAM
IN
ooart»cMiBi
n mat mrjn's »»
i
ruunu
Rg «rnus»es
.*;
exs muim
sear atwarr.r
»ma
n isTSKnta auawri
its
><
r**-.n rk*pc:sen
«•
wi
is
is
achieve their goal, the Viet
Minh
After the Japanese defeat in 1945, Ho, the leader of the Viet Minh, declared Vietnamese independence President Harry
because
it
S Truman
evmarr
aurrsm
stability. In
Army
in
on September
for help.
2,
1945.
Ho
also petitioned
But the American government refused
thought France's colonial rule could better guarantee the region's
to too
aviso tin
provided them with intelligence assistance.
response, the Viet
Minh launched
a guerilla war against the French
Vietnam, culminating with the French Army's defeat on
May
7,
1954,
with the fifty-six-day siege of Dien Bien Phu, a French military outpost in
fr**^ \K.».
\
I.
U -r.nii Ir.Tn
It..
Chi Minh
Inim.in. appealing foi hii iu|
toaependefM
i
tr.
m
1
i->rt
.<\
tO President
Vietnamese
North Vietnam. This region.
It
did not
mean
battle signaled the
that the
war
in
end of French colonial
Vietnam was Opposite:
rule in the
over.
A French Foreign Legionnaire patrol in
ran
the
IS sK" >. i 'awvitewi
Red River Delta region
of Vietnam.
M
WAR
ORIGINS OT THE VIETNAM
TAKT TWO; THE VlVlDlSq OT VIETNAM
^A W
QUICK FACTS •
uth Vietnam tbc
the
at
17th parafldi
middle
Ben Hai River
country This border became
ol the
rone
Demilitarized /one, or
DMZ,
^-nulc-widc
called
the
because the
The North Vietnamese
area.
this
in
government did not observe
i
lie
siege al
orderly transfer of
When
would he
free of
Minh
CbJ
bdochmese war
would be
the war of the ti^er (Vietnamese) and the
could not
fight the
would ambush its
,.la\\s, in.
I
Because
tiger it
hide in the jungle, then attack
would bleed
This philosophy worked against
both France and the United States.
•
In
l l
'S4. following the
French departure
rudgeway
conduct
to
American
military aid
help
South
the
CJeneral
staff,
study
a
would be needed
Vietnamese
period of severe tension between the United States, the Soviet Union, and
Minh had won
and
1
China (Communist China). Though the Viet
the battle at Dien Bien Phu, the United States intervened
and refused to allow Communists to take over Soviet
Union and Communist China, who had
aid to the Viet
Minh, did not want
backing the Viet
Minh
too strongly,
had to accept revised terms of the
to risk a
on
all
of Vietnam. Because the
sent military and
war with the United States by
July 20, 1954,
treaty:
economic
Ho
Communist
and
his followers
Minh would
Viet
govern the northern half of the country (the Democratic Republic of
United States would administer the southern half (the Republic of Vietnam, or South Vietnam). This temporary division was scheduled to end two years
defeat
to
the
million
men.
later, in
1956,
with a general election designed to unite the whole country. Under the terms of the treaty, the United States was allowed to intervene in creating a
government
L nited States would have to commit
500,000
a treaty favorable to France.
Unfortunately the Geneva Conference was held during the Cold War, a
of what
j
between
in order to
Matthew
Communists n Vietnam. Ridgeway reported that the
Minh
Vietnam, or North Vietnam), and a democratic group supported by the
from Vietnam, President Eisenhower asked the artm's chid ot
would mean Vietnam
French rule and influence. Even though the French were
economic concessions that would produce
slash the elephant with
.\entuall\ the elephant
to death.
the
elephant as an equal,
it,
it
Minh.
the
that
against France
(foreigners).
conference was
to the Viet
ready to leave Vietnam, they continued to fight the Viet extract
;i
this restriction.
predicted
elephant
power from the French
the siege, they hoped
Minh won
the Viet
the People's Republic of *}lo
Dien Bien Phu was raging,
held in 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, to draft a treaty for an
7
prohibited ground or artillerv activ-
tre.UN it\
Wr^^M
approximately the
.it
butter
.1
estab*
u\ border between North
li>l
on
Conference
icneva
:
hile
try.
for
Vietnam, so
The United
it
became very
States recognized that
new
active in the politics of the coun-
Communists were
better organized
President Eisenhower decided this was an
than the other political parties and would win the election. Therefore the
impossible option, so instead chose to send
United States delayed the event in order to allow the non-Communist
minimal aid plies,
in the
economk
cal ,id\
form
of
weapons, sup-
aid. .\nA military
and
parties time to
become strong enough
political
to ensure a fair election. Because the
politi-
country did not have a strong democratic tradition,
it
was
difficult to build a
i
strong political party to oppose the Viet
Minh. The United States had
continually postponed the election until finally the Viet the only
way
to unite
The compromise
Vietnam would be
to
realized that
conquer South Vietnam.
that effectively divided
did not satisfy either side.
Minh
Vietnam into two countries
The Geneva Conference ensured
that
only be a matter of rime before fighting would resume in Vietnam.
2 ,4*Y
it
would
5£
FAKT three: The Reason tor
ft
QUICK FACTS Pmh
• Ngo
first
popular rapport. In
A
nated.
power
l
)M
struggle
in
2 \cars,
he was assaui-
between the top
during which 9 gov-
ernments came and went,
in
1967
were held and General
elections
general
Finally
Nguyen Van Thieu was elected president and General Nguyen Cao Ky was elected vice president.
Their government remained
South Vietnam
in control of
until the
end
ot the war.
• Vietnam
a
is
tropical country
that has
two seasons. The rainy season, which roughly from tor
its
would
weeks.
shoes
The
to September,
is
lasts
notable
monsoons, which could be so strong
that thc\ tor
May
,\n^.\
dr\
October
It
halt all
the end of
1^55.
militan leaders in South Vietnam occurred
over the next
combat operations
soldiers weren't careful, their
clothing would literally rot away.
by Stalin in a
its
successful in their oft-
number
of
Communist governments were installed countries. Germany, defeated in World War II, II,
Meanwhile
China had
in Asia,
fallen to
Korean War, a three-year
In the
ruled
West Germany and Communist East Germany.
degrees.
Communism
conflict that
ended
led by
Mao
in 1953,
Tse-tung.
Communist-
North Korea had almost conquered the democratic South Korea. The
United
States, together
with the international peacekeeping organization, the
United Nations, came to the rescue of South Korea. Total defeat of North Korea was made impossible when Communist China rushed to the aid of fellow
Communist
ing in
an uneasy truce
country. in
A seesaw battle went on for several months,
1953
at the
its
end-
border between South and North Korea.
The U.S. concern about the danger of Communist expansion increased in 1959, when Cuba, a Caribbean island-nation less than one hundred miles south of Florida, fell to Communism, led by Fidel Castro. On October 15, 1962, U.S. intelligence learned that the Soviet Union was building nuclear missile launching sites
on the
island.
These areas would
throughout the United States.
furnacelike
more than 100
heat, often reaching
Communists might be
World War
1945, forming democratic
tary stations notable for
is
if
had been divided by the conquering Allied Powers along the Elbe River in
season, which lasts roughly from to April,
looked as
it
presi-
Hi- government was unstable and lacked l
1954
y
Amekican Intervention
Mated goal to take over the world. In the years immediately following
the
democratic South Vietnam
ot
it
Diem became
WAR
ORIGINS OT THE VIETNAM
target cities
Union
Cuban
Missile Crisis, brought the
to the brink of a nuclear war.
mantling of these launch
sites
It
mili-
The American government could
not tolerate such a threat, especially so close to American called the
and
soil.
This incident,
United States and the Soviet
was peacefully concluded with the
dis-
and an agreement between the United States
and the Soviet Union that Cuba would not be supplied with nuclear weapons. Against this frightening backdrop, the United States government believed that
if
the Viet
Minh
took over
all
of Vietnam,
Communism would
infiltrate
the neighboring nations of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia, a belief
based on the "domino theory." ability to
defend
itself
The
U.S. also began to doubt South Vietnam's
against attack from
North Vietnam's strong army and
from Communist guerillas of the National Liberation Front,
known
as the
Viet Cong, located in South Vietnam.
With Cuba Above M^inn
«huh
President John .i
pr.K l.im.ithm
DMICfl \iin
working with
n
1.
ili.n
man
vision
K,
mu
J\
m
the Oval Office
eatabnahed
.i
as a clear
America's participation in
quarantine,
reminder of Communist threat, the stage was set for a war that lasted ten thousand days the Vietnam War.
—
businesses and people from
Opposite:
An
aerial
photograph of a nuclear warhead bunker under construction in Cuba.
22 «:/. 'himkV/ i
srr*i ../ •r' *
NUCLEAR WARHEAD BUNKER
»
*:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION '»\
SAN CRISTOBAL SITE
1
9ft .-»-"
»A
.W
•
.-.:<
.-
vwV *rv I
.--•
JK
i
k
.*%
^. jpk
#
b+*r \*r •
:
.
nukmum uxwu
ir
«•-
1
CQNq
V1£T i^lUCK FACTS •
short
s
tor the letters
• Captured
name "Charlie"
slang
nomenclature
military radio
.
V
and
C — Victor
and Charlie.
Cong who agreed
Viet
Nam
Communist" The
ietnamese the
Minh
"Vk-i
for
work
to
South Vietnamese government and
tor the
At
were called "Kit Carson scouts," after the
American-Indian
o(
fighter
the
in the
•The
methods and Cony.
States
United
named the Detector." The troops
An invention
the "People Sniffer" because
it
supposed
many
tools to find the hiding Viet
One was
"Olt.u Ironic Personnel called
tried
forces
"smell"
io
en
methanj
it
was
ammonia and human urine and
the
ofl b\
(
ADSID), which uas supposed
\erv
HMU II
Communists
The
Viet
Minh
which
organization,
Now
the Vietnamese
Party controlled the north, and a democratic
government was
to achieve Vietnam's
Communist
independence, was dissolved.
being organized in the south with the assistance of the United States.
The Communist
leaders in
North Vietnam disregarded the conditions of
the treaty and instructed an estimated five thousand to ten thousand
and
soldiers to
remain behind and under cover in South Vietnam
to await further instructions.
came
guerilla organization that
These
to be
soldiers
known
as
formed the core of the
the "Viet Cong." Viet
Cong
was what Americans and the South Vietnamese called the members of the
known as the National Front for the South Vietnam, sometimes known by the shorter name of organization officially
Liberation of the National
Liberation Front.
Almost immediately, the Viet Cong began to commit
acts of terrorism,
ranging from the assassination of low-level government and civil officials
to broadcast
seismic readings caused In the vibrations of
naovhag people or vehicles.
treaty, all
contained both Communist and non-Communist patriots united
initially
excrement Another personnel detector was the Air-Delivered Seismic Intruder Device
1954 and in accordance with the
north regrouped in the south.
Communist
Southwest
in
were supposed to move into North Vietnam. Non-Communists
serve on the front lines with U.S. troops
t.unoiis
the conclusion of hostilities between the French and the Viet
Neither were
fill
and their rice its
families, to setting
and other food from
booby
traps, to collecting taxes in
rural villagers, to recruiting
the form of
men and women
into
ranks and conducting hit-and-run raids.
The
Viet
Cong
included people from
walks of
all
peasants to highly educated professionals. Dr.
life,
from
illiterate
Vo Hoang Le was
a Viet
Cong surgeon who performed a number of lifesaving operations in the middle of battles. He recalled one occasion when an American armored on a plantation called Dat Thiet: "We were operating wounded in the stomach when the enemy tanks arrived. We
unit attacked a base
on
a soldier
took off our gowns, put the patient in a
and
ran.
We
made
operation in [the] ized
them
The wounded \ m.iriru
comraei rwnprw lh.
in.irnu
s
h*VC
«.ilk- .i«.i\ 1
"i
|iis|
hunk.
from r-.
.1
Vict
to the next village.
.
.
.
We
halted to continue the
hammock. The instruments were
filthy ... so
we
steril-
We
sewed up the punctures in his intestines and abdomen with nylon threads taken from enemy parachutes.
[using] alcohol.
stitched up his \fv,t,
it
hammock, grabbed our equipment
soldier survived."
Cong
and tunneb
that
i
Opposite:
24 M^.r«r
A Viet Cong soldier
in a tunnel.
THE ADVISORS' WAR/MAAtf
•
l
.&
Vietnam (MAC
\
was created
I
1962.
in
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
was created on October 26, 1955. Less than a week
Command
Vssiatance
Military
of the
he independent nation
QUICK FACTS Its
commander was General Paul D. Harkins. When his tour a* commander
sV Military was formed.
Its
Assistance Advisory
(MAAG,
Group Vietnam
the U.S.
later,
Vietnam)
mission was to provide advisors and other military assistance,
tir^i
ended
in
William
Army could defend itself against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army without the additional aid of U.S. combat forces. The MAAG advisors encountered both highly competent commanders in South Vietnam and those who were political appointees and invariably incompetent. The advisors worked with all of the commanders, doing their part to help fight the spread of Communism. Over the years, the number of
MAAG
into
done
are
Vietnamese)
as pie." In
"e.is\
,iv
the
MACV
they are "like eating dog's brain."
Dogs
are
considered food in Vietnam the same way
United States.
cattle are in the
• Before
1965
the
U.S.
government
encouraged married American advisors to have their famines
Vietnam. Captain
Susan. frith
W
two
live
One such
Bill
wife
his
the South Vietnamese
Westmoreland who oversaw
said to he
and
of
the Republic of Vietnam, or
In English, simple tasks quickly
pigs
ARVN.
Army
1°-M. he was succeeded by General
integration ot
•
including weapons and equipment, to help train and reorganize the
sixteen thousand by the time
with them in South
advisor was U.
Hardcastle,
advisors increased from a few
who had
S.
As
Navy
with him
Viet
If successful,
hundred
in the
combat troops arrived
Cong and North Vietnamese Army
increased, U.S. wives
1950s to approximately in 1965.
incursions
and attacks
and children were ordered to leave South Vietnam
and high school-aged daughter,
because of the increasing danger, and more advisors and military aid were sent
hen Susan went
in.
guards
to school, a
bus
armed with automatic
weapons would pick her up. As she rode school, she looked out bus
windows
Cong
ARVN
Major Norman Schwarzkopf was one such
airborne unit in 1965.
When
his unit
advisor, assigned to
an
was given a search-and-destroy
to
that
were covered with wire mesh screens to keep out Vict
In 1965
grenades.
enemy hiding
mission against the
in the jungle,
Schwarzkopf noted was the kind of food the transported
it.
"Each
man had
live
their beaks taped so they couldn't
one of the many things
ARVN troops took and how they
ducks and chickens tied to his
make
noise,"
he wrote. They
also
belt,
had
with
in their
rucksacks fresh pork and beef, and cans of sardines. Across their chests they strapped a large
brown tube
that contained rice.
At one point during Maj. Schwarzkopf's
tour, a unit of
ARVN
engineers
completed construction of a bridge and invited him to attend the bridgeblessing ceremony. During the ceremony, each attendee was given a large glass partially filled pig,
with Scotch whiskey.
topped off the glasses with
its
The
engineers then slaughtered a
blood, and
made
a toast. Schwarzkopf
gulped his drink down. His South Vietnamese counterparts were both surprised
and pleased by
his following of their
custom.
The
previous
American
advisor had not.
Above: \ twelve* yur>old \ u in.itu
wen
Zo
(AKVN)
loUfa
destroyed during
r
Army
of die
in front of
battle.
Republic of
buildingi thai
Opposite: Soldiers in the South Vietnamese
Army
training in the jungle.
—
—THE QUICK FACTS A
total ni six presidents
were involved with
ol
accept
a
1
• President who had
D. Eisenhower
(1953-
South Vietnam
John E Kennedy (1961-1963),
sharply increased aid to South
Special forces
— the Green Berets
assassinated before he could enact
other policies in the region.
who
Lyndon m,,st
is
B.
Johnson
closeTf
escalate
its
as
hein^ responsible tor the conduct and the .-I
the
Vietnam War.
• President Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974), whose administration began a program of de-escalation that led to the signing of the
in
I\a>.e
P>7
ment
5
in
Accords with North Vietnam
in
After the second assault, President Johnson ordered retaliatory strikes against the port
where the torpedo boats were harbored. At the same time, he
"The North Vietnamese regime
has constantly sought to take over South Vietnam. ...
conducted a campaign of subversion
... in
conquered South Vietnam.
He
Union and Communist China
a
reason to dramatically increase their aid to North Vietnam, thus increasing the risk of starting
On
World War
August
to
Representatives.
including
RES
1964, in a joint resolution of Congress, H.J.
7,
commonly known eighty-eight
III.
as the
two
in
gave President Johnson the power "to take
It
the
1145,
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, passed by a vote of the Senate and unanimously in the House of
use
of
armed
force"
to
help
all
South
— that was
necessary
Vietnam.
left
up to the
discretion of the president or by concurrent resolution of the Congress.
During the debate prior to the passing of the resolution, Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, one of the two dissenting senators and, as was Johnson, a Democrat,
stated, "I believe that within the
tions will look with dismay
which
is
now about
By then
it
to
was too
make such late.
next century, future genera-
and great disappointment upon
Congress
a
a historic mistake."
In 1965, by order of the president,
combat troops were once again marching off to
battle.
American
This time in Vietnam.
Opposite: President
28
territory."
ment of South Vietnam. What he did not do was ask Congress to declare war on North Vietnam. He had many reasons for not doing so, the most important
Furthermore the resolution had no expiration date
mam
has systematically
then requested Congress to authorize an increase in military aid to the govern-
Vietnam.
rth \ u
It
South Vietnamese
steps,
whose administration oversaw the actual end ol the Vietnam War in 1975, when
known
Vietnam.
and the end of America's involve-
•President Urald R. Ford (1974-1977),
N
and thus the war
military presence
(1963-
identified
Maddox
the Tonkin Gulf Incidents, would cause the United States to dramatically
being that he did not want to give the Soviet
•President
Paris
days later the
and another American destroyer, the Turner joy, reported that they were
sent a message to Congress that said, in part,
Vietnam.
Vietnam, authorized the creation of the
fighting
Two
as
justification tor intervening in
1969),
intelligence-
North Vietnam and considered international waters, was
of
and who had cited the domino theory as
WM
on an
Communist Vietnam.
n>tn aiul other militan aid to
hut
a destroyer
under attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. These two events,
>M), whose administration had sent advi-
amy's
USS Maddox,
French colonial rule rather than
• Presidenl Dwighl 1
1964, the
2,
attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats.
• Presidenl Harry S Truman (1945-1953), who had chosen to support the reimposi' tinn
August
gathering mission in the Gulf of Tonkin, which was off the coast
Vietnam War:
the
On
TQNKIH tfULT INCIDENTS
Lyndon
B. Johnson.
_
OPERATION STARLITE
To
QUICK TACTS •
fteo
:
(MACV)
conducted ambushes
using "spider boles." These were beaviry
camouflaged foxholes, which usually held
sod were
soldier
loUiet
virtually invisible.
A
spider hole would usually wait
in a
until a patrol
had juM passed
his position
before throwing off the camouflage cover
and Bring DO the patrol from the
• The ting
m
Cong were notorious
Viet
booby
traps.
One common
camouflaged
pit that
Stakes. Punji stakes
boo
sticks
feces, thus
that
in part, this
contained punji
were sharpened bam-
causing infection in a wound. E.
O'Malley was one of
who earned America's
two marines
on the
for set-
booby trap
usually were coated with
• Corporal Robert military
rear.
decoration, the first
Medal of Honor,
day of battle. His citation read,
encounter, and facing imminent death
from a fanatic and determined enemy, he refused
evacuation
The
organized South Vietnam into four tactical zones.
Corps operated by the marines, followed by II with approxi( orps, III Corps, and IV Corps, all run by the army. In 1965, mately one hundred eighty thousand American combat troops throughout the country, both sides were anxious to test their skills against the enemy. northernmost was
The
Viet
Cong
I
had already established many important bases all the Van Tuong Peninsula that juts into the South
guerillas
On
over South Vietnam.
China Sea, approximately fifteen thousand men of the elite First Viet Cong Regiment were encamped in a large fortified base. That was just twelve miles south of the important marine airstrip at Chu Lai. Then, on August 15,
Cong
a Viet
Cong Regiment The marine commander ordered a
deserter told the marines that the First Viet
was preparing an attack on
Chu
Lai.
strong preemptive strike.
an extraordinary example of coordinated planning, the marines organ-
In
highest
"Although three times wounded in
teadmstlf
Command Vietnam
Military Assistance
administer the war,
and con-
ized
Operation
Starlite
Vietnam by U.S. combat and
air
the
in three days,
The
forces.
first
highly complex, three-prong land, sea,
attack utilized troops, air support, tanks, and naval gunfire.
marines would attack
Chu
Lai from the north.
would attack from three helicopter-landing
—located
tinued to covet his squad's boarding of the
"White," and "Blue"
brik outers."
launch an amphibious assault
On
major military action in
On
land,
From the sky airborne troops code-named "Red," zones
—
From the sea, a marine unit would from the South China Sea in the east. inland.
the morning of August 18, 1965, Operation Starlite was launched.
Marines in amphibious landing
craft
shored on the beaches of the penin-
they encountered fierce resistance from the Viet Cong, but
sula. Initially
the marine attack was so swift and strong that the overwhelmed Viet
soon retreated in panic. Meanwhile, from the inland borne troops were engaged in a brutal
firefight.
side,
Cong
the marine
air-
Marines carried to landing
zone Blue almost landed directly on top of five hundred surprised Viet
Cong
troops.
As
the Viet
Cong regiment attempted
to escape to the north,
they ran headlong into the marine force advancing south from
When
Operation
Regiment was action.
WOWR A
ftMing marine on
sln>rtl\ .iltcr .in
.1
beach
.impluhimis Liiuliny.
Starlite
ended 6 days
effectively destroyed
The marines
lost forty-five
having
later,
Chu
Lai.
the First Viet
officially suffered
614
Cong
killed in
men. The victory would heavily
influ-
ence subsequent American operations. Cong
Opposite: Viet
soldiers captured during
Operation
Starlite.
JO
^m_
ma
BS«
p
«f
*<
Is i
.
.
•
*.
v itffr*
>
MR
MOVERS
T,'
The
QUICK FACTS •
and as
weigh) .iMi
the aircraft In the Huey,
mk
i
.1
.in
fortifica-
"bunkers," lor shelter and
oi layers ol
sandbags. Each sand-
hag weighed an average
• Helicopters were mkstons
rescue
Sikonirf
which
searchrand*
in
downed
pilots.
One
was
the
helicopter
CH-5 IB known
"Super JolK
used
oi
M-arch-and-rescue
popularh
60 pounds.
oi
Si.-. i
b\
Stallion. its
was more
It
two nicknames:
planes.
manv,
Vietnam
w.is
combined
with
sweat,
dung,
smoke
that
the
the
rotting
would
hit
memory
first
"wall" oi
the
first
to
make widespread
use of helicopters.
mechanical "horses" gave these twentieth-century
A
battlefield firepower support that
and
whole military doctrine was created
for this
had
new
\ie of fighting called "airmobile operations."
planes were a part of airmobile operations, helicopters were the
primary aircraft used. Helicopters could rapidly carry troops to isolated areas in clearings too small or
and land
vide close, hovering, treetop-level
intense
pungent
smells
vegetation,
food,
of
stepped out ol an airplane's cabin.
support against
machine guns and cannon. "Medivacs" were designed
Command
battlefield.
equipment and were used by commanders
ships
to quickly transport
had extra communications
flying over a battlefield.
Airmobile operations freed troops from being tied to road networks or waterways that could be cut off by the enemy. Even
if
surrounded and was fighting a superior enemy force,
and
them the moment they
fire
They could also proenemy positions, and
The U.S. forces employed twenty types of helicopters in the Vietnam War. The workhorse of the group was the Bell UH-1H Iroquois, more popularly known as the Huey, which could be easily adapted to the roles needed. As troop transports, known as "slicks," the Huey carried troops and supplies. Gunships, known as "cobras," had extra
of
heat
rugged for airplanes.
quick evacuation of the wounded.
wounded from the
troops arrived in Vietnam in air-
For
the
Green Giant" and "Buff,"
sIihhI for "bin, ujjly, fat fellow."
• Most
si
Though
protec tion from attack. Bunker walls were
cotnpoaed
aerial,
ik\ er been seen before.
lull.
• Base camps and outposts used
known
gallons
War was
cavalry troops mobility
is
lOO'galloa hid
when
weighs 1,200 pounds
tions,
ietnam
the flying ability
is
v
as
well
\
These
airplanes
A1KMOBUE WAR
CAVAIRy.- THE
was not
it
totally iso-
Because of the unique mobility of helicopters, they could swoop in at
lated.
a
an American unit was
moment's notice and provide additional firepower or troop reinforcements.
U.S.
Army General William DuPuy
explained, "lF]rom the
first
shot
[fired]
and every minute thereafter the advantage turned in our favor because the Viet
Cong
we were
or the
NVA
were seldom able to reinforce
.
.
.
But every minute
able to bring in fighters, attack helicopters, artillery,
and additional
troops by helicopter."
Helicopters were the primary air arms of the army and marines, but not of
the air force. Air Force Captain Bruce Wallace witnessed the use of gunships against the enemy.
watch
a gaggle of
the target
them
at
a
is
He
said, "It
Hueys attack
\f*>i ii
.-.
Ill
lii
opten on
.<
mission
always an experience for an
a target
always in front of us.
Not
time maneuvering up and
boggles a fighter pilot's mind.
\
is
In [an air force jet squadron] attack,
so with a Huey.
down and
Those guys swarm a
To watch
laterally
four or eight of
and even backward
target like bees over honey."
m
(nam. Opposite:
?2
air force pilot to
Huey
helicopters in action.
™l
mm
s
*V
.
:*£K*
s C
THE
1965 American military support to South Vietnam was dramatically expanding. American combat troops were entering South Vietnam in
In
QUICK TACTS •Joe Galloway
.1
reporter tor United Press
IiUirn.ili.in.il,
was awarded
Medal
a
with
(rounded soldiers under .it
I.i
Drang.
It
V
Combal was
fire
Bronze Star
(Ik-
rescuing
lor
during the battle
rare honor; lew civil*
.1
make
Id
il
easj to
understand radio
mo-
communication, the military uses the
I
phonetic alphahet, which
is:
Alpha, Bravo,
Charlie, IVIta. Echo, Fox-trot, Ciolt, Hotel, India.
Juliet,
November,
Mike,
Lima,
Kilo,
force.
The North Vietnamese government
realized that
had to
it
move quickly and decisively to win the war while there were still relatively few American troops in South Vietnam. They decided to attack the strategically important region of Central Highlands, South Vietnam.
ians ever receive military decorations.
•
DKAN^ CAMPAIGN
1A
If
the North Vietnamese
Army could
seize control
South Vietnam would be cut into two and thus be easy prey for a quick conquest. Through intelligence sources, Gen. Westmoreland learned of their plan and ordered his airmobile cavalry units to seek out and destroy the o\ this area,
enemy
before
could launch the campaign. Lieutenant Colonel Harold G.
it
Tango,
Moore's battalion was one of the units that participated in the la Drang cam-
Uniform* Victor, \Yhi»kcv, X-Ray, Yankee,
named after a river in the Central Highlands. On the morning of November 14, 1965, he and an advance echelon of his men disembarked from their Hueys at a site in the Central Highlands. Moore and his men barely
1
>^.ir.
Romeo,
Papa, Quebec.
Sierra,
Zulu.
•
Steel
had
helmets
many
protecting B soldier's head.
mets
filled
uses
beyond
Upended
tor cleaning
—
hel-
with hot water would be used as
wash basins
paign,
and shaving, or
for
nmking.
had time to establish a defensive perimeter the landing site
—
became
and sunounded.
isolated
before they
came under
What
a ring of
armed guards
to protect
fierce attack. Lt. Herrick's platoon
they later discovered was that they had
landed in the middle of sixteen hundred North Vietnamese
Army
troops.
Intense fighting continued throughout the day and into the evening.
following morning the
men
enemy had broken through
under Moore's
faced disaster.
a portion of the perimeter. Lieutenant Charles
Hastings, the forward air controller port,
command
The The
whose job was
immediately got on the radio.
He
to coordinate all air sup-
later said, "I
used the code word
'Broken Arrow,' which meant 'American unit in contact and in danger of being overrun,' and close air support.
we
received
We had
aircraft
all
available aircraft in
from these
aircraft,
for
stacked at one-thousand-foot intervals from
seven thousand feet to thirty-five thousand fire
South Vietnam
feet."
Bombs and machine-gun
along with artillery shelling, helped save
Lt.
Col.
Moore and his men. The la Drang campaign would continue until November 26. When it concluded, the American operation had successfully spoiled the I
lighlands.
Even
North Vietnamese Army's attempt to so,
the
seize the
Central
North Vietnamese learned many important
lessons
about fighting Americans, especially that U.S. superiority in the air and ABM
I
1 1
its
.
iJ \. iu r in 1
River valley thai hit
>M
bv
homK
lr,,m
.1
B-52
1
1
1
li.is
.1
p.irl
ill
jim bees
bomNng
mission.
with artillery could be neutralized by close-quarters
—hand-to-hand—
fighting.
4fe^^*
^^
v
'
Lt Herrick s Isolated Platoon
r
£'
Pleiku
IADR^T Ban Me ('Shout
Lt CoL Moore's
Command Post
© B
W WTA
1H ^H I
1
I
I
KEY US COMPANY
NVAUNIT CLEARING FOOTHILLS
©
US FIELD HQ
V
DRY RAVINE
US Troop Position ^PT First Day of la Drang Campaign November 14, 1965
yf
,
AMERICA'S ALLIES IN VIETNAM 1965 to 1972, the United States supplied most of the combat forces in Vietnam and did most of the fighting in the country. But
From
QUICK FACTS •
1
In
first
Australian
Vietnam arrived Australian
1962.
in
in
Arm)
warfare.
jungle
men
expertly
Their mission
South Vietnamese
troops in jungle warfare methods.
• The
first
New
Zealand
administrative unit
1°<>4.
Three yean
inl.mtrN
few
th.it
.in
New
in
Vietnam, a
Zealand
force
alter
New
Zealand's
national bird. B\ the end of the war,
Zealand suffered Hi
• The
men
Australian and
total of forty countries
answered President
The most
significant military
Johnson's call and sent support into Vietnam.
came from Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. Australia became involved because it was concerned that a Communist
New
killed in action.
Neu Zealand
sent troops because of
by the North Korean
The
troops were referred to as
"Kiwi Intantn,,"
A
Zealand, though farther away, sent troops for the same reason. South Korea
first
Nea Zealand Arim Corps (ANZAC).
tin
the Communists.
combat
the
in
was created and called the Australian and
• New Zealand
flags" to tight
Because there were
arrived
It
Zealand troops
combined Australian
u.is
force
world military forces" to forge an alliance
official call for "free
made an of "many
Vietnam would threaten democracies throughout Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, which is very close to the northern coast of Australia. New
Liter
unit arrived.
Nen
America's involvement in the Vietnam War, President Johnson
support
helped the South
government
Vietnamese
s,i
was called the
W
ol
u.is to .insist in training
\nm
It
they did not fight alone. In order to get international support for
South
in
[raining ream Vietnam
and was composed trained
force
troops
traditionalK celebrate the end of a mission
its
recent, bitter experience with
Army
Communist
invasion
during the Korean War.
Australian forces were stationed in
Phuoc Tuy Province
just south-
With their aggressive patrolling, they soon became a major threat to Viet Cong in the area. The top Communist leadership in the province decided to "teach the
east of Saigon.
Australians a lesson," one that would also send a message to local villagers.
That lesson began on August
17, 1966,
and was
ambushed by
Australian patrols suddenly found themselves
with a barbecui
tions of Viet
Cong, who repeatedly struck
Private Harry Esler like a
Long Tan.
large concentra-
outnumbered Australians.
at the
remembered thinking during one attack that
"[i]t
was
just
kangaroo shoot. They were coming in waves. They were blowing bugles
off to the
had a
called the Battle of
left,
set of
in front,
and across
bagpipes here.
I'd
to the right.
I
remember thinking,
'I
wish
1
put the fear of [the Lord] up those blokes!"'
Despite the odds, the Australians refused to give up.
The following with enemy dead.
throughout the day and into the evening. discovered a battlefield littered
The
fighting continued
day, the Australians
The lesson the Viet Cong had attempted to teach the Australians had cost them 245 men. The Australians suffered only seventeen dead and nineteen wounded.
Afx.i.-:
A Him
.'t
Royal Australian
dbesabaridag from an
airplane
.11
W Force Ian
It
was
a humiliating defeat for the Viet
Cong.
ir.M>p>.
Son Nhul
Opposite:
A
South Vietnamese Marine leads
.nrjv.r'
a patrol through a flooded rice paddy field.
Jo
—
— THE
HO CHI MINH TRAIL AND THE DM2: he two most important
QUICK FACTS \
Anm
ictnamese
-
DMZi
the
(N\
\>
launched Operation Die Marker, an attempt to oomtnirt
25*mile«long high'
.i
tnti-mhitration harrier cleared ot
all
and containing barbed wire,
tation
minefields, watchtowers, and Btate-of-the.irt
DMZ.
Inn.ps called l.S.
after
it
Defense Robert
ol
Si.xn.-t.in.
\U Namara. The
"McNamara's Wall,"
harrier
was never finished,
• The North Vietnamese Army made
staff
travel distances tor supplies
from North Vietnam
Some
in the south.
man
traveling
to various base
maich at
over
eas\
mountainous or
the load
\n.is
p. 'iinds
ot
26 pounds
muni-
tions,
and the
t.uu C
MTU
l
a
7.S miles
>
—
while the
Cambodian government
tried to stay politically neutral, the gov-
ernment of Laos was openly sympathetic as
to the
long as the North Vietnamese used the
plies for fighting in
Communist
to transport troops
trail
South Vietnam and not
cause. Therefore,
to attack Laos or
and sup-
Cambodia,
those countries did nothing to stop the illegal use of their territory.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was of enormous strategic advantage for the Communists. The border between North and South Vietnam was only thirty-nine miles long. In comparison the
more than
six
attack South
Ho Chi Minh
hundred miles long. Thanks to the
Vietnam from anywhere along
its
the
trail,
Trail in
1963 was
Communists could
western border.
MACV recog-
or
J.i\. .it
hilly terrain,
ot rice,
or 27 to 33
nized this and did everything
the
trail
and cut
off supplies.
it
could, both officially
Though
it
and
had occasional
covertly, to destroy
successes, they
only temporary. By 1971 the network would grow to contain approximately
two thousand seven hundred roads and
trails.
The
night. i
feature,
Demilitarized Zone,
the other important
was created
1954 Geneva Peace
at
the
Conference between the French and the Viet Minh.
art
It
was an approximately five-mile-wide neutral
pounds
of
A bone
COUld
trans-
"buffer" zone along the 17th parallel in about the
middle of Vietnam that was supposed to be a temporary border between North and South Vietnam.
2.4 miles
|x-r da\.
As
part of the terms of the peace treaty, signed in 1956,
47^ pounds 1
were
transport
la\.
art
44
rest areas
dis-
Supplies 7.5 miles
v
or 33 to
and
miles
buffalo
COUld
770
rice,
could
5.5 miles during a day, or 12.4 miles
night. In
A
terrain
of
arms and munitions, approxi-
,it
1
during
camps
of the figures were: a
transport St pounds oi
pounds
logistics
elaborate calculations of load
and
capacities
S.
Vietnam
and was the main supply route from North Vietnam into South Vietnam for Communist troops. The trail was primarily a clear violation of those in the neutral countries of Laos and Cambodia countries' neutrality. Neither Laos nor Cambodia wanted to join the war. But roads, depots,
electronic device*! including sensors that
Jnwtffd movemenl and sound along the
features in the
War were rhe Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Demilitarized Zone theDMZ. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the name for an elaborate system
United
the
man-made land
military troops or activity
were forbidden in the
DMZ.
But that neutrality was violated repeatedly by North
Vietnam throughout the Vietnam War. As a result, the South Vietnamese side of the boundary became a heavily defended region. Opposite:
A marine
crouches in a pagoda
entrance in a village near the
JS
i
DMZ.
ML
\
i
X y *
*+
3 s+x
% V*
•
•
—
—
THE KOtltSq THUNVZR BOStBINq CAMPAIGN
QUICK FACTS •
nunenr/s General Account*
:
GAO)
American
the cost
and compared
i
d
age of $9j60 to
ohed
McCain,
bomber
a
who Ben would rest
ot the
Thunder
damage.
John
many
pilots
mission.
He
down and spend the Vietnam War as a prisoner of
the
shot
war. After he was treed he entered politics,
becoming
eventual h
Arizona and
• During
a U.S. senator
a presidential
the
was not the
case. Despite
an increase
and combat troops, North Vietnam was consistently able to
men and supplies south. One man who claimed he had an answer
send
that
would solve President
Johnson's problem was Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay.
LeMay had
repeatedly told President Johnson that
if
his squadrons
were
aver-
pilot 011 tin- aircraft car-
Rolling
later he
ot
ot
.>n
Commander
Oriskany was one a
States spenl
this
air«
calculated that in
$1.00 worth
inflict
Lieutenanl
\.i\\
rier
I
and independent nation. But
in military aid at
an estimate ai the value
GAO
destroyed [he
rate
hiding
-
the
the bombs, and no on
to
it
*>7 alone, the
•
apes
It
\orth Vietnamese property damaged
of tlu
i
Thunder cost
maintenance
salaries,
hn«
did a study to tee
Rolling
itioo
or
Johnson believed that once the North Vietnamese saw the buildup of American military power in South Vietnam, they would agree to end the war and let South Vietnam remain a sepa-
President
from
candidate.
allowed to conduct an all-out bombing campaign against North Vietnam,
he could bomb the country "back to the Stone Age." President Johnson refused to go all-out because he wanted to keep
civil-
minimum. But he did like the idea of using air power to try to compel the North Vietnamese to ask for peace. On March 2, 1965, the first mission under Operation Rolling Thunder was launched against an ammunition depot just north of the Demilitarized Zone in North Vietnam. ian casualties to a
Unlike bombing campaigns in other wars in which the military leaders chose the targets and scheduled the attacks, President Johnson and his advi-
Vietnam War, U.S. Air Force
homhers and tighter-bombers dropped an
sors strictly controlled
what would be bombed and when and how
Operation Rolling Thunder would continue off and on
often.
for the
next
estimated 0.2 million tons ot bombs. This
amount,
uhich
docs
not
include
hombs
dropped hv U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and South Vietnamese times
(he
dropped
in
2.2
aircraft)
million
World War
was almost 3
tuns
ot
bombs
three years, striking bridges
and transportation
ammunition dumps, and petroleum 1.3 billion
pounds
centers. In
routes, industrial centers, all,
about 643,000 tons
—of bombs were dropped. Despite
and the vast destruction
it
caused, Operation Rolling
this
massive number,
Thunder was
a failure.
II.
After every air raid, the North Vietnamese were able to quickly repair the
damage, so delays of transporting was
a big boost in
Vietnamese
men and
supplies were minor.
The
North Vietnamese morale. Ton That Tung,
a
result
North
"The Americans thought that the more bombs they dropped, the quicker we would fall to our knees and surrender. But the hombs heightened rather than dampened our spirit." In faet
civilian, said,
U.S. intelligence gathering discovered that the North Vietnamese
were able to adapt so well to the attacks that the flow of supplies actually increcued.
Above Ur Force during
40
.1
mission.
F- 105 Ihmidenhiefi refueling
Opposite:
An
air force
bombing mission over North Vietnam.
**
o
THE IKON TRIANGLE he
QUICK FACTS •
Operation Cedar
American dries. Cedar
after
Other*
vs.i.
l'.i-.>
Mm •
l
•
and
ll
II).
Cedar
Operation
Irving,
law
falls
as the
"Rome
Plow."
with
huilt
the
first
known
Nicknamed "hogjaws,"
spccialh
a
curved blade that
could splinter tree trunks
Thc\ were named
>
after
teet in
IV "the Iron Triangle," located
region, the Viet
diame-
Rome, Georgia,
ri^ht-handed people. soldier fired
it,
was designed
When
for
it.
would
the hot brass shells ejected
Sometimes one of these hot
flv
down
populated
a sanctuary
1967,
From the Iron
American
forces
under the
William DuPuy launched Operation Cedar Viet Cong's grip
on the
region.
More than
"hammer and
regions.
an attempt to break the
thousand American and
thirty it
Cong
Triangle, the Viet
command of Major General
Falls in
South Vietnamese troops participated, making time. Using a
complete with an elaborate
the largest campaign at the
anvil" approach, airmobile units, acting as the
"hammer," dropped onto the northern edge of the Iron Triangle and advanced
At
the same time, combined
American and South Vietnamese
forces
established themselves along the southern border of the Iron Triangle.
Any
a left-handed
cross the face and bodv, instead of away from
twenty miles north of the South
on Saigon and other nearby populated
terrorist raids
On January 8,
south. assault rifle
Cong developed
tunnel system that stretched for miles.
where the\ were manufactured.
•The M-16
just
capital city of Saigon. In a heavily forested, sparsely
Vietnamese
would stage
were oO-ton earthnun ing tractors
iIhm.
had many base camps scattered throughout the rural South Vietnam. One of the most notorious was called tong
a cit\
Operation
gigantic eartfamover
major
usi at
ter.
is
Operation El
included
Operation
Falls
>pcration Junetion City
.\\\d t
'ii.
as
wore usually named
Falli
v
areas ol
luch
missioni
I'destroy
\ km
a soldier's collar.
shells
enemy
troops attempting to escape south would thus run into this "anvil."
Included in the operation was a forced resettlement plan to relocate villagers that
American troops found. The purpose was
and supplies that
what they could
heading to their to be
A Cong
deny the Viet Cong assistance
villages in the region habitually provided. Villagers
carry,
were told
and most of their property. They were allowed
to leave their ancestral land
take
to
and the roads were
filled
with families and livestock
new homes. Army General Bernard Rogers
later recalled, "It
expected that uprooting these villagers would evoke resentment, and third goal of the operation
tunnel system in the area.
to
it
was
did."
was the location and destruction of the Viet
On January
18,
American
troops achieved that
missions goal, discovering a tunnel complex that contained thousands of important documents.
The
The complex was so
large
intelligence material gathered
it
took four days to explore
amounted
to
more than
it fully.
five
hundred
thousand pages of documents. Lieutenant General Jonathan Seaman called the discovery "the biggest intelligence breakthrough of the war." A/**.-. \
hi
American
Conn
wldleii attacking
sniper*.
When
Operation Cedar
claimed that recover."
it
left,
concluded on January 26, Maj. Gen. DuPuy
was "a blow from which the
Though
Americans
Falls
the Viet
Cong
VC
in this area
may never
suffered a major setback, not long after the
they returned and soon were back in control of the area. Bamboo huts go up in flames during an effort by U.S. Army infantrymen to completely level the Viet Cong stronghold of Ben Sue during Operation Cedar Falls.
Opposite:
42
r*
.**#
an
—rr
»
WAR
TH£ XUV£RIN£
outh Vietnam has more than three thousand miles of navigable rivers, canals, and waterways, as well as twelve hundred miles of coastline.
QU1C K FACTS •
making h the world's
miles, r
i
\
«.
Unlike
r.
major
other
where
lihet,
in
Clui— the 'Water
Me Nam
called
whetC
bnu
it
with Laos,
its
is
name
is
river it
known
Roughh
Me Nam
as
• During nighttime
for control
called Lan-
Most
Mae Nam Khong. In is known as the where
it
most
is
Mekong Khong, Mae the
patrols,
starlight
-
54
1
med
[mages to glow a
are in the
freely travel
all
River.
the inland navigable channels were in the vast
ot
South Vietnamese and was also one of the the world.
The
Viet
Cong had been
the French in the nineteen
snipes
Delta.
seen
Though every American
Cong
Riverine
— special
through
the
weird green color.
the
controlled most of the
Two
—the
and
rivers
of the most dangerous Viet
Rung Sat
First
war with in
Mekong it
important campaigns in the focused on
Communist
on the northern coast of South Vietnam, and Operation
Warden, which focused on the
One
largest rice-growing regions in
War were Operation Market Time, which
traffic
most of the
to
service participated in the Riverine War,
was primarily fought by the U.S. Navy.
boat
Delta.
By the time the Americans arrived
fifties.
force in the mid-sixties, the Viet
home
Mekong
infiltrating the area since the
Nam
the
States.
of the coastline and inland waterways was called the Riverine War.
mean
men on
United
through South Vietnam. The battle
This twenty-six-thousand-square-mile region was
goggles that amplified existing light times,
and people could
then
"Mother River" or "Mother Water."
$0,000
way highways
River." In Laos
Khong, Mekongk, and Mekong
night
the same
enters the southern part
tamou-K
boats would usi
much
Control of the rivers and coastline was vital in order to make sure food, supplies,
Khong. In Thailand,
Vietnam,
South
it
It
were used
Dza<
part of the eastern border
Cambodia the Mekongk. Then >>t
has
it
called
of the Rocks."
— "Turhulcnt Is'ang Chiang in
largest
riverti
It's
Bows through China where
it
lth
I
The Mekong River
than one name. begins
Because South Vietnam's road system was so primitive, these water
stretches tor 2,600
Mekong River
Game
canals.
Cong strongholds
in the
Mekong
Delta was
"Forest of Assassins." In October 1966, Boatswain's
Mate
Class James E. Williams was leading a two-boat canal patrol into the
Rung
Sat as part of a mission of Operation
encountered two sampans troops.
machine guns
when
the sampans attempted to escape.
—
men and armed
carrying a total of eight
—rounded
During their patrol they
—wide, flat-bottomed boats—carrying Communist
Williams ordered pursuit
Williams's two boats
Game Warden.
a
bend
in the canal, they
When
only with
were shocked to discover a
convoy of sampans and junks carrying about one thousand armed North Vietnamese troops! Williams hesitated only a second before ordering an attack.
Charging forward ewer the in
enemy
ships, all of their
Huey gunships
for support.
machine guns
When
sixty-five vessels.
and two AJxh
,-.
s, ,\nli
Vietnamese in Hips usiny sumparu
tmmpOfl during
,i
p.iirnl.
for
men were
The Americans
slightly
blazing.
received minor
wounded. For
it
was
more than one thousand men
damage
to their boats,
his extraordinary action, Williams
was awarded the Medal of Honor. Opposite:
A
U.S.
during a pass
44
Williams then called
the three-hour battle was over,
estimated that the North Vietnamese had lost
and
slalomed through and
at full throttle, Williams's tiny force
Navy
down one
river patrol-boat
crewman
of South Vietnam's rivers.
,-
Ik
-r.
THE UNCONVENTIONAL WAR: ^K££N B£R£TS, FOKCE KECON, SEALS, AND AIR COMMANDOS QUICK FACTS •
I
Marine
hi
marine unita
to
judge their effectiveness.
part of the stuck
"V percenl
of
95 percent
• tit
oi it-
engagements.
I..
marine.
On
April
1975, he
1,
set
bchind-the-head,
straight-legged,
lotkhing-oppositc-kncc
sit-up.s.
handselhow15
After
hour- and J2 minutes, he had completed a 15,000
total ot
small teams deep behind
MM
used
also
hunker,
nickname
the
or
Vietnamese peasant
huilding
for
was
that
the
tent,
their
own
personal quarters.
• The are
as "elite" units
number and
are few in
is
hecause they
highly trained.
On
the average less than 5 percent of the appli-
cants
qualify
)
the
for
training program. ot onl\
it"
was performed by
of the military.
Of
special-operations
that group, an average
out of 10 successfully complete
air strikes, artillery barrages,
The army had
elite special-operations units
the Special Forces
Berets after their distinctive headgear.
had the SEALs
—
for Sea, Air,
—and
Land
the
from each branch
—popularly
The marines had air force
least
called the
Green
The navy Air Commandos.
Force Recon.
had the
All special-operations volunteers go through rigorous training that
capped by an extraordinarily grueling seven-day
and stamina known
strength,
we had ton.
to carry our
One
First
rafts
charac-
"Everywhere we went that week that [seemed to] weigh at least a
we were running down the road
.
.
.
.
.
.
jump up
He'd stand up
into
one of
in the boat
in the chariot, yelling at us to hurry up."
Lieutenant
Wayne
E. Rollings led a
Vietnam. These teams averaged four to
six
number of Force Recon teams men.
One
mission demonstrated the high level of infiltration
Recon members. Leading
men
is
Week." Recalling one part of the
said,
eleven-man rubber
test of intelligence,
of [our instructor's] favorite tricks was to
Ben-Hur
like
as "Hell
Navy SEAL Robert Gormly
training,
the boats as
reason the special-operations units
known
were necessary in order to gather
This unconventional war of "carrying the battle to the enemy where he
who
"hooch" hy U.S. troops,
called a
operating in
and ambushes; and head other counterinsurgency missions.
sit-ups.
ot a rural
lines
conduct observation for accurate
intelligence;
ter,
• The house
enemy
the record
continuous-motion,
nonstop,
military leaders
men
achieve victory in Vietnam. Specially trained
expected
Rollings was an extraordinarily
\\.i\iu
tor
But Force
tables In initiating contact
Recon turned the
m
initiated con-
time.
the
American
with regu-
that,
enemy
unit-, the
lar infantry
tact
noted
the very beginning of the war,
recognized that conventional military tactics alone would not
be tween Force Recon and regular
>tu.l\
One
orpi conducted a compara*
<-
From
a
in
intelligence-gathering
skills
possessed by Force
team code-named "Grim Reaper," Rollings and
entered enemy-held territory at night and quietly infiltrated an
his
enemy
the training.
outpost. For the next several hours they
ing
364 North Vietnamese
of the
enemy
safe location strike that
The
fortifications.
Army
conducted a thorough search, count-
troops in the outpost, as well as the location
After their search, the
Grim Reapers withdrew
without the enemy discovering them. Rollings then radioed an
intelligence-gathering value of these special-operations teams was
gence came from small four- or
Alv.t,-.-
\
nop
precision
six-
man
patrols. ...
As
a result
reliable intelli-
we knew with
where the enemy was located, what he was doing, and
just as
important, what he was not." r
.ipi'lu
-
mil prior In going
>
unoutlage
"ti p.itrol.
Opposite: his
JO
air
destroyed the complex.
acknowledged by Marine General Raymond Davis. "Our most
some
to a
A U.S.
Special Forces officer shouts instructions to
command composed
of native Montagnard tribesmen.
— HE
a:
COMPANY COMMANDERS' WAR he Vietnam
QUICK FACTS • [here military
two typei
are
services—those r
inilit.in.
their
commissions
ating,
thereafter
those
who
are
ol
attend
the uni«
after successfully gradu-
as "officers,"
promoted from the
ranks. Officers
in
academies and receive
known
and
enlisted
who were promoted trom known as "mus-
unit act
untamed horse
ot the
i<
>iis
many
of furty people or fewer.
Casualty rates were high
among
manded the platoons and companies
—almost
the most senior
commanders
had once
combat.
Once
and marines
Vietnam Wax were known hi- aras inspired
I
as
tlu\
as
in
the
but
Vietnam, incoming
in
—being "green"—
in the art of
obligated to return. But
volunteer.
Some
if
they wanted to return, they were allowed to
officers served three tours (three years) in
Vietnam. Sergeants,
the backbone of most armies, worked closely with the enlisted
men and
"grunts."
hv the sound they
made
shouldered their heavy rucksacks
onto their bac
all
they successfully completed their tour in Vietnam, officers were
no longer
Sensitive DO their need-.
soldiers
four times that of officers with
one year
to serve only
liked these officers because the\
• American
who com-
the rank of major and above. Because of a rotation system that caused
junior officers were generally inexperienced
been "one of them" and were thus more
The North Vietnamese Army
the lieutenants and captains
generally
Enlisted
"company com-
of the battles fought were small-
men
American West
as the
sometimes referred to
and the Viet Cong preferred to stage hit-and-run raids and would only engage in open battles if they were trapped or had an overwhelming force.
the enlisted ranks were tangs," after the wild,
is
manders' war" because so
officers
who
War
ks.
assisted in the training of
new
lieutenants
and captains. Most sergeants would
do what they could to pass on their experiences to their junior in age as well as experience. this
comment
to his
Army
company commander:
officers
way
it's
similarity ally a
often
Sergeant Al Fallow made
"There's the
the
who were
way
it's
taught,
and
done, and in combat, any
between the two
is
usu-
matter of pure coincidence."
The most
difficult period for a
junior officer in his
new combat
command was the first few weeks. He had to quickly learn everything he could about the men in his command who was reliable, who was lazy, who was the best scout, and so on. And he had to learn
—
immediately
—
all
the combat sur-
vival skills unique to the
Vietnam
War, particularly regarding the Viet
Opposite: After a battle, soldiers await the arrival
of helicopters that will return \K.«,\
4 i* ma
Wounded ervkemea
arriving from
Vietnam
al
tndrewi Air Force Base.
their feet
is
them
to base.
At
the body of a fallen comrade.
y
t
«*.
»
-
/v
-—.'.">
*
>
he did not, he could quickly become a casualty himself. sually by the time an officer gained sufficient experience, he was nearing and would the end of his tour- -referred to as being a "short" or "short-timer" traps, [f
ng booty
^UUCK FACTS
I
•
l'.itroK
into
"humpin'
the
areas
rur.il
were known
indocks," the slang word for
pool regions, .mJ was popularized b\
rur.il.
song
hit
the
"Down
Boondocks"
tlu-
in
recorded In BilK Joe Royal in 1965.
were
humidit\
so
underwear caused the nun rot
— skin
the
The
heat and
that
wearing
intense to
develop jungle
rashes that could gel so severe
men would have
to he hospitalized.
• When
troops were stationed in the large
in
Vietnam, they were served the
bates
same food thev would have received
if
wire
States.
stationed
Became i
of
ream was
tropical
hot,
a hi>; favorite
When
the\
remain
in
extended
the
were on the
stay,
a
anion" the troops.
mission and had to
would take with them
C
prepared meals,
ill\
some-
rations,
• According
C
each
to the official specifications,
package
rations
canned meat item; om: canned or
dessert
"one
included fruit,
bread,
accessory packet containing such items as
and
Sugar,
and
spaghetti
and
fruit
Crackers, peanut butter,
and white bread, cold
if
I
StOVCS
v.
necessary.
turkey
loaf,
ham and
lima
CggS,
meatballs,
chicken
beans,
food items were
Typical
salt.
ham
vak.
paper, coffee, cream,
toilet
cocktail,
pilot,
was asked by his a mission of
Vinh-Son Orphanage and School, a local orphanage containing more than twelve hundred children and was run by a group of Catholic nuns. In a letter Mclnnes wrote home to his mother, he said, in part: "[The kids] just went wild when they saw us. And no wonder for the mercy
to the
—
past five months, Capt. Ferguson
.
.
.
has been practically their only link with
of clothing, toys, and personal
life
him, in their
own
and
ing soon,
I
these children privileged
way of
—
life
American
way, as a sort of godfather.
will sort of
.
.
.
friendship.
and the assistance that comes
they're nonprivileged,
Capt. Ferguson will be leav-
in.
.
.
.
These kids
to help
them
law here requiring children to
There's no we let them run. attend school. They go because they are hun-
to walk before
.
that,
and we must help them get that education.
that might be useful to [the orphanage] care of myself prised
if
aren't under-
and they're running. Running toward a
knowledge and because their stomachs are hungry.
change
for
where they can better themselves on their own. But they're so
we have
gry for
They've adopted
assume the privilege of being the go-between
the next piece of mail you get from
.
Vietnam
.
An .
.
is
.
.
.
.
education can
Send anything
And
don't be sur-
a thank-you note
from some very, very grateful Vietnamese youngster."
peaches,
pound cake, jam,
rations could be eaten
Whenever
possible,
would heal them on small one-man tliai
used beating tablets tor
fuel.
Opposite:
fO
Sometimes
first.
command. Chief
their
Also included was an
item."
chewing gum,
men
him out on
platoon leader, Captain Roy Ferguson, to help
young,
times referred to as "charlie rats."
beyond the men under
Warrant Officer Bruce Mclnnes, an army helicopter
they
climate, ice
volunteered to do additional
officers
best officers always put the concerns of their
overnight or for an
field
thc\
The
Some
Vietnam, but most did not.
tours in
the
United
the
in
soon be reassigned elsewhere.
that concern extended
• Infantrymen could not wear underwear while on patrol in Vietnam.
—
was
"Boonies"
boonies."
as
A soldier who
has counted off his days remaining in Vietnam.
^**&EK
i
f
fe^/\a
WM
{
m^(3£N£RAI$ OF TH£ WAR: qiAF AND WESTMORELAND QUICK FACTS •
.:
I.
og »«nk>r mili-
.
nders in Vietnam, the war « \\.
-
War"
i
Vietnam War were
Gen. William C. Westmoreland of the U.S. Army, and Gen. Vo Nguyen C hap of North Vietnam. In the history of warfare it would
JPL-
be difficult to find two opponents
because
in the
two most famous military leaders
Ik-
they had in
common
who were
so different.
The
only things
were that they both were well educated and were pas-
itmoreland'a important role In develop* rati
s
to
n
-
1,u
^ lv
-
'
,roni
196$
calm one moment and
ic\
erupt into a violent tirade the next. This
extreme contract
behavior caused his
in
the
nickname
\ue Lua"— the "\ol,ano Under
the Snow."
(.onumporarics to '
•
lronicalh
}ji\c
World
War
formal
military
the Americans. Dur-
II,
guerilla warfare in
him
only
(.Map's
mining came from ing
he
was
trained
an American camp
in in
Ch •
Time
Man
named Westmoreland Year" for 1%5.
mazarine the
ol
committed
to the service of their countries.
Westmoreland had ancestors who fought
mid-19
• Giap could be
sionately
the
American
Civil War.
A
in the
American Revolution and
graduate of the U.S. Military
Point and a decorated veteran of both
World War
Westmoreland assumed command of the ground
II
Academy
at
West
and the Korean War,
forces in
Vietnam with the
man who had successfully waged war. He regarded his post at MACV, which he took command of in 1964 at the age of sixty, as the high point of his military career. He was determined to quickly win the war. Giap was a high school history teacher who was self-taught in the art of war. As a teacher Giap gained a reputation as a lecturer of military history. He was appointed the commanding general of the Viet Minh troops in 1945 at the age
confidence of a
of thirty-four and
became
their foremost military
commander during
the war
with the French in the early 1950s. His crowning achievement was his decisive victory over the French at
mander
in chief of the
of defense in the
Dien Bien Phu
in 1954-
North Vietnamese Army and in 1937. In
outlawed the Communist Party in France and either flee to other countries or go into hiding.
Rut his wife, baby daughter, and his wife's
later
its
became minister
1939 the French government colonies, forcing
Giap went into
sister
Vietnam and thrown into
was guillotined, and his wife was
commitment
When American combat
members
to
exile in China.
were captured by the French
prison. There, Giap's sister-in-law
beaten to death by the guards. Giap's
daughter also died in prison, the cause of which reaffirmed Giap's
later
North Vietnamese government.
Giap joined the Communist Party
security forces in
Giap was made the com-
to fight for
is
unknown. Their deaths
an independent Vietnam.
troops arrived in 1965,
Giap used the same
he had perfected against the French. Unfortunately for
him
tactics
the Americans
wore more powerful, and Giap's efforts never achieved the same military success Above Vo Nguyen Giap, •li
\
I.
on the
battlefield.
defense minister ot
tnaro and in top general.
Opposite: Gen. Westmoreland.
f2
kt
t*
i
yANK££ STATION During
QUICK FACTS •O
most
the
Vietnam War
in the
rs
versatile
ocean-based operations against North Vietnam. Aircraft carriers
fighter*
of
u.is the F-4
jet. It
it
served aN a fighter,
hter bomber! a reconnaissance plane,
and
other roles.
90 miles I
from
fleet, I
second location, about
and
variety of sites, including road
power
plants,
rail
• The nickname lor the Seventh Fleet uhen it uas Yankee Station was the .it
cruisers, or destroyers, the
attack.
networks, depots and munitions
Seventh Fleet was
Navy
But carrier operations are
pilot Lieutenant
still
off,
when
it
He
was
happened.
of the ship. ... In the
of
my
spilled
plane, tearing
relatively safe
from enemy
dangerous, especially during wartime.
Commander John McCain was
the worst carrier accidents in the Forrestal in 1967.
"Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club."
missions targeted a wide
air
and troop centers.
South Vietnam.
was called "Dixie Station."
Navy
Tonkin Gulf.
Because North Vietnam did not have any submarines, battleships,
named Task Force
off the coast oi
his location
in the international waters of the
This location was called "Yankee Station."
lactones,
• A second U.S. 77, operated
Vietnam
served on navy aircraft car-
the air torn-,
riers. In
the Seventh Fleet launched attacks about eighty-six miles
the coast of North
o(i
Phantom
the war, the U.S. Seventh Fleet was responsible for
Vietnam War.
It
involved in one of
USS
happened on the
sitting in the cockpit of his plane, waiting to take
He
later wrote, "I
was third in line on the port side
next instant, a Zuni missile struck the belly fuel tank it
open, igniting two hundred gallons of fuel that
onto the deck and knocking two of
my bombs
to the deck.
.
.
.
Stray
voltage from an electrical charge used to start the engine of a nearby F-4
Phantom,
had somehow
also waiting to take off,
fired the six-foot
Zuni
from beneath the plane's wing."
Chaos erupted on the spread
men
among
flight
deck
as the fire
the heavily armed planes.
eighteen
and
nineteen
exploding bombs and missiles. over, the Forrestal
had
lost
134
of
age
fire
and
years
fought to save the ship from the
Young
When
it
was
men and more
than 20 planes. Damage to the ship was so severe
Arv.i.-.
1.
r.
u m,
mbcn
fighting
fim
.'ii
board
I
SS lorresUil on July 2°, 1967.
it
had
to leave
Yankee Station
Opposite:
The USS
Tonkin Gulf
at
for repairs.
Enterprise in the
Yankee Station.
f-f
tfl
/
"*
5
"^V »>
N -
""****'""•
*>x
WAR
THE VILLAGERS' QUICK FACTS • B
u
villages
al
night,
was an ongoing goal
often entered
^.i\c
villagers
mv.kn.mu-
rinistex
Con% most
\ let
them the
be
known, the lowesl accepted
I
he
I
s
umbrella
villagers
named
support
lervicc
and rural-health
nurses, and agricultural advisors. At (
(
IRDS had
staff of almost
• One method
mpp
us dominated in
COntrofled areas.
h\
new
the Viet
villages in
its
to physically
removing them from
Though
removing people, villagers'
6.500 people.
Cong was
rr tnratr entire villages,
them
peak
of eliminating the villagers'
otl ot the Viet
placing
its
it
Cong and
government-
was successful
in
support far the government was
mi\eJ because
mam
were fenced
with harhed wire and had
fUaidpostS, prison
in
making
the
them
campa rather than neu
new
villages
resemhle villages.
side
them from
threats
would support. Support
for the
had the power side they
Communists took many forms ranging from North Vietnamese Army,
to
to protect
enlisting in the Viet
acting as covert agents,
to
Cong
or
supplying rice
and other food, to simply signaling the presence of American or South
Vietnamese troops. Le
Ly, a fifteen-year-old village girl,
She had a simple
was typical of Viet Cong sympathizers.
large
yet efficient system of signaling
She always wore three day if nothing happened
near. all
"The top
shirts.
if
any enemy troops were
—the one
shirt
I
would wear
—was brown. Any Viet Cong seeing
know
things were clear in
would show was
all
if
poets in
still
The second
assault
rifle
—
it's
.
.
The bottom
just
in the
I
.
the end, in every war,
.
beautiful beautiful
don't think there's anything
"During the time
I
was serving in the
When
I
everything had turned upside down. That peaceful
after the war,
beauty had vanished.
.
an AK-47, the standard
only wish was to return to [my] poor but peaceful village.
came back
.
.
day, while cleaning
later recalled,
.
North Vietnamese Army, and one
an instrument of war, and
He
shirt
I
." .
Communist forces, his colonel asked, "A you think?" Nguyen Duy replied, "There's nothing
beautiful about war."
my
One
.
would
was white, which
of the
weapon, don't it
rifles.
shirt
it
had become one of the most famous
in his teens,
North Vietnam. He served
of his tasks was to clean
army,
sector.
anything suspicious had happened.
Nguyen Duy, while
about
my
black and that meant a major threat.
niccess in gaining the
ol
Vietnam War. Many
of
militan. advisors, foreign'
puhlic-
officers,
staff
Whichever
and death would be the
of torture
and Revolutionary
(CORDS). The
Support
>RDS included
South Vietnamese
die government was
tor
Civil Operations
Devekpmem
415,000.
organization coordinat-
ing the efforts to gain the 1
is
realists.
never be
figure (or civil-
Vietnam War
Kin- IdHed in the
•
will
sides during the
both
alone to tend to their farms, rice paddies, and livestock. But they
left
were figure
for
about the politics and would have preferred to
villagers didn't care
ol the "night visitors."
end
• rhough .m
and cooperation of the millions of rural peasants
Securing the support
.
There
is
a line in
one of
my poems
whoever won, the people always
that goes, 'In
lost.'"
American troops entering South Vietnam found themselves confronting an enemy physically indistinguishable from the people they were supposed to defend.
Because of the difficulty in positively identifying a guerilla Viet
Cong member, an that, "If
it's
attitude
dead and
it's
began to develop during a campaign or a mission
Vietnamese,
it's
VC." Lieutenant Vincent Okamoto,
Opposite:
A young Vietnamese boy carried
in a
basket by a U.S. paratrooper.
f» Jl_
wm
a
Japanese American, recalled that because of his Asian features,
nearly killed by
participated in
Americans who mistook me for a Vietnamese." Okamoto the Phoenix Program, an operation designed to eliminate
the network of local Viet
Cong
agents and supporters. Periodically his
would hand him
superior officers recalled,
was
"I
a
list
"The problem was, how do you
of suspected
find [them]?
It's
He
individuals.
not
like
you had
and telephone number. The normal procedure would be to go
their address
into a village
and
just grab
someone and
say,
Nguyen
'Where's
so-and-so?'
Half the time the people were so afraid they would say anything." After they got the
information they needed, he said, "Then that night
Phoenix team] would come back, knock on the door house].
.
Whoever answered
.
.
the door would get
the suspect's
[of
As
[killed].
[a
far as [the
team was] concerned, whoever answered was a Communist." and
pacify
Viet Cong-controlled hamlets "winning the hearts and minds."
Many
Gen. Westmoreland
known
called America's effort to rally villagers
programs were run under Corps'
One
this effort.
Combined Action
Marines realized that
CAP.
Platoon, or if
of the most effective was the Marine
they were to truly win the hearts and minds of
the peasants, they'd have to provide around-the-clock security against the Viet Cong.
To do
so the marines stationed live-in forces generally consisting
and a platoon of South Vietnamese
of a squad of marines, a corpsman, troops in villages possible, the
—-ideally some
from the
soldiers
village
itself.
a
member
of the
CAP
the village of Binh Nighia. Shortly after his tour of duty in
and he was rotated home,
his
Chi, the school teacher in Binh Nighia. '[Sgt.
a
White]
number one
is
good friend a
a
job. For our people
I
I
AfvM.-:
South Vietnamese
want
to
Sgt.
J.
D.
White and
thank him very
my
"I
wish in
"I
hope some day we
much
as
my
for
Vietnam was
letter
people like very much.
want
assigned to
Ho
from
read in part:
to
thank you
village
for
has done
having a number
my
people and land.
helping have peace in
man was
He
was having trouble with Viet
[squad] help protect
heart that every will all
mother received a It
lot of
one son. About three months ago
Cong and
As much
marines would become members of the village.
Marine Sergeant James D. White was finished,
local
like
him.
.
.
my
village.
.
.
.
.
have peace and Charity."
villagers.
Opposite: Girl volunteers of the South Vietnamese People's Self-Defense Force.
$8
CM
.
fts
\
m U4:
291
,«,»
«ais '
THE CORPSMEN'S Corpsmeiv
QUICK FACT5 •
\
u
enough
serious
home
but
ncnth
i
•
wound" "as
million> dollar
I'Ik-
not
I'
wound
a
tor
corpsman was "Angel."
153,303
killed
wounded
Of
4.
1
vitally
trained to provide
aid
first
important to a combat unit.
on
The
wounded men often meant the difference and death. The efforts of the corpsmen and medics, combined
medical help they gave to
between
life
the death rate
known
among U.S. combat
in
action
in
an army corpsman,
4.
J
fight,
percent less
air force,
and
0.1 percent
as "dustoffs," considerably
The enemy
casualties.
lowered
recognized
how
rant officers, iS.6 percent
rank,
men and
war-
were lieutenants
and captains, and 2.6 percent were majors and colonels. Twelve U.S. generals died
"1
remember going through
casualties wsra
South Vietnamese
The
killed in action
lowest estimate
is
1
in
combat. During a
fire-
wounded men, heed-
pants. After days
and taking care of the
firefights, getting hit, full
later recalled,
of blood, and you wipe
them
off
and weeks of wearing the same clothes, your pants
on your are
still
in
10,357
from the blood."
Wayne Smith was an army combat
Army
and 499,026 wounded.
men
Khe Sanh. Of his experience he
wounded, and your hands are
stiff
of
fearless
of the danger to themselves. Ralph Daniello was a navy corpsman
assigned to a marine unit at
Vietnam.
• Estimates
VC were paid an incentive to kill a medic."
they could be seen crawling or rushing to help
were coast
down by
percent were enlisted
"The
said,
Corpsmen were among the most
those killed,
percent were navy,
guard personnel. Broken SS..S
—were
men
important they were to a unit and specifically targeted them. Lee Reynolds, 47,382
suffered
forces
65.8 percent were army, 25.5 percent were
were
enlisted
with quick helicopter evacuations
during the Vietnam War.
marine,
—
perma-
to
ripple.
.>nd
action
the battlefield
person shipped
a
enough
serious
code word
• US.
have
1
or medics
WAR
horrible, but there
medic.
was a beautiful side
He
as well
later recalled,
"Combat was
—the brotherhood between
black soldiers and white soldiers and Hispanics and Native Americans.
we were combat I
in
all
combat,
I
is:
were put to the
skills
the
Cambodian
"daisy chain"
—
border.
test
One
it's
do your duty and [help me] when
little
about
One
how
to save lives.
." .
.
during one operation in the Plain of Reeds near of the soldiers tripped a booby trap called a
soldier
Smith rushed forward
had one of the worst
battlefield
to
wounds
a punctured lung that produces what's called a "sucking chest"
wound. He managed to save the panic,
to
a series of grenades strung together.
save the wounded.
—
Are you going
was eighteen and knew a
His
possible
that mattered was trying to survive together. ... In
all
that matters
get hit? ...
When
life
of that soldier.
He
later said, "If
you don't
not hard, but you always have that fear of [making a mistake] and
causing someone to die. There's nothing worse than that for a medic."
Thanks
to
the high quality of training that medics and corpsmen
received, the mortality rate for
an astonishingly low
Above: th.it
it
A Hu<\ iv
.in
nidi
.i
red
i
row, signifying
unarmed medical
helicopter.
oo WMMMB
1
wounded
was,
when compared
to prior wars,
to 2.5 percent, the lowest rate ever.
Opposite: Marines carrying a
comrade
wounded
to a helicopter "dustoff" site.
w\>
WAR
TH£ NURSZS' hen wounded
QUICK FACTS •
i!n
Vietnam was
h
•
In
South Vietnam, they were sometimes met with a
American nurses
avei 1
not expect: an American
in
>.
thousand to
had over others'
Unlike
rest .ire.is (the rear),
war,
a guerilla
the
otherwise would have been
and combat-free
of
wounded
Vietnam War was
in
advanced trauma and
meaning the whole countrs
I
during
Viet
a
Cong
rocket attack
on the
enemy
Vietnam War. In addition
fire in
the
to receiving the
Bronze Star posthumously, a statue of her h\
John Worthing was dedicated
hometown militan
in
died in the line of duty in
just say,
York would
didn't
the
women who
served
in
also
recalled,
want
women from
all
It
would remind them of
their girl-
'Keep on talking.'"
unique
risks to caring for
"You had to wake these kids
enough that they would grab your neck and
to be close .
wounded infantrymen. Nurse up by shaking their toes. You
.
.
and
their response
was that of a warrior thinking
In addition to
wounded
military personnel, military hospitals often cared for
branches served in admin-
wounded
istrative positions, including clerical, intelli-
enforcement These were based
civilians.
All these civilians had additional health problems due
Sharon
to various tropical diseases, including intestinal worms. First Lieutenant
gence! security supply, data processing, and
Lane wrote home about one such experience, "Two
in Saigon
and Long Binh.
nights ago
[I]
was taking care of this eleven-year-old
boy with a gunshot wound of the abdomen. put a towel over huge, liquid
BM
was washing
it
him
for a diaper
eight- inch
of
[I]
l,/(:
rn;ht:
Nurses
A
mikmcd
nursi
.it
an evacuation hospital
Jin km^ on
i
in
South Vietnam.
patten] aboard a hospital ship off the coast of
first
saw
.
Just
off
and
my
hand.
Was
about an
it.
BM
out
Am now more cautious
stuff like that."
Opposite:
South Vietnam.
.
out in a pan of water and got this
when washing out
Abovt,
it
bowel worm. Nearly scared the
me when
.
and he had a
[bowel movement]. Took
thing wrapped around
AfvM,-.
you.
kill
he was getting attacked in the middle of his sleep."
Vietnam were nurses. Approximately 160
law
New
These were warriors of
of their valuable medical
all
had a strong [New York City] accent, and the guys from
I
Adams
the war.
• Most
But for
soldiers
friends or wives.
There were
her
oi Canton, Ohio. In total, 8 U.S.
women
critical care.
to hear the voice, smell the perfume.
hospital where she was Stationed. She was
the ont) nurse killed In
made by doctors, particularly if a large number battle. As a result many received crash courses
and marines received an invaluable morale boost simply from seeing a feminine American face in a distant, foreign, and hostile land. Lily Adams, a nurse who served in Vietnam, recalled, "They just wanted
Lieutenant Sharon Lane was killed
irst
arrived from a
wounded
skill, »,i- a battle cone.
•
An estimated five
thousand American military nurses served in the Vietnam War.
other
wars, which had established fighting areas (front linos, or the front)
in unifonn.
—
nurses raced con*
themselves.
danger
-(.mi
six
woman
sight they did
Nurses in South Vietnam were given more responsibility than their making critical on-the-spot trauma decisions that stateside counterparts
addition to the responsibilities they lives,
treatment at hospitals in
soldiers arrived for
An army
nurse helping villagers during a
Medical Civic Action Program (Medcap)
oz BSV
MB
visit.
—
WAR
TH£ TUNNZ1 ICK TACTS wen in les«
...
he Viet Cong were adept at creating havens and base camps throughout South Vietnam. As American troops soon discovered,
J
ipprcnrimatery
1
the area around
2S
Cu
they were underground as well.
than 20 miles northwest
The Dumber
I
One
of inventions
"as
device
according to
its
a
detector
soil
inventors, could
tunnels were being dug.
aw
and
tell
that,
to
carry
the
device on his back to a suspected
tunnel
site.
device, set
it
Then he had
to unstrap the
up, and take his readings.
The
invention was called the Portable Differential
Magnetometer (PDM), and
it
proved to be
German shepherds were tunncU
to
upon
and
also used in the
hunt Viet Cong. These dogs and
handlers
their
pitals,
received
successful
specific
were
Gung was
Tran Thi
Cong
in order to
government
These
teams
found
more
than
2,000 Viet Cong tunnels and bunkers.
when
a seventeen-year-old girl
she joined the Viet
avenge the death of her father killed by South Vietnamese
Of
troops.
"When GIs
the tunnels she recalled,
discovered
tunnel openings, they dynamited them, but the tunnels were so deep and
had so many
twists
and
turns, they couldn't
do too much damage.
an underground maze. Most of the tunnels were .
few hours
.
we
Usually
.
at a time.
.
.
.
didn't
just
have to stay underground
But one time
I
who
Volunteers
was extremely
for
traps,
seven days us."
Cong were known
only with a pistol and a flashlight, they would
crawl through a dark tunnel searching for the enemy.
booby
dead ends, and ambushes.
When
They had
to be
was no place to retreat or hide, they had to shoot
wish: 1
Why
rat
C. W.
Bowman
As
cool, but the sweat
your heart
me
if
is
is
It
die, at least
gets strange
running off your body.
pounding so hard.
ing to tear itself in half.
.
.
Part of
.
.
.
.
down
there;
\tx.i.
*>4
ii
I
i
s
Marines searching tunnels in
Cong
Da Nang
don't know.
it's
quiet.
It's
Your chest hurts because feels like
it's
try-
wants to go ahead because of the
unknown, the challenge, but the other part, because oi the unknown, wants to go back [to] where you came from."
tot \
I
a death
you think you're not
Your body sometimes it
had
I
would anybody want to go down into the tunnel?
going to die. You're invincible. ...
there
out at point-blank range.
it
recalled, "People asked
was eighteen, and you're not going to
wary of
they encountered the enemy,
the firefight was short, fierce, and deafening in the confined area.
Tunnel
a
Vietnamese, they were small, slender men. Their job
Armed
risky.
like
more than
for
was stuck in a tunnel
entered the tunnels to attack the Viet
as "tunnel rats." Like the
was
It
wide enough to crawl
and seven nights while the Americans were constantly bombing
assigned mine, boobv trap, and tunnel dog
teams.
storage areas, hos-
they were "cities" connected by underground roads.
training
completion,
They included
kitchens, wells, sleeping chambers, firing bunkers, training areas
through.
reliable.
tunnel systems were elaborate underground complexes
Cong
Viet
which, in some cases, extended for miles.
where
weighed 106
It
pounds The operator had !u
find
to
tunnels wore created and tested.
a
these havens were not only in villages, forests, and mountains;
J|sW
Op/wsite:
An
fear
and the
infantryman being lowered into a Viet
Cong
tunnel.
A^ENT ORANGE Large
FACTS
qii ICK
Vietnam
are covered in thick tropical vegetation
ranging from dense forests, to
used againsl looJ cmps.
• A
areas of South
c
aught
in
them
"wait-a-minute" vines (so
called
troops
iluble desiccanl thai pre-
elephant
tall
usually shouted
"Wait a minute"
grass, to clinging vines
named because anyone he fought
as
,Mui from forming without the plant
._
•
it
Such thick plant
sell.
name
Patches was the
of one
used on Operation Ranch
.r.iii
sions.
was
It
one
of
the-
d
the air-
Hand
most
rugged
aircraft in the air force inventory.
yean
10
tor
enemy
fire
in
vived the war and \ir
Force
now on
is
Museum
at
flew
It
Vietnam and was
more than 600
mis-
hit It
result of
.i
set
up ambushes. To eliminate
named "Operation Ranch Hand." While some herbicides were dispensed by
forces to build
this cover, the
U.S.
campaign code-
military used herbicides in a defoliation-and-crop-destruction
most were deployed by
sur-
display at the
Wright-Patterson
planes.
The
containers.
<
o:
herbicides in the war, which resulted in
in
named
defoliants were
The
stance called
bombing and the use
and to
Cong
riverboats, trucks,
and
men
with
by
Air lorn Base in Davton, Ohio.
• As
sanctuaries, to hide,
individual sprayers, times.
offered countless places for Viet
life
to free himself).
after the color of the stripes
active ingredient in
2-, 3-, 7-,
specially rigged helicopters or air-
all
on
their shipping
the herbicides was a poisonous sub-
8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin
(TCDD). The
first
used
South Vietnam were Agent Purple and Agent Pink. Later they were replaced
with three others, one of which was Agent Orange.
contamination and destruction of wildlife
manv areas, there are at least 21 species now on the endangered species list. Thc-v include the Tonkin snub-nosed mon-
Large tracts of land, particularly around base camps and other military
habitats in
kev,
the
Malayan sun
bear,
the
clouded
installations, bicides.
were
laid
This made
it
barren of
much
all
plant
easier for
life
through the use of these her-
American troops and
enemy movement. Ultimately approximately
aircraft to spot
were sprayed
six million acres
leopard, the Vietnamese pheasant, and the
by defoliants, destroying roughly ten percent of South Vietnam's
Imperial pheasant.
•A
reliable evaluation of the
number of
Vietnamese people affected by Agent Orange is
When
the
contaminated
regions
in
the
Operation Ranch Hand concluded in 1970, approximately nineteen
million gallons of herbicide
The
almost impossible. But a team of Canadian
experts conducted an independent study of
defoliant
that
in
1999.
Their findings revealed
children born in spraved areas were
more than S times nias
have
and more than i
left
palates,
and have extra
likely to suffer her-
.is
3
be
fingers
times as likely to
mentalK
and
retarded,
had been used.
campaign became controversial because of
and
plants, animals, citizens,
Alvoi
herbicides. Yallcv
forests.
Over the
years,
soldiers, particularly
the
its
men who
impact on
handled the
health problems in people exposed to the herbicides,
including respiratory problems, persistent skin rashes,
some forms of skin
cancer,
and birth defects in their children, were widely reported. Numerous studies were conducted to track these complaints.
The August 2003
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,
issue of the Journal
which released the
results of a
toes.
2002 study conducted f(
hkI
in
Bien
and residents more than
Hoa
City, reported
high levels of dioxins in
thirty years after the defoliant
campaign had ended.
Eventually chemical companies that manufactured the herbicides agreed to establish a trust fund of
who
$180 million that would be
distributed to veterans
suffered health problems or died as a result of exposure to the herbicides.
Opposite:
An American
airplane sprays defoliant over a region of South Vietnam.
OO v.\
^1 •
¥
SL.
it
HM
y'ir
»
:
*> •*
:
THE JOURNALISTS' IVAR W
HICK FACTS • Journalists
held
e ol
VvV
c\(.r\ J. in at
Military
Assistance
Information
(MACOI)
RM. Because
distrusted the accuracy of .
nteJ
the
h\
csied the briefmp the "1-nc
• Going on
a patrol
tor a journalist as
was was
it
information
the-
the
military,
reporters
tin-
journalists
O'clock
just as
lollies."
dent
tor the sailors
the
first
is
a
American
female correspondent to he killed in action in
machines and task.
Vietnam.
cell
Reports were
for newspapers, magazines, or the syndicated
phones, writing and filed
modern conveniences such
establish the
as fax
was a time-consuming
filing stories
through the government-controlled telegraph
able.
The Associated
Press office in Saigon
heavily taped device that was as priceless as
But
as the
that
came
war progressed,
it
it
was
—
office,
first
a battered,
fragile.
was television journalism, then in
dominate war reporting. The
to
had only one phone
infancy,
its
television crews were at a great
disadvantage compared to today's crews. Equipment was bulky, heavy, and by today's standards, crude.
much
as fifty
Crews of three men
pounds. Even
camera that weighed
carried a
so, ultimately, television's graphic,
and
of burning villages, dead bodies, blood-covered soldiers
• The Vietnam War would
told by reporters
by courier, or sometimes by phone. Phones themselves were rare and unreli-
and
Freelance photographer, correspon-
Dkkey Chapeue was
Vietnam War, most news was
wire services. Before the invention of
JpL
dangerous
troops. In the heat of batde everyone
target
of the
and photographers working
would attend regular briefing h\
n the beginning
moving
civilians,
as
pictures
and panic-
stricken children
would bring the war into Americans'
United
immediacy and the vividness of television reports would pro-
living rooms. In the
reputation ot some of the greatest modernprint journalists in
HalKrstam
of
American
history:
David
Netc York Times; Joe
the
foundly affect opinions about the war.
Gallowa\ and Neil Sheehan of United Press International; Peter
PreM and,
later,
photographer,
Amett
CNN;
among
of the Associated
States, the
The
quality of the journalists ranged
ignorant. Pulitzer Prize-winner Eddie
from the
brilliant to the totally
Adams noted once
that "[y]ou
had a
and Horst Faas, a lot of
others.
adventure seekers." In the most extreme cases Saigon-based journalists
would rush
to the battle scene invariably after
hours there, and then return to Saigon to
file
it
had ended, spend a few
their stories.
Joe Galloway of United Press International was one of a handful of
who accompanied combat troops onto the field. Galloway was the journalist who was with Lt. Col. Moore and his men during the la Drang
reporters
only
campaign. At one point during the fighting, Galloway recalled, "The incoming fire
was only a couple of feet off the ground, and
get
when
I
felt
the toe of a combat boot in
and looked up. There, standing
tall,
my
I
ribs.
was down I
turned
as flat as
my head
I
could
sideways
was Sergeant Major Basil Plumley.
down and shouted over the noise of the guns: 'You can't take laying down there on the ground, sonny.' ... I thought: 'He's right.
Plumley leaned
no
pictures
We're
all
going to die anyway, so
I
might
as well take
mine standing
up.'
I
got
up and began taking a few photographs." Galloway survived that action and went on to become a highly respected reporter of the Vietnam War. AIxm.-:
Newsmen
_u, rnll.tv
killed in s.ii^on
K
Viet
Cong Opposite:
A wire-service photographer in a
rice
paddy in the Mekong Delta.
OS DM
H
^K?».
Khe
QUICK FACTS •
I'.in
<>t
marine defense
the
included
use
the
al
1
was
base
before
made
any enemy move-
by
about the marines' situation during the
sicjje
report^ sent
modd
to
replica
Sanfa set
up
that
him.
ol
in the
first
so concerned at
also
had a
the marine hase at
Laos-South Vietnam border, south of the
Trail just inside the
on
battle in
months,
Khe
At
the same time, it
its
20, 1968, a
remote position
marine reconnaissance patrol made contact with
thirty
the
thousand
NVA
Khe Sanh and
NVA
launched a
The resulting siege of Khe Sanh.
troops.
what would become the
forced to surrender.
its
Although the
skirmish was the
troops surrounded the six thousand
defensive outposts. For the next two of vicious
series
attacks
were
sieges
similar,
no
talking or
the
Gen. Westmoreland
Khe Sanh.
are not, repeat not, going to be defeated at
against
they would be
air,
vowed Khe Sanh would not be another Dien Bien Phu. He
"We
on the
were attacked and surrounded
Americans. Unless the marines could be resupplied by
White House map room.
traffic
Its
determined enemy.
marines stationed in
large
DMZ.
Laotian border, and to be a threat to
difficult to reinforce or resupply if
Approximately
Khe Sanh
he ordered hourly
He
U.S. Marine Corps base and airstrip located
North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
surrounded them. • President Johnson became
a
it
On January
enemy found and
the
Chi Minh
[o
area A\\d then quickly return
in their
a
operations in the immediate area.
hide. Their mission
u> alert the base of
ment to
would
Sanh was
OT KH£ SANH
location allowed troops to gather intelligence
posts.
rhese were predetermined locations outside the barbed-wire perimeter, where two or three marines
SlBtfZ
close to the
Khe Sanh
listening
of
THE
told his I
men,
will tolerate
even thinking to the contrary."
Operation Niagara, the
aerial resupply of the
marines
at
Khe Sanh, was
launched. Despite bad weather and heavy antiaircraft defenses by the
NVA,
Operation Niagara kept the marines supplied. The
aerial
support became critical
when an
NVA rocket and artillery
on January 21 hit the marines' main ammunition dump, destroying it. The ring of NVA antiaircraft batteries attack
surrounding the marine base was like a noose.
The
air force
transports flying supplies to the marines were under such
enemy fire that they could no longer land on airstrip. The only way they could discharge their cargo
constant the
was in low-flying parachute drops.
Captain William H. Dabney commanded an outpost at
Khe Sanh during
Above Pwsidtul Johnson arr.i
with his ad\
isnrs.
(second from
left)
itudiet
.i
attack
realized,
model of the Khe Sanh
White phosphorous bomblets burning in midair smokescreen near the runway at Khe Sanh, prior an airlift delivery of supplies and reinforcements.
Opposite: create a to
70
Under constant
"We needed something to What he and his men decided was that
from the enemy, he jack up morale."
the siege.
they'd raise the
American
flag
—
as
an act of defiance against the enemy.
recalled, "So, daily at eight o'clock, precisely at eight o'clock, [the
He
enemy] targeted us [with mortar and flag.
We
had good, deep holes
the
[artillery]
and
right beside the flagpole,
round was about twenty-five seconds. bugler, a lieutenant
who
could do a
albeit
by the
it
with speed.
.
.
The
.
it.
It
...
didn't matter.
.
.
We
.
name
.
Sanh was
of Matthews,
bugle had a way of didn't
sound right
was
a gesture of
It
1968 the siege of Khe
1,
successfully
The
lifted.
an estimated ten thousand
thousand
casualties.
thousand
defeated
The marines
to fifteen
Marine historian Jack
casualties.
It
North Vietnamese
really
or
if
M-4H
is
known
the
if
intended to take
away from the
cities."
tank.
Gen. Giap claimed the
battle
was a victory
purpose of the attack was a diversion. a
costly
diversion,
Vietnamese
Army
because
the
If
for his forces, that the
that was truly the case, then
marines
estimated
that
whole it
was
two North
divisions were destroyed during the siege.
Opposite: U.S.
Army
relieve
72
sur-
still
the attack was merely a feint
to lure U.S. forces a
not
rounds the battle.
Khe Sanh
two
suffered
Shulimson observed, "Controversy
on
a
retreated to their bases in Laos, having
suffered
riding
had
.
on April
Finally
Above Marina
of flight
."
defiance.
NVA
took about
it
rendition of the colors,
fair
getting shrapnel in
but
raise the
we knew the time
twenty-five seconds [to raise the flag] because for
and we would
artillery fire],
soldiers
on
their
marines trapped
way
at
to help
Khe Sanh.
THE TET OFFENSIVE et
1CK FACTS • U.J ful
when
v-
wen row
another soldier
.uui
Cong
in a
ruined homes. In one house, "in the
\er\ back, 2
discovery during the Tel
be
ordered to search for Viet ot
Schooler
Gerry
Idler
s
under
this table,
we found
kids, obviously brother and
sister,
these
about
5,
1968, the Year of the Monkey,
• Approximately 4,000 Viet Cong troops attacked targets in Saigon. Nineteen men,
by the North Vietnamese
specially
trained in the use of explosives,
that
finished
on the U.S.
embassy compound only 3 months before the attack.
The
was S2.6 million, and
cost
the embassy was regarded as an impreg-
nable fortress.
• For
reasons
one
explained,
that
have
group
of
never targets
mmunists did not attack during the night ot the Tet
O&base and American
lightlv-guarded
military
This allowed .i
campaign were the
and
MACV
counterattack.
been
political
leaders.
to quickly coordinate
Army and
Viet
Cong
guerillas
would be made
at
and military bases throughout South Vietnam. Giap believed "general offensive" would inspire an uprising of the South
this
On January
who would
rally to
the
Communist cause and
30, 1968, the Tet holiday began. Just after
over-
midnight the
first
Khe Sanh was surrounded. The ancient capital of Hue was overrun. In Saigon the Viet Cong staged attacks throughout the city. The most famous attack was on the American embassy, where a few Viet Cong managed to breach the outer wall and enter the compound, attack was launched.
where they were quickly
The Americans had
killed.
received some warning of an impending attack, and
thus were not completely taken by surprise.
private,
homes of top
major surprise offen-
throw the government in Saigon.
the first
a
cities
Vietnamese populace,
were assigned to attack the U.S. embassy.
• Construction was
Gen. Giap planned
advantage of the Tet holiday stand-down. Simultaneous attacks
sive to take
major
They were dead."
Vietnamese lunar new year
for "festival"- -is the
and the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar. L- Because of its importance a cease-fire truce was observed during the three-day holiday so that both sides could celebrate in peace. And despite isolated instances of violence, such truces generally held. But in
embraced, no doubt because they were so frightened.
— Vietnamese
in the U.S. Fifth
March
on
and now
he'll
he's
doing
just that
never recover from
his part." Militarily the
its
it.
objectives. All the cities
—and
getting his clock
Stacking up to be a great
major was
1968, the Tet Offensive was a disaster for
achieved none of in
fight,
Good chance
tactical error
the battle progressed, a major
Cavalry jubilantly stated, "Here we've been waiting years for
Charlie to surface and
cleaned!
As
right.
When
North Vietnam.
and
it
ended
Militarily
villages attacked
in it
remained
American and South Vietnamese hands. Instead of joining the Communists,
the populace rallied to the South Vietnamese government's side.
Communists
suffered with
more than
fifty-eight
The
thousand soldiers killed in
the offensive, compared to fewer than four thousand U.S. troops and fewer
than five thousand South Vietnamese troops virtually force.
The
Viet
Cong were
wiped out, and from that point on were never an effective fighting
The war would
engaged
killed.
in
continue, but this time the North Vietnamese
most of the
Army
battles.
Opposite: Civilians from
74
i
Hue
flee to safety.
\
#
>- ~-
5r»7
;
i
•r
v
i*
But politically,
it
was an enormous strategic triumph for North Vietnam.
The American news media South Vietnamese
American and
reported the Tet Offensive as an
disaster. Part
of the reason for this was that in the previ-
made confident assurances that the war was almost won. Therefore the attack took the American public by surprise ous month, Gen. Westmoreland had
and gave the impression that the military leaders were wrong. Images of the dead Viet Cong inside the walled courtyard of the U.S. embassy caused many to question
how
a
"weak" enemy could
in the protective wall
The
be strong enough to blow a hole
still
and attack the U.S. embassy.
enemy was
impression of a strong and implacable
With approximately correspondents from one hundred and thirty news oftentimes biased news reports.
Vietnam, the competition to be the
first
five
reinforced by the
hundred accredited
organizations in South
with a breaking story was intense.
This was especially true of television reporters. Scenes of confused, even frightened, U.S. troops reacting to readily available.
The
result
ambushes and sudden skirmishes were
was a flood of lopsided reports that focused on
the immediate and sensational events, devoid of analyses that could place the images into context.
Howard
K. Smith, a journalist for
said of the network's coverage, "Viet
times ours. But after
we never
Cong
casualties
We
told the public that.
ABC
were one hundred
showed
just
News,
pictures day
day of Americans getting [badly beaten]." General Maxwell Taylor
later wrote, "In
forming the popular concept of what had happened during
the Tet offensive,
TV
was the dominant
factor.
The
picture of a few flam-
ing Saigon houses, presented by a gloomy-voiced telecaster inevitable impression that this was the
way
it
Military historian Brigadier General S. L.
was in
all
.
.
.
created the
or most of Saigon."
A. Marshall observed that "a
potential major victory turned into a disastrous defeat through mistaken esti-
mates, loss of nerve, and a tidal
wave of defeatism." Due
to a combination of
Westmoreland's overoptimistic report, the administration's inability to unite the nation, and the majority of the
American public
President Johnson found himself in the
Communist Vietnamese resolute Above: .ill. r
A
tin
ttred
hi
(
in the
in 1954:
desiring the
war to end,
same position the French were with
He had
to negotiate for peace with a
enemy.
Saigon suburb of Cholon
Mfcnaivc.
Opposite: Saigon afire
fire
trucks race to buildings set
by the Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive.
76
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SK2
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WAR
POLITICS OV UCK FACTS *
>6,100 U.S.
5
were
1
ol the
F social
feared that
and
if
he
did,
it
would destroy
civil rights reform, titled
"History provided too
tniHtar) presence.
,S.
I
in
listed
would ho the peak strength
da
.
official!)
mili-
Johnson never went on campaign to fully explain to the American people why he was sending troops to Vietnam. He resident
many
his
program
the "Great Society."
As he
protest
violent
of the
Rcnnic
Hoffman,
Jem
Abbie
Lee Wciner, John
Rubin,
and Bobby
Dcllinger,
Haydcn,
Thomafl
Davit,
hroines.
David
Convention:
National
Democratic
the
.it
Scale.
Their
trial
on the
barges of criminal responsibility with intent
«.
to riot
became
Once the immediate end to the hopes and dreams of the best reformers. war began, then all those conservatives in the Congress would use it as a weapon
dis-
rupts c that they were charged with
175
against the Great Society.
tive to gain the public's support
happening war to
in
"
The
found
all
but
rVoinei and Wciner guilty o( inciting to
riot.
separately.
jury
Their comictions were reversed in 1972.
• Chicago was
the scene of
more
protests
when a radical organization called the Weathermen engaged in a series of violent demonstrations that became known as the "Days of Rage." The Weathermen had in
a
1969,
.
Unfortunately, by not taking the initia-
through speeches that explained what was
Vietnam, President Johnson allowed those unhappy with the
freely challenge his policies.
In
September the newspaper The Christian Science Monitor reported that
interviewed 205
members of Congress and 43 of them
COUntl of contempt ot court, and Seale was tried
.
Disillusionment with the war in Vietnam mounted rapidly in late 1967.
a raucous protest against the
Vietnam War. The defendants were so
later said,
where the sound of the bugle put an
cases
.
people were charged as the leaden
hi
domestic
for
longer supported the president's policy in Vietnam.
had
it
stated that they
The New
no
York Times con-
own survey of Congress in October and confinned that congressional support was falling. And American people began to increasingly question the reasons why America was in Vietnam. The Vietnam War would become the number one political topic for debate ducted
its
between Republicans and Democrats during the 1968 presidential election. Richard M. Nixon became the Republican candidate for the presidency.
Marxist philosophy and believed in a
President Johnson had chosen not to seek reelection, and Vice President
and federal
Humphrey had declared his candidacy. Under other circumstances, Humphrey would have been considered the favorite to succeed Johnson. But because the Vietnam War had become such a divisive issue, the Democratic
militant struggle against state institutions.
campaign
carried out a terrorist
for several years
buildings. cies
They
Federal
cracked
law
bombing
federal
enforcement agen-
down on
the
organization,
which had more than 600 members, and the organization no longer existed by the
field
was wide open.
Early in the race
announced
Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy, a Democrat, openly
a peace platform
mid-l l >70s.
and succeeded
in gaining the support of
many
antiwar activists. Another Democrat and presidential hopeful, Robert
Kennedy, brother of former president John
F.
Kennedy, also announced a
peace platform and received widespread support.
But the Vietnam society. President
prasidenl mi
78
m
.in
".is i
.i
lenator from
American
many
social inequities that
still
existed in the country.
New
J his intention to run for
.inn". ir platform.
the only social issue dividing
Johnson's Great Society's domestic reform program was an
attempt to correct Above Robert Kenned) Virk when be .minium
War was not
Opposite: Richard
M. Nixon during the reception
for the
GOP
presidential candidate, with his wife, Pat, beside him.
*'
!,
•
,-
•
I
*
A'.-
Among
the hallmarks of this program was the Voting Rights
which guaranteed African Americans the
Act of 1965,
right to vote; the creation of
which provided medical assistance to the elderly; and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which granted federal aid to Medicare,
impoverished children. But the high cost of the war and the added cost of
I
these social programs caused inflation to hurt the nation's economy. People
saw the value of their money shrink, and some Also, the civil rights
movement had become
Reports of racial tension and
civil right*
leaden standing
mums the ChdJ Rights
Bill in
h\.
Jr.
and other
was Dr. Martin Luther King
a major force in the country.
aroused emotions as bitter and violent as
riots
those about the Vietnam War. Above: With Dr. Martin Luther King
lost their jobs.
One
of the most important civil rights leaders
Originally King openly supported Johnson
Jr.
President Johnson
1964.
because of his Great Society agenda. But he grew concerned over the affect
War might have on the recent civil rights and social gains. King's disillusionment grew when he read reports that showed that a largerthan-average number of men drafted were African American and that initially the Vietnam
African-American troops suffered a larger share of battle
became the foremost antiwar advocate he vowed to make
civil rights
in the presidential election.
a
rapidly-increasing
hatred.
On
April
4,
in the civil rights
casualties.
King
movement. And
and the end of the Vietnam War major
issues
A charismatic orator and leader, King gathered He
following.
also
became the
1968 Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.
of
target
racial
was assassinated in
Memphis, Tennessee.
The
presidential
campaign
also
became
a bloody battleground.
Robert Kennedy was assassinated in California.
And
at the
On June
5,
Democratic
National Convention in Chicago, people watching television-news broadcasts
were shocked to see Chicago police,
Guardsmen In
Illinois state troopers,
violently clash with thousands of antiwar demonstrators.
November Americans went
to the polls to vote.
Hubert Humphrey,
the Democratic candidate, was defeated by Richard Nixon. the responsibility of finding a
with
as little
way
to get the
controversy as possible.
become an impossible
Nixon now had
United States out of Vietnam
As events would
prove,
it
would
goal.
Opposite:
Guardsmen
SO
and National
in
A confrontation between a demonstrator and National Chicago during the Democratic National Convention.
'
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/ /
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—
AND My
ATROCITIES; HU£ Atrocities,
QUICK FACTS •
inny charged
.
man
ui.
November •
l l
paroled
>74.
nicknamed Communist
because
"Pinkville"
a ere
thc\ contained
sympathizers
Com-
"pinkos." "Reds," a nickname for
munists because of the Red
were members
Communist
Communist
ot the
Congi or North Vietnamese
• Approximately
flags,
Party, Viet
Army
100 students
taken refuge in the
Hue
in
Callev
and the surrounding hamlets
Lai
\1\
c alley
convicted, receiving a
Nixon
Richard
1.
for
imprisonment President
lift
.
1
troops.
who had
Phu Cam Cathedral
began.
in
have been a part of war ever since war international agreements designed to
The most famous
punish those committing atrocities and to spell out rules of warfare on
Geneva Convention. Additionally, each nation has its own laws. During the Vietnam War, both sides committed atrocities. American atrocities were spontaneous and random issues are the
humanitarian
ones established
law and
acts in direct violation of U.S. military
at the
MACV directives. In contrast,
North Vietnam and the Viet Cong had a written policy that sanctioned and encouraged these acts, including assassination, massacre, and torture. Such acts
came
Vietnam War: the massacre
to symbolize the brutality of the
Hue
later
found
more than 300
in a creek
others,
bed about 10
miles from Hue.
My Lai,
My Lai was
a
William Calley
On
South Vietnamese hamlet.
Jr.
led his platoon into
sweep to capture or only old men,
My
Lai as part of a search-and-destroy
kill
suspected Viet Cong.
women, and
court-martialed for his actions. During his
hundred
civilians
Army
city.
the soldiers found
men
trial it
them
to attack. Calley was
was revealed that
The monthlong
history.
Communists managed
battle to retake
American and South Vietnamese
to seize
Hue would become
tured
forces, the Viet
When
most of
the longest
fight
against
Cong swept through
the
conducting a systematic slaughter of intellectuals, doctors, political
leaders, It
many
as
by historians
later called
and bloodiest struggle during that campaign. During the
city,
to be Viet
the historic cultural and intellectual center of Vietnam.
the Tet Offensive was launched, the the
his
were massacred in what was
the most shameful act in U.S.
Hue was
Though
children, Calley, believing
Cong, or Viet Cong sympathizers, ordered
as five
Communist forces. March 16, 1968, Lieutenant
during the Tet Offensive, conducted by
during the fighting were found and
along with those of
at
conducted by American troops, and the massacre in the South Vietnamese city of
taken away b\ the Viet Cong. Their bodies,
were
Mich as torturing or killing of unarmed, nonresisting
civilians or prisoners,
nun
14
IAI
and anyone they judged "a cruel tyrant or reactionary element."
was only
Hue
after the
Americans and South Vietnamese
that they discovered
what had occurred
forces
had recap-
to the civilian population.
During the postbattle cleanup and reconstruction of the
city,
they discovered
mass graves of those slaughtered and executed. Searchers found 2,810 bodies,
and additional records estimated that eign nationals Above:
1
1.
Willi. mi Calley
Rcnning
siin
prison (or his
p.irl
Foci
82
ksdc
m
i-
M\
killed
many
as
5,700 people
— including
for-
by the Viet Cong.
escorted to the
to begin his
the
—may have been
as
I-ii
lift-
u-rm
miUlfTT
in
Opposite:
A young widow holding the photograph of her husband slain
by Communist forces
at
Hue.
i
^1 IBS
f
r
I
"WE ^OTTA q£T OUTTA THIS PLACESMUSIC CT THE VIETNAM WAR QUICK FACTS •
i
;
5
Green Berets"
Ballad of the
.
B.irr\
;.
In
"I isten
Armed
the
"California Dreamin'" by
The Mamas and
the Papas
"Elusive Butterfly" b> 5
Vietnam.
It
was a reminder of home in an otherwise foreign
Walkin'"by
for
People" by Herman's Hermits
• 1968: lop
music was an important part of the American troops'
and dangerous place. The major broadcast source Made
Sinatra
\
'n' roll
lives in
Sadler
Boots Ar,
Win.
Kock
Songs on March 12
Top 40 songs
Forces Radio, which taped
Los Angeles and had
them
airlifted to
music was
for
in recording studios in
Vietnam. The military had a number
of restrictions about the type of music that could be played. Protest songs,
and any music that could be interpreted as a protest, were prohibited. One of the most notable top hits in 1966 on the approved playlist was "The
Boh lind
Songs on November 23
Green
Ballad of the
Berets," a patriotic song written
and performed by Staff
"Hev.Judc" by The Beatles
Sergeant Barry Sadler.
"Line Child" by Diana Ross and the
Enlisted
Supremos
men became
bored with the approved playlists for the
Armed
"Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin
Forces Radio stations because they were dominated by classical music or
"Manic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf
light
"Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion
on
•
1
°m0: Top
War"
'
"Make
In it
5
Songs on August 29
tlie
a result soldiers
One
began bringing their
of the most popular songs
"We Gotta Get Outta
Professional musicians
Summertime" by Munjjo
"Spill the
As
among
own music
to play
the enlisted
men
This Place" by the Animals.
had a big impact on the antiwar movement. Folk
With You" by Bread singers
"Close to You" by The Carpenters "In
tunes.
their stereos.
was
Edwin Starr
pop
Wine" by
• 1^72: Top
5
Eric
Jerry
Burdon and War
Songs on September 9
Bob Dylan, Joan
antiwar concerts.
was Woodstock, held in upstate cert,
O'SulIhan
dominant perfonner
The
Hollies
Tin
Still in
(in a
Black Dress)" by
Love With You" by Al Green
"Bain Don't Gel Hooked on
Me"
utilized lar
Mat Davis .i
Fine Cirl)" by Looking
in
War period
York in 1968. The theme song of the conStills,
Nash, and Young, had an antiwar
who had served in Vietnam in the 101st Airborne, was the of a new style of psychedelic music called "acid rock" that
One
of his most popu-
songs was "Purple Haze," which had references to the purple smoke used to
lious
"Brand) (You're
New
the electric guitar in ways never before imagined.
mark landing zones
by
rock concert during the Vietnam
"Woodstock," performed by Crosby,
theme. Jimi Hendrix,
Woman
and Pete Seeger composed songs and perfonned
The most famous
"Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert
"Long Cool
Baez,
for helicopters.
Though
his
music and the hard-edged rebel-
music of Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and similar groups did not break
the Top- 10 charts, they
had widespread
air
time both in the United States and in
rlass
(
South Vietnam. In 1970 the antiwar movement had • l°74: "The
I
lu
"The
5
Songs on Ma\ 25
s trv.tk" by
"D.iik ing "
Top
antiwar song by Edwin Starr that was simply
Ray Stevens
Mat hiiu"
In
The Jackson
It
Entertainer" b) Marvin Hamlisch Shorn Must
Go On" by Three Dog
Night
"Band OO
was
5
War from
this
Run"
In Paul
Ml
C
music in
otic or supportive:
all earlier
An
American
"War."
wars. Previously, the music
was
patri-
antiwar song was an exception. In the Vietnam War, rule.
.irtncv
cv \\ ingl
Opposite:
*4
an anthem a powerful
element of protest that separated the music of the Vietnam
an antiwar song was more the the
titled,
as
A marine carrying his M-16 and
guitar at
Khe Sanh.
—
I
THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT riginally in the early
QUICK FACTS •
In
on November
speech
.1
Nixon
President
used
tir>t
},
ment's claim that U.S. troops were in South Vietnam to stop 1969,
phrase
the
"silent majority" to refer to unpublicized sup-
porters of his policies, in contract to protes-
who
tor-
much media
received
attention.
it\
and
prevails over reason
majority, this nation has iety.
.
.
And
.
mv
—you, the great fellow Americans —
ask tor your support."
• A major occurred
e\ ent in
movement when an esti-
the antiwar
November
in
1969,
mated 500,000 participants staged a protest
march
in
Washington, D.C.
were sent to South Vietnam. By 1968 many people from
tragically
fired
4.
when Ohio National Guardsmen
on student
wounding of the
hit
walks of
all
life
began to question why the United States was involved.
Those opposing the war ran the gamut from Students
for a
Democratic
Society (SDS), to far-right conservative groups, to nonpartisan organizations,
Their motives were equally diverse. College students
to civil rights groups.
became
subject to military service
draft resisters. Religious groups,
Some civil-rights from money needed
such
as the
Quakers, protested for religious reasons.
groups saw the
money
to fight the
spent
on the war
on poverty and
as
being taken
inequality. Civil rights leader Dr.
had won the Nobel Peace
1970, at Kent State Univer-
Ohio, a student antiwar protest ended
in
of troops
Prize in 1964, said in a
Martin Luther King
Jr.,
war
who
speech in 1967, "[W]e have
been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys
• On May sit\
number
as a free
so tonight
majority ot
silent
no future
America did
as the years passed,
not seem to be gaining ground even though an increasing
he speech said in part, "It a vocal minorthe will of the
Communism. But
the spread of
1
1
1960s most people accepted the govern-
9.
protestors,
killing
4 and
This event became the subject
song "Ohio," by Crosby,
on
TV screens
to seat
them together
In 1965 a poll
in the
for a
nation that has been unable
same schools."
showed more than half of Americans supported the
war. In
1967 polls showed that only thirty-five percent of the American people sup-
Stills,
ported
Nash, and Young.
and die together
as they kill
it.
Responding to
this shift, senators
and members of Congress who
supported President Johnson began speaking out, questioning the strategic necessity of the war.
But the true
in sentiment
shift
Johnson had never
fully
was due to the
communicated
to the
important to be in South Vietnam. This
and more people of
all
the war. This antiwar
President
American people why
failure,
number
perceived success and the growing
fact that
it
was
coupled with the lack of
of dead soldiers, caused
more
ages and backgrounds to raise their voices against
movement would come
to include the nonpartisan
Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Though never gathered one overall group and having different motivations, these protestors
organization into
students
and
blue-collar
workers,
veterans
and businesspeople
—were
united in their desire to end the war.
When find a
way
Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968, his priority was to to get the
United States out of South Vietnam.
Alxn,-: Antiu.ir protestors
demonstrating
in
Wichita, Kansas.
Opposite: Veterans marching in Washington,
demanding
86
that the troops in
D.C,
Vietnam be brought home.
THE DRAFT
•
S<
System was com*
^
>.!
hoards
ra ft
were white males
who were
veterans
earlier wars.
A
1966 survey
hoard members
ol
the draft revealed that
of
onh
1
Women
16,638
ol
percent were African American.
>
.
Women
All
manpower
to
option for white upper-
military hut avoid the possibility of being in
Vietnam
was
National Guard. In 1968 only
Arms
National
percent of
1
Guard troops were
African American. of the eligible
males from 1464 to 1973 received deferments. Only 2 percent, or approximately
\oung
520,000
reality fell short.
The most abused
men,
committed
The
draft
man
disabilities,
Lafferty,
them
able to
an
activist
who
lawyer
to avoid the draft.
He
built-in bias against the poorest
on the
that,
surface,
as Lafferty
mom,
H0OCTS
am
t-
observed, "Every aspect oi the draft had a
young men
"If
One
deferment
might actually improve
military service
money
home
to send
to your
passionately opposed to the war chose to emigrate rather
similar culture,
He
.
67
its
shared border with the United States
was the country most often used
later observed,
lot
many
"There were a
lot
for this.
of us in Vietnam
of us didn't have the courage to do
Tim
O'Brien,
who didn't want
what the
to
resisters did. It
of courage to cross the border and leave behind your family and your girlfriend. ...
I
ended up going to Vietnam
reputation and sense of self-esteem, but the guys
somehow were
able to find the moral courage to
gonna dog them the
rest
make
just to protect
who went
to
a choice they
Canada
knew was
of their lives."
boot and back of a Selective Service i
.irJ.
also
known
.is
the
dr.ili
i
ard.
Opposite:
8S
in the country."
you were an unemployed kid in inner-city
mom was on welfare,
hometown and your
my
both ItrtMi. Jan.
In
about the legal means avail-
graduated from college in 1968, was drafted and shipped to Vietnam in
took a
I
men
the circumstances were right."
be there, and
rat ion
number of draft coun-
while the wealthy could claim that military service would be an economic
its
1969.
t
young
which favored the
age.
established a
your economic circumstances and give you more
who
AKrrt
with loop-
appeared to favor the poor was the "hardship" deferment.
pointed out,
Detroit and your
and
r
filled
to avoid military service through deferments.
than be drafted. Canada, because of
-i
all
should be obligated for service.
of these were the college deferments,
The men most
.i
intent was that
was unfairly administered,
seling centers in the midwest, advised
crisis if
.
The
sufficient source of
draft
violations.
BCTT
approximately
affected
was to provide a
and well-educated American males of draft
James
But
• More than 57 percent
—
the ranks of the different services.
fill
the
join
to
draft
men, excepting those with medical
affluent
middle-class males wishing to serve in the
the
Vietnam War. The purpose of the
holes that allowed a young
volunteers.
stationed
"draft"
draft.
served in the military were
favorite
—the
twenty-six million American males ages eighteen to twenty-four during the
But the
were not affected hv the
women who
• One
System
Service
Selective
the
were not allowed to serve on draft
boards until 1967.
•
one of two ways: they either volunteered or they were conscripted by law. Conscription into the military under services in
unpaid volunteers, most of
staffed b>
whom
i(
almost 4,000 local
t
and
n
Vietnam War, men were inducted into the military
uring the
QUICK TACTS
A student burns
what he claims
is
his draft card.
President Johnson's decision to not ask Congress to declare war against
QUICK FACTS • Numerous attempts were made cue American i
n
I
None
ight
included
rescue opera' tor the fail-
intelligence,
fault)
moved
being
POWs
before the mission, or
just
Viet
(the
nickname
for
Son lay), Slddrow, D-l, Rockpile, PlantaZoo, Alcatraz, and Dogpatch.
tion, the
•
Estimates oi
\.ir\.
POW
tragic
consequences
designated prisoners of war
longest-held
who was
POW was Army Special
captured on March 26, 1964.
was released on March
16,
rules regarding their treatment are
declared state of war did not exist between the United States and
He
military personnel were not
POWs;
As
POWs
other atrocities. American
were kept in a number of prisons. The
most famous of them was Hoa Lo, known by
"Hanoi Hilton," located
in
North Vietnam's
weight was
confinement.
significance.
the
When he
A
1 1
He
days, allowing sheet.
him
to
recalled,
and a pinhole
large
it
He
pate in the lives" of people
The
nail
later said,
The
officially ..i
90
receipt
i<>r l
regarded as tbc
war released
after
aptaifl
Robert White,
American prisoner the Vietnam War last
crying and
was used
my
as a tool to
cell for
"That peephole enabled
seventeen
mark the
who walked
whooping with
in his
joy."
through
past his prison.
ceremony following the signing of
The POWs had
they received news of their release.
men
me
tiptoe,
hours at a time each day and partici-
officially released in a
Johnson, recalled that Above:
in the tin [sheet] covering
enough, he could, by standing on
the Paris Peace Accords in January 27, 1973.
when
When he was
"Small things began to take on major
of the most important [things] in
imagination to leave the
reactions
captured in Laos while on a
keep a calendar and to enlarge the hole in the tin
Once he had made
The POWs were
capital.
pounds. His captivity included long stretches in
confinement."
look out onto the street.
my
5
nail in the wall
solitary
more famous nickname the
was captured, he weighed 185 pounds.
window became two
months of
its
POW
Colonel Lawrence R. Bailey was a
solitary
Si-
under the protection of the Geneva
fall
Americans found themselves subject to torture and
a result, captured
released, his
CTI—
instead, they stated, these prisoners
Conventions.
1973.
AMO TtAMlMf TU UJF
North
Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government claimed that captured U.S.
secret mission. OUTWC
the
clearly spelled out.
officially listed
Captain Floyd James Thompson,
Forces
destroy-
Geneva Convention, which combatants captured by the enemy are
—POWs—and
St deaths. U.S. sources range from 54 to 72.
• The
Navy
American servicemen captured by the
for
Cong and North Vietnamese. Under
were criminals, and thus did not
deaths in captivity
The North Vietnamese
patrol boats attacked U.S.
in 1964,
But the North Vietnamese government exploited the legal fact that a
• American POWs were kept in a number ol prisons, some of which were nicknamed:
Hope
wake of the Tonkin Gulf incident
contains rules of conduct during war,
delays in launching the rescue mission.
Briar-patch, Faith,
would have
ers,
of the
in the
when North Vietnamese
to res«
Code Name
o(
dons were successful. Reasons ure
North Vietnam
he operations were
I
name
umbrella
tlu-
Bright
POWs.
WAR
PRISONERS OT
•
a
wide range of
One POW, Sam
group "ran to each other, hugging and
_ Opposite:
Communist
, AA wounded,,barefoot ,
forces, being escorted
,
air force officer,
through a
city in
captured by
North Vietnam.
HAMBUK^£R • During
the wati national television-news
North Vietnam had
that
Offensive and train • Local tribeapeopk
Ap
called
Bia Mountain its
"the mountain of the crouching beast"
• One
the fighting in the a
famous quotes about
of the most
Vietnam War came from
nameless soldier's
during the
The
m.t\
the end of the
at
letter,
not he able to read this.
writing this in a hurry.
up the
home, written
on Hamburger
fighting
quote,
"You
letter
I
see death
Hill.
am
coming
enced isolated incidences of violence against superior officers by enlisted troops. In the
Vietnam War these
acts in
American
was the use
of
low soldiers
— usually
to he
actual
fel-
incompetent, and thus dan-
incidents
were
K-came more common i\pcricnced
murder
officers or sergeants
gerous to troops in combat.
discipline
very
Though
the
they
few,
1969 when units
in
problems
huge
OU '-\ear
turnover
of
to recoup the losses recruits.
Valley.
had long been
new
a
had suffered during the Tet
it
One
of the areas
A
Shau Valley
The
far
needed to rebuild was
it
located in the north-
is
DMZ
from the
major base
reason for this was
and on the border
North Vietnamese Army.
for the
weapons, ammunition, and supplies. They were also con-
make
buildings and bunkers that would
disrupt this construction
sanctuary,
MACV
the
camp an impreg-
included U.S.
and destroy North Vietnamese units
in this
planned a campaign code-named "Operation Apache
Snow." Launched on
May
Army and
10,
1969
it
was a combined forces assault that
Army
Marines, and South Vietnamese
troops as
well as air strikes.
On
and
a
Bia
the second day of the operation,
American troops
—Ap Bia Mountain. Normally Communist
forces
into the jungle. But this time they chose to stay
and
seized
Dong Ap
would have retreated
What happened
fight.
next was a battle so severe and bloody that troops called
it
a "meat grinder."
The fighting raged from May 1 1 to May 20, 1969. When it was over, the enemy was severely mauled, having suffered an estimated 630 dead. U.S. troops suffered fifty-six
troops due to the
tOUT'Of'duty rule.
The major
nable staging area for future offensives.
five rapid
It
stores of
structing
decline of qualified leaders as a result of the
Shau
significantly.
During the monsoon season of early 1969, the Communists began stockpiling
fragmentation grenades by
enlisted militarv personnel to
new
American and South Vietnamese
units
were called "fragging incidents." Fragging
judged
with Laos.
To history have experi-
troops and
western part of South Vietnam, not
hill."
• Armies throughout
A
base in the
read, I
Army
had declined
on the Vietnam War.
in their reports
s
forces
Tet Offensive, ground combat between North
after the
Vietnamese
broadcasts would include dairy body counl statists
months
or
QUICK FACTS
Hill
men
killed,
and the South Vietnamese Army
lost
men. After the fighting was over and the U.S. troops were clearing up
the battlefield, one soldier nailed onto a tree a cardboard sign that read,
HAMBURGER it
worth
HILL.
A short
time later another soldier added the words, "Was
it?"
enemy troops and not when Operation Apache Snow ended on June
Because the purpose of the campaign was to seize
and occupy
territory,
kill
to 7,
American and South Vietnamese troops returned to their bases. Shortly after they left, Communists reoccupied the area. This caused a huge 1969, the
uproar in the United States. bolize the futility of
winning
The
fight
battles in
on Hamburger
Hill
Vietnam without achieving Opposite:
A
wounded
dustoff at a base
92
seemed
to sym-
a victory.
U.S. paratrooper awaiting a
camp near Hamburger
Hill.
(
hi
May
20,
on the
floor of the Senate, Massachusetts
Kennedy denounced the attack on Dong irresponsible
.
.
.
madness
.
.
.
American boys
for a false sense of military pride."
battle, stating,
enemy."
And
"We
Ap
Senator Edward M.
Bia, calling
it
"senseless
and
are too valuable to be sacrificed
General Creighton Abrams defended the
are not fighting for terrain as such.
We are going after the
Texas Senator John Tower added that with regard to reaching a
peace settlement, "Unless
we
are prepared to surrender to the
enemy, we
must negotiate from a position of strength." But such thoughts of strategy and peace were part of a different world from the one where the troops in Vietnam lived. Patrick
who fought on Hamburger Hill, know anyone who was not frightened. It's just
Power, a nineteen-year-old soldier later wrote, "I didn't
a matter of being
nineteen or twenty years old and being scared,
not knowing, not having any control as to what's happening.
At
A Shau
V.ill. \.
down
intotfai
fog'shrouded
.
.
we had to identify the bodies, or what there bag them up for the next day. ... I was just
the end of the battle,
was
Above: A soldier stares
.
left
of them, [and]
was out, and
glad
I
were
alive."
I
think everyone was very elated that they
Opposite:
A soldier gathers
surrounding a camp in the
up barbed wire A Shau Valley.
94
MMi
^^H
—
THE SECRET IVAK. LAOS AND CAMBODIA he countries of Laos and Cambodia form the western borders of North and South Vietnam. During the Vietnam War both small
a
» 1 1
«
called "spike
si^n "ST." Their
much
as pos-
Combat teams assigned to v\ it li were the enenn contact
initiate
.is
sible.
"hatchet teams" and had the U.S.
Viet l.\
bombings
Cong
ot
called
"HT."
eall si^n
North Vietnamese and
tons,
more than
the
dropped by the United States
and the
Pacific during
• The CIA used
amount
in
World War
Europe
the Viet
Cong were
a battleground
for the
Ho Chi Minh
group was
Trail supply route constructed within
Because Laos and Cambodia were militarily weak countries,
their borders.
they could do nothing to stop Communists' violation of their tenitory. In
honored the neutrality and ordered
contrast the United States officially
its
enemy across those borders. This official policy infuriin America, who thought Communists had no right to refuge.
forces not to pursue the
ated
many people
know was
But what the people did not
airplanes and crews to
The cover name
violating that neutrality with base camps, supply depots,
and the
rest centers,
II.
conduct secret intelligence operations in Laos.
became
Vietnam War. The U.S. government knew that North Vietnam and
in the
positions in Laos totaled almost
million
still
mission was to observe the
enemy and avoid contact
•
nations were neutral. But their land
leadership, the tor fighting
about
government had an
Communist
that under President Johnson's
unofficial policy
forces in Laos
and Cambodia.
were revealed to the general public by the
it
—
a covert
program
Later, after the facts
press, the
campaign was
"Air America."
known • The bers
ot
I'.S.
the
memHuk and
indigenous
tribes,
Montagnards, who hated the Vietnamese.
Mam
ot the special-operations
\er\ >.lose
Green the CIA.
including the
units,
Recon,
men formed
bonds with the tribespeople.
as well as
These units would sabotage the
even
set
up their
When Secret
1970 a
own
War
nition,
At
known enemy
Trail,
sites
and attack
installations,
monitor troop movements, and
observation
sites
and camps.
series
of raids in
Communists
Cambodia captured
supplies, including
to the bargaining table. In vast stores of
23,000 individual weapons, 2,500 mortars,
artillery pieces, 16.7 million
and 14 million pounds of
this point the majority of
--
^
resolutions president.
and
rice.
rounds of small-arms
ammu-
But the military success came too
late.
Congress wanted the United States out of
legislative initiatives that limited the executive
The most important
May
North Vietnamese
Vietnam, regardless of the consequences. In 1970 Congress passed a
|
call in
conduct intelligence-gathering missions. The units
in order to force
machine guns and
li>
SEALs, Air Commandos, and Force
Richard Nixon became president, he upped the stakes in the
equipment and
11
Berets,
infiltrate
Ho Chi Minh
as well as
airstrikes,
CAttl
War." This program used a variety of special-force
as "the Secret
teams often worked with
series of
power of the
of these stopped the funding for any military
action in the region beyond the borders of South Vietnam.
AKr,», .•li
President Nixon during a pn •-.* conference Vietnam and Cambodia.
Opposite:
Two South Vietnamese Special Forces soldiers push a cart through a burning hut as they carry out a scorched-earth operation against a Communist supply area along the Cambodian border.
96 f*V
UHHaVM
VIHTNAM12ATI ON QUICK FACTS •O
On
the
U.S. assets
all
as"
with
tin
program.
Together
Dependent Shelter Program! the
navy provided permanenl shelter and stock ith •>ar\
the
for
families
of
sailors
Vietnamese Navy. This
because
sailors
the
live-
the
in
w.i>
were
paid
not
to
support their Families.
• Vietnamese
is
.1
language L
an have
>
—
to the
In truth having the
Even
six different
Army and Navy had
it
South Vietnamese
after they
had been
an ambitious program, and to
happen
fight their
fast.
own war had been an
American goal since the long-ago days of the military advisors. Subsequent military and political events had caused modifications of that intent,
These tones
A
South Vietnamese
transfer of
ammunition, and
military bases, arms, vehicles, aircraft,
because of domestic antiwar sentiment,
resulting in the
singsong sound.
would be an orderly
trained in their use and upkeep. This was
monosyllabic language gives the
single
word
meanings, depending
on the lone used.
•
supplies
—
It
neces*
enough money
that has si\ tones.
1969 President Nixon, as part of his promise to
he called "Vietnamization."
Husbandry Program) popularly called the Pigs-and-(
3,
withdraw U.S. forces from Vietnam, formally announced a program
more unusual aspects of tnamization was the navy's Animal
M
November
so,
United States shouldering most of the war-making burden.
the advisor program had never been completely disbanded.
The tumultuous events of 1968 had caused most government leaders to demand the transition be made as quickly as possible. Though the Tet Offensive had caused the South Vietnamese to
rally to their
government and
Ellsworth Hunker served as ambassador to
South Vietnam
tor si\ vears, longer
than any
other American ambassador to the country.
the South Vietnamese troops to fight for their nation, not tary
and
political leaders in
could survive on in the
United
its
States,
all
American
South Vietnam were convinced that the country
own. But regardless of their doubts, the with
mili-
its
strong antiwar sentiment,
political reality
made Vietnamization
a must-do program.
The pressure on On November 2,
the U.S. military leaders was enormous.
MACV
new
1968,
commander Gen. transition. Abrams
Creighton Abrams held a briefing on the
had
just returned
from Washington, D.C., where everyone
was concerned about the imminent general election. Having just traveled
The
first
briefing officer
sented the illustrate
more than seven thousand
air force's
was an
and be
shouted, "There lire
northern
Mekong
at
who
pre-
was that the turnover would take
successfully
Gen. Abrams slammed
ietnamese position! during fighting
colonel
tired.
with various charts and graphs the transition
eight years
\
air force
he was
plan using an elaborate slide show to
process. His conclusion
Above; Soutn Vietnamese troops
miles,
is
his
no longer
completed fist
in 1976.
down on
the table and
a consensus of support for the
North
in the
Delta In s "inli Vietnam.
Opposite: Gen. Creighton Abrams, at the head of the table, in a
98 ,j>\wr
luncheon meeting with presidential advisors.
war back
in the
United States. [1976
is]
out of the question!
dent wants to get the war turned over as soon as possible. that
.
.
.
The
We have
presi-
to
make
happen."
"Our principal objectives shifted [from the military defeat of Communists] to protecting the South Vietnamese at the village level, reestablishing the local political process, and
Nixon
President
later recalled,
winning the loyalty of the peasants by involving them
in the gov-
ernment and providing them with economic opportunity." At the same time that Vietnamization was put into action, a schedule was created to return American combat troops to the
American now-abandoned American United
advisors supervised the transition of
States.
military bases
South Vietnamese. Despite enormous first
and equipment
difficulties,
it
to the
did happen.
The
problem faced by the advisors was the Vietnamese language
itself.
Because
it is
a language that evolved
around agriculture and
needs, the technical vocabulary required for the weapons,
its
transport,
and mechanical equipment did not
enough South Vietnamese nical
soldiers
communication was done
The
gradual return of
remained
in
all
Fortunately
English, so
all
tech-
in English.
American
continued so that, by 1972, sors
knew some
exist.
units to the
United States
but a small group of military advi-
South Vietnam. U.S. ambassador to South
Vietnam Ellsworth Bunker observed, "Considering that the country
was
at war,
I
think
it
was quite remarkable how well the gov-
ernment functioned." Above (nn. Creighton Gen. Westmoreland
as
AbraniS)
bead
ol
who mcceeded
MAC'V.
Opposite:
100
A
South Vietnamese regional-forces trooper in 1970.
OPERATION 1AM SOS
4 QUICK FACTS n
.
i
stroyed and more than 600 .l.in
-
Arm)
Vietnamese n
of
woe
from North
fire
batteries.
antiaircraft
force aircraft
.in
American
result
a
ALT,
Ariuv helicopters had
v
moi
WHS
Soil
III.
I
Br
were shot down.
casualties totaled
253
killed
and
1,149 wounded.
• The
2,600 sorties craft
Air
l.S.
—
Force
Trail
was kept
out the
trail.
more
now
the official U.S. policy, more and
responsibility for conducting the war in
Vietnam was
given to the South Vietnamese government. Operation
Lam Son, Trail,
a
campaign
was the
first
to cut off supplies
real
test
Ho Chi Minh
coming down the
of the Vietnamization program.
Though
American war planes and helicopters would assist in the fighting, all the ground troops would be from the South Vietnamese Army. Operation Lam Son was launched on February 8, 1971, when fifteen thousand South Vietnamese Army troops invaded Laos and rushed to sever the
Ho Chi Minh
Trail at a
town named Tchepone,
just twenty-five miles
Khe Sanh. The South Vietnamese assault stalled after advancing twelve miles. The North Vietnamese fought back hard and rushed reinforcements into the threatened area. American air power was of little help at first because heavy fog prevented effective air attack. Later, when the west of
in
good condition hy approximately 300,000 full-time workers located in bases
^MT
Vietnamization
air-
— in support of Operation Lam Son.
• The Ho Chi Minh
ith
T
more than
tleu
missions by individual
A*W W
through
weather cleared, the North Vietnamese forces were well prepared with deadly antiaircraft defenses that included cannon, heavy machine guns,
and surface-to-air
On March
6,
missiles.
South Vietnamese troops captured the town of Tchepone.
But the victory was short-lived. With more and more North Vietnamese troops arriving, the South Vietnamese units
outnumbered and were forced
to retreat.
became
They came
under constant attack during the retreat and would
have been slaughtered had
it
not been for American
air support.
In a scenario typical of the
ence, politicians in both
Vietnam War
experi-
North Vietnam and
United States saw elements of success support their program and strategy.
in the
in the battle to
On
April
7,
1971
President Nixon, in a televised speech to the nation,
announced, "Tonight succeeded."
At
I
can report Vietnamization has
the same time, the North Vietnam
government declared that Operation Lam Son was "the heaviest defeat ever for
Above; South
IOZ
\
i,
tnanv
m
toldien
in
an armored troop carrier.
Nixon and Company."
THE £A5T£K OFFENSIVE n 1972 President Nixon's Vietnamization program had reduced the
QUICK FACTS • Oiu- reason
number
Communists'
initial
success in this battle was that the
com-
tor the
manders of the South Vietnamese Armv were embarrassed by being surprised and defeated in the opening attacks. To
many
Asians, "saving face" and avoiding personal
embarrassmenl U more important than losing
on«A
lite.
• Marine
much
what was occur-
The North Vietnamese government, well aware o( this reduction, believed now was the time to strike a decisive blow in South Vietnam. Even with the American Air Force and Navy stationed nearby, they 5
felt
^6,100 to 65,000 men.
that
would be easy to defeat the South Vietnamese Army. Gen. Giap
it
The name he chose
laid plans for the largest offensive in the war.
Nguyen Hue campaign, but because
operation was the
advisors to the South Vietnamese
Vietnamese
as
"Covans." Coicm
is
tor "trusted advisor."
• Nguyen Hue was most important
it
for his
was launched on
it
the "Easter Offensive."
1972 the North Vietnamese
30,
Army
launched a massive
multiprong attack through the Demilitarized Zone in the north, from sanctuaries in
Cambodia, through the Central Highlands
in the middle,
and
just
above Saigon in the south. Communists were aided by bad weather that
a national hero
military leader in
the Easter holiday, Americans called
On March
later in the hattle.
A run were known
history.
peak strength of
a
Thus, top headquarters did not
receive accurate reports of ring until
Vietnam from
of ground troops in South
and the
Vietnamese
grounded
all aircraft.
ranks. Resistance
Confusion and
was
spotty.
Some
fear
swept the South Vietnamese
Army
units were overrun, others panicked,
still
With an army of 100,000 men, he
deteated
Chinese
a
200.000 men
in
invading
army
of
January 1789, thus saving
Vietnam from China. This victory occurred on the 5th day Var. which
ot Tet, the
later
became
Vietnamese
New
enemy advances. Marine Lieutenant Colonel G. H. Turly, an American advisor during this period, later recounted one act of extraordinary heroism among the South others put up a spirited defense that delayed
Vietnamese, writing, "Sergeant
Luom and
his rocket
team remained
in their
a national holiday.
assigned position. bridge.
The
.
classic
.
.
[T]he
first
T-54 tank arrived
at the
north end of the
confrontation between an Asian 'David' and a forty-ton
The
steel 'Goliath'
was about to begin.
pound marine
lying in the direct path of a forty-ton tank
respect incredibly mad. In another inspiring.
.
.
."
.
.
.
spectacle of this ninety-five-
more important
respect,
.
it
.
.
was in one
was incredibly
Taking careful aim with his handheld antitank rocket
launcher called a
LAAW,
Sgt.
Luom
the tank at a key spot,
fired, hitting
which temporarily stopped the North Vietnamese's main ground attack. Initially the North Vietnamese had great success. But as the weather cleared,
American warplanes were
able to launch aerial counterattacks.
Also, mines were laid in the important cutting off supplies.
South Vietnamese
Though
Army was
North Vietnam port of Haiphong, into the summer,
fighting continued
the
able to launch a counteroffensive that drove
the North Vietnamese out in June
1972.
The
failed
Easter Offensive
proved that President Nixon's Vietnamization policy seemed to be working. Above: A South VletnameM marine carries die body lii-. dead omradc.
"I
Opposite: South Vietnamese medic and refugees dash for cover
i
during a
Communist
attack
on the South Vietnamese
capital.
lOj isM
:
'j
«
—
THE LINEBACKER OPERATIONS hi lc President
QUICK FACTS •
tor
->>n
(
w.in thai President
the
bis mili-
ur\ advisors the freedom to decide which targets to attack
and how often
to attack
to the defense of air
paign.
Operation Rolling Thunder Air
believed
tone and navy commanders President Johnson's
that
made
il
enemy
targets.
•
the
impossible
look just
It
to
Mam
in
its ally. It
I
1
1
as
Linebacker
May
was launched on
10,
bomb
days of bombing to brin» to the negotiating
U.S. airmen believed that
President Johnson had allowed them
if
to
committed
I
and Linebacker
II.
1972 in response to North
Vietnam's Easter Offensive in March. Using precision-guided munitions the so-called "smart"
bombs
that contained small computerized aiming
refusal
effectively
still
backed up that pledge of support with the use of
two campaigns known
devices, unlike the previous
dropped from planes
North Vietnamese
table.
cam*
air
power
Linebacker
them. President Johnson refused to do that in the
evacuation of most American ground troops from
South Vietnam, the U.S. government was
Linebacker Vs success
Nixon allowed
Nixon's Vietnamization program had led to
—
bombs
had no "brain" and were simply
that
time U.S. Air Force and
for the first
Navy
planes
attacked highways, railroads, bridges, and warehouses as well as troop targets.
When
the operation ended, the bombings had severely disrupted the flow
of supplies to the invading troops, causing the offensive to
Linebacker
I,
the South Vietnamese
Army was
stall.
Thanks
to
able to successfully counter-
conduct a similar all-out campaign with Operation Rolling Thunder, the Vietnam
War could have ended much
Later that year, representatives from the United States, South Vietnam,
earlier.
•There are an estimated 15 million large bomb craters in Vietnam. Most still exist, causing those areas to look pitted like the surface of the that
moon. The only difference
the holes in
attack and drive the invaders out.
Vietnam are
filled
is
with
North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong met
The U.S. government became more and more frustrated because no progress was made in the meetings. The North Vietnamese representatives made unreasonable demands, including one that called for South Vietnam to treaty.
disband
water and surrounded by plants.
in Paris, France, to discuss a peace
south.
army while allowing North Vietnam
its
And,
sentatives
after
would
to station
its
army
having made their demands, the North Vietnamese reprerefuse to
budge from their positions. Eventually, the
broke off altogether. Finally, on December 13, 1972, President
Nixon
an ultimatum to the North Vietnamese government, demanding that to the negotiation table "or else."
When
the resumption of the air attack over
launched on December
United States
and
g(
About!
I
tu .ilnrm.ith of a
on Vietnamese
pockmarked
B-52
it
it
talks
issued
return
refused, the president authorized
North Vietnam. Linebacker
II
was
1972. Called the "Christmas Bombings" by the
B-52 bombers and other planes attacked
Hanoi and
as well as other locations.
in
strategic targets
North Vietnam's major port
On December 28,
city,
the North Vietnamese
ivernment agreed to reopen negotiations.
air-sirike mission
t.irnil.uul leavei tin-
«itli
press,
18,
antiaircraft defenses in
Haiphong,
in the
bomb craters, now
countryside filled «itli
water.
Opposite: B-52 Stratofortress dropping bombs.
lOO wm
THE PAX1S PEACE TALKS he
QUICK FACTS • During
ttfa
hi
51,»
Vietnamese
soldiers
Kissinger
tir>t
otiarjons with die
became involved
in
North Vietnamese
in
cam
used him as a secret
offers
of bombing
• North Vietnam's top
negotiator,
emissary to
Le Due
in
1973
for their
work
in the Paris
Peace Accords. Dr. Kissinger
accepted
his.
Le Due
his pri:e
because he claimed the war had
Tho
refused to accept
would stop bombing
negotiate a peaceful settlement.
and representatives from both to
attempt was
initi-
end the war
in
North Vietnam and
targets in
The North Vietnamese government
sides arranged to
meet
in Paris to discuss
on
how
futile
until 1973.
There were many points of contention. The two most that the
agreed,
Vietnam. Thus began long, torturous, and often
negotiations that would continue off and
halts.
Tho, and Dr. Kissinger were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
first
Johnson announced on March 31, 1968,
of the Tet Offensive. President
that the United States
1967. during the Johnson administration. President Johnson
The
were
din 1973 and N74.
• Dr.
attempts to reach a negoti-
series of
ated by the United Stares in 1968, shortly after the conclusion
JPhW
Kin. un, approximately
\
were a
ated settlement to the Vietnam War.
thai existed betwi
the truo.
Paris peace talks
significant
were
North Vietnamese government refused to recognize the legitimacy
of the South Vietnamese government and that the South Vietnamese govern-
ment
At
refused to agree to allow the Viet
times
it
seemed that neither
After Richard
not ended.
secret
—chain
Nixon became
side
Cong
a voice in the negotiations.
was serious about ending the war.
president in 1969, he added a second
—and
of talks with Communists. This series of talks was led by
National Security Advisor Dr. Henry Kissinger. Secret negotiations occurring simultaneously with public ones regarding peace treaties are not unusual.
Sometimes there
are subjects so sensitive that
were made public,
complex and
A 11
any news of their discussion
would wreck negotiations. The Vietnam War had many
volatile issues that
had
to be resolved.
The most important
included the guarantee of South Vietnamese sovereignty, the withdrawal of all
Communist troops from South Vietnam, and the repatriation of all American POWs. It was these secret discussions, together with the failure of North Vietnam's Easter Offensive and the follow-up of the United States's Linebacker
I
and
bombing
II
On January
pa
it
if
raids that finally
27, 1973, the
broke the deadlock in the negotiations.
"Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring
Peace in Vietnam" was signed in Paris by the United States, North Vietnam,
South Vietnam, and the Viet Cong. The key clause was that
would leave South Vietnam within return of
all
all
U.S. troops
sixty days simultaneously
with the
American POWs.
But before the ink was even dry on the treaty documents, both North
Above: Wive* waiting
f«.r
oi
marine
POWi
and South Vietnam were violating the cease-fire truce. The only clause honored was the departure of all American troops and the eventual release of Camp
,n
airplane thai
Pendleton,
emerge from the has brought them home.
their freed hiishandi io
American POWs. Fighting would continue Opposite: President
IOS
Nixon
(right)
in
Vietnam
for
two more
years.
with his National Security Advisor, Dr. Kissinger
(left).
V.
^ 'j|
*f-
—THE "PENTAGON
,%
QUICK FACTS •
who were Other "\\ bite
mted
11,
were
Ellsberg served
known
.is
two years
in the
served, he never saw
• Nixon was
the
tour
World
history to resign
years
he
combat
the only president in
from
American
Ford, issued a presidential pardon to
what he did
for
in Watergate.
U.S. efforts in
classified study of detail,
He
beginning with the
1940 and ending with the escalating war. Ultimately
more than seven thousand pages. found that the government had misled
many
of
its
own
experts
felt
fied
government documents
Nixon
This meant
Nixon would never face criminal charges.
is
was very
difficult.
issues, Ellsberg
the Espionage Act. But Ellsberg
felt
the
tell
In 1971 he gave his
full
on June
documents
He
stopped, but the
known
became
could be tried for violating
was worth risking the threat of
New
as the
York Times.
furious
when he
his psychiatrist's
of these
discovered
documents
when
phone
Ellsberg was arrested
office.
a mistrial.
The second
trial
was
and dis-
President Nixon's abuse of power regarding
public. far
They spying on White
beyond Daniel
also included illegal wiretaps of reporters' telephones, staffers,
first
tried to get the publication of these
But Nixon's abuses of power extended
House
The
"Pentagon Papers," were pub-
Nixon was
which was declared
missed by the judge Ellsberg
it
he now
authorized the use of illegal wiretaps of Ellsberg's
and the burglary of trial,
publicizing of classi-
Supreme Court overruled him.
The White House brought to
that
to the
13, 1971. President
what had happened.
The
truth about the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.
documents, which came to be lished
about a war
citizens
a serious offense. Because the papers
had dealt with national security
Gerald
its
could not be won. In 1969 he began copying
parts of the study. His next step
office.
as president,
an intelligence
the study totaled
imprisonment to • Nixon's successor
as
Defense Department in the mid-1960s.
Vietnam. Every aspect of the war was studied in
Ellsberg
and reached the rank of lieutenant During
government
for the
compiling the 1967
assisted in
origins of the conflict in
enlisted in the navy during
commander.
worked
the
Marine Corps (L'SMC).
States
• Nixon
War
,kh,
House plumbers."
• Daniel I
statf,
responsible for the wiretaps and
illegal
Ellsberg
analyst for the
people on President Nixon's
lu
I
aniel
AND WATERGATE-
FAPEK5"
and the attempted burglary of the
Ellsberg.
offices of the
Democratic
National Committee in the Watergate Hotel by a specially trained team of
men. Nixon wanted
campaign
to obtain information about the
Democratic presidential
plans.
The series of abuses of power and the following cover-up attempts came to be known as the "Watergate scandal," named after the hotel where police had captured the burglars. The scandal would result in a chain of hearings and
trials
that led to calls for
impeachment of the
Nixon avoided impeachment by resigning from
office
on August
president. 9,
1974.
Above: Washington Pbit reporter! Carl Bernstein (left)
and Robert
who had
repotted
Woodward iln
fright),
Watergate k
.mJ.il.
Opposite: President
Nixon gesturing toward
transcripts of tape
recordings of meetings during his administration in the
HO 3M
wammaa
White House.
B&
THE FAIL OT SAIGON -4 '
FACTS
<£» ICK the last
chaos surrounding the
one knows the exact count of the rescued.
no
14,000 orphans were successfully evacuated h\
air.
The orphans were
sent
to a
of countries, Including the United
variety
Mates.
•
In
Humphrey,
H.
Hubert
Vietnam War,
ahilit\
"We
in
which
is
Vietnam had never backup of U.S. exposed: too
air
many
one of
tends to be a substitute for judgment and
staff at its
1975 the North Vietnamese
8,
lost its desire to
The
attack revealed that
and
inspire
its
power, weaknesses in the South Vietnamese
One
after another,
major
Many
the U.S. government started evacuating people.
orphans. U.S.
name
honor of
o( Saigon to their leader,
Ho
Chi Minh
who had
City, in
died in 1969.
all,
rally
feared they would be
As conditions worsened, The first was Operation
1975, the evacuation of South Vietnamese
2,
Army General Homer
who was
Smith,
• Alter North Vietnam conquered South the
And, above
cities fell.
imprisoned or executed by the North Vietnamese.
begun on April
Army were
government that could
a strong central
Panic engulfed South Vietnamese citizens.
Babylift,
North
were corrupt or incompetent; supplies were inad-
officers
people.
that April 4, 1975, was "probably the longest day of
transport plane carrying two
responsible, recalled
my
life."
That day
One hundred and
three civilians, and eleven crew tering, shattering experience,"
On
members died
Gen. Smith
as
thirty-three orphans, thirtyin the crash. "It
was a shat-
recalled.
April 29 Operation Frequent Wind, the final evacuation of U.S. per-
sonnel and select South Vietnamese citizens, was initiated.
were chaotic. Marine Sergeant Russell
USS
a
hundred and twenty-six South Vietnamese
orphans and seventy-seven Americans crash-landed shortly after takeoff a result of engine failure.
a
conquer South Vietnam. Without the
equate; and maintenance of vehicles was often inconsistent.
isdom."
Vietnam and united the country, they changed
embassy and a few
defiance of the peace treaty signed in Paris, launched
vice
dangers of a great power. Power
1 '
On January
major offensive against South Vietnam.
overestimated our
to control events,
the ^tV'
\\
^L^overnment,
South Vietnam did not have 1974
president under President Johnson, said of tlu-
975 the United States had only a small
number
estimated that
is
It
1
military advisors in Saigon.
days oi the war and the evaluation,
oi orphans
n
Thurman was
The
conditions
stationed aboard the
Okinawa, which was one of the primary refugee recovery
ships.
"The
them weren't ours," he recalled. were landing on ships that crew members
sky was filled with helicopters, and most of St)
many unauthorized
helicopters
were forced to shove the empty Vietnamese helicopters overboard. For
many Americans,
the most vivid image
of the
American embassy
others
it
to
is
of people climbing the roof
embark onto an awaiting Huey
helicopter. For
was the image of North Vietnamese tanks crashing through the gates
of the presidential palace. For everyone, though, one fact stood out: After
the broken diplomatic promises and agreements, with the
Army Above: South Vh tnamese orpbani fkini;
them
t" the
I
'nited States.
in
an airplane
in
in
all
North Vietnamese
complete possession of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975, the war
Vietnam was
finally over. Opposite: South Vietnamese citizens swarming
over the wall of the U.S. embassy in Saigon.
112
*m
s".
^hM>L
1 ms>
"3**^
»\
*2L
i.
—
««— • Scolding
the
to
the)
sea
were airmen whose
m
MIA
some because
cases m.i\ never be resolvedi
were
aircraft
reports of
investigated
1
19 live-sighting
Americans held against
The Senate on TOW /MIA Affairs'
None proved mittee
true.
released in 199
Select
Com-
final report,
•
Laos, heavily
U.S. airplanes
during the war, has received special assis-
A
tance. .ikI
special
MI As. Even
bomb team funded by
is
the unexploded
bombs
that
still
officially labeled
at the
"missing in action"
end of the war
—
—the
twenty-five hundred
of the agreements in the 1973 Paris Peace Accords provided
for the return of all
The
political
returned
debate on whether North Vietnam
American
all
POWs and assistance regarding MI As.
U.S.
—
later
prisoners or were secretly keeping
Vietnam
some was
—had
a recur-
rent political flashpoint. In 1979, under pressure from the National League of Families of
American Prisoners and Missing
POW/MIA.
ered back to
ernment benefits
changed the
in Southeast
Asia and other
classification of status of soldiers
(KIA) but whose remains had not been recov-
listed as "killed in action"
still
worked
number of MI As
One
in dispute.
from several governments, including
the United States, has
the
organizations, Congress officially
Southeast Asia."
bombed by
the conclusion of
evi-
dence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in
American servicemen
their will.
found "no compelling
3,
issues left unsettled at
lost at
water too deep lor recovery missions.
• The JTF-FA
many contentious
the Vietnam War, the most traumatic and emotional was the fate of
642
JTF-FA,
the
f
QUICK FACTS
Missisq IN action(mia)
i
This allowed family members to receive higher gov-
as well as restoring the
hope that missing troops might
be alive. President Reagan in 1982 stated that he believed some
to defuse exist in the
Americans were
still
POW/MIA
directed that the
country.
per year. By
being held against their will in Southeast Asia, and
1990
all
The
Recognition Day.
flag
be flown over the White House one day
had an
states
fifty
official
MI As was
subject of
also
POW/MIA
National topic
a
the U.S.
in
presidential election in 1992. Presidential candidate Ross Perot stated that
he believed there were some Americans
still
being held prisoner.
In 1992 an international Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting (JTF-FA) was
MIAs. The JTF-FA organizes teams of
created to determine the fate of the
searchers in cooperation with the host country (Vietnam, Laos, or to search the suspected sites
where the remains of American servicemen may
be.
Colonel Robert Gahagan served
for
two years
time. "Family
in Laos,
tions,
human
.
.
.
And
of
American Priaonen and Misting i.i.
reminder
114
i.f
1471 b> the National League of
i
In-
Sag lervea
.is
the plight of Anierii
.1
.i's
the teams are in a race against are aging,"
he
said. "[Local] soil
condi-
—the
remains
is
members of an
dangerous.
MIA
On
April
7,
search team crashed
due to heavy fog south of Hanoi. Seven Americans died
first loss
of
life
in the joint recovery program.
in
constant
POWl
in that crash
JTF-FA team
... in Laos, because of the
a war, the search for
into a mountainside in
all
of one
remains and physical evidence deteriorate very rapidly."
2001, a helicopter carrying sixteen
Familici
commander
members of our missing servicemen
Even without
Above: c rested
as the
and reported that
witnesses ... are aging too.
Cambodia)
Ml
Opposite: \s.
A
U.S. military honor guard accepting the coffins containing
the remains of
American MIAs found
in
North Vietnam
in 1998.
THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL; THE WALL
4 IT
qillCK FACTS •
I
Mack
lu
granite
India.
It
was shipped
to
rennessee, where the
The
•
In
went
it
names were
to
cut into
was
oi a
2004
were
there
names
58,2 35
The Department of Defense, through
the
National Archives, has provided a database that has information
•
anyone
V wording
database,
else
about these people, as
who
and
women who
fought in
Vietnam veterans
it.
still
served in Vietnam.
ans
who had been
discharged discovered that they
uniform wrestled with
in
And Vietnam veterwere now social outcasts.
Sensational news reports about criminal acts committed by veterans suffering
from post-traumatic
syndrome even made getting
stress
recalled, "This
wouldn't hire a Vietnam vet.
A
.
.
He
.
a job difficult.
casualties
among
enlisted marines
were teenagers. In the army
16 percent of
casualties
its
were teenagers.
guy was
telling
thought we were
me
that
James
he
.
.
.
all crazy."
small group of people recognized that something was needed to help
America and
its
veterans heal the still-raw emotional scars. In 1979 they
organized the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
On
July
1980 President
1,
Carter authorized the construction of a Vietnam veterans memorial
"We
Department of Defense
40 percent of
men
a military establishment traumatized hy the experience.
land in Washington, D.C., saying, to the
to forget
the war, they wanted to have nothing to do with the
Hebron, a former marine,
name.
etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
well as
American people. Not only did they want
it
sun would cast no
the
amnesia seemed to
a collective
might obscure or change the
that
appearance
there
cutting of the lettering
designed so thai
shadows
Vietnam
the
Vermont) where
From
u.ts cul into panels.
the panels.
of
grip the
came from Bangalore,
Veterans Memorial
hen the Vietnam War ended,
the debt which
we can never
fully
are ready at last to
repay to those
who
on
federal
acknowledge
.
.
.
served."
Maya Ying who died in
In a design competition held in the spring of 1981, architect Lin's polished, black
V-shaped
the war, was selected.
"The Wall,"
it
did not properly
insistent protests, a
more
three soldiers was added.
names of
all
came to be known, was not received While some people loved the design, others
with unanimous acclaim.
thought that
wall, containing the as
it
honor those who had
fallen.
As
a result of
traditional sculpture by Frederick Hart
On November
contribution of servicewomen
who
11,
1993, to
showing
commemorate the
participated in the war, the
Vietnam
Women's Memorial was placed near the Wall. Sculpted by Glenna Goodacre, it is of three nurses aiding a wounded soldier. The location of these three memorials in the Washington Mall in Washington, D.C., has become a pilgrimage initial
fallen loved ones,
and
as
the polished, black granite surface.
names on rakes grandfather,
116
placet
•>
who «.-
rose near the killed in tin-
name of her
Vietnam War,
The
Wall's
pieces of paper.
Many
they do, they see their faces reflected in
Some do
it
away
pencil rubbings of the etched
leave flowers, letters, and mementos. Each
day the National Park Service collects
girl
thousands.
controversy has since passed into acceptance. People search for the
names of
Above A
site for
all
the material
left at
the Wall and
to be catalogued. Opposite:
The
reflection of the Three Servicemen statue by
Frederick Hart at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
I
iS
)i
\
:
w ;
;
*' •
|r
ItUl'
KICICHTON -AN HONYES
Kf
,]
ONI iM.lU •
I
GUZMAN
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Kl
KSr-JQH
'
&j]
(
IOWARD BLAWDIf >N MERLE C |r
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!<•
1M
*
HI
UMOR rRINGC'R
m
•
LAWREP
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iYjvULfe
-tow
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A-V '
\R!.E
i
*»
VIETNAM AFTER THE WAR -4 W
QUICK TACTS • Modern,
Vietnam
unified
named the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. of Vietnam rules the 'I Ik Communist I'.im through
country
Assembly.
National
the
llu top three government officials the
secretarVi
M ral
.ire
and
president,
I
M
had been
a wide-range
program of integration of the south. All private businesses
and ownership of land were abolished. Farms were reorganized into collectives, which received all planting and harvesting orders from the government.
South Vietnamese military and government
more
seized
behind
left
the
were rounded up and sent to special reeducation camps, where they received
than
the South
for
officers in the
camps
The
transition
from
a
war economy to a peace economy proved to be
very difficult for the Vietnamese government.
equipment was turned into scrap metal and
third of the nation's budget
other equipment, particularly the weapons,
million people in uniform, giving
•
In
other nations.
to
Ho
Chi Minh
\.i\\ ship to
dock
Mam
o\ the war.
in
War
He
South Vietnam.
when started
new
a
He
in
believed
as
escaped the country
and
over
businessman
know
the fourth largest military organization
famine in 1985 devastated the country, and inflation was
hundred
to six
hundred percent.
Gradually the government began making some reforms. businesses were allowed to form,
and farmers were allowed
A
to
few private
market some
nies were allowed to establish businesses in the country. political
There were some
changes as well. Vietnam's government liberalized
its
censorship of
the press and of writers and artists and also allowed for a measure of dissent.
home
Nevertheless
it
remains a one-party, Communist dictatorship to this day.
visit
his
2004. During the
visit,
he said he
After the war, the United States and Vietnam did not have any diplo-
reconciliation
The United States had imposed an economic embargo on Vietnam and made it illegal for U.S. nationals to travel to the country. The first steps in changing this adversarial relationship occurred in 1987, when officials from both countries opened talks to resolve the fate of MIA
it
was
"Younger men, in
1.2
in
time
for
between the United States and Vietnam.
are
it
Vietnam had approximately
a
produce privately instead of through the collective. International compa-
veterans.
a
at four
in the 1980s,
consumed
military
U.S.
were sons and
took
running
—
The
returned to
California.
country
life
first
the prime minister
Communists
the
in the
Vietnam since the end
• Nguyen Cao Kv was ot
the
City,
of the crew
daughters of Vietnam
A
in the world.
200 3 the USS Vundegri/t docked
port oi
reeducation
lasted years. For some, the indoctrination also included torture.
Vietnamese Armed Forces. Some of the
was sold
officials
Former
worth of U.S. military equipment
billion
that
JPL
political indoctrination lessons. For most, the periods in the
Communists
he
Minh's dream of an independent and united Vietnam
the
prime minister.
•
Ho Chi
was achieved. The Communist government immediately embarked on
officially
is
n 1975
charge
in their fifties in
Hanoi," he
and
sixties,
said.
"They
they have to get on with America."
matic relationship.
U.S. servicemen. In 1991 U.S. Secretary of State James Baker announced that the U.S. tions with
government was ready
Vietnam. In 1991 the travel ban
1994 President
and
in
to take steps toward normalizing rela-
Bill
for
Clinton announced the
U.S. citizens was
lifted.
In
the trade embargo,
lifting of
1995 announced the normalization of relations with Vietnam, includ-
ing the opening of embassies
time has
come
to
move
and the exchange of ambassadors,
saying,
"The
forward and bind up the wounds from the war." Opposite:
Members
of a farming co-op at
village haul harvested rice in
Da Ton
from the
fields.
118 ~At A.
qiossAKy Claymore
Iroops and supplies transported by helicopter.
Airmobile
Ambassador
he highest-ranking diplomatic representative
I
untiy
ol
Ammuni tion
who
is
pistols, rifles, or
weapons such
as
cannons. These include bullets, cannon
Weapons, such
Artillery
as
Base
camp - A semipermanent
Battalion
—
fortified
enemy
widely in
forces.
headquarters and center for
field
combat operations
immediate
in the
area.
by a lieutenant colonel. Infantry battalions
nine-hundred troops and
much
anyone or anything from going
to prevent
— An explosive charge hidden
in a
from the comforts
mission.
largest administrative unit in the
usually
It is
army or marine
composed of two or more
—A a
its
series of
is
a
an
artificial hill
divisions,
major military operations designed to
modern
mounted on
military units, cavalry units are
air cavalry,
which
uses helicopters,
horses. In
one of two
types:
and armored cavalry,
uses tanks.
Slang
military
tor Viei
—Government by the people exercised either
Convention
in
in
for a
Jong guerillas, taken from the
phonetk alphabet
V
at the
Geneva military
medical evacuation helicopter
—The selection by vote
Firefight
(Victor)
C
(Charlie).
who want
to
as the presidency.
— Exchange of small arms
combat
fire
between opposing
units.
—The —Defenses,
right or left side of a military unit.
Fortification
add strength to
Friendly
fire
allies
Grunt
for individuals
usually walls
and trenches, constructed
a military unit's position.
—The mistaken shooting of combat
or their
— Slang
for
own
forces by
units.
an infantryman
derived from the sound one (
1954
which no troop movements or
—The nickname
Election
to
long-range goal. troops
enlisted soldier or sailor trained to provide
South Vietnam established
Flank
crew.
Cavalry—Originally combat
—An
occupy a public office such
and stone, which hides and protects a cannon or
achieve
"Charlie"
its
mission.
ot civilization.
— A defensive fortification that
machine gun and
Corpsman
Dustoff
harmless
— Slang term tor the field; jungles or swampy areas far
which
corps.
according to
varies
operations were to occur.
in or out.
which explodes on contact.
object,
Campaign
—The
size
It
a
DMZ — Demilitarized Zone. The border between North and
smaller than that.
military, a
of dirt
combat unit commanded by
directly or through elected representatives.
— In the grouping of cannons or mortars. Blockade — The isolation of a region by military forces in order Battery
Bunker
Corps
Democracy
During the Vietnam War, American battalions were
Boonies
military a
medical assistance, usually on a battlefield.
artillery
battalion- contained about five-hundred personnel.
trap
— In the
responsible for the defense of a military region.
usually contain
Booby
Marx,
characterized by a classless society and the absence of
In the military table of organization, a tactical unit
commanded
usually
social system created by Karl
captain and consisting of two or more platoons.
— A military attack upon
a military unit's
—A
Communism
Company
cannons and mortars, that
discharge ammunition.
Assault
detonated by an electric
steel ball bearings
ownership of private property.
and rockets.
shells,
numerous charge.
sent to another country.
Projectiles thai are fired from
— A portable antipersonnel mine composed a
in
Vietnam; supposedly
made from
lifting
up his
rucksack.
Guerilla
on
—
Soldiers of a resistance
movement who
are organized
a military or paramilitary basis.
IZO MB
Guerilla warfare
—
enemy-
Military operations conducted in
Reconnaissance
held or hostile territory by irregular, nonuniformed,
predominantly indigenous
—A
Gunship
forces.
Rout
helicopter armed with machine guns and rocket
for the
UH-series helicopters;
patrol in
enemy
—Troops trained and equipped on Insignia — A badge of or membership group. Medal of Honor — The highest decoration awarded to fight
office, rank,
foot.
call
of duty in action against
the enemy.
Medivac
helicopter; also called a
Siege
camp by an an opposing army
as a result of
Union
Squad
enemy personnel
a sergeant.
weapon
against
enemy to
as
an incendiary
troops and positions.
— Belonging neither Offensive — In operations, Oppress —To keep down by the Neutral
and used
or vehicles.
side
military
nor
camp Platoon
in the
army and marine
corps,
composed of nine troops and commanded by
Year.
points of mutual interest.
a plan of attack.
power or
Viet
Cong
—Communist
guerilla forces stationed
conducting combat and
and
terrorist operations in
South
Vietnam. Also known by the slang term "Charlie." Viet
or other military position.
Minh
— Short
for "Viet
Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi,"
or the Vietnamese Independence League, the original military table of organization, a unit
composed of approximately
commanded
republics
that contains terms of trade, military alliance, or other
In the military, the outer limits of a prepared base
— In the
officially
—Vietnamese Lunar New Treaty — A formal agreement between two or more nations
authority.
—
it.
largest republic, Russia.
Tet
party.
cruel or unjust use of
Perimeter
its
—The smallest unit
ground, used to destroy
to a gel
or military
of Soviet Socialist Republics; a nation
and dominated by
usually
—Gasoline thickened
to
aircraft.
composed of fifteen Communist-governed
usually planted beneath the
Napalm
is
that wants to capture
military,
— An explosive device
Mine
town
to 1991,
unknown, generally
combat operations.
a
— In the the mission of one Soviet Union — From 1917 the nation known
the official designation of military is
camp whose duty
—The surrounding and blockading of
as the
personnel whose location or fate
a military
from the detonation of the device.
dustoff.
MIA — Missing in Action,
forces.
—Fragments of the casing around an explosive
Sortie
— Medical evacuation by
to find
device such as a bomb, a grenade, or a mine, resulting
in
branches of the United States for gallantry and bravery
above and beyond the
etc.
and panic-stricken
—Offensive operations designed
—An armed guard of
Shrapnel
in a
military
all
movements,
give a warning of danger.
territory.
Infantry
intentions, troop
military terms, the disorderly
and eliminate enemy Sentry
march on
enemy
retreat of defeated troops.
utility
helicopter.
Hump—To
— In
Search and destroy
—Nickname
military terms, the process of obtaining
information about
launchers.
Huey
— In
political organization for
forty-five personnel,
Vietnamization
by a lieutenant.
POW — Prisoner of War. The official classification of military combatants captured by the enemy and housed
late in the
—U.S. policy
Vietnamese
patriots.
initiated by President
Nixon
war to turn over the fighting to the South
Vietnamese army during the phased withdrawal of
in special
fenced and guarded detention compounds called
POW
American
troops.
camps.
IZl
J
I
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Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990.
New
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W Unheralded
HarperCollins, 1991.
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McConnell. Hazardous Duty:
Sobel, Brian
Woodruff, Mark
FL:
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New
Doesn't
It
Schwarzkopf, a
Bright Shining Lie: John Paul
Singlaub, Maj. Gen. John K.,
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Peter Petre.
Soldier in the
Summit Books, Vietnam
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Their
Zimmerman, Dwight
Jon.
"From Raiders
to
Recon." Special
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Own
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Fighting Pattons. Westport,
CT
Praeger, 1997.
Summers, Col. Harry G.
Jr.,
Critical Analysis of the
USA
(ret.).
On
Strategy:
Vietnam War. Novato,
A
CA:
Presidio Press, 1982.
.
The Vietnam War Almanac.
New
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Books, 1999.
Tang, Truong Nhu, David Chanoff, and
A Viet Cong Memoir. New York:
Doan Van
Toai.
Vintage Books, 1985.
123
VIETNAM WAK WEB SITES Type five
the keywords Vietnam
into your search engine,
and the
result will
produce more than
They range from veterans' personal accounts, to unit site companions to documentaries and official govern-
million sites devoted to the subject.
histories, to
ment
War
sites.
educational forums, to
Web
are just a tew of the useful sites:
Below
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: VIETNAM ONLINE
VIETNAM: A COUNTRY STUDY
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam
lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/vntoc.html
The Web
The
site
companion
for the public television
Library of Congress
Web
site
that contains an
in-depth history and country profile of Vietnam.
documentary. Contains graphics, photographs, extensive text, and related links.
VIETNAM EMBASSY HOMEPAGE BATTLEFIELD: VIETNAM
www.vietnamembassy-usa.org
www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam
A Web the
sire
companion
Vietnam War.
to the
The
PBS documentary on
An extensive site on
the subject,
official
Web site of the embassy of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam in the United States of America.
Contains the
latest
information and photographs about
complete with photographs, charts and maps, and
Vietnam,
links to other sites.
contains historical information about the country and
its
people, culture, and economy.
It
also
the Vietnam War.
POVV/MIA
HOME PAGE VIETNAM VETERANS HOMEPAGE
lcweb2.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html
The
Library oi
C
Congress
Web
www.vietvet.org site
containing
information and updates on the Vietnam War-era
An
prisoner'of-war/missing-in-action database.
their families, friends,
interactive online
forum
for
Vietnam veterans,
and anyone interested
in the
Vietnam War.
STATISTICS
ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL
www.vhfcn.org/stat.html
An
uvdepth compilation
the
Vietnam War.
www.nps.gov/vive ol tacts
and
statistics
about
The National
Parks Service interactive
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
124 ^A\^
Web
site for
1
1N&ZX A-4E Skyhawk bomber, 54
Antiaircraft batteries, in Operation
Abrams, General Creighton, 94 Vietnamization and, 98-100
Adams, Eddie, 68 Adams, Lily, 62
movement
Easter Offensive and, 104
Ap
Ho Chi Minh
Bia Mountain, 92, 94. See also
on draft boards, 88 Agent Blue, 66
tin
also
Aco >rd>-
(ADSID), 24
advisors to
antiwar
in,
Party
86-87
Vietnam War
36
Zealand Corps
14
in,
bomber, 34, 106-107
1
Green
R.,
90
18 Berets,
The"
Linebacker Operations and, 106
lU.Lac, 103
of Vietnam War by, 6, 8-10 maximum Vietnam War troop strength
Bell
UH-1H
21, 35, 103
Iroquois helicopter, 32-33.
Huey
See also
Ben Hai
in
60
River,
20
American
Party
Vietnam War disillusionment
Civil Operations and Revolutionary
Corpsmen, 60-61
Development Support (CORDS), 56 Civil rights movement, 80
Corps
movement
Vietnam War
BienHoa
Cobra gunships, 32
Rinh Nighia, 58
Code Name
Birth defects, due to environmental
Cold War, 20
of,
98-101,
contamination, 66
102
Boats, 44. See also Patrol boats
Vietnam War entrance
Bombers. See B-52
Vietnam War pullout
of,
of,
during and after World
18
112-13
War
II,
16
American music, during Vietnam War, 84-85 American
soldiers, 8. See also
action
Missing in
(MIA) servicemen;
Prisoners
Vietnam
Strato/orrress
traps,
1
"Boonies," 50
Bowman, C.
W,
World War
11,
De-escalation, 28
founding and spread
Bunkers, 32
General Giap Jr.,
82-83
Communist
103
6-7
See
Party. See also
in,
Da Ton, 118-19 Raymond, 46
"Days of Rage," 78
Bunker, Ellsworth, 98, 100
Calley, Lieutenant William,
26
China The (Marx and
An
103
at,
Daniello, Ralph, 60
22
Animal Husbandry Program, 98
AnLoc,
versus,
Engels), 12
Communist
Marines' landing
Davis, General
"Buff
Khe, 35
International), 14
Vietnam, 18
Corrmiimist Manifesto,
helicopter, 32
22
22-23
Database, Vietnam veterans, 116
"Angels," 60
68
in,
Missile Crisis,
Das Kapital (Marx), 12
"Broken Arrow" code, 34
Briefings,
64
at,
DaNang, 10,21,35,64-65,
China, 16
after
86
DaLat, 103
8
Communist China.
64
6k Young, 84,
Daily body counts, 92
Comintern (Communist
in
Nash
"Daisy chain" booby trap, 60
South Vietnamese army
64
30
Dabney, Captain William H., 70-72
Bright Light, 90
in,
21,
21
Communism
Cuban
118
(POWs); U.S. Army; U.S. Maruu^ Andrews Air Force Base, 48 of war
Cuba,
Combined Action Platoon (CAP), 58
in
14
30,50,60
in tunnels,
62
Communism, 12-17
Thunder
Bombs, unexploded,
Booby
bomber;
105 T/iundercriie/; Operation
Rolling
CuChi,
tunnels for,
South Vietnam,
50
Stills,
8
Colonialism, 12
Bolsheviks, 14
F-
Bill,
as,
tactical zones,
Crosby,
origin of, 16
Vietnam Veterans Memorial in, 116-17 Vietnam War casualties of, 60
78
of,
"Covans," 104
C rations,
and, 86
Vietnam elections and, 20 Vietnamization program
90
by, 28,
94
Conscription, 88. See also Draft entries
Tonkin Gulf Incidents and, 28
City, 21,66, 103
Hill and,
prisoners of war and, 90
30
Clinton,
18
14
1
and, 86
Laos and Cambodia and, 96
Bernstein, Carl, 110
1
56
MIA servicemen and,
movement
Hamburger
Chup, 103
Civil war,
for,
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
22
in, 16,
Tonkin Gult Incidents, 28
Civilians, medical care
reconciliation with Vietnam,
support
antiwar
Civilian deaths, 56
114-15
Vietnam under, 118
Vietnam, 20, 24-25
China, 21
antiwar
74-77
Congress
BenTre, 103
of,
Accords and, 108
in
by,
Tonkin Gulf Incidents, 28
villagers'
50
Ben Sue, 42-43, 56-57
servicemen
Paris Peace
War, 44
Vietnamization and, 100
Cong
Civil Rights Rill of 1964, 80
helicopter
Peace Accords and, 108
unification of
Stallion helicopter, 32
rats,"
Lai,
38
North Vietnam, 22
Chicago Eight, 78
in
Trail,
and Cambodia, 96-97
in Riverine
"Christmas Bombings," 106
(Sadler), 84
BanMeThout,
78
"Charlie
92-95
Hill,
Ho Chi Minh
Tet Offensive
Chapelle, Dicky, 68
Chu
Baker, James,
"Ballad of the
Minh's strategy versus, 20
loss
Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam and, 20
Colonel Lawrence
Hamburger
prisoners of war under, 90-91
Communist
Laos and Cambodia and, 96-97
MIA
New
ally,
in
Memorial and, 116
CH-53B Sea
Baez, Joan, 84
elections in, 12
dodger haven, 88
"Charlie," 24. See also Viet
Srrato/orrress
Bailey,
at
Paris
Casualties,
(ANZAC), 36
12-17
10-1
CanTho, 103 Cao Lanh, 103
A Shau Valley, 92-95
B-52
versus,
as draft
by and versus, 82
Easter Offensive by, 104-105
Pendleton, 108
Carter, Jimmy,
90-91
atrocities
in Laos
98-101, 102-103
82-83
96
44
in,
Camp
Castro, Fidel, 22
U.S. entries
movement
Communist
of,
Son, 102
of,
South Vietnam from, 26
Communism
Ho Chi
Lam
114
on
Arnett, Teter, 68
Australian and
also
36-37
allies of,
Operation
Australia, as
56
rifle,
in
toward American prisoners of war,
Air-Delivered Seismic Intruder Device
America. See
Linebacker Operations, 106
in,
Trail through, 38,
River
village,
servicemen
also
Communist Party; Marxists American allies versus, 36 antiwar movement and, 86
Camouflage, 30, 46
Canada,
in
Atrocities,
Air Commandos, 46
AK-47
of the Republic of Vietnam
Vietnamization
Ending War and Restoring
Peace
Cam Ne 102
(ARVN), 26-27
Peace in Vietnam," 108. See Paris
carriers,
Easter Offensive and, 104-105
Agent Orange, 66 Agent Pink, 66 Agent Purple, 66 "Agreement
Army
Mekong
Hill
Forces Radio, 84
Armored troop
and Vietnam War and, 80
civil rights
MIA
American
Antiwar songs, 84
Armed and, 86
Communists, 8-10, 12-14. See
Peninsula, 21
Cambodia, 21,35,96-97, 103
Hamburger
African Americans
Ca Mau
Antiwar movement, 86-87
Advisors, in South Vietnam, 26
antiwar
Lam
Son, 102
of,
Defense Department, 110
Vietnam veterans database 66-67
Communists
Defoliants,
14-16
Demilitarized
52
Party of Vietnam, 118
40, 70,
Zone (DMZ),
by,
116
20, 21, 38-39,
92
Easter Offensive and, 104
12*
1
Ramon Mcrcadci
Hernandez, Jamie
del
Ky,
Nguyen Cao,
22,
1
18
14
44
sins,"
prison ("Hanoi Hilton"),
.
hi,
World
Military
orces," $6
I
French Empire, 24, 52
Hot
Minh
!hi
Vietnam
strategy versus,
20
"1
theor
lino
in,
(
i
ilonel Robert,
1
i
ieneral
A<
(
i
(GAO), 40
ing Office
iiini
Geneva Conference of 1954, 20, 38 KurJs, 88
^
NS-89
hurnini: of,
MIA servicemen in, 114 Ho Chi Minh Trail through, 38, 96
American
Mekong
looch," 46
ieneva
(
iiap,
88
IV.iit violations,
I
Viet
Huey
invention, 82, 90
<
ieneral
(
astei
Cong
atrocities at,
Huk
J2,
42
dons, 60-61, 92-93
Lin,
Great Society programs, Vietnam
m
Set also
Mekong
River
Europe, 16 105, 106, 108
Offensive, 104
civilization,
Green
Berets, 28,
H., 78, 80,
1
12
War
democracy from, 12
men,
Eskr. Private
officers versus,
MaoTse-tung,
using, 18 as,
Johnson, Lyndon
6
ot
Tonkin, 28. See also "Tonkin Gulf
lull ot
i
iunships, 32
during and
28,
90
Joplin, Janis,
II,
16
"1
4 Phanti
'in
fighter,
54
I
first,
Fanning
Al, 48
i
1
1
s-19
lir^i
Viet
(
6
ong Regiment,
McCarthy, Eugene, 78
Medical
Kennedy, Robert F, 78, 80
Medical Civic Action Program (Medcap),
lardcastle, larkins,
anvil" tactics, 42
(
Captain
Bill,
26
ieneral Paul IX,
26
Hart, Frederick, 116-17 tastings,
Lieutenant Charles, 34
medical help
"Hell
via,
60-61
Operation Lam Son, 102
Week," 46
Kent State University incident, 86
Khanh Hung, 103 Khe Sanh, 60, 70-73, 84-85 in
Killed in action
antiwar
1
lendrix, Jimi,
I
lerl
66
84
Jr.,
movement
38
60-61
62-63 Medics, 60-61
South Vietnamese, 104-105
(KIA) servicemen, 114
King, Martin Luther,
aid,
S.,
Medicare, 80
Tet Offensive, 74
108-109
Medivacs, 32
Mekong
80
River, 21, 44, 68, 98, 103
Mekongk,
and, 86
Kissinger, Henry, Paris Peace
Accords and,
Me Nam
44. See also
Khong,
Mekong River Mekong River
44. See also
Mensheviks, 14
"Kit Carson scouts," 24
Military advisors, in South Vietnam, 26
"Kiwi Infantry," 36
Military Assistance Advisory
KonTum,
Helmets, 34 I
News media
Kennedy, John F, 22, 28, 78
in
alv.
40,54
84
McNamara, Robert
1.11,92-95
lammer and
I
Operation
Communists
McCain, Lieutentant Commander John,
"McNamara's Wall," 38
1
Helicopters, 8-9, )0, 31, 32-33, 114 in
Marxists, 78. See also
Kennedy, Edward M., 94
104
"Hatchei teams" (HT), 96 n,
Accounting (JTF-
Mclnnes, Chief Warrant Officer Bruce, 50
I
I
Julius, 14
Marx, Karl, 12-13
"Jungle rot," 50
of,
Linebacker Operations and, 106
68 it
Martov,
and, 70
mining of port
"Hanoi Hilton," 90
rhunderchief. 40, 41
Falli
U.S. Marines
Journalists, 68-69. See also
Hanoi. 10,21, 114, 118 1
Marines. See South Vietnamese Marines;
Marshall, Brigadier General S. L. A., 76
and, 86
Johnson, Sam, 90 Joint Task Force-Full
2
River
22
16,
Linebacker Operations and, 106
Hamburger World War
movement
Halberstam, David, 68
22
12
liter
28-29, 36, 40, 78,
FA), 114
pe
l.iliMn in,
antiwar
Khe Sanh
Tonkin Resolution,
(
B., 18,
80,90, 106, 108, 112
Gulf of Thailand, 103
Haiphong,
of,
36
of,
Jefferson Airplane, 84
nage Act, "Pentagon Papers" and, 110
mmunist countries
North Vietnamese Army, 38
Long Xuyen, 103 Luom, Sergeant, 104
46
Intelligence, 42,
Logistics,
Long Binh, 62 Long Tan, Battle
110
Indochina, 18
48-51
36
larry,
1
Drang campaign, 34-35, 68
operations in Laos, 96
46
Yacht Club"
Friedrich, 12
i,
Listening posts, 70
Japan, in Vietnam, 18
Ho Chi Minh
Elite units
Enlisted
Operations, 106-
II
Guerilla conflict
Gulf
EUsberg, Daniel, 110
16
1
M-16 assault rifle, 42, 84-85 M-48 tank, 72 Mae Nam Khong, 44- See also Mekong
Vietnam War
•80
and
Iron Triangle, 42
12,20
Elections,
I
"Grim Reaper" team, 46 "Grunts," 48-51
Eisenhower, l^wght D., 18, 20, 28
Elementary and Secondary Education
Ying,
107, 108
Infantrymen, 48-51
Greek
Maya
Linebacker
tribesmen, 96
Illegal wiretaps,
and, 78-50
Boh, 84
44
la
Gormly, Robert, 46
Duy, Nguyen, 56
56
Loc Ninh, 21
16
1
Ly,
Lenin, Vladimir, 14
66-67
Humphrey, Hubert
72
siege,
Goodacre, Glenna,
21
DuPuy, Major General William,
',u.
Son, 1024
LeMay, General Curtis, 40
in evacuation of Saigon, 112
Vo Nguyen, 8-10, 52
Offensive and, 104
Le
82
helicopter, 32-33, 34
defoliants from,
on Khe Sanh
22
Dust
4
in,
Lam
Le Due Tho, Paris Peace Accords and, 108
74-75
Tet Offensive by, 74-77 tp.
River
in Operation
Hue, Nguyen, 104
Gia Nghia, 103
leferments, 88
ison, 8,
Laos, 21, 35, 70, 72,90,96, 103
KM
in Tet Offensive,
4, 68
imburger (
Is,
River
Hue, 21, 35, 103
14
Mekong
Lan-Ts'ang Chiang, 44. See also
I
Hill
Draft
Language, Vietnamese, 98, 100
logjaws," 42
Ho, An.
h Foreign Legion, 18-19
88
Lafferty, James,
Lane, Lieutenant Sharon, 62
HoChiMinh, 18,20,118 Hot hi Minh City, 112, 118 HoCluMmhTr.nl, 38,70,96 Operation Lam Son and, 102 "1
18-19
in, 8,
90
58
(MAAG),
103
Korean War,
8, 22,
Communism
36
during, 16
Group
26
Military Assistance
Information
Command
Office of
(MACOI), 68
126
«
21
1
Military- Assistance
(MACV),
Command Vietnam
26, 30, 38 in,
52-53
Operation Apache Snow, 92
in Tet Offensive,
war taken
74
Vietnamization and, 98-100
in
by,
90-9
People's Self-Defense Force,
58-59
Rung
Perot, Ross, 114
Tonkin Gulf Incidents, 28
44
Sat,
Russia. See
Phan Rang, 103
USSR
abo
(Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics)
unification with South Vietnam, 118
Phnom
victory of, 18, 112-13
Phoenix Program, 58
Penh, 103
backwardness
Communism
of,
1
12-17
in,
Phosphorus bomblets, 70-7
Vietnamization and, 98
North Vietnamese Army (NVA),
Military briefings, 68
2
1
74-77
in Tet Offensive,
General Westmoreland in
prisoners of
1
10, 26,
Phum
Krek, 103
Sadler, Staff Sergeant Barry, 84
"Million-dollar wound," 60
Easter Offensive by, 104-105
Phu Nam Cathedral, 82 Phu Nhon, 35
Missing in action (MIA) servicemen,
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Phuoc Tuy Province, 36
fall of,
"Pinkos," 82
in Tet Offensive, 74,
Military phonetic alphabet, 34
52. See also
114-15. See also Prisoners of war
at la
(POWs)
at
North Vietnam and, 38
Drang, 34-35
in
Khe Sanh, 70-73 Operation Apache Snow, 92-95
Montagnard tribesmen, 46—47, 96
in
Operation
Moore, Lieutenant Colonel Harold G.,
in
Riverine War, 44
Monsoons,
10, 22,
92
34,68
Lam
Son, 102
Saigon, 21, 35, 36, 42, 62, 68-69, 103 Easter Offensive and, 104-105
112-13
"Pinkville," 82
Sampans, 44
Pleiku, 103
"Saving face," 104
Pie.
Me, 35
76-77
Schooler, Gerry, 74
Schwarzkopf, Major Norman, 26
Plumley, Sergeant Major Basil, 68
Vietnam War, 10, 56 Vietnam War and, 78-79
SEALs, 46 Seaman, Lt. General Jonathan, 42
tactics of, 6
Poetry, about
in Tet Offensive, 74
Politics,
Music, during Vietnam War, 84-85
victory of, 18
Popular music, during Vietnam War, 84-85
Search-and-destroy missions, 42
My
villagers'
Portable Differential Magnetometer
Search-and-rescue missions, 32
Morse, Wayne, 28
Lai,
American
MyTho,
atrocities at,
82-83
support
56
for,
Nurses, 62-63
Seeger, Pete, 84
Selective Service System, 88-89
Power, Patrick, 94
as draft alternative,
88
1968 Democratic National
Officers
also
enlisted
National League of Families ot American
men
(POWs), 90-91, 1 Missing in action (MIA)
Prisoners of war
O'Brien, Tim, 88
Convention, 80-81
versus,
48-5
14. See
Senate Select Committee on
servicemen Paris Peace Accords
fragging against, 92
90
Fleet,
Asia, 114
Ohio National Guard, 86 Okamoto, Lieutenant Vince, 56-58
Protesters,
Olfactronic Personnel Detector, 24
Punji stakes, 30
Sikorsky
O'Malley, Corporal Robert
Purges, 16
"Silent majority" speech, 86
for the
Liberation of South Vietnam, 22, 24. See also Viet
Cong
NATO (North Atlantic Tre.m News media,
6k Young), 86
E.,
30
in Tet Offensive, 76. See also
86-87
Protest songs,
Ships. See Boats;
Operation Cedar
Falls,
War ally, 36
104. See also
Quang
42-43
Easter Offensive
El Paso,
Operation
Game Warden,
42
Operation Irving, 42 Operation Junction City, 42
Night goggles, 44
Operation
Nixon, Richard M., 28, 78-79, 80, 82, 96
Lam
CH-53B Sea
Son, 102-103
Lang, 103
Socialism, 12 Socialist Republic of
Ho Chi Minh
RachGia, 103
Song Cau, 103 South China Sea, South Korea,
Racism, 80
Operation Market Time, 44
Rainy season,
Linebacker Operations and, 106
Operation Niagara, 70
Rangers, 46
antiwar
Reconnaisance teams, 96
conquest
Red Army, 14-15 Red River Delta, 18-19
creation
ration
and, 102
Pans Peace Accords and, 108-109 Vietnamization program
Vietnam War pullout Watergate scandal,
North Korea,
16, 22,
North Vietnam,
bombing creation
MIA
of,
1
98-101
of, 8,
Operation
Starlite,
30-31
Orphans, evacuation
10-1
of,
1 1
North
Army (NVA) servicemen
in,
Paratroopers, Paris
1
14-15
92-93
Peace Accords, 28, 90, 108-109
MIA
servicemen
/'arches aircraft,
in,
114
66
44—45
20-21,22
P.irrol boats,
Trail from, 38
Peace negotiations, Linebacker
Laos and Cambodia and, 96 Linebacker Operations and, 106
navy
of,
Paris
Peace Accords and, 108
54
Operations and, 106. See Peace Accords
"Pentagon Papers,"
1
Communism;
People's Republic of China. See
movement of, 18, of, 8,
and, 86
112-13
20-21, 22
66-67
Easter Offensive and, 104-105
governments
of,
22
Ho Chi Minh Trail
to,
38
Drang campaign
in,
34-35
la
Laos and Cambodia and, 96
Linebacker Operations and, 106
Ridge way, General Matthew, 20
nurses
Riverine War, 44-45
in
Operation Apache Snow, 92-95
in
Operation Cedar
44-45
Rogers, General Bernard, 42
Rome China
36
Reynolds, Lee, 60
Rollings, Lieutenant
10
ally,
defoliants used in,
Communists Red Square, 16-17 Republican Party, Vietnam War and, 78-79,80
Rivers,
also Paris
30, 103
SouthVietnam.21,35,40, 103
22
"Reds," 82. See also
36
40-41
Ho Chi Minh
Operation Rolling Thunder, 40, 106 Orphanages, 50
86
21, 103. See also
Vietnamese
American
by,
of,
Ranch Hand, 66
as 6,
Vietnam, 118
16, 22
Vietnam War
Operation Macon, 42
Lam Son
12
1
Smith, Wayne, 60
Easter Offensive and, 104
Operation
Stallion helicopter, 32
Snuol, 103
35, 103
Qui Nhon, 21, 103 Quoc, Nguyen Ai. See
44
NhaTrang, 103
entries
Smith, Howard K., 76
Ngai, 103
QuangTri,
Quan
Operation
USS
Shulimson, Jack, 72
84
Quakers, 86
Operation Die Marker, 38
Zealand, as Vietnam
Sheehan, Neil, 68
Smith, General Homer,
Operation Babylift, 112
Journalists
Nguyen Hue Campaign,
Prisons,
Operation Apache Snow, 92-95
Organization), 16
in
54-55
"Ohio" (Crosby,
Stills,
POW/MIA
Affairs, 114
Seventh
and, 108
Nash
Senate. See Congress
Prisoners and Missing in Southeast
National Liberation Front
New
Secret War, 96
Poverty, draft and, 88
National Guard
at
(PDM),64
Nuclear warheads, in Cuba, 22-23
103
Wayne
in,
62-63
Paris Peace E.,
Plow, 42
Royal Australian Air Force, 36
46
Falls,
42-43
Accords and, 108
in
Tet Offensive, 74-77
in
Tonkin Gulf Incident, 28
unification with
North Vietnam, 118
1*7
1
1
1
1
J
tii
[ruman,
lulu
Tunni Tunnels, 64-65 •iin .
mam
i
ol
the
I
I
SSR
(1
'>.
1
L,
KM
I
Laos and
ins
Laos and
in
bombing
volunteers
holes,"
let
1
"Spike teams" (ST), 96 St.ilin,
after
Joseph, 14
16
World War
II
Edwin, 84
M.irr.
movement and, 86
draft cards Jr.iti
burned
by,
urt, "Pentagon Papers" and.
1
Lisk
Fora ir,
(
77. 54
h ik
Armv
Vietnam. See
\m), 66
Television journalism, 68 it
War
Armv
Special Forces, 28, 46-47
Terrorism, Viet
74 77. "2. 98
rive,
J5, J8,
itue,
Thurn
in
Operation
30-31
1
.nt Russell,
1
1
in
Yacht
Ih.it TutiL
(
in,
lub," 54
formation
of,
during Vietnam
Wai
.<
us,
84
m
(
USS
'
Tonkin
Crisis,
22
iulf
Incidents, 28
War
.28
<
:.
14
IS, It.
17
ninsula, 50
22, 26, 44, 62
American
16-17
E.,
58
D., 1
10
44
Wiretaps, 110
60
Workers,
Worker's paradise,
World War
of, 6,
I,
and, 12-14
12. See also
Communism
8
6,
II,
6,
8
during and
General Giap war," 48-51
10
Vietnam during, 18
World War
86-87
1
Communism
Communism
"company commanders'
in,
after, 16,
22
52
Vietnam during, 18
8-10, 112-13
Xuan
6-1
II,
Loc, 2
allies versus, 36
Yankee Station, 54-55
disillusionment with, 78 16
endangered species due C
iull of
origin of, Paris
to,
66
Tonkin Resolution and,
nurses in, 62-63
P(
1
82-83
Van
;,
White, Sergeant James
Woodward, Robert,
versus,
helicopters in, 32-33
mg
and, 70
"White House plumbers,"
36-37
USSVaruler^./i, lis
Ti.
26,
White, Captain Robert, 90
102-103
prisoners taken during, 90-91
of,
C,
Woodstock, 84
movement
conduct
This Place" (The
conscription into, 88-89
Versailles, Treaty ol, Is n, 12. 14
in,
casualties during,
conclusion
River
Tet Offensive, 76
Williams, James
journalists in,
Iran Tin
in
American
as
14
during .md alter World
•
Lam Son
atrocities during,
2-17
1
Mekong
Western Europe, 16
Khe Sanh
allies in,
antiwar Socialist
116-17
34, 52-53, 58
American
American
also
Westmoreland, General William
civilian deaths in, 56
ukin Missile
C
Cong
American music during, 84-85 American politics and, 78-79
countries incorporated into, 12
2
24. See also Viet
Vietnam War
54-55
Enterprise,
in,
Animals), 84
Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
46
mmunism
16-1 17
"We Gotta Get Outta
Vietnam Veterans Against the
Riverine War, 44-45
86-87
in,
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
118
Linebacker Operations and, 106
Starlite,
16
Weathermen, 78
War, 86
of,
antiwar protests
Waterways, 44-45. See
114
18-19
8,
Nam Cong San,
Operation
Republics)
Incident
lulf
Viet
of,
in,
6-8
Easter Offensive and, 104
46
of,
Khe Sanh, 70-73
USS Forrestoi, 54 USS Maddox, 28 USSR (Union of Soviet
103
French Empire,
of,
Vietnamization, 98-101
Zone, 38—39
at
•
Thi,
.it
in
Independence, 6
Washington, D.C.
Vietnamese Navy, 98
104
U.S. Seventh Fleet, 54-55
Mekong River in. 44 nh, Nguyen Tat Sa Ho< In Minh Thu Thomi tin Floyd |ami
servicemen
Vietnamese language, 98, 100
58,60-61,64-65, 108, 110
USS
ong, 24
i
MIA
climate and terrain
unification
Yankee Station and, 54-55
Offensh
Thailand.21,
42-43
Laos and Cambodia, 96
SEALs
Convention, 80 in Tit
Falls,
of
Watergate scandal, 110-11
American
62-63
of,
Operation Cedar
U.S. Marines, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 24, 56-57,
in
Warsaw Treaty Organization,
North Vietnam; South
also
84
Independence
18,20,22,24,38,52
82-83
My
Easter Offensive and, 104
1968 Democratic Nation. il
for the
Starr),
War
Lai incident,
in
U.S.N. n\
Tchepone, 102
"War" (Edwin Lap Dong
Vietnam; Vietnamization; Vietnam
Force Recon crachlorodibenzo-
-
56-59
Nam Doc
92-95
Hamburger
Faster Offensive and, 104
103
rCDDC
(Viet
116-17
6,
Wallace, Captain Bruce, 32
Hill,
at
in Demilitarized
Maxwell, 76
r ii
villagers and, 42,
Minh
"Wall, The,"
64-65
Minh; League
as advisors,
T.ivl.
"Wait-a-minute" vines, 66
tunneling
Viet
Le, 24
90-9
96 40-41
18-19
1
Voting Rights Act of 1965, 80
6-10
by,
42, 56
of,
Vietnam,
Vinh, Ngan, 10
3
Vo Hoang
46
by,
42
Peace Accords and, 108
of Vietnam),
10
Falls versus,
24-25
Linebacker Operations, 106
m
nmii\ (SOS), 86
Students fcr a Democratic
origin of,
Operation Lain Son, 102
U.S.
deferment ,mJ, 88
in unified
in
in
N8-89
Operation Cedar
by,
104
56-59
Villagers,
forced resettlement
in
nurses
Students antiwar
Laos
96-97
Tet Offensive by, 74-77
astei Offensive and,
U.S.
44
St.irhc.ht scopes,
68-69
'.iinbodi.i,
of,
uhing of North Vietnam
ambodia, 96-97
t
ol
(
Linebacker Operations and, 106
tat tics of,
Commandos
Air
lambodia,
i
Laos ,ind
undeclared war, 90
Vietnam War Memorial, 6 Vietnam Women's Memorial, 116
gunships versus, 52
ipter
prisoners of war under,
America
Inited States. See
U.S. Air Force in
in
Paris
Vladimir I
truce in, 108 as
Opci.it ion Starlite versus, 30—
luey helicopter
lyanov, Vladimir llyich. See Lenin,
Inion ol
Republics)
cialisi
t
Iroquois helicopter, '2-33. See
also
tefense I
-
blonel
(
(AF -
\
journalists killed by,
Turly, Lieutenant
UH-1H
i
and versus, 82 k tory over, 36
b\
s
Australian
larrj
I
28,
90
Zuni missile, 54
68-69
18-19,20-21,22-23
Peace Accords and, 108-109
"Pentagon Papers" and, 110
128 _—
Ma
1
J
mmm
IM
iili
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
1962
1955
1954
1^4 5
3 9999 05751 055 2
OCTOBER Diem
JULY 20 SI
Til MB1
R
MARCH
-'
Ho Chi Minh
Siege
l
MAY
*
Siege
i»t
>>i
7
Genev.i
Dien Bien
Phu ends
Dien IV'n Phu
in Frciii
begins
li
ends;
] into
(.
Inference
oi
Vietnam -pin
proclaims
6
Military Assistance
South Vietnam, and it
(
ommand,
Vietnam (MACV),
Repuhlic of Vietnam
created
Vietnam
B
1
FEBRUARY
elected president
officially
North and South
defeat
26
-J2~ JUNE
APRIL 26
18
Conference
Ngo Dinh Diem
between France and
appointed prime
i
ieneva
c
Minh
\ iet
Vietnam
minister of
begins
*
Ac *!emy Hill Rood ing^on. MA 021 35.3314
B Bff
llRAWN
No!:
1970
1969
NOVEMBER JUNE
JAM ARY
ZO-APRIL
M>
Siege oi I
Khe Sanh
AM ARY
MARCH
16
JO-MARCH 2o1
MAY
F.
10-JUNE
announces
7
MAY
4
Kennedy
Vietnamization
Kent State
,i-s.isMnated
Apache Snow
program
incident
APRIL * Dr.
5
3
Nixon
Operation
Lai
massacre
let Offensive
Robert
President
4
Martin Luthe
NOVEMBER
MAY
11
Richard Nixon
King Jr.
elected
assassinated
President
SEPTEMBER 2, 1969 Ho Chi Minh dies
11- -20
Battle of
Hamhurgei »
Hill
r
_^v
NOVEMBER Son Tay
20-21
raid
1965
1964
1963
AUGUST
NOVEMBER
AUGUST
2
Ngo Dinh Diem assassinated
First
2
Congress passes
Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf incident
MARCH
7
AUGUST
mission in
First
Rolling
18-2
Operation
Thunder
Starlight
Operation launched
Resolution
•
2
,
CAPUTO shared a
PHILIP
when he was
Pulitzer Prize in 1973,
AUGUST
MARCH
4
Second Tonkin Gulf incident
8-9
NOVEMBE
U.S. Marines
IaDr
land in
Da Nang,
a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
A Rumor
service during the
South Vietnam
memoir
of War, a
hatt
of his
Vietnam War as
marine lieutenant, has become a classic with more than two million a
copies sold since 1977.
its
publication in
Philip Caputo's
most recent
Acts of Faith. He is also the author of nine other books: Horn
novel
is
of Africa, DelCorso's Gallery, Indian
Country,
1975
1973
Means
Evil, Exiles,
The Voyage, In
of the Morning,
He MARCH
Operation
24
North
DECEMBER
nth Vietnam
18-29
Operation
Vietnamese invasion of
Lam Son
the
and Ghosts
Shadows of Tsavo.
lives in Connecticut.
30-JUNE
Easter Offensive,
FEBRUARY 8-MARCH
of Escape, Equation for
Linebacker
JANUARY Paris
II
I',
Peace
accords signed
1 1
JUNE 13 New York Times publishes the
"Pentagon Papers"
MAY 10-OCTOBER
MARCH
29
U.S. troops
Operation Linebacker
23
I
withdraw from Vietnam, marking the end of U.S.
lacket photographs courtesy of
involvement
AP/Wide World Photos
Jacket design by Abelardo Martinez
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ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
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