USA and Vietnam (1964 - 1975) Part 2

USA and Vietnam (1964 - 1975) Part 2

1. Operation Rolling Thunder

   • AIM: Concentrated bombing of key stategic locations, i.e. bridges roads and railways
     • There was no bombing of major N Vietnamese cities as this could cause USSR intervention
   • Hoped the N Vietnamese would back down after experiencing US bobing
     • It didn't work so the bombing intensified
   • Do to the original plan not working America' moved away from 'surgical bombing', towards blanket bombing
     • Surgical bombing is the bombing of precise locations
     • B-52 bombers each carrying 28 two-tonne bombs, battered N Vietnam, but theN Vietnamese did not surrender

2. Search and Destroy

   • Helicopters from US bases would carry small numbers of US troops for suprise attacks on vietcong controlled villages
     • The fast helicopters gave little time for the vietcong to escape
     • Every home was searched and if any vietcong were found the whole village would be destroyed
   • Vietcong suspects were interrogated to get information on other vietcong villages.
     • Interrogation was often brutal and led to death
       • Caused the vietcong to start find and kill americans
   • Made Americans more violent as they wanted revenge for lost friends

3. The collective failure of Operation Rolling thunder and Search and Destroy led to America using more deadly tactics

4. Agent Orange and Napalm

   • Agent Orange
     • One of the 'Rainbow Herbicides that was developed in the 1960s
     • It was used from 1966 to clear leaves and undergrowth; leaving bare trees and polluted rivers, soil and air
     • The chemical could also cause cancer in humans
   • Napalm
     • Contact with napalm would cause severe burns of the skin
   • The impact on the war was minimal, but was large on civilians
   • Caused wide spread revulsion around the world, including the USA
   • It is estimated over 500,000 vietnamese children have been born with birth defects as a result of chemical warfare

5. My Lai Massacre

   • 16th March 1968 nine US helicopter gunships carring 3 platoons landed near the small village of My Lai (population of around 700) on a search and destroy mission
     • Lt. William Calley ordered the village o be destroyed as he believd it was a vilage that sheltered the VC
       • No resistance was offered, and eyewitnesses claim there were no men, only old men and boys
         • Over 2 hours 500 unarmed men, women and children were killed
           • Lt. Calley claim it was 'no big deal' and that he was following orders

6. The importance of My Lai in the Vietnam War

   • In 1969, 18 months after the massacre, news broke in the US after a soldier told his story on American TV
     • An investigation was held, and statements were taken and photos were released to the media
     • There was wide spread shock across the US with some not believing it thinking it was a Vietcong plot; other accepted it
       • However the majority were horrified, think they were no worse than the enemy, and the soldiers were compared the Nazis
         • One of the key events that turned public opinion against the war
   • Lt. Caley was the only soldier to face charges - he was sentenced in 1970 to life imprisonment with hard labour; but was given a presidential pardon in 1974

7. TV and Media Coverage

   • Was dubbed the 'first media war' and the 'first war fought on tv
   • Before Vietnam the media was censored when covering conflicts, but in Vietnam it wasn't
     • This coverage wasn't always favourable to US forces
   • It was the media that exposed My Lai over a year after it happened
   • There was media coverage every day, providing details on the war and fighting

8. Pictures and Foreign Media

   • There were many important pictures changing public opinion to become ani-war
   • North Vietnamese media did not show the attrocities their troops commited but told their people they were fightig the might of the USA