UNDERGROUND COMPLEXES
TET OFFENSIVE Morale among U.S. soldiers remained generally high from 1965-1968. Many battlefield successes. Johnson Admin. reported that the war was all but won. Temporary ceasefire called for Tet (Asian New Year) And then
TET OFFENSIVE 30 Jan-24 Feb 1968 Using the Tet Ceasefire, the VC and NVA launch surprise, major offensive. Attacked targets throughout South Vietnam. Captured U.S. embassy in Saigon and provincial capital of Hue. VC & NVA kill many Vietnamese civilians who are government supporters.
TET OFFENSIVE U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh is surrounded but the Marines break out. Tet Offensive Results Major allied military victory. Virtually wiped out the Vietcong militarily. American press reports the story as an American setback turning public opinion against the war. It is a turning point in the war
TET OFFENSIVE LBJ loses support from the Democrat Party and decides not to run for the White House in 68. Former VP Richard Nixon wins the election in November. Promises to scale back American involvement in Vietnam and turn the war over to the South Vietnamese. Nixon meets with LBJ
ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Until 1968, most Americans had been in favor of the war. Anti-War movement grew as American casualties mounted. First war on T.V.-people saw dead and wounded (first time). Public felt lied to about the progress of the war. Most protests were peaceful, but some radical groups committed terrorist attacks against government buildings and businesses.
My Lai 16 March, 1968 Troops of the 23 Inf. (Americal) Division enter the village of My Lai. Suspected that civilians were hiding VC personnel and weapons. Begin rounding up men, women and children and executing them.
My Lai 347 (official count) civilians are killed. Unit claims 128 VC KIA Army attempts to cover up but story leaks. 26 officers and men courtmartialed. Lt. William Calley is the only conviction. Later pardoned by President Nixon.
Vietnamization
Vietnamization U.S. begins looking to withdraw. Wants to turn the war over to the South Vietnamese. The ARVN and RVNAF are supplied with modern weapons and aircraft in the hope that they can defend themselves.
PACIFICATION PACIFICATION WHAT IT WAS: An effort to control the rural areas of Vietnam. WHAT IT DID: I. Strategic Hamlets: Moved the populations of multiple villages into one well-protected area (Early War). II.RUFF PUFFS: Trained and armed local Vietnamese militia (Regional Forces/Popular Forces) so they could defend themselves.
PACIFICATION IT FAILED AT FIRST: I. U.S. did not understand Vietnamese ties to the land-some families had lived in the same village for centuries-moving them only angered them. II.RUFF PUFFS too lightly armed and U.S./ARVN forces too far away to helpcouldn t defend themselves.
PACIFICATION RETHINKING PACIFICATION-SUCCESS I. Tet wiped out the VietCong as a military force. II.Strategic Hamlet program ends-vietnamese move back to their villages. III.U.S. better arms and trains the RUFF PUFFs.
MACVSOG MACVSOG WHAT IT WAS: Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group WHAT IT DID: I. Secret raids and intelligence operations inside Laos & Cambodia-particularly along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. II.Advised and armed RUFF PUFFs, Laotians & Cambodians. III.The Phoenix Program
THE PHOENIX PROGRAM WHAT IT WAS: Joint CIA, U.S. Special Ops, Australian & South Vietnamese operation to wipe out the VietCong leadership. WHAT IT DID: I. ID d VietCong and their sympathizers throughout South Vietnam. II.Neutralized VC through assassination, kidnapping, torture, rape etc. WHAT IT RESULTED IN: 81,000 VC neutralized and the tearing out by the roots of the VietCong.
Cambodia
Cambodia Nixon authorizes an incursion into Cambodia to destroy the NVA/VC sanctuaries and COSVN (North Vietnamese HQ) that could not previously be touched. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces are prevented from going more than 21 miles into Cambodian territory. NVA/VC get wind of the operation and simply retreat deeper into Cambodia.
Cambodia VC & NVA are unable to launch attacks from Cambodia for two years but are not wiped out. Enormous morale booster for ARVN. American public split on opinion.
Easter Offensive MARCH-OCTOBER 1972 Communists knew the U.S. was looking to leave South Vietnam. Massive NVA invasion of South Vietnam. Differed from earlier strategy because it involved mass armor (tanks) and infantry assaults backed by artillery. Objective was to destroy as many ARVN units and capture as much South Vietnamese territory as possible.
Easter Offensive RESULTS U.S. airpower smashes North Vietnamese. ARVN fight ferociously (compared to Israeli Army) NVA lose 100,000 KIA but Establish a foothold in northern South Vietnam (IMPORTANT)
Exit Strategy DECEMBER 1972 North Vietnamese walk away from secret peace negotiations. Nixon orders UNRESTRICTED bombing of North Vietnam including Hanoi and Haiphong Harbor. Bombing destroys a massive amount of North Vietnamese infrastructure. Fearing they may lose the war, North Vietnam comes back to the peace table.
Paris Peace Accords Secret negotiations going on since 1972-South Vietnam not informed. U.S. wants OUT! North Vietnamese fear improved U.S. relations with China and Soviet Union will result in their losing backing. Agree to reach separate peace settlement with Saigon. Agreement does not require North Vietnamese forces to leave South Vietnam (MISTAKE)
Paris Peace Accords U.S. POWs returned home. Last U.S. combat forces leave South Vietnam in 1973. Nixon secretly promises U.S. will provide air support if North Vietnamese resume invasion of South Vietnam.
WHITE CHRISTMAS IN APRIL North Vietnam resumes invasion of the south after U.S. forces leave. Nixon is forced from office by Watergate scandal, replaced by VP Gerald Ford. Ford refuses to keep Nixon s promise. Congress cuts arms supplies to South Vietnam. ARVN unable to hold NVA back
White Christmas in April American helicopters and planes attempt to evacuate as many friendly South Vietnamese as possible (OPERATION: FREQUENT WIND) but thousands are left behind. Hundreds of ARVN military personnel attempt to flee with their families to U.S. ships waiting offshore. Saigon falls on April 30, 1975.
Laos and Cambodia fall to the Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vietnam. Many who supported the South Vietnamese/U.S. effort are imprisoned, tortured and executed. Others are reeducated. EPILOGUE Nearly a million South Vietnamese Boat People flee Vietnam.
U.S. veterans are encouraged not to talk about the war and are portrayed in movies as disturbed psychopaths. EPILOGUE Many U.S. POW s and MIA s are believed to have been held by North Vietnam after 1973 and turned over to the Soviet Union. Fear among politicians of getting involved in an unwinnable war-the Vietnam Syndrome.