1. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
In the Gulf of Tonkin incident, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam, in a pair of assaults on August 2 and 4 of 1964. It was the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which committed major American forces to the war in Vietnam. The resolution passed the House of Representatives unanimously, and passed in the Senate with only two dissenting votes.
In retrospect it is clear that the alleged attack was little more than a transparent pretext for war, delivered in a one-two punch. First, media descriptions of the August 2nd attack as an "unprovoked attack" against a U.S. destroyer on "routine patrol" hid the fact that the Maddox was providing support for South Vietnamese military operations against the North. Second, the alleged August 4th attack appears to be a fabrication, official accounts attributing the "error" to confusion.
This effectively started the US's involvement in the war.
2. The Enclave strategy
Johnson advocated an inconsistent strategy: although at one point in 1965 he promised North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh“unconditional discussions,” he also harbored a belief that a gradual increase in the U.S. military presence in Vietnam would make Ho more willing to negotiate and perhaps even cause him to withdraw NVA troops from South Vietnam. The United States did send more troops, and a total of 75,000 were in Vietnam by June 1965, just ten months after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
With these troops in place, U.S. officials instituted an “enclave” strategy under which U.S. forces would try to maintain only those areas of Vietnam already under Saigon’s control. General Westmoreland, opposing the enclave strategy, called for more and more U.S. forces and advocated “taking the battle to the enemy.” Indeed, in July 1965, Johnson sent 100,000 more troops and authorized another 100,000 to be dispatched in 1966.
This helped hold the Vietnamese from completely being taken over, although it was very close.
3.The Tet offensive
U.S. troops had been in Vietnam for three years before the Tet Offensive, and most of the fighting they had encountered were small skirmishes involving guerilla tactics. Although the U.S. had more aircraft, better weapons, and hundreds of thousands of trained soldiers, they were stuck in a stalemate against the Communist forces in North Vietnam and the guerilla forces in South Vietnam (known as the Viet Cong). The United States was discovering that traditional warfare tactics did not necessarily work well in the jungle against the guerilla warfare tactics they were facing.
In military terms, the United States was the victor of the Tet Offensive for the Communists did not succeed in maintaining control over any part of South Vietnam. The Communist forces also suffered very heavy losses (an estimated 45,000 killed). However, the Tet Offensive showed another side of the war to Americans, one which they did not like. The coordination, strength, and surprise instigated by the Communists led the U.S. to realize that their foe was much stronger than they had expected.
This was a large turning point of the war, stopping the communists from taking any part of South Vietnam, as said above.
4. The My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre, also known as the Ryan Redpath massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Victims included women, men, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies were later found to be mutilated and many women were allegedly raped prior to the killings. While 26 U.S. soldiers were initially charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Mỹ Lai, only Second Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but only served three and a half years under house arrest.
The massacre took place in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe of Son My village. The event is also known as the Son My Massacre, especially in the Vietnamese state media. The U.S. military codeword for the "Viet Cong stronghold" was "Pinkville". The incident prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in 1969. The massacre also increased domestic opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Three U.S. servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and protect the wounded were initially denounced by several U.S. Congressmen as traitors. They received hate mail and death threats and found mutilated animals on their doorsteps. The three were later widely praised and decorated by the Army for their heroic actions.
This drastically hurt support for the US in Vietnam.
5.Vietnamization and Nixon Doctrine
In 1969, at the apex of the Vietnam War, United States President Richard M. Nixon publicly unveiled what would subsequently become known as the Nixon Doctrine. On July 25, during a press conference while visiting Guam, the President announced that the U.S. had plans to increase the training of South Vietnamese troops and bring the American soldiers home. President Nixon's doctrine consisted of three major tenets. First, the U.S. would honor all of its treaty agreements. Secondly, the U.S. would provide a shield if a nuclear power threatened an ally or a country the U.S. deemed to be vital to its national security. And, lastly, the U.S. would provide military and economic aid to countries under treaty agreements, but the requesting nation would be expected to bear primary responsibility to provide the manpower for its own defense. Nixon applied this doctrine directly to Vietnam.
The U.S. Army would train the Vietnamese to fight their own war in their own country. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) had already been training with U.S. troops and was organized and supplied with surplus U.S. arms and uniforms. But efforts to build South Vietnamese security forces went beyond just the ARVN. Americans had been working with other indigenous security organizations, as well. One U.S. unit that specialized in training civilian defense groups was the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). This unit had been in Vietnam since September 1962 with the primary mission of creating and training civilian security forces. The 5th Group worked with the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), the National Police Field Forces and the PeopleAca,!a,,cs Self-Defense Force. These groups, composed mostly of local villagers, were trained to help patrol and defend the borders of Vietnam. They originally received eight weeks of training. After the Nixon Doctrine was announced, this period was increased, and many units were eventually redesignated as Ranger Companies or Battalions. Some of the units were attached to the ARVN; others were banded together to form Regional and Provincial Forces. The CIDG transfer to the ARVN or Regional and Provincial Forces was completed by 1971, at which time the 5th SFG (A) returned to the U.S.
6. The Antiwar Movement
Anti–Vietnam War movement, domestic and international reaction (1965–73) in opposition to U.S. policy during the Vietnam War. During the four years following passage of the Tonkin Gulf resolution (Aug., 1964), which authorized U.S. military action in Southeast Asia, the American air war intensified and troop levels climbed to over 500,000. Opposition to the war grew as television and press coverage graphically showed the suffering of both civilians and conscripts. In 1965 demonstrations in New York City attracted 25,000 marchers; within two years similar demonstrations drew several hundred thousand participants in Washington, D.C., London, and other European capitals.
Most of the demonstrations were peaceful, though acts of civil disobedience—intended to provoke arrest—were common. Much of the impetus for the antiwar protests came from college students. Objections to the military draft led some protesters to burn their draft cards and to refuse to obey induction notices. By 1967 the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) invoked the language of revolution in its denunciations of the war in Vietnam as an inevitable consequence of American imperialism. There was also a more moderate opposition to the war from clergy, elected politicians, and people such as Dr. Benjamin Spock. In 1968, President Johnson, who was challenged by two antiwar candidates within his own party for the presidential nomination, Senators Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy, chose not to run. The election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and his reduction in U.S. ground forces did little to dampen the antiwar movement. His decision to invade Cambodia in 1970 led to massive demonstrations on college campuses, most tragically at Kent State Univ. where four people were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard. The legacy and meaning of the massive protests against the Vietnam War are still debated.
In the Gulf of Tonkin incident, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam, in a pair of assaults on August 2 and 4 of 1964. It was the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which committed major American forces to the war in Vietnam. The resolution passed the House of Representatives unanimously, and passed in the Senate with only two dissenting votes.
In retrospect it is clear that the alleged attack was little more than a transparent pretext for war, delivered in a one-two punch. First, media descriptions of the August 2nd attack as an "unprovoked attack" against a U.S. destroyer on "routine patrol" hid the fact that the Maddox was providing support for South Vietnamese military operations against the North. Second, the alleged August 4th attack appears to be a fabrication, official accounts attributing the "error" to confusion.
This effectively started the US's involvement in the war.
2. The Enclave strategy
Johnson advocated an inconsistent strategy: although at one point in 1965 he promised North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh“unconditional discussions,” he also harbored a belief that a gradual increase in the U.S. military presence in Vietnam would make Ho more willing to negotiate and perhaps even cause him to withdraw NVA troops from South Vietnam. The United States did send more troops, and a total of 75,000 were in Vietnam by June 1965, just ten months after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
With these troops in place, U.S. officials instituted an “enclave” strategy under which U.S. forces would try to maintain only those areas of Vietnam already under Saigon’s control. General Westmoreland, opposing the enclave strategy, called for more and more U.S. forces and advocated “taking the battle to the enemy.” Indeed, in July 1965, Johnson sent 100,000 more troops and authorized another 100,000 to be dispatched in 1966.
This helped hold the Vietnamese from completely being taken over, although it was very close.
3.The Tet offensive
U.S. troops had been in Vietnam for three years before the Tet Offensive, and most of the fighting they had encountered were small skirmishes involving guerilla tactics. Although the U.S. had more aircraft, better weapons, and hundreds of thousands of trained soldiers, they were stuck in a stalemate against the Communist forces in North Vietnam and the guerilla forces in South Vietnam (known as the Viet Cong). The United States was discovering that traditional warfare tactics did not necessarily work well in the jungle against the guerilla warfare tactics they were facing.
In military terms, the United States was the victor of the Tet Offensive for the Communists did not succeed in maintaining control over any part of South Vietnam. The Communist forces also suffered very heavy losses (an estimated 45,000 killed). However, the Tet Offensive showed another side of the war to Americans, one which they did not like. The coordination, strength, and surprise instigated by the Communists led the U.S. to realize that their foe was much stronger than they had expected.
This was a large turning point of the war, stopping the communists from taking any part of South Vietnam, as said above.
4. The My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre, also known as the Ryan Redpath massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Victims included women, men, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies were later found to be mutilated and many women were allegedly raped prior to the killings. While 26 U.S. soldiers were initially charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Mỹ Lai, only Second Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but only served three and a half years under house arrest.
The massacre took place in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe of Son My village. The event is also known as the Son My Massacre, especially in the Vietnamese state media. The U.S. military codeword for the "Viet Cong stronghold" was "Pinkville". The incident prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in 1969. The massacre also increased domestic opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Three U.S. servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and protect the wounded were initially denounced by several U.S. Congressmen as traitors. They received hate mail and death threats and found mutilated animals on their doorsteps. The three were later widely praised and decorated by the Army for their heroic actions.
This drastically hurt support for the US in Vietnam.
5.Vietnamization and Nixon Doctrine
In 1969, at the apex of the Vietnam War, United States President Richard M. Nixon publicly unveiled what would subsequently become known as the Nixon Doctrine. On July 25, during a press conference while visiting Guam, the President announced that the U.S. had plans to increase the training of South Vietnamese troops and bring the American soldiers home. President Nixon's doctrine consisted of three major tenets. First, the U.S. would honor all of its treaty agreements. Secondly, the U.S. would provide a shield if a nuclear power threatened an ally or a country the U.S. deemed to be vital to its national security. And, lastly, the U.S. would provide military and economic aid to countries under treaty agreements, but the requesting nation would be expected to bear primary responsibility to provide the manpower for its own defense. Nixon applied this doctrine directly to Vietnam.
The U.S. Army would train the Vietnamese to fight their own war in their own country. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) had already been training with U.S. troops and was organized and supplied with surplus U.S. arms and uniforms. But efforts to build South Vietnamese security forces went beyond just the ARVN. Americans had been working with other indigenous security organizations, as well. One U.S. unit that specialized in training civilian defense groups was the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). This unit had been in Vietnam since September 1962 with the primary mission of creating and training civilian security forces. The 5th Group worked with the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), the National Police Field Forces and the PeopleAca,!a,,cs Self-Defense Force. These groups, composed mostly of local villagers, were trained to help patrol and defend the borders of Vietnam. They originally received eight weeks of training. After the Nixon Doctrine was announced, this period was increased, and many units were eventually redesignated as Ranger Companies or Battalions. Some of the units were attached to the ARVN; others were banded together to form Regional and Provincial Forces. The CIDG transfer to the ARVN or Regional and Provincial Forces was completed by 1971, at which time the 5th SFG (A) returned to the U.S.
6. The Antiwar Movement
Anti–Vietnam War movement, domestic and international reaction (1965–73) in opposition to U.S. policy during the Vietnam War. During the four years following passage of the Tonkin Gulf resolution (Aug., 1964), which authorized U.S. military action in Southeast Asia, the American air war intensified and troop levels climbed to over 500,000. Opposition to the war grew as television and press coverage graphically showed the suffering of both civilians and conscripts. In 1965 demonstrations in New York City attracted 25,000 marchers; within two years similar demonstrations drew several hundred thousand participants in Washington, D.C., London, and other European capitals.
Most of the demonstrations were peaceful, though acts of civil disobedience—intended to provoke arrest—were common. Much of the impetus for the antiwar protests came from college students. Objections to the military draft led some protesters to burn their draft cards and to refuse to obey induction notices. By 1967 the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) invoked the language of revolution in its denunciations of the war in Vietnam as an inevitable consequence of American imperialism. There was also a more moderate opposition to the war from clergy, elected politicians, and people such as Dr. Benjamin Spock. In 1968, President Johnson, who was challenged by two antiwar candidates within his own party for the presidential nomination, Senators Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy, chose not to run. The election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and his reduction in U.S. ground forces did little to dampen the antiwar movement. His decision to invade Cambodia in 1970 led to massive demonstrations on college campuses, most tragically at Kent State Univ. where four people were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard. The legacy and meaning of the massive protests against the Vietnam War are still debated.